Kenne Bell supercharged 5.0 Explorer...

[TheJokersGT]

Awesome! perfect combo to get that 5,500lbs of a$$ movin

 

[TheJokersGT]

Something that a blower like this will do is get HOT under load and considering that an EX weighs alot more than a mustang which is what that blower was designed for. just a thought, might consider a methanol injections system and some quality temp gauges water, air, tranny. Especially if you plan on pushing more than 6-8psi

 

[Turbo Tim]

Update: I built a 3.5" intake for it and I am now at 8psi of boost. So the stock air box was definitely restrictive, even with my air box mod. It's running good, 18 degrees of timing and 11.6 on the WB. I swapped from the TwEECer to the SCT and I like it more. So if anyone wants my TwEECer, it is available.

I did machine the Kenne Belle pulley spacer to shorten it, but I do need to either move it in more, or possibly shim the other pulleys out. It seems to be about 1/4" short total, but I need to squeeze another 1/8"

 

[CDW6212R]

Update: I built a 3.5" intake for it and I am now at 8psi of boost. So the stock air box was definitely restrictive, even with my air box mod. It's running good, 18 degrees of timing and 11.6 on the WB. I swapped from the TwEECer to the SCT and I like it more. So if anyone wants my TwEECer, it is available.

I did machine the Kenne Belle pulley spacer to shorten it, but I do need to either move it in more, or possibly shim the other pulleys out. It seems to be about 1/4" short total, but I need to squeeze another 1/8"

Thanks for the update, it's sounding better all the time.

That 3.5" inlet piping sounds about right, a 90mm TB would be in that range too.

I gather that kit began for a 94/95 Mustang with a normal stock intake. I'd love to know how the SN95 front snout and pulley parts were usable at all or how much they needed modifying.

I have a KB 2200 that I'm planning to make plenums for and fit to my Mercury, with a TFS R lower intake I just received today.

Would you suggest that the SN95 kit parts helped a lot to make yours fit?

The belt alignment and idler pulley bracket are what I'm wondering about. I'm going to have to support my blower with brackets front and back, instead of the intake plenum. So the location of my blower can be moved a little in any direction to fit best with the parts around that area. All I have now is the bare blower, no snout at all, just a pulley, and no kit parts at all.

 

[Turbo Tim]

The kit was purchased and off my moms 94 Mustang, non gt40 intake. To sweeten the deal, I just swapped intake up with her. She is now a gt40 intake Blueprint Engines 347.

 

[Turbo Tim]

I have her leftover 5.0 short block too. Mine is checking out, noticeable bearing material in oil the last three oil changes of 2000ish miles each.
I haven't figured out what I want to do yet though. Maybe zero deck and re-ring, or forged pistons and rods? Not sure.
One thing I have learned from working at ZZP is... low compression sucks power.
Ported gt40 heads? Cheap aluminum ones?
Definitely staying 302... Well... or 307ish

 

[CDW6212R]

Find a 302 HO which has forged pistons, try to find a Mark VII within range to buy that HO engine. A Mark VII doesn't get abused like a Mustang, those won't smoke after 150k+ miles.

You have GT40P heads, exhaust manifold choices suck, and switching to the normal exhaust port heads doesn't make things much easier.

 

[Turbo Tim]

Post update. I just picked up a 97 Ranger that I am doing a prerunner build on. Soooo its time for the Explorer to go. The truck and the engine/blower combo will be going up for sale. Let me know if anyone is interested.

I am looking for $4000 for the truck (but it has a stock 302 going in this weekend), and $3000 for the Kenne Bell 2.1 kit with the bypass valve upgrade.
$200 for the Roadrunner 3200 stall converter. (which is my favorite upgrade of the whole build)

Profit rolls right into the Ranger.

 

[CDW6212R]

Sorry to hear that you have to sell it Tim.

I'd love to get more details about the individual parts of the front belt/pulley arrangement. Can you help me with that, any pictures and parts dimensions of that?

I'd like to locate my KB in a similar place, so the pulleys/brackets in front may be just what I need to replicate. Regards,

 

[HasFastToys]

Post update. I just picked up a 97 Ranger that I am doing a prerunner build on. Soooo its time for the Explorer to go. The truck and the engine/blower combo will be going up for sale. Let me know if anyone is interested.

I am looking for $4000 for the truck (but it has a stock 302 going in this weekend), and $3000 for the Kenne Bell 2.1 kit with the bypass valve upgrade.
$200 for the Roadrunner 3200 stall converter. (which is my favorite upgrade of the whole build)

Profit rolls right into the Ranger.

Do you still have the blower for sale?

 

[Prock~1338]

I'm also interested if you still have the S/C available, I have cash ready to buy!

 

[ThisMeanMachine]

Still got that kennebell kit? I'd be seriously interested in buying it

 

[CDW6212R]

It sold on eBay, shortly after the post saying he was putting it there.

