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]

my machinist was a busy guy. flex plate came in friday, that night he balanced it and also ultrasoniced the crank. man, did that come out spotless!

don, you nailed it when you said what flexplate

pretty much the same as yours, just more holes for different mounting. i will however have to drill them out a little. way too tight!

i also started to lock the crank down. was pretty surprised on how it came out. this is the main cap bearing from june 2017, and god knows how many redlines....

this was today

also, end play from june 2017

today

how i got pretty much the same measurements on the same parts from 4 years ago baffles me. especially on how bad a abuse this truck (and i know don will back me up on that to!)
couldnt go any further because i could find a piston ring compressor till late afternoon, and i wanted to take evil out for possibly the last cruise night of the year as its getting pretty cool out. it did however show some kid in a 05-10 gt what a explorers tail lights look like. he was able to keep up for the first 10 feet however.
speaking of brakes and such, evil also decided to cut cruise control from its list of comforts. now i get to find out if i have a bad BOO switch, or BPP. nice thing is a have a truck at work i have been picking parts off so i will rob them tomorrow or next day. hopefully i will fix that before it gets parked for winter. i also want to get the pistons in on the weekend as well, then i can decide if i am going to use my stock tfs heads, or wait and use dons fully ported ones. will have some time to think, comp cams backordered my cam....wonderful.

 

[vroomzoomboom]

well.....crap

been picking away at the motor for a bit (and also waiting for my cam to come in, which it finally did). i had all the pistons in, but wanted to pull 6 of them because i wasnt sure i staggered the rings right. well this is what number six looks like. the good is its not making contact with the cylinder wall, the bad.....im putting it back in. i dont have the cash to do a complete rebuild (after just balancing the crank to) so once again, add to the broken stuff i did to this motor, and see how long it lasts in the spring.

 

[donalds]

Just can't catch a break

 

[vroomzoomboom]

Just can't catch a break

oh i have.
broken parts, bank account, knuckles, dreams....

 

[Dono]

broken bank account, for sure. Tell me why we do this again?

 

[vroomzoomboom]

broken bank account, for sure. Tell me why we do this again?

because hotroders, and car guys make the worst financial decisions, thats my story and im sticking to it

 

[vroomzoomboom]

this is the gimpy piston in the cylider. hopefully it holds, that and who knows how long its been like that.

both heads are on now. i almost forgot to put the lifters in first. that would have really sucked if i torqued the heads down THEN remembered. will hopefully finish it next weekend.

 

[vroomzoomboom]

heres my little update. it was gnawing at me about putting a gimp piston in. i also learned that mls gaskets dont go to the top of the heads, and leave a small gape between the head and block. so well over a month ago i ordered a single piston to replace the damaged one, and 2 gaskets. well, jegs somehow dropped the ball, and ordered the wrong piston (even after me giving them the part number i got directly from mahle) and after waiting 3 weeks for it to come. i have had to re order the piston again, along with a ring pack that i am waiting pretty impatiently for at that, and it also looks like i am going to learn to file rings now to. kinda aggravated on all of this. i wanted to have the motor back together before it got cold up here. now i will have to heat the gas chamber up which i really dont want to do, because the block will frost over while doing it, then thaw and sweat. i also cant leave it apart till spring because everything will flash rust, and i have soaked it now twice in oil.
joy.....

 

[Dono]

Situation normal. Tell me again why we do this?

 

[vroomzoomboom]

Situation normal. Tell me again why we do this?

because it really screws with peoples minds when you click off a 12.55 and hit 109 mph! lol

i will say this, its looking more and more like i will keep your motor in evil. getting to the point i really dont want to swap it over lol

 

[Dono]

By spring you might find some renewed energy.
I'm glad your replacing that piston.

Also, I don't envy you on file fitting the rings. That looks extremely time consuming and tedious. In the gas chamber doing this won't be fun.
I hate winter, I've just never been able to embrace the so called 'beauty'.

