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!

 

[gmanpaint]

Little late but, if you heat that up in the oven, then that 12 ton press might remove it.

 

[vroomzoomboom]

Little late but, if you heat that up in the oven, then that 12 ton press might remove it.

not a bad idea. im just wondering one thing with that. the gears are metal, and i believe the rotors are alum. i would think the alum might expand faster then the metal gears?
either way i will have all winter to play around with them in the gas chamber. that and i buddy of mine has a 20 ton that i would think will work. then again i have been wrong before.

 

[vroomzoomboom]

well.......


filled the snout last night when i came home from work, went out after my last post to see if the level dropped, didnt look like it did. started it up, took it for a drive. the first few mins when even i even haft way got on the gas, it smoked out everything and anything behind me. thinking ok, its rich at idle because after all, i did knida rush don with the tuning and there are some spots we need to figure out still. i figured i would take it out on the highway to "clear its throat". seemed to work, no smoke. blower not making any weird sounds either.
came home, popped the hood, all seemed like it should. shut it off and pulled the plug......nothing comes out. i bought a few extra bottles of oil just in case as well. i dumped one in, and that was enough to tell me, this pack has the same problem as the other one.
going to try and see if i can find a place in canada that rebuilds them first before looking down in the u.s.
lessen learned. never buy a supercharger that has been sitting on the shelf for 10+ years with no mileage on it

 

[ahodges]

man you can't catch a break...

 

[vroomzoomboom]

man you can't catch a break...

sure i can! break the wallet, break the bank....

 

[ahodges]

sure i can! break the wallet, break the bank....

True enough..

 

[donalds]

Send both packs in
Seems like you're going to need a spare
Man this sucks

 

[vroomzoomboom]

Send both packs in
Seems like you're going to need a spare
Man this sucks

im trying to find a place in Canada that does them. So far it seems like nobody up here does them...

 

[vroomzoomboom]

looks like im hooped. i have called a number of places up here, and nobody knows of anyone that rebuilds rotor packs up here. what i am more then likely going to have to do is gut the case of the rotor pack, block the front of the case off and have the motor run n/a for the winter depending on how bad the tune will be out. i do normally take it for a spin just to get everything moving or move it to clear snow out of the back yard.

 

[vroomzoomboom]

got around to taking the rotors out today

oil on the back side of the case, not dout this rotor pack has the same as the old one. that and even though this is a pretty close up pick, im a little concerned now with what the case looks like with the scratches. but once again, its a close up.

so to move this thing around when winter hits (and we did get a tiny amount of snow the other day, but its gone now) i made a block off plate for the front of the case and will have to run it n/a. that also means no stomping on it, or more they likely i will drown it in fuel

stock belt also went on, minus one pulley. barely fit, but it did fit. kinda close to the upper rad hose, but it does clear it! i also started it to make sure it will run, and there were no problems.
now a new decision i have on my hands. i have found another supercharger down in the u.s. this time it is used with around 28K miles on it for around the same price as it might cost to get one rotor pack rebuilt. im on the fence here.

 

[4pointslow]

I would have the rotor pack rebuilt, and buy the other supercharger in hopes that it could be installed right away.
Do both, but save enough money for Ramen noodles. LOL. We need to hit the lottery so we have more time and money to spend on our Explorers.

 

[vroomzoomboom]

i would do both, but i would have to sell my body.......and i think the KBB is like $10.60?
and like i have said in the past. should have been a drug addict, its cheaper.

 

[ahodges]

But you would have less to show for your money.. Come on now!

 

[vroomzoomboom]

im more then likely now going send both packs to stiegemeier. hopefully they can repair one, and i will see if they would like to buy the other as a core.
ive also been thinking that now that this thing got way faster overnight, need to start thinking safety stuff because sooner or later they will pick it apart when i go to the strip. one thing i wanted to put in for a long time was a driveshaft loop. lucky for me, i found one today at a shop that was liquidating for $5 NIB

 

[vroomzoomboom]

i think i may have found the smoking gun.
this oil problem has been driving me nuts over the last few weeks. yesterday i had dropped some stuff off to dono (for those that may not know, hes only 15-20 mins from me) and we both had agreed that its something other then bad seals. its also good to have him this close because we can bounce things off each other. that and the explorer he had before this one was a supercharged one, as well as he has a mustang with a supercharger, and knows explorers. i had also told him i had the newest rotor pack soaking in oil for the last 2 weeks and couldnt find any evidence of a leak.

so tonight i went out to the gas chamber (shed, its cooled off now so i have to use my heater in there) and thought long and hard. i grabbed the damaged pack and soaked it, but using brake clean.

not long after i could see some stains on the backside of the plate. also now knowing the seals that are used are nothing like rubber and not easily damaged, i started looking.
now remember, this is now a hybrid using a m112 snout and a m122 case and rotors. the bolt patter is for the most part the same for both.......except for the bottom. there are 2 bolts at the very bottom and only one dead center for the m122. i will have to think there might not be a lot of people that are running this type of set up but who knows. i grabbed the snout and put it on the rotor pack to see if i could find something.

this is the back side of the rotor pack that faces the supercharger case. the little red circle is where the bolt would go if i were using a m122 snout, you can see the holes from the m112 snout on either side. i cheated and never drilled a hole for that bolt. also when i seal these, i use a thin layer of silicone. that little space there is small enough i was barely able to focus in to get a pic.

now where that bolt would go.
im pretty sure that is a blind bolt hole, but i am not going to dismiss it because the snout and case are the 2 things that never changed on this problem, as well as when don and i were talking we both agreed as well its pretty unlikely i got to packs both with bad seals, even when the newest one i bought still had oil in it. luck has it it will be warmer this week, so i am going to see if there are frost plugs that small and if someone has one, i will plug that hole up, and try this all over again. worst will happen is it doesnt work, right?

 

[donalds]

don and i were talking we both agreed as well its pretty unlikely i got to packs both with bad seals, even when the newest one i bought still had oil in it.

I agree 2packs in a row not likely

I'd cut off a scrap bolt then cut a slot like a flathead screwdriver use some liquid sealant

Make your grub screw
Or buy one lol

 

[ahodges]

If I'm looking at this right, without that bolt in the bottom, you could be distorting the snout/ rotor pack as well when you torque the other bolts down, right? Is there room to drill a hole in the M112 snout to allow you to put that bolt in like the M122 was designed? If not, what about machining it?

 

[Dono]

Love it Tim! great find. I'm really hoping you can prove this to yourself easily. This makes perfect sense.

 

[vroomzoomboom]

If I'm looking at this right, without that bolt in the bottom, you could be distorting the snout/ rotor pack as well when you torque the other bolts down, right? Is there room to drill a hole in the M112 snout to allow you to put that bolt in like the M122 was designed? If not, what about machining it?

i cant say yes or no to distorting it. if that bolt was on the top, i would probably be more concerned about it because the snout is being forced down when the belt is on. i had also gave both snouts to a friend of mine that is a machinist as well when i was putting everything together (he drilled at tapped the case for me as well as milled the bottom of the m112 for me). his problem was that on the back side there are ribs that he would have to drill through. then the next problem would be sealing the bolt hole on the front side to keep it from leaking. however, if this doesnt work, what i might do is see if it is possible to cut the bottom of the m122 snout off, and weld it to the bottom of the m112 snout. that may or may not happen, and if it does happen, that would be more towards spring time.

i found a plug for it this morning, but i will have to drill the hole a little bigger to fit it. the good news about that will be that i can drill it about a 1/8 of the way in and not from one end to the other.

 

[vroomzoomboom]

With frost plug

And that’s NOT a blind hole!
And there you have it folks!