 

[CDW6212R]

FYI, there is now another SN95 KB kit on the Corral, linked below. He's trying to sell it with a lower GT40 intake, 42# injectors, and a "calibrated" MAF. I would not use a calibrated MAF, those are a crapshoot for whether the voltage curve is proper or not.

http://forums.corral.net/forums/power-adders/2051041-complete-kenne-bell-2-2-kit-94-95-gt.html

 

[Harper]

do you still have the "TwEECer" for sale?
thanks

 

[CDW6212R]

Here's another SN95 KB kit for sale, it's a 2.1 kit and looks a lot like the one from this thread.

http://forums.corral.net/forums/power-adders/2120378-kenne-bell-blowzilla-94-95-a.html

 

[Mesozoic]

KB in an Ex/Mounty! LOL

That's a good combination, for sure... not sure that the drivetrain will handle it, though. I have an '89 5.0L Mustang with a KB 2.2, methanol injected, with a Dart block generating 700+ hp to the crank. I've been crushing the main bearings in my 8.8 axle a lot. With some parts to beef up the 4R70W transmission, that should take it without any issues. You'll need to tune the EEC-V, though... and I'm not sure who makes a strategy definition for the ones found in the Ex/Mounty.

I've been tuning CDAN4 in my '71 Mach 1's EEC-V retrofit for a while and it's definitely purring pretty good now, including controlling the 4R70W transmission, but I'm not sure what's different about that strategy vs the Ex/Mounty strategy. Surely, a couple things. It may be possible to run CDAN4, though... some people have inquired: http://eectuning.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=21267 I prefer using the Moates Quarterhorse instead of the TwEECer, but either are superior to any of the other aftermarket offerings.

 

[CDW6212R]

KB in an Ex/Mounty! LOL

That's a good combination, for sure... not sure that the drivetrain will handle it, though. I have an '89 5.0L Mustang with a KB 2.2, methanol injected, with a Dart block generating 700+ hp to the crank. I've been crushing the main bearings in my 8.8 axle a lot. With some parts to beef up the 4R70W transmission, that should take it without any issues. You'll need to tune the EEC-V, though... and I'm not sure who makes a strategy definition for the ones found in the Ex/Mounty.

I've been tuning CDAN4 in my '71 Mach 1's EEC-V retrofit for a while and it's definitely purring pretty good now, including controlling the 4R70W transmission, but I'm not sure what's different about that strategy vs the Ex/Mounty strategy. Surely, a couple things. It may be possible to run CDAN4, though... some people have inquired: http://eectuning.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=21267 I prefer using the Moates Quarterhorse instead of the TwEECer, but either are superior to any of the other aftermarket offerings.

The 98+ 4R trans can handle 500hp+ without any modifications, just a solid stock unit.

There are tons of tuners very familiar with the 96+ OBDII Explorers, that's easy to handle.


What did you do with that 89 5.0 Mustang to hit 700hp, did you add an A/A IC? The KB 2.2 Mustangs seem to top out near 400rwhp, and generally those are all 302/306's.

I've got a KB 2200 planned for my Mountaineer, for a Dart 332 I'll have built. I'm expecting to be fabricating a 6.5" crank pulley(SN95) with 8 ribs, and use around a 3" blower pulley. With a true air/water IC, I'm aiming for 10-12psi boost with a 9.5:1 engine, and the goal is 500rwhp or more.

Someone should grab the KB kit I just linked to, that price of $2400 is very good. I could almost use it for my Mark VII if I wasn't afraid of that extra power with the 347.

 

[Mesozoic]

The 98+ 4R trans can handle 500hp+ without any modifications, just a solid stock unit.

There are tons of tuners very familiar with the 96+ OBDII Explorers, that's easy to handle.


What did you do with that 89 5.0 Mustang to hit 700hp, did you add an A/A IC? The KB 2.2 Mustangs seem to top out near 400rwhp, and generally those are all 302/306's.

I've got a KB 2200 planned for my Mountaineer, for a Dart 332 I'll have built. I'm expecting to be fabricating a 6.5" crank pulley(SN95) with 8 ribs, and use around a 3" blower pulley. With a true air/water IC, I'm aiming for 10-12psi boost with a 9.5:1 engine, and the goal is 500rwhp or more.

Someone should grab the KB kit I just linked to, that price of $2400 is very good. I could almost use it for my Mark VII if I wasn't afraid of that extra power with the 347.

My friend is a transmission rebuilder and we just went through the process of rebuilding a '99 case with '01 valvebody and a myriad of upgrades to make sure it would handle the torque output of the 10.5:1 compression 408 stroker motor driving it in my '71 Mustang. Apparently, the direct drum and some of the bands are not up to snuff, even on the late model 4R transmissions, but they are generally very stout. I ended up going with a triple clutch disc converter to handle the lockup duties. I'm very happy with my setup now, but losing 3rd and 4th gear are apparently common in stock 4R transmissions behind pumped up V8s. I guess if you drive it gently and have adequate cooling you should be fine, for a while.

