supercharged 5.0 true fire 98 explorer sport

hi everyone, my name is tim . i live in selkirk, manitoba, canada and as if this date that i am posting this, i am 36 years old.

i bought my sport in jan 05 from a local ford dealer. it had 111,000KM's on it. this is the second sport i have owned. it was sitting on the lot for about 8 months before i came along. i am the third owner (i was able to track down the person that traded it in, and they got it from a friend, who bought it new in 98).

i started to do a few things to it after i first got it, then i found this site, and all hell broke lose! i've never been satisfied with something the everyone else has, so i started to tinker with it even more.

mods include

interior

installed factory tilt, cruise, overhead console, auto dimming mirror, full length console, with a message center (it didn't have these from factory).

white face with blue flames indigo gauge covers (they light up blue)
blue l.e.d. everything
white l.e.d. interior lights
Kenwood DDX392 Touch Screen Head Unit
alpine 4 channel amp (all four speakers)
boston acoustic front and rear speakers
alpine mono amp (for sub)
2 12 inch jl audio subs
rockford fosgate cap
passenger side one touch window down mod.
custom transfer case shifter
tripple a pillar gauge pod, housing autometer boost, Innovate LC-1 wideband, and oil pressure gauge
12v power inverter with 120v plug in a 2 usb plugs built into the center console

exterior

BMW E46 projectors, mounted into stock housings using clear lens
6000K HID head lights
angel eye "driving" lights, with 8000k h.i.d.'s
clear parking/corner lights
billet grill (powder coated by Turdle)
blacked out ford emblems
custom front steel 95-98 bumper, with 4 inch round tubes welded in for driving lights
shaved radio antenna
shaved roof rack
black euro tall lights
l.e.d. license plate lights
smoked out 3rd break light
lund rear tailgate spoiler/wing (formally from the truck "blackjack" owned by EF member Spas)
hand made roll pan (made from 3 1/2 rear bumpers, with 1/4 inch diamond plate on the top, and it is removable)
aluminum T/A differential griddle/cover (powder coated by Turdle)
Motegi Mr107 20' rims
goodyear wrangler hp p245/50 r20
1 1/4 wheel spacer in the rear, 3/8 in front
and most noticeable, black with blue pearl paint, and blue true fire (ground effects are black with blue pearl as well)

Suspension

2 inch lowering blocks in the rear, reverse TT in the front (2 inch as well)
Explorer Express rear sway bar
4 door leaf springs
rancho rs9000 adjustable rear shocks
03-05 sport trac spindles with drilled and slotted rotors

performance

5L swap
347 stroker
TFS twisted wedge alum heads
comp gold 1.6 rockers
comp cams CCA-35-556-8 nitro cam
heavily modified edelbrock victor jr air gap intake (which serves as a valley pan now)
eaton m122 supercharger (metco 2.70 pulley, and ASP 8 rib 7 1/4 crank pulley) with custom made mount with bell intercooler core
8 rib serpentine belt conversion using pulleys from a 7.3 powerstroke
custom made 3 1/2 inch throttle body elbow
accufab 75mm throttle body
4 inch intake pipe
PMASS MH90 90mm Universal 3000 KG/HR MAF
amsoil cone filter
F.A.S.T. 60lb injectors
edelbrock fuel rails, trick flow specialties fuel pressure regulator with summit racing fuel pressure gauge
walbro 255lph fuel pump
1/2 inch steel braided fuel pressure line from tank to rail using 8AN fittings
torque monster headers
2 1/2 duel pipes with flowpro duel in and out 2 1/2 single muffler
accel extreme 9000 ceramic 45 degree plug wires with boot protectors
4R70W w/2600 stall with J mod
tuff stuff 200a alternator
tuning made possible with sct pro-racer package, and tuned with major help from member [MENTION=102869]Dono[/MENTION] and [MENTION=81804]4pointslow[/MENTION]
flex a lite duel 12 inch electric fans
big 3 upgrade (4 gauge wires)
meziere innercooler water pump
2 froozenboost innercooler rads

