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:

 

[briwayjones]

Did you ever get the problem with with crappy job with the body work on rear panel straightened out?

 

[Spas]

Did you ever get the problem with with crappy job with the body work on rear panel straightened out?

Ironic choice of words there.. No, our body shop sucks big time. They made the quarter panel perfectly flat instead of curved like every other Explorer on the planet, and then somehow bent my tail light and put a washer behind one of the mounting bolts to make it match the body better. It still sticks out, and now my tail light leaks. If I were just a regular customer I'd raise hell but since I work here my boss told me to suck it up and deal with it

 

[Dan Whitaker]

If I were just a regular customer I'd raise hell but since I work here my boss told me to suck it up and deal with it

That's a buch of crap. Regardless if you work there or not you are still a customer.

Did insurence pay for the repair? If so I would let them handle the problem.

 

[briwayjones]

Ironic choice of words there.. No, our body shop sucks big time. They made the quarter panel perfectly flat instead of curved like every other Explorer on the planet, and then somehow bent my tail light and put a washer behind one of the mounting bolts to make it match the body better. It still sticks out, and now my tail light leaks. If I were just a regular customer I'd raise hell but since I work here my boss told me to suck it up and deal with it

Woah, don't settle for that. They didn't fix it right period. Especially needing to stick washers behind bolts to get things to fit right. Just because you work there does not change your rights. In fact they should treat you better if anything. If the insurance paid for it I would bring them in on it. I think there is some kind of Ford regional office or something you can contact about dealer misconduct. I remember somebody posting something like that somewhere. Don't let it go. I am pissed and it's not even my vehicle. That is just plain wrong.

 

[JIGAWHAAT]

Surprisingly I have never seen your rig on here until now. About a month ago I noticed a mustang in my rearview with the stripes on it. I quickly wondered how the stripes would look on an explorer. Now I have that answer.
Sweet!

JIGA

 

[Spas]

Woah, don't settle for that. They didn't fix it right period. Especially needing to stick washers behind bolts to get things to fit right. Just because you work there does not change your rights. In fact they should treat you better if anything. If the insurance paid for it I would bring them in on it. I think there is some kind of Ford regional office or something you can contact about dealer misconduct. I remember somebody posting something like that somewhere. Don't let it go. I am pissed and it's not even my vehicle. That is just plain wrong.

I know it's wrong, but if I make a fuss it puts me on the **** list with the bosses and BELIEVE ME, after this week and all the stunts I've pulled over the last few months with Morgan, I'm pretty far along as far as 'next in line to get fired' Our new body shop manager is a scumball who overcharges the customers anyway, so that doesn't help matters any either. The insurance company wants nothing to do with me because they recommended me taking my claim elsewhere and made it crystal clear that they have set rates and would not dish out any extra money as dealers usually charge more than independent body shops. I'd just get an "I told you so" if I reported the shoddy work to them. Someday I'll get Jack's body fixed right, but for now I want to concentrate on the performance aspect.

 

[Spas]

Surprisingly I have never seen your rig on here until now. About a month ago I noticed a mustang in my rearview with the stripes on it. I quickly wondered how the stripes would look on an explorer. Now I have that answer.
Sweet!

JIGA

Tank yew

I'm addicted to stripes.. sometime before the big Carlisle show this summer I want to have my offroader painted grey with black stripes just to mirror Blackjack

 

[DeRocha]

I like the look of stripes as well.. Of course you have to have just the right width and just the right spacing between them...

 

[Spas]

I like the look of stripes as well.. Of course you have to have just the right width and just the right spacing between them...

I still think mine are too close together :

 

[JIGAWHAAT]

I still think mine are too close together :

Let it go bro....I tend to get way too **** about things also. Your stripes are dead on....
JIGA

 

[briwayjones]

Nevermind

 

[briwayjones]

I'm pretty far along as far as 'next in line to get fired

How hard would it for you to leave and get a job at another dealer?

 

[Spas]

Aw come on Brian, I was looking forward to posting a pic of me hiding in the wreck's now-empty engine bay tomorrow and seeing what Jiga posted when he realized I'm a girl. Spoilsport

It would be really easy for me to get a job at any Ford dealer because I work my @$$ off for this company and every dealer for three counties knows it but Plaza puts up with my quirks and, with the exception of the body shop fiasco, they treat me phenomenally well. I really do love my job

It occurred to me as I was editing my first post to show some new mods that I have pictures of Jack with Tank and Shelby but not his newest sibling so I feel I have to put this here, lol:

 

[Turdle]

Ohhhh--
I can't wait to see this engine in Blackjack!

How much power are you going to go for???

 

[briwayjones]

and seeing what Jiga posted when he realized I'm a girl. Spoilsport

Quick edit your post I got rid of the evidence.

 

[Tilt168]

Tank yew

I'm addicted to stripes.. sometime before the big Carlisle show this summer I want to have my offroader painted grey with black stripes just to mirror Blackjack

noooooooo! you can't!!! that was my new idea! *grumble* back to the drawing board....

 

[Spas]

Quick edit your post I got rid of the evidence.

Lol, too late. It's all good, thank you


Jt, I haven't crunched the horsepower numbers yet because it'll be a LOOOOONG time before I get the whole shebang together, but the current ideas call for: a 331 stroker kit in a balanced, bored and decked block with forged internals and Fel-Pro gaskets; Either a Victor Jr, Edelbrock or Trick Flow intake; Torque Monster headers (if they'll fit.. dunno anyone who's ever done this to a 2nd Gen sport before!); and a Vortec or lower end (read, no more than 9psi) supercharger if I can find one I can afford. First things first, though. As soon as I'm settled into my new place I'm going to start pulling the engine apart and finding a reputable shop to begin straightening up the block and installing the stroker

 

[Dan Whitaker]

Jtsmith is running a 347 stroker w/o a charger with TM headers in his Mountaineer. It would be the same as your sport.

 

[JDraper]

......Glad I added the extra cooler way back when, never had any serious problems with it. .......

I remember a LARGE puddle on a certain garage floor from that.....

 

[Spas]

I remember a LARGE puddle on a certain garage floor from that.....

I'm 100% sure that cooler (and the resulting lake it made on your garage floor when we put it in) is the reason that my transmission still shifts as smooth as butter and doesn't leak, even with 133,967 miles on it


Dan, I'm banking on the rumor that all 2nd Gens are the same from the headlights to the middle of the front door.. all I know for sure is that there's a HECKUVA lot less room to work with under a sport so I really hope the Torque Monsters fit with no issues

I have to check and see if this can be done without the fuzz realizing it, but there are electronically closing exhaust cut-offs for fairly cheap that would be awesome to put just after the headers. If I can pull it off, I'd really like to come up with a chip that has street/strip modes: When in street mode the exhaust will flow normally through a true dual 2.5" set up with one hi-flo cat each and the engine/transmission will be in daily driver function, but put him in race mode and the exhaust dumps from the headers, the transmission shift points alter for racing and the engine program optimizes for track running. Obviously that should be for 1/4 mile use only, but you could you imagine the look on the face of the guy challenging you to a stoplight race when your truck suddenly gets REALLY loud and menacing??? Ooooo, I just gave myself goosebumps, lol. Bonus points if I can figure out how to make this switch reside in the same place that my non-functioning 4wd dial is located!

This is probably damn near impossible to pull off, but I can dream I find if you shoot for the stars, you get closer than you would if you were only aiming for the clouds, though