supercharged 5.0 true fire 98 explorer sport

4pointslow · February 9, 2015

Drag Strip!

I think the more show up at the drag strip the better! It would be a blast!
What Friday would it be in may? We can check MapleGrove and Atco's websites to see their schedule to make sure there is open test and tune.

Edit: Both Race tracks at the time of AFN have Friday night racing for us. Maple Grove would be the best since Atco is about 60-70 miles further away from where I work and where you guys might be staying?

Maple GroveRaceway
JUNE

5 — Friday — Auto Locator Fast Friday (That's open test and tune)

6 — Saturday — Race For Ronald McDonald House (No open test and tune)

Atcoraceway
5- Friday Open Racing (test and tune)
6- No open test and tune

vroomzoomboom · February 9, 2015

ahodges said:
I used the stainless ARP kit for the intake bolts on my engine too. I can't remember but I don't think I did on the timing chain cover because so many of them are specialized for the supercharger kit, etc.. plus you can't see them at all once the engine is in the truck - same for the oil pan.

Tim, throughout this whole build I get a mixture of excitement and anxiety. It reminds me a lot of when I put mine together but the fact that your compression is higher than mine really makes me think you will make more power (it should anyhow). This is why I would even drive down to AFN a day earlier to go to the drag strip!

i think 2 of them go into the water pump/cover, and believe it or not this is the one time i didnt do something to look pretty lol! i used them so they wont corrode into place over time.
you pretty much nailed it about the excitement and anxiety part. i wont lie, i am very nervous about this thing detonating its self to death with the compression being so high, even with the meth kit. i want to tune it without it in use that way if the bottle runs dry, i am not in trouble.
and y'all are horrible with the drag thing lol! its really making me want to do it now big time. think it would be neat if we had a bunch of guys there at once running down the track and knowing one of us can hit 12's, another 13's and the other a mystery. i think that would raise more then on pair of eyebrows. but the one thing that still remains is me just getting down there.

4pointslow said:
I think the more show up at the drag strip the better! It would be a blast!
What Friday would it be in may? We can check MapleGrove and Atco's websites to see their schedule to make sure there is open test and tune.

Edit: Both Race tracks at the time of AFN have Friday night racing for us. Maple Grove would be the best since Atco is about 60-70 miles further away from where I work and where you guys might be staying?

Maple GroveRaceway
JUNE

5 — Friday — Auto Locator Fast Friday (That's open test and tune)

6 — Saturday — Race For Ronald McDonald House (No open test and tune)

Atcoraceway
5- Friday Open Racing (test and tune)
6- No open test and tune

we all normally stay in or near carlisle when the show starts. if i remember correctly it is about 2 something hours from your work to carlisle....i think. because you were about 30 mins from tara's, and you were about the same from my hotel last year (right by king of prussia mall). for the test and tune on fridays, what time do they go until?
also, IF i can get down there, i know it would be like the wed or thursday of the week of the show. i cant get holidays before june 1st

vroomzoomboom · February 9, 2015

talked to tara earlier today. she will be at cecil county dragway. i dont know how far away that is from the other strips.
now for some really good news, i talked to my buddy joe that has a lift (did the 5L swap, and put the m90 on at his place), and i somehow talked him into letting me bring evil over there, and its sitting there as i type this thawing out!!!!! i told him if i could start on it tomorrow, i might be able to finish it by sunday, if not, not to long after that. i was in shock that he let me bring it over on that short of notice....hope his wife doesnt kill me however. she normally parks her car in there. i was at don's today as well, and he offered up any help he could give. soooooooooooo with luck, this time next week evil will have a running 347 in it

i am going to go back there in a bit when he goes out there so he can set it up on the lift for me, and help me pull the hood off. then its have at it time!

4pointslow · February 9, 2015

Progress

That is awesome that your friend is letting you use his garage with the lift, the job will probably go that much easier. I guess it is heated too, so no excuses about it being too cold. This is going to be awesome! Don't forget to take pictures!

