new Blackjack pics

Thanks to Rick and all the moderators who make this such a fantastic site

In case you're slow (or just don't want to read the entire thread) Blackjack was totaled by foreign POS mother #$@%er who didn't know how to yield on November 14, 2007. He rolled into a gas station parking lot and his body was crushed, but he saved my life in the process. In return for that, I've saved everything that I could scavenge so I can save HIS life. He has a CHP 347, rebuilt 4r70w with Baumann shift kit, Ford Racing BD-11 supercharger kit, and a RideTech parallel four link all waiting for installation Here's his original thread post:

Blackjack: Born February 16,1998 in Louisville, Ky. Rescued from Koons Chevy March 20-something, 2000 with 33,333 miles on the Odometer. Couldn't think of any good names and then I heard 'Blackjack' while listening to Brooks and Dunn's Boot Scootin' Boogie. He's been 'Jack' or "f#%^&$ pain in my @$$!" since then. His favorite hobbies are eating money and hunting Blazers, and he enjoys playing pranks (dropping hood on my head, chewing on his power steering rack, mystery squeaks, randomly starting himself up, etc).

All factory options, including 4.0 SOHC, limited slip diff, 4:10 gears, skidplates (on ExplornJ's truck now), sunroof, cass/cd player and changer, leather, blah blah.

Exterior mods:
~Ford Platinum color racing stripes (2 10" stripes, 2" space)
~Ventshades
~Lund Windjammer (painted to match)
~Sport Truck dual fog/driving (SMURF LIGHTS)
~Black Euro III Altezzas w/ cut up slotted tail covers
~20% Tinted Windows all around
~Doetsch Tech Nitro Slammer shocks
~Hella LED sidemarkers
~GT emblem from a 94-98 Mustang
~Explorer Express Rear sway bar
~Truck performance front sway bar bushings
~Diamond clear headlights and corners w/ blue chrome bulbs
~Shortened EB (running board delete option) side skirts

Interior mods:
~Aluminum dash kit by Exotic Wood dash
~Pioneer DEH CD head unit
~Pioneer 6 disk CD changer
~1 pair Pioneer 3ways up front
~1 pair Pioneer 2ways in rear
~2 JL Audio 10w6's in a custom box (replaced with 2 Kicker Vcomp's, thanks for blowing my subs, Meatball :fire: )
~1 Kenwood 729 S amp
~1 pair Pioneer 1" dome tweeters in B pillars
~1 pair Pioneer 3/4" Tweeters in front doors
~Custom MMRUSA "Sport GT" silver/white gauge faces
~Carbon fiber dash bezel
~Cold Cathode Blue neons

Engine mods:
~Valet Remote start/ custom alarm
~KKM
~Flowmaster 50 single straightback
~Taylor Spiro Sparkplug wires

Wheels and tires:
~Foose Nitrous 20x8 and 20x10, grey
~Toyo Proxes 255/50 and 295/45
~1/2" aluminum front spacers w/ extended lugs


The kinda sorta mods:
~lowered approximately 2" via TT and monoleaf block flip
~Brown wire mod, full 2wd hi/low (Yanked the front 4x4 in 2006, the hell with that mod )
~Throttle cable zipties
~Chopped front bumpstops
~Mr. Bat (gave up on replacing blown hood shocks. It's a Das Frem thing, you wouldn't understand)

I run Mobil 1 Synthetic 5w30 and only use Ford filters (Fram ones sometimes knock)

Guestimated 215-220 Horsepower when he was younger, 15.5 seconds 1/4 mile at Cecil County Dragway.

Here's some links to other things I've done with the ol' boy:
Bullitt Rims
Stereo and lights

Truck of the Week, Baby!