 

[vroomzoomboom]

my little update.

piston and ring set finally arrived.

had concerns they would be a different weight but according to mahle they are the same as the pistons that i have now (there is a change up in how the rings are in this one).

had to buy a ring gapping tool for doing ONE set of rings (lucky for me i was able to sell it to a co worker who needed it, so it only cost 10 bucks in the end). i have never gapped rings before so we will se how this goes......or blows. i did gap them to .025. the ones that these replaced looked like they were gapped at .022. didnt want to chance it, and once again mahle recommended i gap them to .025 with it being a forced induction moto.

had the week off between christmans and new years. and because the powers at charge has scared most of the world, and our government here, christmas family dinner was canceled for the second time in as many years, i spend christmas putting the motor back together. side note, for those that live in the warm part of the world, that green thing to the right in the picture is called a snowblower. be happy you dont know what it is or how to use it.

once again, evil is sleeping again this winter. i had a new years tradition in where i would jump in it close to midnight and go for a drive, but i found it was kinda harder on it with the stroker and blower on it. even though don drove his truck in the winter (and this is his old motor in it right now), she will more then likely stay in this spot until it warms up......in march or april.......

i am however still buying and selling trucks. i even managed somehow to quit smoking again (hope i can kick it forever). the cost of it was pretty expensive, so who knows, more money for go faster parts. or a house with a garage would be pretty nice! lol

 

[4pointslow]

I vote for the house with garage, better make that a heated garage.
My garage is not heated, I have a small electric heater, but it barely does anything.
It was warm here until January and I managed to get a water pump done on my Ranger.
Now it is cold and I wont be doing anything until it warms up, which is probably March or April here too.

Are you going to put your engine back in when it gets warm?

 

[CDW6212R]

Very nice pistons, those are the best and lightest I'd bet.

I'd vote for the house, garage, and/or a car port and add a heater to it. I have an issue with my house AC, and I bought a 30,000 BTU heater to replace my decorative fireplace insert. The heaters are now as little as $200 or so for that much heat, and can be had for natural gas or propane. This type I got is a ventless design, efficient enough to run a long time indoors in most cases.

 

[vroomzoomboom]

I vote for the house with garage, better make that a heated garage.
My garage is not heated, I have a small electric heater, but it barely does anything.
It was warm here until January and I managed to get a water pump done on my Ranger.
Now it is cold and I wont be doing anything until it warms up, which is probably March or April here too.

Are you going to put your engine back in when it gets warm?

it will be heated for sure, or insulated at the minimum. even my shed can get pretty chilly (to the point the propane tank starts to freeze while the heater is going). the only thing is i would have to sell this house and buy another, and i can live cheep here.
i dont think i am going to put this motor back in for now. looking at the 1/4 time slips, dons motor is making a lot more power this motor. unless something happens to dons motor, this motor may end up staying on the stand for a little while. im also kinda kicking around the idea of a holley terminator x system still. idk, i get too much time to think on what to do to this think over the winter.

 

[Dono]

I'd love to see a Holley system in use. I think its super cool that you can use a wideband in each bank and let the holly keep wot afr's at whats commanded.
I'd be interested as to how easy or hard it is to control the 4r70w trans.

It would be a fun project.

 

[CDW6212R]

From what I've read, the high end Holley systems do very well with the engine and the 4R trans. I wish they made one that would control the 2012+ 6R80 also, that one is expensive for the stand alone controller.

 

[vroomzoomboom]

I'd love to see a Holley system in use. I think its super cool that you can use a wideband in each bank and let the holly keep wot afr's at whats commanded.
I'd be interested as to how easy or hard it is to control the 4r70w trans.

It would be a fun project.

SWEET! now i know who to get to put it in!!!! think of the fun, working on your old motor and all

there is a guy on market place that has a system up for sale, but from a foxbody so i dont know if that would even work or not.

 

[Dono]

Id think if its off a 302 windsor with the 4r70w it would.
What do I know though?

I'm not sure how it interfaces with stuff like your gauges, air conditioning, that sort of stuff.
You might end up with having to make a holley digital dash work....no idea.

 

[CDW6212R]

I think the Fox Mustang version is mainly about the wiring connectors, to make them plug and play. You'd have to remake the connectors for sure, and the wire length will be for the Fox, which has the PCM in the right kick panel. You could contact Holley for the actual details, it might be a great deal.