4pointslow · February 9, 2015

Dyno Sim and Drag Sim

Hope these are readable. The forum auto scales the pictures down.(Edit: these are not so readable)
Like I said, if you can get traction I can see 12.5's
Simulation says 12.29

vroomzoomboom · February 10, 2015

i dont know why but i just cant see it doing that for 2 reasons. first one i am going to use andy as a example. pretty much the same set up, sure, smaller blower, lower compression. i think he ran a low 13 with his when it was cool out. the second reason is if you search for member named trolls, he had tons more done then what i have, and he was running 11's....getting off it before the line to avoid being kicked off the track mind you. which is another thing. if that is a real number, my first run may be my last run lol. i think, but cant remember for sure but if you run a 12 you need a loop for your driveshaft (which i dont have, and have no clue to put it) and you might need a cage depending how low of a 12 you are at (i think the track here is IHRA not NHRA, once again i think).
and yes, buddys shop is heated using infloor. it is pretty nice. lift, compressor (which i have to break my habit of using just hand tools), stereo, big benches, 220v, beer fridge, florescent lighting. he didnt spare no expense when he built it, and its at his house! he's not a shop, just a back yard guy that has all sorts of creditation in both gas and diesel.
i dug threw some pics to find this

fast forward 3 years and very close to the date

i even said to my buddy tonight "there must be something wrong with my head. for the second time i am taking apart a perfectly good running truck...". he had no answer. just the "look" if you know what i mean.

and that is as far as i got. when i put the blower on i had to silicon it on, and that crap my friends had a death grip on it. like prybar tight (and that too is no lie). come hell or high water the driveshafts, transfer case and trains will be out tomorrow, and depending on how late it is when those are on the ground, i will start with the motor. don said he is going to come by and help out, so that will speed things up, and give him practice as well. like i always have said, its better to practice on someone else's truck then yours because if you screw up, meh, not yours.....lets hope we dont have to put that to the test lol!

4pointslow · February 10, 2015

Drive Shaft Loop

13.99 and faster must have a driveshaft loop if you are running on slicks.
Street tires you can go down to 11.50
I have been thinking about adding a D/S loop but it would be trial and error to find one that fits since no one makes racing stuff for Explorers.

You will need a helmet with a certain snell rating(snell2005), I think it has to be less than 10 years old. No shorts, long pants only. No tank tops. Seat Belts. Battey has to be tight, no flopping around. No leaks. No center caps that can fall off. No AC when racing, it drips on the track. No loose cargo inside truck including tools and sub woofers, cant have things bouncing around in the passenger compartment. Drivers license and working tail lights. There is tech inspection where they look for all these things.

I cant think of anything else

Dono · February 10, 2015

vroomzoomboom said:
its better to practice on someone else's truck then yours because if you screw up, meh, not yours.....lets hope we dont have to put that to the test lol!

I'm wounded by that comment. I thought I was pretty careful about what I do.

vroomzoomboom · February 10, 2015

Dono said:
I'm wounded by that comment. I thought I was pretty careful about what I do.

oh you are, but hey, **** happens right?

Dono · February 10, 2015

Neither of us can afford to have **** happen. At least not where it comes to paint and bodywork, or pulling the motor a second time because of your idiot helper. Time delays because something just plain 'happened' is ok.

Anyway, I don't see us having an issue at all. There will just be some swearing in a few area's. Trans dipstick tube and bellhousing bolts close to the body. I'm sure the rest will be easy as we are not dealing with stuff that hasn't been taken apart for 15 years.

I'm interested in how this goes with dropping the front diff. I really just can't see how one person can pull a motor without it taking forever. Even what should be a simple job like the Torque converter bolts. Not so easy. Our arms are not long enough to turn the motor over and loosen those bolts at the same time. Or dropping/re-installing the transfer case or Trans yourself, those things are frieken heavy.

4pointslow, I have no idea how you do it.
Besides, having someone actually hear you swear helps sometimes.

I have every intention of slipping out of work early.

CDW6212R · February 10, 2015

That's good to see you have plenty of room etc, to work on it there. Have a good time, and buy your friend plenty of new supplies for his garage(brake cleaner, paper towels, drinks etc). I do that a lot when I do work at my friend's house(garage). He appreciates it, and the opposite if people don't.