Transfer case

4406 manual shift from a 97 F150
modified stock trans cross member to accept 93 mustang 5L polyurethane tans mount
double cardan rear drive shaft

because of all the "fun" i had doing the bodywork, and some other things to my truck, i have nick named it "evil dora" or if you like, just plane "evil"!
and now the thank yous

my buddy gord leiss, who let this thing sit in his garage for 3 months while i did the body work to it. he also gave me a hand with some of the prep work, and painted it for me

kevin willson for doing the true fire http://affordableairbrushing.ca/

Joe Bukoski for letting me do the 5L/4406 swap in his garage

now people from this site, weather they knew it or not, they helped

BIG THANKS to tara a.k.a. explorersport77 for pictures of her truck. wouldn't been able to build the roll pan with out them!

ExplorerSport77's X "Hotness"

jon a.k.a. Turdle for selling me some real swanky rear shackles, as well as powder coating the diff cover and sending them up to canada. as well as much needed info on v8, and 4406 swaps as well as doing the grill and showing me how its done.

don aka dono for the help with the tuning, and wideband, as well as the supercharger

andy aka ahodges for some parts, and any help i needed for all the go faster goodies

5.0 swap - w/ 4406

jad2411 for finding me a link for my hidden antenna

ryan a.k.a. MustangP51 for doing his write up on making l.e.d.'s for interior lights, and how to make projectors

P51's HID Headlight (Projector) and Fog Conversion (PICS)

and N3ELZ cardomain page for L.E.D. switch and cruise pod mods

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/296394/2002-ford-ranger-regular-cab/page-6
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/296394/2002-ford-ranger-regular-cab/page-12
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/296394/2002-ford-ranger-regular-cab/page-23

bob a.k.a. rwenzing for showing me speedhut's sit for the gauges

Gauges, Custom Gauges, Tachometers, Speedometers, Shift Light, Pod

Buzz4x4 for his write up on blacking out ford emblems

How to Make Your Own Custom Ford Emblems

the late aldive for his write up on one touch down passengers window mod

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=141027&highlight=touch+passengers+window+mod

BIG COUNTRY, for his write up on how to install a auto dimming mirror

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=84968

BIG COUNTRY, 98formulaLS1, and Ryon40 for there write ups on how to install a message center

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=225017&highlight=BIG+COUNTRY
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=80670&highlight=message+center
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=245085&highlight=Ryon40

MountaineerGreen for his 4406 swap write up and "Custom" Driveshaft for a 4406 and 4" Superlift on the Cheap " (even tho its lowered

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=166726&highlight=awd+4x4+swap
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=185232

Simon, aka blueka for his "pickle" thread, and help anytime i picked the phone up the phone on the 5L swap

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=271813

Jon, aka 4pointslow for any MAJOR technical advice i have needed

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=219092

i wish i could find who did the write up on the overhead console install, but here is the link

http://www.explorer4x4.com/overhead.htm

Russ aka NICE59FORDF100 for his help on the wiring, and what to watch out for electronically.

hopefully one day, i will be able to help people on here just as much as the people that i have mentioned above!

plus you know you have done something right when.....

your truck (as well as corkey) wins truck of the month

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums//showthread.php?t=296023

is the feature truck on the fun hump day radio show (starts roughly around the 30 min mark)

http://explorerforum.podbean.com/2011/03/23/19-vroom-zoomboom/

and you drive 26 hours ONE WAY to the carlisle all ford nationals in june 2010 and 2011, and grab second place in the s.u.v. all category!

then in 2014 you go back to the same show you have been to 5 years in a row (nothing by most, but its one hell of a long drive) and take first!

 

[vroomzoomboom]

next thing i screwed with today (like i havent screwed with enough stuff already) was the throttle bracket. ive always hated the ford ones because the way ive had to mount them i cant use all the bolts, and they become very flimsy.

i used the hold down that came with my battery bracket thingy, cut the front off the old throttle cable bracket, then welded it to the old hold down

solved a couple of problems. first one, no more flimsy, second, was only getting a little over 3/4 throttle even with the zip tie mod (how long it was doing that, i dont know) now it goes wide open, and last is that now that the throttle body is mounted upside down the bracket doesnt hit anything. so now i am at a stand still until the innercooler rad gets here. i dont want to mount the pump just yet in case something isnt happy where i put it and i have to redo it all over again.

