Kenne Bell Explorer Phase 2 build begins!!!

I finally got off of my lazy butt and started tearing KBX down for its phase 2 stage of mods I have planned for it. I took a vid but way too busy/lazy to post it. The whole front end and hood are pretty much torn off and I just dropped the radiator out. I should be pulling the engine tomorrow if my schedule allows. A lot of interesting things going on with this stage of mods. After this stage of mods are completed I should be able to lay down some pretty respectable power finally; along with some good ET's in the 1/4 mile.

So far the additional mods that are sitting in my garage are:

*VT built 4.6 Billet shortblock
*Kenne Bell 8 rib swap kit w/ 2.75" snout pulley
*KB 8.5" crank pulley (20psi boost)
*New adapted fenderwell CAI fabbed by yours truly (very custom)
*Steeda billet fuel rails w/ -8AN crossover
*JBA headers
*Meziere electric water pump WP347
*Meziere wiring kit
*SD 60 lb/hr injectors
*SCT BA2800 MAS (swapping from my existing BA2400)
*Art Carr 4R70W tranny w/ 3200 stall TC built to withstand 900 hp. I am sure the swap from the 5R to the standalone 4R will be fun.
*8 bolt flywheel
*SN-197 Tranny K-member adapter for 4R70W
*Dual Ford GT (supercar) fuel pumps
*Dual -8AN fuel lines
*Aeromotive A-1000 FPR
*-6AN return line
*Baumann TMU for 4R70W
*4R70W tranny wiring harness



*Custom driveshaft (after new tranny is in)


Anyways in the list of mods I am probably forgetting something in one of the lists. Should be fun. Hopefully I can get it to 600 within the next few months if things go well (money+time). I love doing all the work on my own truck and all, but I kind of wish I could snap my fingers and have it done. Along with the power mods I am also going to be going with a chrome accented Black and Ford blue theme under the hood. The valve covers will get the Ford blue along with the billet rails which already are blue along with the elec fan. Depending on price I might take my PA perf. alternator I been running and have it powdercoated blue also. Well I have yapped for long enough in here tonight. Good night.

 

[mynameisaric]

burrrrrr... you did it outside... i live a little south of you and i HATE this time of year. i have one oil change coming up and hopefully that will get me to the warm weather.

 

[snoborder42]

I know that you are in no real rush but how long do you think it will be before you fire up that bad boy?

 

[rocket 5979]

burrrrrr... you did it outside... i live a little south of you and i HATE this time of year. i have one oil change coming up and hopefully that will get me to the warm weather.

Shoot, you would be surprised how warm I got while jumping around doing this and prepping that, moving all sorts of things. I had to take my jacket off because I was getting too hot. If there is a good few days in the colder part of this season now is the time to do it while the weather is holding.

I know that you are in no real rush but how long do you think it will be before you fire up that bad boy?

If things keep going well I may be firing it up sometime next week. However, there have been many delays with this project due to its custom nature. Even though there are a lot of similarities between a 4.6 Mustang and 4.6 Explorer there are still MANY more differences that really hinder a project. Though i don't expect many other hitches, there may be unforeseen glitches that I may have to iron out. I got to get my SCT Advantage software back online and whip a new tune up for the engine and then also make a tune for the tranny controller. Then I also have to have my alum driveshaft made too. Then break it in and dyno it. I don't foresee being at the dyno till sometime in mid December, depending on how the holidays go. No reason to hurry, the racing season is already over in my neck of the woods.

 

[ewg302]

Looks great...I am not on here to often but Ill be watching for some results.

 

[mynameisaric]

"If there is a good few days in the colder part of this season now is the time to do it while the weather is holding. "

touche!

unless it is like a couple years ago when it got to the mid 50's on the first of the year. i took that opportunity to wash all the salt off. luckily i have kind parents that let me pull their cars out and pull mine in diagonally since it wont fit parking regular.

some of you northern people are a different breed tho, brining out the shorts just because it got above freezing for once...

good luck with the truck, its looking amazing. best part is once you shut the hood, no one would expect all that stuff under the hood. How is the exhaust going to sound? will it still be relatively quiet or will it give the truck away. and does that supercharge have a loud whine to it?

 

[rocket 5979]

good luck with the truck, its looking amazing. best part is once you shut the hood, no one would expect all that stuff under the hood. How is the exhaust going to sound? will it still be relatively quiet or will it give the truck away. and does that supercharge have a loud whine to it?

The truck was pretty damn loud before when I was running the Kenne Bell supercharger in its first phase of mods. I am now running more than twice as much boost, fully open exhaust (catless), and headers. Yeah it will be LOUD. Kenne Bell's with open exhausts and high boost have an inherent and very loud scream that emanates from them while on the throttle. It will be very loud.

 

[snoborder42]

I am glad to see this dream coming true before my eyes. I once had a dream of a similar project, "The SVT Explorer" of putting an 03 Cobra engine and tranny in my ex. But it was only a dream.

 

[mynameisaric]

ok, so maybe its not much of a sleeper. aha

you put on simulators to pass emmisions, or program out the rear sensors? or do you just put the cats back on for it?

what track do you run at? i need to hear/see this thing when you run it.

 

[rocket 5979]

ok, so maybe its not much of a sleeper. aha

you put on simulators to pass emmisions, or program out the rear sensors? or do you just put the cats back on for it?

what track do you run at? i need to hear/see this thing when you run it.