4pointslow · February 10, 2015

Torque converter bolts

I marked the crank pulley on my truck(4 marks) so I know where to stop it, right where the torque converter bolts are. I use an old broken torque wrench that is nice and long so it has a lot of leverage, to spin the alternator pulley. I just turn it till a mark lines up and then get under there and undo the TC bolt, pop up and turn the engine again till the next mark is lined up. etc.

As far as the trans and transfer case, I use a harbor freight trans jack. Best 150.00 I ever spent.

I also have air tools, my Snap-On air ratchet will pin your hand in the engine compartment if you are not careful. Then you have to undo the air line to get your hand out. That's torque!

I have learned to work all by myself since I have no friends. lol. I have no friends because I spend most of my time in the garage. No one around here wants to work on vehicles. I don't know why, it brings out the best in us. lol.

In all seriousness, good luck on the engine pull. Have a good time, play some music while you are doing it, and take pictures!

vroomzoomboom · February 11, 2015

4pointslow said:
I marked the crank pulley on my truck(4 marks) so I know where to stop it, right where the torque converter bolts are. I use an old broken torque wrench that is nice and long so it has a lot of leverage, to spin the alternator pulley. I just turn it till a mark lines up and then get under there and undo the TC bolt, pop up and turn the engine again till the next mark is lined up. etc.

As far as the trans and transfer case, I use a harbor freight trans jack. Best 150.00 I ever spent.

I also have air tools, my Snap-On air ratchet will pin your hand in the engine compartment if you are not careful. Then you have to undo the air line to get your hand out. That's torque!

I have learned to work all by myself since I have no friends. lol. I have no friends because I spend most of my time in the garage. No one around here wants to work on vehicles. I don't know why, it brings out the best in us. lol.

In all seriousness, good luck on the engine pull. Have a good time, play some music while you are doing it, and take pictures!

funny you mention all of this!

so today i went back to my buddys place still sour about how long it took to get the supercharger off last night, and how further ahead i could have been hadnt it took so long.

so i got it up in the air and began.

got transfer case out that nobody said would fit. that came at a small price. when the did the exhaust, they didnt put any joints in it, so i had to cut the pipes. wasnt happy about it, but what can you do. will have to get some clamps tomorrow.

polly bushing is still rock solid as well.

shortly after i pulled the transfer case out, don came by and was a enormous help.

we next got the trans out, in a not so conventional way, but it worked. i swear there was circus music playing in the background when we pulled it out of the truck lol

i needed to sit for a few because my back started bugging me, so don took over. i took this a few seconds before he had a antifreeze shower....whoops....

so moving right along we unhooked everything one at a time, then this happened

i still cant believe it. we both managed to pull the motor, trans, and transfer case out today!

oh, but theres more!

we ran back to my house and picked up (literally because the cylinder in my engine puller doesnt like to work when its cold out) the motor and brought it over to buddys house so it can warm up over night.
once again i cant believe we got everything out in a few hours (i think like 6 hours).
so i am going to go mount the brackets, and supercharger tomorrow so i can see if i can find a belt for it. then swap over everything that i need from the 302 to the 347 and if we are lucky, drop it in tomorrow. i was even saying to don it would be cool if this thing ran by friday. hell, even my buddy joe who is a mechanic couldnt believe we got it done tonight.
now back to your post john, i was thinking the same thing about marking the pulley, but i had no reference to do it with.
don ended up being the trans jack.
i used one of my buddys air ratchets on one of the bolts, and left some skin behind someplace on evil.
most of the time, i to have to work by myself because my friends think im kinda nuts for doing most of the stuff i do.
we had fun, we took pictures. we pulled the motor, and the music....buddy has siriusxm radio in his shop. octane was playing. at one point i turned to don and said "ya know, i like my speed metal just as much as the next guy, but i am really starting to hate this channel!!!"

4pointslow · February 11, 2015

Explorer

Great stuff, these pictures are the next best thing to being there!
The speed metal is probably how you got it out so fast. LOL.
The skin sacrifice to Evil will ensure a good start up when it is all bolted up.
Poor Dono, first you sprinkle him with coolant and then drop the trans on him and call him a trans jack.lol
Good friends are a precious commodity.

ZWilson07 · February 11, 2015

NICE!