Blackjack and Red, my best friend Brennan's rig:

 

[Spas]

Give me a month to get caught up and I'll take you up on that, Kev! What did you do, pray for me?! 'Cuz somebody apparently listened for a change

I wanted a miracle and I got one: Instead of selling my beloved 347, I had a new opportunity pop up 4 days ago. My best friend and her husband got kicked out of her house (long story, her mom needs to be on heavier medication BAD) and they were desperate for a place to live on their own. My aunt has a townhouse that she's willing to rent to the three of us, which means that instead of losing 3/4 of what I make on rent, I now will only be losing 1/4! The only downsides are that the house is in one of the worst parts of my county and that I hate having to share a bathroom. BUT NOW I DON'T HAVE TO SELL MY ENGINE!!!!!!!! Now I can not only get caught up on the bills (and FAST!) but I can finally start making it to more offroad runs and meet & greets So thanks to whoever said a prayer on my behalf

 

[briwayjones]

Sweet! That's awesome Linds. I was sad you were going to have to sell your 347. I'm glad you'll be able to get caught up on your bills too.

 

[Turdle]

Ahhh.
This will make me sleep good tonight.


Who needs roller coasters?

 

[MONMIX]

So thanks to whoever said a prayer on my behalf

some times God does stuff like this on his own too ya know...

 

[Spas]

dilemma, dilemma....

I finally received a settlement offer from the jerk's insurance company... suffice to say, Lindsy is not amused, nor hardly satisfied with the peanuts they're offering.

Breakdown:
Upper Chesapeake Emergency Physicians: 300.00
Medical records fees: 39.75
Harford Memorial Hospital 50.00
Harford County Chiropractic 3,000.00
(negotiated down from 4,985.00)
Stanley *****, MD 500.00
(negotiated from 690.00)
Administrative Expense 45.00
Attorney Fees 3,000.00
(courtesy reduction from 4833.33)

Total Fee & disbursements: 6,934.75

Net Client recovery $7,565.25


Yep, the best the lawyer could get them to offer was 14,500 to cover everything. I ARE PISSED. I won't agree to this because I firmly believe that his insurance company owes me at least as much as they estimated it would cost to repair Blackjack to previous condition, which was in the neighborhood of $12,000. 10k is the bare minimum it's going to take to get him back to where he needs to be (ideally, 14k would be perfect). I wrote this little tidbit out of sheer emotion after reading the letter last night, and I would really appreciate some un-biased opinions from y'all as to whether I have a snowball's chance in front of a jury with this statement:

"I am a strong person… losing my Mom, making horrible credit mistakes and not having more than a handful of family to begin with, has made me that way. I have an unusual and extremely strong attachment to my ‘98 Explorer, who I firmly believe has been one of the major influences on my life for 8 years now and is directly responsible for much of who I am. It is arguable that to hold an inanimate object in such abnormally high regard is neither typical nor rational. To some extent I agree, however, I ask that you respect the fact that I feel my truck to be the one thing in life I can always depend on and that without that dependability I consistently feel very depressed and completely lost. Mr. Dagne is only human, and humans make mistakes. He exercised horrible judgement and had my truck not been in such excellent shape as a result of my devotion, who knows how badly things might have ended for me! I feel you should have to PAY for your mistakes.. God knows I‘ve paid for mine. Seven thousand is not enough to rebuild the one thing in life that makes me truly happy, regardless of whether you agree that me saving my wreck is sane or not. Not to mention that I may never regain full use of my left shoulder, I still have glass in my left hand, and given the fact that I lift heavy objects for a living, I’m having to deal with lower back and neck pain that previously weren’t such an issue! "


The trouble I'm having is getting people to respect the fact that YES, MY INANIMATE OBJECT MEANS THAT MUCH TO ME, and regardless of whether anyone thinks that's wrong, the sumabitch who hit me owes me money to fix said inanimate object back to its prior condition.


Well? Whatcha think? Go to court, possibly get less of a settlement but hopefully more based on emotional trauma and lasting physical injury... or take what they're offering? If you've got something helpfully eloquent that I can add to my statement, share!

