Well guys, I figure it's finally time to start a build thread to document all the things that are going to be happening to my truck in the future. I've had dreams of taking my truck to the next level for years, but now that I'm done with college and have the money to do this, it's finally going to happen!

Here's how the truck sits now. Body lift, 33s, a few exterior mods, a decent sound system, a few little things done to the interior, and bone stock performance-wise outside of a regear to 4.56s....



I picked up this 98 Explorer from work last week. I practically stole it. The 5.0 cranks just fine, and it's going to make a great donor car! It also has power seats, a full length console, and an OHC.







So here's the plans right now:
Overhaul the 5.0 with TM headers, tuner, and other performance mods (cam, intake, exhaust, etc.) to hopefully push around 350HP out of it. I'll be talking to a local racing shop soon about all the specifics and what all I can get on my budget. I'm considering a 347 Stroker kit if I can get it done for the right price. The shop has built a few big block Fords for a good friend that I work with that races mud trucks so I know I'm in good hands. Not to mention I'll be getting a good price for it all.

Rebuild/upgrade the 4R70W transmission from the Expo to be able to handle the motor, and add a good converter as well.

Rebuild the Expo's 8.8 rear, and install 4.30 gears and a LockRight locker. I already have the locker and bearing kit, but the gears were back ordered from Summit. They should be here in about 2 weeks.

Refinish and install the power seats, full length console, and OHC from the Explorer.

Take out the stock Ranger gauge cluster, and make my own custom one with some GlowShift gauges. I've already started working on this, and almost have the bezel done. I just need to order the gauges.

All of that is my immediate priority, and I plan to be done by the end of the year. After that I'll save up for a projector retrofit, spindle lift, 35s, and a few small things here and there.

So that's where I'm at! Any comments, advice, and suggestions along the way are greatly appreciated!

 

Update time! Can't access photobucket at work, so pics will have to come later.

Interior: Pulled the seats, console, and OHC from the Explorer and the seats from the Ranger. I just got new headliner material and the padding/material to redo the console lid in the other day. The console has been painted black, and I'll paint the rest of the interior panels black during the swap. I'll be ordering gauges today, and already have my new gauge bezel made. Once I get the seats and console mocked up in the Ranger, I'll send the seats to get covered in leather.

Drivetrain: I have the Lock Right locker and the ring and pinion master install kit (Richmond) in, just waiting on the ring and pinion since it was backordered from Summit. Should be here in the next 2 weeks. I have a guy lined up to install everything in the 8.8 rear axle and rebuild the 4R70W transmission once I get it pulled from the Explorer.

Motor: Not much done yet, but going to AMS Racing this afternoon to talk motor rebuilds and the possibility/cost of doing a 347 Stroker.

I'll be out of town next week on business so unfortunately nothing is going to get done til I get back, but I plan to have the motor and drivetrain pulled out and sent off that week.

 

Got the gauges delivered and had just enough time to mock them up in my bezel the other night. Once I got the gauges in there, it got me worried that the plastic I got from work isn't going to be stiff enough to hold everything securely while on the road. I'm probably going to order a sheet of aluminum or look for some at work and make another bezel now.



Crappy night pic. Not really sure why the speedo is showing 30mph


I also mounted the OHC then pulled the headliner out and covered it in black suede. It can't go back in yet, though, because I'm still pulling panels out to paint them black.

Work on the Explorer is progressing slowly due to the fact that I have to keep it at my buddy's house because I don't have the room for the Ranger and Explorer to be here at the same time. I'm hoping to pull the motor and drivetrain soon, though.

I was originally going to go with 4.30s in the rear, but Summit kept back ordering them. It worked out well because it gave me more time to run all the calculations and realize that if I'm going to run 35s in the near future after the swap is done, I'd be better off long term with a different ratio than 4.30 which would only be optimal for the 33s I have now. I called Summit to cancel them, and I'm going to go with 4.56s instead. Based on the calcs it should put me right at the stock RPMs of the Explorer with the 3.73s it has now when running at highway speeds in OD. Should get the gears and a G2 diff cover ordered tomorrow. Also got the sick set of projectors Mike had for sale tonight

 

this is going to be awesome

 

4.56s and diff cover from G2 are ordered and already on their way. Also ordered a set of 06 corners that I'll mod to match the headlights. They shipped today as well. I'm still trying to decide what I want to do with the tails and fog lights, though.

I'm trying to get a weekend scheduled where my buddy and I are both free and can pull everything from the Explorer, but it looks like it may not happen til the end of August/early September I feel like the longer this drags out with not being able to pull the motor and drivetrain, the more money I'm going to spend modding everything else because I'm so impatient haha

 

that can be a good thing in terms of having mods done but a bad thing for the wallet haha

 

You're right about that! I hadn't planned on projectors til after the swap, but I just couldn't help myself haha

Since you've got those slick modded tails, help me out Pedro... Modded 06 tails like yours, black LED tails, or the other black "Euro style" (or whatever they're called) lights they sell online?

