delexploder's "Vader" 97 v8 sport | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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delexploder's "Vader" 97 v8 sport

Thought id go ahead and finally get this going now that my rig is functional, I started out with my 97 4.0 sohc sport. I bought it in 05 from its original owner with I think around 183,000 miles, I drove it and did small upgrades like autodimming rear view, new pioneer speakers, Monroe coil overs, 99 front bumper and fear hatch, I also did the usual maintainance like upper and lower balljoints ( motorcraft) swaybar links and bushings ( energy suspension) rebuilt rear, tranny rebuild, ect...then I finally started getting the death rattle from the sohc timing parts around 240,000 miles so i started gathering parts for my v8 swap, do not do what I did if you want to do this swap! Get a whole donner vehical, so it was at this point that I came here and that's when i learned (with the help of alot of members) about PATS, anyway that made me rethink and redo most of my work and replace alot of parts , I just finally got it on the road after swapping out the tranny, so now I feel like I can post my elite registry ,I still have a long way to go to get it where I want but i now think im at a good starting point;)
 



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Future maint, / upgrades in no specific order
Paint and body, manual hubs, 4406 t-case manual if I cant get the electric one to work, headliner recover I have grey ultra suede, tint , power rear windows, super charger if i can make the paxton fit, sound proofing, stroker motor,remove and scrub interior, headers, now that's all the little at a time but i have most of it so its doable, the only dream item I have is a 6 spd auto from TCI, at 7,000+ the wife would probably take my truck in the divorce and burn it, I can get away with alot if its spread out over time but that much at once ain't gonna fly
 






Ha ha spoke too soon, I have a few issues to deal with like a burnt plug wire, its number four, it came out of the clip and sat on the egr tube, also have a miss fire on number five and a dpft code, good times
 






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Took it to the shop the other night and while I did a blend door motor on his 02 explorer my friend finished my tailpipes tig wielding my hangers and tips
 






The bad news is I think im gonna have to swap the upper and lower intake because the 97 computer is not happy about the 99 external egr setup, everything plugged in but i guess the dpft is the issue, so unless anyone has a better idea I'll have to tear into it.
 






Ok here are my options, swap the intakes an im not sure that will work with the p heads, and i would prefer not changing heads at this point, or swap the computer for a late 97 p head external egr computer, also I think the missfire in cyl 5 is related to the issue
 






Ok I am currently baby sitting my little brothers 97 xlt that just so happens to be a p head 5.0 with external egr, so I tried his computer ( XDT2) and all seems well so i texted Boominxplorer and he has a few so I think I got it licked, till the next issue pops up lol, again if you are gonna try a v8 swap get the whole vehical and get the same year as your own!
 


















Big thanks to Boominxplorer, he actually delivered the pcm last night! Lol he just happened to be going north and we met up at a gass station, so i put my little brothers pcm back and all is well, I still have a code but now its transmission range sensor circuit A low , grrr , anyway ... oh im kinda surprised no one that has read this has asked about " power rear windows " in my to do list
 






windows

OK, I'll bite.
What about them power rear windows?
Electric motors out of a Mecury villager or something?
The rear windows as they are, are pretty much useless since you cant reach them from the front seat.
?????
 






Ha ha how'd you guess, I got them out of a windstar, not sure what way im gonna go with the wiring yet but the amount they extend out is good and a mounting bracket will be easy enough, just gotta come up with some sort of cover for the actuator , I like the idea of the driver side door window switches from a four door,
 






window

I spent a lot of time running around in junkyards. I got a window for my neighbor and saw the mounting looked like the little rear window in the 2 door explorers. I saw manual and power windows in different Nissan quests and Mercury villagers. You have to post pictures when you get around to doing it so I can copy it. lol.
 






Vader is going on the lift soon! But my ( my wife's) 99 mounty is goin first, I got my tax return so the wife turned me loose, and i ordered two sets of AVM manual hubs, two sets of halfshafts for a 99 ranger , and two sets of unibearings for 99 ranger w/ABS, still plan on using the 4406 e-shift in Vader but the mounty will get a manual shift, also putting new shoes on the mounty, my usual 31x10.5 BFG ats , I'll post pics of the parts **** when it all gets here,
 






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Look what came in the mail today! Parts ****
 






parts

Christmas time again!
What size lifts going on both trucks?
 






No lift, they are going on the lift lol, I dont really do any offroading, just farm roads and I play a little when it snows, I like more of a muscle truck, I guess that's the route im going with them both for now,
 



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Different view, nice OE quality , I wouldn't go rock crawling with them but for what I do they are perfect
 






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