 

[Blee1099]

Sadly that is very common with insurance companies and their lawyers. You can try doing a civil case against the insurance company and the guy who hit you but it will cost you a good considerable amount of money, due to the fact your already have negative financial problems, it may just make it worse for you. You'll have to make the hard decision whether to take the $14.5K or try to get them thru circuit court. Just remember that the insurance main job is to pass the blame off as much as possible and to generate as much revenue as possible.

 

[explornj]

i agree with ben and all they have to pay u for your explorer is estimated blue book value for it, trust me i know first hand i hate to say it but it might be time to take what u can and move foward

 

[sn0border88]

Why would they pay to have it restored to its orig condition? You know as well as anyone else that once its totaled they wont pay to restore it.

 

[Spas]

I'm just saying that I think they owe me more than 7,500.

 

[MONMIX]

I would fight the injury angle more.
my exfiance sued me for a quarter mill. for "deminished life style" that is the correct legal term. She won too.


Odds are slim you will get very far with the " You really dont know how much this Explorer means to me " Odds are pretty good you will not find 12 people on the jury that will understand.
You injury is MUCH more relateable.
( is relateable a word ? )

 

[MONMIX]

I'm just saying that I think they owe me more than 7,500.

agree

 

[Spas]

So I found this short little video on an old CD... talk about bittersweet. I miss his 'voice' so much that it almost makes me hesitate about doing a v8 swap


Almost.


http://www.explorerforum.com/files/6507/Jack cecil.MOV

 

[Spas]

Finally, a glimmer of hope! Just sharing this with those who are following my court case

A month ago I was informed that the trial for my lawsuit against the guy who hit me (henceforth referred to as "@$$hole" from this point) was being moved out of the District court, where it was to be decided by a judge, and into the Circuit court for a trial by jury. Not understanding why but having faith in my lawyer, I didn't ask what was going on. I received a ton of questions to fill out last week from the other insurance company and called my lawyer's aide today to clarify a few things... (and I quote, "Oh yeah.. you're the one who was really into her truck. Good Lord, you still have that thing?? I saw the pictures, no wonder you want to sue the pants off of this guy!" ) Without knowing the final verdict on my permanent injuries, apparently @$$hole's insurance company decided they wanted to go to a jury trial instead, presumably thinking that a jury would award LESS money than they previously offered. Here's the thing, though: I'm really not joking about having headaches every damn day, or not being able to lift heavy objects with my left arm anymore- and the final specialist wrote a nice long letter saying so. Had they waited to see said letter, they would've known this. Maybe they think their foreign ignoramus' sob story is going to be better than mine? I don't know.

So instead of being smart and staying in District court, where the max cap on my injuries is $30k (according to Maryland law), these dummies are now in Circuit court by their own choice. WHERE THERE IS NO CAP And I have a glowing review from a well regarded specialist Granted, I shouldn't be so excited over the fact that I'ma be on Advil and Flexeril every day for the rest of my life and probably at the chiropractor's once a week but I love the fact that my lawyer decided to respond to @$$hole's decision for a jury by bumping the settlement request up to $100k

It's totally unrealistic and we all know it but it's a nice little way of saying, "Haha, you idiots. You are so gonna pay for this!"



I can't wait to see what kind of offer they make now

 

[Burns]

This is exacltly how mine went. I hope everything works out for you. Its already been a long process and they will hold it as long as they can. Mine went 2 years before i just said enough and settled with them.

 

[FROADER]

Nice Spas. Good luck with everything!

 

[sn0border88]

I knew I should of charged more for that bumper.

 

[ExplorerSport77]

i hope everything works out for u! fingers crossed.

 

[explornj]

best of luck, u might be able to come out and visit then

 

[xdviper]

(and I quote, "Oh yeah.. you're the one who was really into her truck. Good Lord, you still have that thing?? I saw the pictures, no wonder you want to sue the pants off of this guy!" )

Hell yeah, That was probably and is the best looking Explorer on this forum or anywhere else. I can't wait to see what the final verdit is and hopefully you can start over with another stock Explorer, and make it much better

 

[SuRrEaLNJ]

i must chime in with my typical dont expect much dont get disapointed aproach, but good luck!