Regarding tuners, I'm only interested in the lowest level controls available, so that means Moates Quarterhorse and Tweecer RT. Everything else is essentially "hiding" things from the tuner, so they're not the best choice for those with extreme modifications. Does anyone have a TunerPro or Binary Editor definition for our vehicles? My EEC-V catch code appears to be EOA3.

My '89 Mustang is heavily modified, based on a Dart block (good for 1200 hp), heavily ported Vic Jr. heads, Crane Cams, fully ported induction, including Flowzilla inlet, 90mm Accufab throttle body, EDIS retrofit, full custom exhaust, 15 psi of boost, dual port computer controlled meth injection, etc. The Mustang is on its 3rd iteration of an engine in the last 15 years and is built for speed, with fully modded suspension and drivetrain. It is faster than my motorcycle, which is downright scary! Love that car very much, but I have a family now so it is now a lower priority in my array of fast Fords... my focus is going to be on the Mounty for the short term.

A KB in the Mounty would be fun indeed! If you intend to exceed the 500 hp mark with it however, I would crank up the boost and definitely upgrade the inlet to the Flowzilla manifolds. I believe you can also update your KB case to be liquid cooled which should help with power generation. Since I don't really race my car, I never went for intercooling, but the Mounty does seem to have more space up front than a Fox Mustang and it may be an easier task to accomplish assuming you're TIG welding and pipe fabrication skills are good. I know some guys on the Corral who have done this with good results.

I would just add that I would consider lower static compression on your engine buildup if running 10-15 psi of boost, perhaps in the 8.0-8.5:1 range. The heavier chassis of the truck will load the engine faster and it won't like 9.0:1+, just based on personal experience (and having blown a few engines up with the KB).

 

[CDW6212R]

I hadn't heard of any upgrade possible for the late 4R direct drums, that's always been the smallest part and weakest link. The Dirty Dog Performance business has been my best source of information, and he builds custom TC's, he noted how pitiful almost all the clutches in the converters are. I have an Edge TC that I was going to use for my SUV, but given what Alan(DDP) said, I'll put it in my Mark VII instead.

The 2004 Mustang V6 4R is the best unit to begin with. It has all upgrades including the Jerry's Mod stuff in it already. I've missed out on one of those this year. You want a car VB for any real performance, toss the truck VB.

Finding much help for direct tuning of the OBDII computers without a flasher will be harder. Most everyone uses tuning software for the SCT flashers, and just swap programs into the PCM. That lets people email datalogs and programs back and forth from the tuner. Dyno tuning is still a good final step but many do it by email, or the luck of a tuner's guess at a program. I would check on the tuner forums for more detailed help. I know of a lot of great members on the SBFtech forum who do their own tuning, basically EECIV Mustangs. But doing your own OBDII without a flasher is special, well done for going that way.

I'm planning to build a 351 Clevor one day for my Ranchero, with the 97 Explorer wiring, trans, and PCM. I'll have to work out making a cam synchronizer for that. Others have done it, so I can use the Windsor block. I've missed Clevelands, so I'm going to make something work with the CHI 3V heads.

The Explorers have awful engine space, besides a little extra at the top. The exhaust manifolds are the worst things ever made, and that is no exaggeration. Scrap what you have, and have log manifolds made. Use the 3' of muffler space to mount a pair, and add a tail pipe. That's why these things with a single exhaust barely make 200rwhp. The same GT40 302 in a 93-95 Mustang were around 240rwhp. That's a horrible exhaust.

The KB 2200 is big enough for the power level I'm after(if the exhaust is made right and IC is efficient enough). But I'm not settled on the 332 versus 347, or compression. There are many unknowns. If I knew it'd do and(and keep the blower rpm down), I'd make it a Dart 302 and 9.5:1, but it might take the stroker to get the power there. The stroker is still not a ton more than a 302 with the block and special rods/pistons.

So I'll start with the exhaust, make it 3" dual from the collectors back, the manifolds, and see what crank pulley I can have made 8-rib at close to 6.5" diameter(stock SN95). I have a friend with cut up Flowzilla plenums that he bought from eBay who built one with an IC in it. I just need the blower inlet section, and I'll build the rest to lead to where the stock TB is. A 90mm Accufab might be enough, some guys are now using the bigger oval TB's. I have a TFS R lower intake to mount an IC onto, that's a good starting point with decent ports.

Get that KB kit if you can manage it, that's a better place to start than the other blowers people are using bare to build around.

BTW, I see you have a 400 in that Bronco. I have probably the only "Boss" 400 block ever, I was at one time trying to build a 69 fastback, and I had Cleveland 4V heads. I paid my machinist here back in the early 80's to tap it for screw in freeze plugs, and add Milodon 4-bolt mains. The father(and son machine shop) died and soon after the son killed himself(unrelated). The shop lost my crank and I gave up on the car(bought it completely apart) and had little money. Back then the 400 had the longest rod bolts, and only Pioneer made any. So the rods were stock and polished, with SPS nuts. The Torker intake is still in the box. I do keep things though.