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Very cool build. I am impressed that you built it in that small garage through the winter. I just stepped into my garage thinking I would work on my car and came back inside to watch TV. It was 95* in there at 8:30. Love the scenery at your track, beautiful.
Baby steps but you'll get there. Nice pass for your second time out? I'd be so distracted by the view, I'd forget to shift. Just beautiful.
Lol ya. Its nice out there. The real impressive thing for the day was actually that charger in the left lane there. That thing has just a Scat Pack on it....no forced induction and runs lower-mid-11's.
So I spent my winter hibernation doing more stuff to what is now the most fun car/truck I've ever owned. This stuff is so addictive. Last year my best run was 12.9 on stock 5.3 with maybe 14psi at the most. It was cool to have a full length square body running with newer Camaros and stuff but also kind of disappointing for a turbo V8. So I got a summit stage 3 turbo cam, a 3400 stall converter from Jakes, Some ARP head bolts and some LS9 head gaskets. And some Mickey Thompson Street E/T SS 30"x12.5" tires.
I really need to build a detached shop for extra room.
I'm not good at taking pictures when I do engine work. I get in the zone and then its just done a couple hours later. So I stuffed the camshaft in with APR bolts for the cam gear in it since they were cheap. I cleaned all the carbon off the piston tops, and there was a lot. This engine only had 120k on it and it must have had .060- .100" of carbon build up in the piston dishes. I had to scrape it out with a razor blade very carefully. The rest was uneventful, cleaned heads and put in the new bolts and gaskets. 1218's were already installed last year.
Mickeys in the mail. And then some dash clean up work, mount some speakers in, cut out the dash were the factory radio went and installed ECT and oil pressure gauges. Touch screen head unit in the dash center. I still need to pull the dash again and do some more foam filler and sanding. I plan on painting it the factory dark blue once I get the door panels in too. I would like to add my own power locks and remote. The truck is the most bare bones thing you ever saw. It doesn't even have intermittent wipers, just high and low lol.
sounds about like my truck with the wipers. well....high and low is all that works. but im ok with that. and i took out the electric windows and put manual in. less to worry about. with a good tire, new convertor and cam swap i would think some 11s would be rather easy at that same boost level. i havnt ran my truck yet but its a long bed as well. i did get it weighed the other day. it was 4260 with about half a tank of fuel and me in it. im about 180. i might try and run mine soon and see how it does on street tires. dont have any radials to slap on but thatll come later. .
New brake lines for the front. Ever bled them by yourself?
My stash of washer fluid lol
So at this point, I'll be honest, I was looking at Truckdougs picture of him paining outside and had a moment where I just said **** it. Everyone has always told me it's impossible to paint a car outside. It will get ruined and blah blah, paint jobs are $7k-$15k and have to be done in a room, etc...
I'm over the dented fenders and flaked out paint. It's sort of cool to have that just yanked from the junk yard and throw horse power in it look. But it got old. So I figured I couldn't possibly make it look any worse and went to the store and bought 3 arm loads of supplies. Got some cheap *** GM Galaxy Silver paint at like 80% off since it fell off the shelf in the earthquake here last year. Got a gallon of primer, a gallon of paint and bought a really nice HVLP paint gun with the money saved getting the dented paint cans.
I have a buddy who is a body guy and he came out with his spot welder/puller and stun welder and pulled all the dents.
Some new light lens in the mail and it'll be done. I have it running 17psi now at 12* with a 10gal/hr water meth nozzle for the street. I tuned it up to 21psi for the track but its about impossible to drive it like that on the street. It goes to the track tomorrow to see what the new time is.
Nice work on the truck and the paint job. Did you ever do the 8.8 rear end swap you mentioned in the first post?
I did, it was an easy swap. Minus getting the brake fittings right for the rear brakes I guess.
Tried the track on Sunday but it got rained out. I got 3 passes in before the track shutdown but they were all with sprinkles on the track. No one was hooking and they were only letting cars with treaded tires make passes. I did a 12.9 the first pass and never got into 3rd gear and a 12.4 when I tried the other lane. The last pass was pure spin and they stopped for the day right after. Better luck on the 5th I guess.