 

Also Pedro, you have any good tips for recovering the center console lid? I tried it a week or so ago and it looks like crap compared to the pics I saw of yours. I thought since the headliner turned out alright that I could do the console lid, but I was wrong haha

 

I like keeping it close to stock that's why I modded my tails (I'm back to 04 tails right now) but those all LED lightly smoked tails that look like 01-05 that they have on eBay seem to be alright from what I've heard.
I'm going to be getting another set of stock 06+ and order triton V3 LEDs. JP7 got me to want them lol
I pretty much started on the front side where it's curved. Pulled the fabric tight and stapled then worked my way down the sides and to the back of the lid. I used the stock foam and used two layers of the black vinyl

 

Dang those V3s look awesome! Now I have to get some of the switchbacks for the front turn signals lol
The more I look at them, I think I'm going to go with some 06 modded tails. I doubt I'll spring for the V3s in them, but I definitely want to install some LEDs.

Thanks for the tip. I started at the sides and when I got to the curves everything started going downhill. I'll give it another shot this weekend. I guess the best thing to do would be to precut the fabric to the same curve to keep from using relief cuts?

 

Talked to the guy that I have lined up to rebuild the rear end and transmission today...

I had planned to pull them out myself before I brought it to him, but he said I could bring him the whole Explorer, and he'd do all the work and leave the transmission out after he works on it so the motor will be easier to pull later. Only going to charge me a little bit extra to do it. I figure since it'll be awhile before I have time to do it myself and he's already giving me an awesome price for the rebuild, it's worth it. Going to take it to him tomorrow so he can get started!

 

Projectors are in the mail! You should see them in about a week

 

I hate having priorities or those would be mine. At least they'll be on another E4 lol.

As for the lid cover, I got away without making any relief cuts. How? I don't know but it worked out well haha

 

Thanks bud!

Haha I'll try to do you and the rest of the E4 world proud. My goal is to have one of the baddest E4s out there when this thing is done. We'll see what the verdict is by year's end, if not sooner.

I'm going to try the lid cover again tonight. I doubt it'll turn out much worse than the first time lol

 

Got the console recovered last night...


Dropped off the Explorer today at the shop. Going to rebuild the transmission, put in a 2300 stall converter, and rebuild the rear end with the 4.56s and Lock Right locker I got. I also talked to him about pulling the 5.0 for me too while he had it. So in about a week I'll have the trans and rear end done, and I'll be able to take the motor to the race shop to have it built!

Everything right now is leaning towards me doing a 347 Stroker since I can get a lot more power out of it for almost the same price as building it as a 302. We'll make a final decision once I take it to the shop though.

Still working on the interior of the Ranger while all this is going on. Need to recover the speaker box, either add bracing to my gauge cluster or redo it with aluminum, get the seats recovered, and paint the dash and all the other plastics.

 

Goodies waiting for me when I got home today! Soon-to-be-modded 06 corners! Hoping I get a chance to work on these tomorrow so they'll be done before the projectors get here.

 

the lid looks good! make sure constantly move the heatgun when you split those. I've melted a set before lol they'll split easy though.

 

Thanks man. I didn't use any staples at all since my staple gun sucks lol

I cut the fabric in the same shape as the lid and slowly worked my way around with a small flathead screwdriver pushing the fabric between the 2 plastic pieces. Took out 1 or 2 screws at a time just so I could separate the pieces enough to get the fabric and screwdriver in between. The plastic has those little teeth all the way around, and it's holding it in place so far. I rubbed on it pretty hard with my hand when I finished to see if it'd work itself loose, and it stayed tight. I guess we'll see what happens when it's all installed.

As for the corners, I don't have a heat gun so I'll just use the oven method. I'm gonna watch them like a hawk in there haha

 

Those after market corners are much easier then the oem ones 265 for 7 min is usually the trick!

 

wtf now i know. i've been sitting like an idiot burning my hand with a heat gun all these years haha. I've been scared to melt them in the oven.

 

I have only melted one corner ever and it was an OEM 06. (od the 12 sets of corners I have done) the ambers and aftermarket ones are very solid if your cautious.

I think I have a How too posted for how to open them with the oven, let me find it...

Here you go, need to add a few updates to this with some new tricks I have learned since then.

https://www.ranger-forums.com/interi...lights-105069/

 

Dang Pedro, how'd you manage to not ever read the how-to from 2010? haha

 

In an attempt to find something other than the elusive TM headers to replace the terrible performance of the stock headers, I came across these "narrow clearance" headers from Ford Racing. I've tried finding anyone that has ever used them on a Ranger swap, but haven't had any luck at all. They say it clears the GT40P heads, and from the pics, it sits really close to the block.

My question is does anyone know of someone using these in an application like mine, or can someone tell me they know these will/won't fit? If they've been used on a Ranger swap, what kind of performance do they have?

 

Just to update, I got an answer on another thread about the narrow clearance headers, and they won't fit Looks like I'll have to drop the money on the TM headers. I'm sure they'll be worth it and I'll be happy with them in the end, but I just hope I can have some ready to go in by the time everything else is done!

New ring and pinion and diff cover is scheduled to be in Thursday, and I'll drop it off at the transmission shop Friday. I recovered the speaker box Sunday night, and I'm working on painting interior panels in the evenings.

Also talked to an old friend of mine about finding a place to do the swap since I won't be able to use the first place I had planned to do it at. He said he should be able to clear out some room in his shop for us to do the swap whenever everything is ready to be moved over.

 

Nice! a friend of mine is closing on a house at the end of the month and is putting a lift in one of the 3 garage bays. Should be awesome lol