biff9703
Active Member
- Joined
- September 25, 2013
- Messages
- 92
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- Sherrills Ford, NC
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 97 Explorer AWD 347 V8
You may remember awhile back I was installing a 347 in my 97 Ex. Had some problems with the TMH's, the spark plugs wouldn't go in after the headers were installed. They were for the GT40 heads, I have the P heads. I put the iron manifolds on, got an SCT tuner and the appropriate software. My son, who is an engineer, and has experience tuning with the SCT tuner, helped me get it tuned properly, was able to adjust the shift points, idle, and several other values I didn't know could be done. Since then, I've towed a small trailer to the SC coast, driven it back and forth to work, without any issues, but the mileage is slightly better, and the power is great. The real test came last week when I towed my Cobra replica on an open trailer from NC to Erie, Pa for a visit with friends. Made the trip last year, and the hill on I77 north in Virginia, going up to Fancy Gap was scary. I had the throttle wide open, 5000 rpm for almost 8 miles, and barely made 55mph. My engine oil temp pegged at 250, not sure how hot it actually got, but it was plenty hot. This year, I took it out of overdrive, put the criuse at 65, and it went all the way up the hill without downshifting, and the cruise stayed on! I couldn't believe the difference. I've been told that hill is the longest and steepest on the east coast. I never verified it, but it's a tough hill. I figured the loaded trailer weighs around 4200 lbs, so I'm really impressed at the performance. I got around 10mpg on the trip, which is good, get around 16 driving is back and forth to work, which is really good. More power, less fuel is SCT's slogan. I believe it! My engine has a Scat stroker kit, stock cam reground by Holman Moody in Charlotte, and the 1" upper intake spacer. My machine shop guy did the machine work, I did the assembly and install. I was going to sell the TMH's, but I got a set of aluminum heads and will be putting them on this fall. The project was kind of expensive, but worth it for the vastly towing performance, and the around town driveability is way more fun. I learned a ton from this site, and would like to say thanks to Jon (Turdle) and several others who have helped me along the way. I'm also thinking of changing the truck to 2 wheel drive, I really don't need AWD in NC. Maybe I just dream up these projects to keep myself entertained. Thanks again for all the help, and I'll post the results with the aluminum heads and TMH's when I get done. Will need to be retuned, but that's more father/son time! Never a bad thing.