There is always something new to build if you get bored with the malibu. I really like this truck but I'm at the point with it as a street truck that I think it would be better to sell it and build a 2005-2007 chevy pickup either 2wd or even lowered awd with the same engine setup with a 4l80e. Something less cool but safer I guess lol.
It feels like riding a box of dynamite with a bleacher seat and a steering wheel.
I did, it was an easy swap. Minus getting the brake fittings right for the rear brakes I guess.
Tried the track on Sunday but it got rained out. I got 3 passes in before the track shutdown but they were all with sprinkles on the track. No one was hooking and they were only letting cars with treaded tires make passes. I did a 12.9 the first pass and never got into 3rd gear and a 12.4 when I tried the other lane. The last pass was pure spin and they stopped for the day right after. Better luck on the 5th I guess.
Do you have a bit more information? Such as what year model Explorer did you get the 8.8 out of? What was the overall width of the 8.8 you used (WMS to WMS)? Sucks for me that you did not get any pictures of when you installed yours. I don't mind the fab work to make it fit, that is part of the fun!
I didnt know they made the ET streets in that size, I wonder how they match up to the 296/65's. I have them on my Square body, it just blows them off thru first and second.
Do you have a bit more information? Such as what year model Explorer did you get the 8.8 out of? What was the overall width of the 8.8 you used (WMS to WMS)? Sucks for me that you did not get any pictures of when you installed yours. I don't mind the fab work to make it fit, that is part of the fun!
I think it was out of a 1997 or 1998 explorer v8 but explorers used the larger 8.8 axles from 1991 through 2003. The 1995+ years have disc brakes. The Explorer axle is 59" from hub surface to hub surface and the factory axle is 64". I'm running a 1.25" spacer on each side and it works with the heavy off set wheels I have which are 15"x10" with a -2" off set. The Axle tube diameter is 3.25", up from the 3" factory axle so you need new U-bolts and nuts. Then just a set of 3.25" perches made for axle-over-spring. The only modifications i made to it was to cut off the top half of the explorers factory rear sway bar mounts because they contacted the frame and the factory shock mounts. Then I just mig welded the perches on, i didnt even drain the oil or pull the diff cover before installing the whole thing. I just set the perches and axle up there unwelded and bolted the springs back in. Then whacked each side with a hammer until i had it sitting square and tacked and welded it all up in place. I reused the trucks factory backer plates and welded on a simple shock mount to the inside of each one which let me use the trucks factory shock mounts off the frame still. Filled it will oil(still never opened the diff cover) and sent it...I still giggle at the fact I've never seen the inside of the axle lol. I'm moving my FPR today to appease the tech guy at the track and ill snap a couple pictures of it in there for you.
Originally Posted by forcd ind
I didnt know they made the ET streets in that size, I wonder how they match up to the 296/65's. I have them on my Square body, it just blows them off thru first and second.
With 30"x12"R15 tires I have just enough room to put a single finger between the body and the tire on inner and outside fender. And I mean a single finger squished in there, there is at best 1/2" of clearance. It's the largest possible tire you can fit in the stock fenders. It might even be the largest tire you can fit without doing a leaf spring relocation. When I measured, the 14" section width tires would be rubbing the leafs. So tubbing a square body is 100% pointless without the accompanying leaf spring relocation, that's a piece of info I never found posted anywhere.
They seemed to work well at the track but they are straight garbage for the roads IMO. They hook when they are hot, as in it better be over 70 degrees outside at min and sunny. They do work in the rain...under 55mph. Do not try to get on a freeway in the rain with them but anything under 55 was ok. They wear out fast as hell, I have some nitto nt555r's that Amazon is supposed to be sending me. Ive been told they are better for the street car that needs the extra traction on the street than the MT's are but the MT's are better on the track.
I still blow the tires up at any speed under 50mph. They do not make 1st gear hook at all but i can down shift at 60mph now and only spin tire until 80 now vs completely spinning through 2nd and into 3rd with normal tires. I won't be getting another set to run on the street, to expensive for tire that lasts a month or two on the road. Great tire if you just drive the truck back and forth from the track and home.
07-19-2019, 10:42 PM
