supercharged 5.0 true fire 98 explorer sport

4pointslow · September 16, 2015

Iat

On boosted applications the IAT should always be after the supercharger or turbo because compressing the air causes it to heat up.

vroomzoomboom · September 16, 2015

i know, i know. he asked me to move it so i did. as i said, tomorrow is so he can data log the truck. the guy writing the tune (ed hohenberg) is doing the tuning. if i am not wrong he's still at drag week right now.

vroomzoomboom · September 19, 2015

Thursday the truck was datalogged on the dyno. i had called the shop to ask if they thought it was safe to run it down the drag strip (because there were only 2 more dates left this year) and he said you should be ok, just to make sure keep a eye on everything.
good enough for me!
so last night i told don i was headed there and wanted to know if he wanted to tag along. we should have known better right from the get go.
we got there and don blew one of the lines off for the turbo. no biggie. after about a hour or so of waiting they opened the lines up for us test and tune guys. they prepped the track and sent the first 2 cars down. they then let both don and i go at the same time. i will do my play by play, and let don tell his own story. we get up to the light, stage and it felt like forever for the green to come on. i loaded the motor up, light turn green. the only thing i felt was the truck hop up and down 3 or 4 times spinning like made. oh, this was in 4 wheel drive by the way. i looked over to see where don was and i figured i treed him. then i started to pay way more attention to what was unfolding in his line, and not mine. when i got to the end of the track i looked in my mirror.......all i saw was a line of coolant following me. got to the end, the track safety guy thought we both were on fire. then the owner drove up flipping out that we sprayed the track down, then when he asked if we had water or antifreeze (antifreeze, duh!) he flipped out ever more! he drove away, then came back a min later and said "who the hell owns the blue truck?" me, "HERE! this is yours!! next time you come back, i am pulling your rad cap, and if you arent running water, your outta here!" i kept on telling don, i dont want to go back into the pit area, because we probably pissed off everyone there because they would now have to clean the track up causing even more of a delay.
this is what he tossed at me.

mr. freeze plug...
we lucked out and some old neighbors of mine happen to be there as well, so they ran me and don into town (the track is a old airport runway in the middle of a farm field) bought a block heater to jam back into the motor, some antifreeze and a tow rope, went back to the track, patched up evil then headed outta dodge with our tail between our legs.
the big question now is, what did it run?

with this being the only run i have had with the new motor, trans, supercharger, still not being fully tuned, and lighting all four tires up off the line for who knows how long (better part of first, thats for sure) i will say i am happy with that. its from what i remember, 1.5 seconds faster then the 302 and m90, and 11 mph faster as well.

4pointslow · September 20, 2015

Time slip

Sorry to hear about the misfortune.
The tracks say if something starts to leak then pull over right away so the whole track doesn't get messed up, hard to do that if you don't know it is happening.

Your 60ft time was 2.2 something without traction.
I have pulled 1.7 60 ft times with good traction, that is .5 faster. It has been said that a tenth faster in the 60 ft can be doubled in the quarter mile. I would bet with traction that you could have a 12.8.

If you find out, please tell us why that freeze plug keeps coming out.

vroomzoomboom · September 20, 2015

when i look at the plug, i can see it didnt go in straight and i also didnt have it in all the way. i hop that is the reason why. i am either going to take it to my buddys place and put a new plug in, this time on a lift and not crawling around on the ground. if he has too much on the go, i will take it to a shop. once a plug it back in it, i am going to pressure test the cooling system to make sure i dont have a leak down and rule out that i dont have a head gasket that isnt showing signs of being blown. if it is a gasket, i will pull the motor. the block heater held no problems towing don back to my place and its about 45 mins to a hour away from the track. if the truck dosent go into boost it holds, or very little boost. i would have to think if a head gasket was gone i should have other signs of it but i dont. with dons truck we noticed right away as soon as he started cranking it, it leaked coolant and also his overflow tank was bubbling and had white smoke out of the tail pipe. i dont have that.

ahodges · September 21, 2015

Wow! Great job. Don't go blowing your front end.. That is what I've been the most scared of doing. I've never burned all 4 tires on dry pavement yet. My front tires will chirp a little on the street but not on the track. Did you pull it out of 4wd after the 60' mark?

vroomzoomboom · September 21, 2015

nope. i left it in 4wd from start to finish. i dont think it would unlock with the drive line under hard power anyway. i dont think. that and that track we have isnt all the greatest anyway. i remember back in the day when i went there when my capri was on the road traction was terrible as well.

4pointslow · September 28, 2015

Freeze Plug

Have you found a way to keep that freeze plug in?

I saw a picture from one of Sean Hyland's books where he had a strap over the freeze plug.

I saw another freeze plug for a diesel that had a block behind it that would go into the engine block to prevent it from coming out.

