Kenne Bell supercharged 5.0 Explorer...

[Mesozoic]

Personally, I'm not interested in making that kind of power out of my Mounty as it's a family vehicle; the KB would be much better off in the hands of an enthusiast building a rocketship!

Regarding tuning, most serious tuners I know, particularly tuning professionals, are using Quarterhorse and Tweecer units on Fords. I'm talking about forums like eectuning.org and efidynotuning.org. I retrofitted my '71 Mustang 351 with EEC-V from a late model Crown Vic, built the harnesses and everything, and use it to control the EFI, MSD, EDIS, and 4R70W transmission. EEC-V is completely tuneable, with almost every variable Ford incorporated exposed, but it does require a J3 port device like the QH or Tweecer. Having tuned the 4R in my Mustang for performance quite successfully, I'm really hoping to be able to "jack into" the EEC-V in the Mounty and make it more responsive.

As for the Bronco, I retrofitted the 400 with EEC-IV. EEC-IV is also fully exposed via QH and Tweecer, so I was able to turn the EDIS8 ignition on and retrofit that successfully. This has been a huge help when wading thru deep water crossings since the ignition is fully sealed and solid state, unlike a distributor. The sequential injection has really helped the fuel economy, but most importantly, it starts easy regardless of the altitude and temperature and it doesn't stall when rockcrawling. I rebuilt the motor using stock internals, but upgraded the rod bolts to ARP units, used improved oiling components, and bored it 0.030" over. A mild Crane cam and Cloyes timing chain really woke the 400 up - it generates up to 320 hp and 450 ft-lbs of torque at only 2000 RPM!

 

[CDW6212R]

The 98-01 302 Explorer and Mountaineer are the best most reliable SUV's Ford has made. The engine and trans is thoroughly developed, unlike most all other SUV's Ford has made. Enjoy it in any form, there are countless versions member have here, from bone stock to radically modified trucks. I prefer the SUV usage, all around nice street truck for everyday use. My 99 was originally for work, but now it's a spare and for the dirty jobs SUV.

 

[Mesozoic]

Hehe yeah, my old Bronco has been relegated to dirty stuff duties these days. It's got 1/2" thick rubber lining the interior so it's good for transporting dirty engines. The Herculiner flooring makes it easy to cleanup with a hose.

I just discovered that my Mounty was originally equipped with the Mach sound system and the previous owners has replaced the head unit with an aftermarket one, but wired it up correctly (with the exception of the controls in the steering wheel). The sound is pretty nice!

Anyhow, to help with the inherent heat soak that is inevitable with a KB, make sure that whatever kit you install has the built-in bypass valve. Not all of them do and it's good for a significant reduction in ACTs.

 

[CDW6212R]

I love the big buttons of the OEM radios, the MACH is really good(it's a true Pioneer deck). Though people change them out because they all have a defect in them(the display power board has poor solder joints(lots of them)). A Dorman replacement fixes that. I sent my Mach radio to a special guy who worked on them years ago. He added five RCA outlets to mine, so I can wire them directly to some nice Nakamichi amps I have. I have too many things to do.


BTW, on the subject of Kenne Bell blowers, check out this one of the fastest two SBF KB cars ever. This is a recent build I just discovered on the Corral. This one is patterned after another Fox Mustang, a convertible that is now being converted to 100% methanol fuel. So this one is brand new, for C16 gas only, using a KB 2800, 358 9:1 8.2 block SBF. At 18psi so far, on his last racing license run he hit 8.65 seconds and 160mph.

http://forums.corral.net/forums/mem.../1997026-project-89-saleen-8-5-o-l-build.html

I was asking him about where he placed his A2W IC. It turns out that he's using the same TFS R lower that I'm going to, and the IC box is right on top of the lower. His is a race car, so he cut the cowl and placed the inlet aimed out back at the windshield. I can learn some things he pointed out in his build thread.