Putting in work. I might be doing this same game in the next month as well although I don't see myself getting it out in 6 hours by myself and without a shop lift. I'd be happy with it taking the weekend to be honest.

bats · February 11, 2015

It amazes me how fast you work! AFN's is looking more and more like a possibility, isn't it?

Dono · February 11, 2015

The whole thing wen't pretty smooth. We somehow caught 1 connector as the motor was coming out and tore it off right at the connector end. Figures. Tim says he has a spare matching connector we can splice in. That was the worst of it, so it was all good.
The clothes are washed (ATF doesn't wash out well, the front of my shirt still looks like I have a serious drueling issue), and ready to start the the second R in R&R.

Again, you guys that do this yourselves still amaze me. Its just so much easier with someone else there. Even as simple as handing you the correct sized socket, or holding the light so you can see wtf your doing easier.... A bit of company rather than the silence..... Too bad you guys weren't closer. Doing this stuff is a nice breakup from the daily grind.

And that octane sirius station? The worst. I'm good with some thrash, but come on. Really? It just didn't stop. This music wen't thru my head like a nail. Problem was, I'm too short to reach the radio. Stupid genetics.

vroomzoomboom · February 11, 2015

dan, it amazes me as well. AFN is still going to be a mystery however. i need to find that money tree i planted and forgot where. we have all seen motor swaps on here done in a weekend, and other swaps done in the same time, but that was done with 5 or so people, but without a lift.
don, think of it this way. if they ever need extras for the walking dead, you would be a shoe in!
i just woke up a little while ago, and kinda moving in slow motion, but moving. i am so determined to get this thing running i just passed up FREE pink floyd experience tickets for tonight. when i told my one buddy what i was doing to pass on them, i think he thinks im on glue!
so soon i will grab some parts that i have to bring over to where that truck is, head there and start swapping parts around and get it ready to stab the motor in later today hopefully.

Dono · February 12, 2015

Before Tim gets on his thread and posts I want you guys to keep a few things in mind.

1. Tim set the torque wrench
2. Tim actually torqued the first bolt of the valve cover to the 'said' torque
3. I actually checked the torque wrench against the bolt Tim had already torqued to 'spec'.
4. I kept thinking 'this is the tightest 20 lbs torque I've ever seen'

Did item 4 stop me? Duh. no :banghead:

vroomzoomboom · February 12, 2015

Dono said:
Before Tim gets on his thread and posts I want you guys to keep a few things in mind.

1. Tim set the torque wrench
2. Tim actually torqued the first bolt of the valve cover to the 'said' torque
3. I actually checked the torque wrench against the bolt Tim had already torqued to 'spec'.
4. I kept thinking 'this is the tightest 20 lbs torque I've ever seen'

Did item 4 stop me? Duh. no

someones a tad quick on the trigger today! LOL!

so i got kind of a late start today due to gravity pinning me to my bed, and once i did free myself from that, it was forcing me to the ground afterwards...in other words i woke up this morning feeling like a 90 year old man.
i started my putting all the brackets and accessories on so i could find a belt. what felt like 50 belts and 8 hours later to me i have one. it doesnt feel as tight, but we will see when i start the motor up and if it slips or not.

you might think your badass, but you'll never be 347 stroker with a m112 badass!

so once that was done, and having to stop to go get this, or do that i managed to swap all the stuff from the 302 over. i also must of had the drivers side header on and off about 5 times because it felt like it was stripping.
ah, now speaking of bolt stripping, i gave don a call to come by and give me another hand if he could. so he was doing one thing, and i was doing another thing.......then it happened......

im not going to mention any names of the guilty party involved in said act

but...

but yes, everything he just said was true. we got very lucky and it broke above the head, and not in it, and it came out with a pair of vise grips.

so we moved onto this.

get ready for it

the motor is now in its new home. if you would go back to sunday and tell me that i would have the old motor out with the trans and transfer case, and motor back in by wed, i would have thought you were on non prescription drugs.
tomorrow i will go back there and start putting everything back on the motor. don also helped me out by putting the front diff back in, so i can also put that all back together, and hopefully we can get the trans up into place and go from there.
thanks again don!

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