2000StreetRod · September 28, 2015

threaded freeze plug openings

Many racers thread the block freeze plug openings and install screw in plugs. Here's a listing for a 302 set: Ford Racing Threaded Freeze Plug Kit 289/302/351w/351c

ahodges · September 28, 2015

I almost forgot about that. My block has threaded freeze plugs with O-rings. I'm sure you would have to pull the engine to adapt it to the treaded style though.

4pointslow · September 28, 2015

Threaded Freeze plugs

That is probably the best fix for a constantly falling out freeze plug.
Maybe Tim could just install the one that he is having problems with.
Is there a tap available to tap the hole?

vroomzoomboom · September 28, 2015

andys correct. the motor would have to come out. that plug is easy to get to, but you cant get at it strait. i also havent really drove it much since that happen. been busy with a few other things....and i am mad at it, so it can sit and think about what it did.
and on to more frustration, i called the shop that i want to tune it today, and he is still waiting. summers done, and i have waited since the begging of june i believe to get it tuned. if i dont hear a date from him by the end of the week, i move to plan b.

CDW6212R · September 28, 2015

Have those freeze plugs all been the normal shallow kind? I'm wondering if the deep version that Woody uses might be to help with that.

The Boss 302, Boss 351, and Boss 429 all had screw in freeze plugs. I'd guess that was for intended TransAm and Nascar uses/rules.

When I was 25 years younger I though I'd be cool and have my 400 block drilled and tapped, etc(four bolt mains), and call it a Boss 408. The tap is kind of rare, the machine shop had to buy one(I paid for it), to do my block. So I have a very special 400 Ford block if someone more weird than me needs a project.

vroomzoomboom · October 22, 2015

good news and bad news.
first the bad. i have now gave up on the local shop for any tuning. after waiting all summer, they sent me a email (to first the wrong email address) with my datalog that they did and charged me up the ass for informing me that the guy they were going to work with on tuning evil cant do it, and he was going to get in touch with someone in the u.s for remote tuning. well, i wasnt about to pay them for something i can do on my own. i called james up and asked if he could resume tuning, only for him to also drop a bomb shell on me saying he is no longer going to be doing any remote tuning and moving on to different things....i then called sct to as for a list of remote tuners they have. their response "you will have to google it. we dont have a list" grrrrr.....after emailing and calling about 6 different places (because as soon as i said i have a explorer with such and such was told they wont do it) brooks speed so far has been the only place that got back to me. winter is very close so i have all winter to check into more places.
don has been in touch with james also (and to problems we are having with his i dont even want to go there) and has said he might do some tuning on the said at a later date so i will have to see if that happens.
the last few days i have had evil parked a little different then i have for the past few months. i noticed a oil mark under it this morning but couldnt remember if it was there before (bought a 99 explorer as a cash cow flip and didnt know if it was it or evil dripping). when i got home i looked under it and saw wet on the front passengers side of the engine cross member. popped the hood and saw the trans lines are leaking under the rad.....yay...will have to take a better look at that tomorrow or sat.
on the good part however a few posts back i had mentioned that one of my fooses cracked on me and needed to find some new rims. i had bough a set semi local to me (3 hours away) and bought and brought them home only to find i didnt like them.

after looking online at rims for about a month and jumping through a few hoops and with dons help my new rims came in today!

Motegi Mr107 20x8.5. im hoping tomorrow i can get the tires put on them and get a better pic of them. i am also trying to figure out if i should paint the spokes all black or just leave them alone. time will tell on that one as well.

gmanpaint · October 23, 2015

Do those wheels have a clear coat?
If they do, I would leave them as is.

There has to be a willing tuner in one of the major cities down here. Socal comes to mind with all the strict regulations and massive hot rod enthusiast crowd there.

CDW6212R · October 23, 2015

That sucks about the tuning, we've been relying on the remote tuning as a good choice to a dyno appointment.

Those wheels look very good, I like the "bright" trim. You might fora rare change, try a paintable vinyl product. The stuff ALSA has is not cheap, but I gather that it's very easy to put on, and take off, from most surfaces(don't put it on an old bare unwaxed surface).

vroomzoomboom · October 23, 2015

it looks like there is clear on them. if i paint them, i paint them (or powder coat them). none of that easy remove vinyl crap that is easy to come off or crack.
i did mask the spoke with electrical tape to see what it would look like.

as for tuning i know i will find someone. it may take time, but i will have all winter to search.

4pointslow · October 23, 2015

New wheels

Get those new rims on! I want to see the finished product!
They look nice, I bet they were not cheap either.
Congrats on the new wheels!

vroomzoomboom · October 23, 2015

Price wise they weren't too bad.

4pointslow · October 23, 2015

Rims

They look great on there with those tires.
Which way do you like it better? with or without the spokes blacked out?
Hard to tell in pictures, I think it looks great either way.
Wish I had some meaty tires like them. I had some tire spin tonight.

supercharged 5.0 true fire 98 explorer sport

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