 

[vroomzoomboom]

a while back dono gave me this little rad when he had is black truck. his plan was to innercool it with the m90 that was on it. well, it never happend, and the truck was totaled. fast forward to now, yesterday i pulled the bumper and was going to see what i had to do to mount the new rad. with dons old but never new rad still floating around in my head i wanted to see if it could be mounted. to my surprise, when i looked up, it looked like it would be close. after a small amount of trimming the header panel, and cutting off a few mount tabs from the rad.

will also have to trim a little off the back side of the grill, it fit! almost to where i even wanted the cap, close but no banana.

however i also bought a remote filler cap, and will place it on the passengers side. either under or cut a hole for the cap to fit into the plastic cover between the rad support, and grille

BUT WAIT! theres more!

yea, i know its pretty janky looking, but now i know i can jam not one, but two rads in there! happy days because this will mean even more cooling, which will also mean more block splitting timing i can get don to throw at it when he tunes it! will have to figure out where i am still going to mount the pump however. i am thinking between both rads. ideally under the bottom one, but that will be to low, and to out in the open. cant wait for the weekend to come so i can get this stuff mounted.....somehow...

 

[ahodges]

Thanks a lot of cooling capacity if you can get the air flow! Is one intended for additional engine coolant cooling capacity somehow and the other to be the inter cooler? After taking my truck out again on Monday, the engine coolant temp still tries to climb to 210 degrees without the cooling fans on going down the highway, even with the cowl hood on it.

 

[vroomzoomboom]

both are for the innercooler. the top one might not have lots, but its better then nothing. the bottom one will have lots for sure. and that doesnt sound right. even though i still have the factory idiot gauge, evil wont clime more then haft sitting in traffic on a hot day. at one time it was getting so hot (or the headers were at least) i melted 2 heater boxes. thats when don lasota stepped in and told don and myself we had the timing retarded too much at low rpm.

 

[ahodges]

My factory gauge never moves from a little below half either. The Ford Racing gauge is moving all the time depending on my speed and acceleration. Believe it or not, while sitting in traffic with the fans running, it runs cooler than at 70mph down the highway with the fans turned off.

 

[4pointslow]

both are for the innercooler. the top one might not have lots, but its better then nothing. the bottom one will have lots for sure. and that doesnt sound right. even though i still have the factory idiot gauge, evil wont clime more then haft sitting in traffic on a hot day. at one time it was getting so hot (or the headers were at least) i melted 2 heater boxes. thats when don lasota stepped in and told don and myself we had the timing retarded too much at low rpm.

Do you or Dono know what the timing was and what he recommended it be changed to?

 

[vroomzoomboom]

Do you or Dono know what the timing was and what he recommended it be changed to?

im sure i could find it, would have to do some serious digging into old datalogs and or tunes. but the question is can andy see what his timing is at. and if i remember correctly he had his dyno tuned

 

[vroomzoomboom]

made a bracket for the top innercooler rad

then bolted it to the rad cradle

next i wanted to move the trans cooler lines so they wouldnt rub on the bottom innercooler rad

i then welded a bar going across the frame rails for both the top and bottom mount for the innercooler rads

next will be the pump. still scratching my head on that one. dug around in 4point's thread, found he mounted his. im hoping i will have room for it. his is mounted to the side of the frame. the problem is the pump i have isnt water proof and it is kind sitting out in the open sorta. not enough room to mount it under the battery tray either.

 

[CDW6212R]

How about where the vacuum storage ball is, can it fit in that pocket(will it mount to the metal under the OEM air cleaner)?

 

[vroomzoomboom]

hand a brain fart. the inlet of the pump swivels, so thats a game changer....