Turn the rear O2 sensors off in the scalar function of my tuning software.

I run at GLD in Union Grove, WI most of the time. Next year I will plan to make it to Byron and maybe Route 66 to try to run my best times.

 

[Jakee]

Oh my.......This thing looks sick.......I love the rims too.

I'm pretty amazed. Doing good.

 

[rocket 5979]

I have another class to teach this week and also another one next week. Then I am out of town the following week. I plan to get some more finished up on the X here soon, but it is hard to motivate myself to do anythig after standing up in front of a class while talking all day. You would be surprised how much standing and talking will take out of you over the period of a day.

 

[Jakee]

I have another class to teach this week and also another one next week. Then I am out of town the following week. I plan to get some more finished up on the X here soon, but it is hard to motivate myself to do anythig after standing up in front of a class while talking all day. You would be surprised how much standing and talking will take out of you over the period of a day.

I can't understand. My wife does this all day everyday as well and I see what it does to her.

Anyways, you'll have this done before troll gets the turbo on so that should say something about your dedication. Good work. YOU ARE THE MAN!!!

 

[Jakee]

Rocket - I need some modivation. can u post some more pics please. What would REALLY modivate me is to hear that thing start up. Think you could have that done for me?

 

[rocket 5979]

Rocket - I need some modivation. can u post some more pics please. What would REALLY modivate me is to hear that thing start up. Think you could have that done for me?

Once I get off my rear and start working on it again. I have been quite lazy lately and I feel good about it. It is wintertime so I am not in any kind of a rush anymore. I will have 2 weeks off of my job during the Christmas and New Years timeframe so I will work on it again then. As for now I am just relaxing and teaching classes every week. Not nearly as much off time lately as I had when I first started this project phase. Couple that + laziness and add in a touch of my planning for next summers big car project and you can see where I am going with this. Only a few days more work left before it is 100% complete. I just got to WORK those few days... hehehe.

 

[Jakee]

I'm not trying to rush you at all. The longer you don't start it up, the longer I'm faster than u!!

 

[rocket 5979]

Finally had a little time off today so I worked on the truck a little more...

I fabbed up the new tranny mount tonight. I must say that I never do get tired of metal work. For some reason I always enjoy it. The good thing about this is that now I can move onto my exhaust and then tranny shift linkage. Then I will be able to move topside again and bolt the radiator back in and reconnect the hoses and A/C lines too as well as a few other things. Not much more to go.

 

[Jakee]

Finally had a little time off today so I worked on the truck a little more...

I fabbed up the new tranny mount tonight. I must say that I never do get tired of metal work. For some reason I always enjoy it. The good thing about this is that now I can move onto my exhaust and then tranny shift linkage. Then I will be able to move topside again and bolt the radiator back in and reconnect the hoses and A/C lines too as well as a few other things. Not much more to go.

Rocket - Get off your a$$ and do something. No excused buddy.

No really, take your time. I love being faster than you.

 

[rocket 5979]

No really, take your time. I love being faster than you.

Almost everyone on this board is faster than me.

 

[rocket 5979]

I installed the exhaust the other day and made some custom lockers so things won't come loose anytime soon on the ball flange connector.

I ended up having to totally redesign my tranny shifter linkage today. I thought I could get away with the redesign that I had but it ended up putting too much of a bind on my shift cable for my comfort. The redesign only took about 2 hours just messing around with my welder, cutting tools, thread tap set and other steel fabrication stuff. It turned out really nice and should be VERY strong for any wear and tear in the future.

The radiator is back in now too. It was a critical time to see if my redesigned A/C lines with the new Mustang A/C compressor would line up to my A/C system again. I knew it would, but sometimes glitches appear. The A/C system went back in with little trouble.

I also slapped the battery back in and powered the vehicle up for the first time in over 6 months. It was good to see all the lights turn back on. One step closer to getting this thing done.

The next step I plan to do is to fabricate my new tranny cooler lines to go to the 4R70W tranny and also install my new Flex-a-lite aux tranny cooler w/ 6" fan.




The project is coming along nicely and I should be able to have this thing on the dyno by late January worst case scenario. If things keep going well like they have the past two days then I could have the truck on the dyno as soon as middle January once I get my new driveshaft in from DSS.

 

[Jakee]

I installed the exhaust the other day and made some custom lockers so things won't come loose anytime soon on the ball flange connector.

I ended up having to totally redesign my tranny shifter linkage today. I thought I could get away with the redesign that I had but it ended up putting too much of a bind on my shift cable for my comfort. The redesign only took about 2 hours just messing around with my welder, cutting tools, thread tap set and other steel fabrication stuff. It turned out really nice and should be VERY strong for any wear and tear in the future.

The radiator is back in now too. It was a critical time to see if my redesigned A/C lines with the new Mustang A/C compressor would line up to my A/C system again. I knew it would, but sometimes glitches appear. The A/C system went back in with little trouble.

I also slapped the battery back in and powered the vehicle up for the first time in over 6 months. It was good to see all the lights turn back on. One step closer to getting this thing done.

The next step I plan to do is to fabricate my new tranny cooler lines to go to the 4R70W tranny and also install my new Flex-a-lite aux tranny cooler w/ 6" fan.




The project is coming along nicely and I should be able to have this thing on the dyno by late January worst case scenario. If things keep going well like they have the past two days then I could have the truck on the dyno as soon as middle January once I get my new driveshaft in from DSS.

How about some pics of the progress.