 

[vroomzoomboom]

still plugging along. on monday i was able to track down some fittings and hose i needed. by the time i got home was dark, but wanted to make at least one hose up, which i did.....then the next day discovered i plumbed it wrong.....no problem, i still have a good stretch of it (and not cheap either. 13 feet of -12 braided hose will break the wallet). also had to order more fittings as well (remember what i said about breaking the wallet? yea, -12 fittings will also do that to). so they came yesterday. this morning i went out to fix my screw up. ran the hose to where is supposed to go...and managed to cut that one short to......not happy. the big problem was trying to track down a 120 or 150 -12AN hose to fitting. not easily found. had to get yet more fittings today. what the guy told me was to take a 180, stick it in a vice, and on the other end put a socket with a extention and slowly bend it. figured, hey, i mess it up at least i tried, tired to forget i just buggered up a 40ish dollar fitting that is.
well......

it worked! the one on the left used to look like the one on the right, WIN!
so now most of the hoses are cut and ran. i have to get a little bracket welded onto the remote rad cap thingy tomorrow then i can finish all of them. the bottom part of the cooler rad support is also booger welded on as well. i also have to get the fitting that comes out of the back of the innercooler welded on. gaked the threads up using that brass fitting so i no longer trust it and will have a alum one welded into place. once thats done i can now start putting it together for real and none of the mock up stuff!

 

[vroomzoomboom]

innercooler is plumed up and done
oh, don, i can no longer rib you about the zip tie thing. i had to use one lol

also in the year or so that this was put inside the mount, ive never seen how much air flow there was or space for that matter until today. i now know why porting the case makes a big difference.

and if you can sport the difference between this picture and any of the others i have put up, you win a prize

 

[gmanpaint]

The brass elbow? Lol

 

[donalds]

The brass elbow? Lol

I used one just like it for my pcv ....minty

 

[vroomzoomboom]

The brass elbow? Lol

nope

I used one just like it for my pcv ....minty

thats exactly what its going to be for.

the correct answer is nuts on the studs for the intake. which would mean, THIS ***** IS FINALLY GOING BACK TOGETHER!

 

[vroomzoomboom]

so what should have been a glorious day took a hard right into the wall.

i was planning on starting evil today to see what other kinds of disasters waited. i knew i would also need to get a new belt because this new blower sits lower then the m112. what i forgot was how much wrap i needed around the blower pulley. i had the bracket on and off 4 times before i found a good place for the idler, even managed to get rid of one as well. then back and forth to the parts store which also closes early. didnt help either that the guy looking for belts had to look in the book each time while the other guy knew how to read the length with the part number. well, they ran out of belts which made me have to send my kid for drive to get another one. while he was gone, i planed on buttoning everything up. then it happened. i went to plug the water temp sensor that i moved to the thermostat housing. connector in the way of the innercooler inlet. after fighting with that, went to plug it in......wrong plug end.....awesome....kid comes home with the new belt.....belt to short. oh, i also forgot to mention the leak from the fuel line that i fought with for a hour, or the innercooler rad leak that i have been messing around with for days.

so here is how it sits now

belt needs to be put on (or better yet, found) temp sensor needs to be found, plug wires made up, innercooler pump wired, coolant, kick the tires and light the fires then pray this thing starts and runs!

 

[4pointslow]

Could you just change the coolant sensor connector instead of the sensor itself?
Hope you get it all straightened out without too much stress!

 

[410Fortune]

it looks good if that's of any help
Pretty sure this is your new specialty, sorting out these little bugs and hurdles...You can do it!

 

[vroomzoomboom]

Could you just change the coolant sensor connector instead of the sensor itself?
Hope you get it all straightened out without too much stress!

i kinda thought about that, just wasnt sure if the sensor itself would read correctly because one side is for the gauge and the other side is for the computer.

it looks good if that's of any help
Pretty sure this is your new specialty, sorting out these little bugs and hurdles...You can do it!

thanks, in some spots of this i have literally even had to modify nuts and bolts!

im going to see if i can hunt down a belt for sure and possibly a sensor today

 

[ahodges]

It's looking great! So close you can hear it running...