[94cobra69ss396]

As I mentioned before I'm currently doing a V8 conversion on my Explorer.

So a little background on my truck. It's a 1995 Ford Explorer XLT 4x4 that started off as my wifes daily driver shortly after my first daughter was born. It came with a 4.0 V6 that was rated at 160hp and 225tq. After my second daughter was born we bought a suburban and the Explorer became my offroad vehicle. My first mod was a torsion bar twist, home made rear springs with Warrior shackles and 31x10.5x15 tires. I wheeled it like that for many years before I decided that I wanted to do a solid axle swap on it which I believe I've already posted on here.

On to the donor truck. It used to be Eric's 1997 Eddie Bauer edition 5.0 V8 AWD that he graciously gave to me when he just moved to FL. The v8 was rated at 210hp and 280tq. Quite a bit more than my V6. He bought the truck back when he lived in NY so that should give you an idea of what I'm in store for.

So here are trucks and the start of the engine/transmission/t-case removal. What should have only taken a couple hours took about 16 because everything was so rusted.

[Shaolin Crane]

That exploder engine should be worth more than 210hp. The intake is identical to the cobra in design and the heads are iron castings of the gt40 SVO heads. Toss some head work, and an e-cam with a healthy bump in compression 9.5:1-10:1 and you'll make 280-300rwhp

[94cobra69ss396]

I believe they had a 9.2:1 compression ratio just like the Mustang did. The issue is the ehaust manifolds are pinched and the cam is pretty small. Headers add 20rwhp and 20rwtq with no other mods. I have a set of headers for it but I have to wait until after I get it BAR certified. Then I'll do a cam, headers and a tune.

[Shaolin Crane]

That car will pass with shorty headers and a cam, and as far as i remember they were 9:1 compression. The heads, while better than E7's are still very shitty castings, my SVO heads are only a few years old and have the revised X casting without the port work and were still poor in terms of flow ability. Add a port job while you're able, it will really wake that engine up.

[94cobra69ss396]

I plan to but I can't do the headers until after I have it BAR certified. I know it will pass tailpipe with them but they don't have an EO number so if I install them before I get it certified I will fail the certification.

[Shaolin Crane]

Just go online to the CARB website and print out the certification page for any header that passes then stamp the number onto the headers. If you'd like I can even "find" a tag for you...

[Vettezuki]

Ron, if the original heads I have off of the Snake are of any value to you, you're welcome to them.

[94cobra69ss396]

The Explorer came with either GT40 or GT40P heads which are decent. My Cobra came with GT40 heads and with a couple boltons it put down 254rwhp which should be around 300hp at the crank. I'm just looking to make more than I do now with the V6 so even if I only make 220hp at the crank at first I'd be happy.

You went through the BAR cetification with your Vette didn't you? How picky were they and where did you take it?

[Vettezuki]

Originally Posted by 94cobra69ss396

. . .You went through the BAR cetification with your Vette didn't you? How picky were they and where did you take it?

Yes. I took it to the auto department at Fullerton College where they have an inspector on staff.

They are PICKY. They took about 90 minutes as I recall, here's stuff I had to change after the first attempt.

Remove the more advanced C5 Vette PCV and put on the 2001 F-Body. He caught this by looking at diagrams. Yes, that's correct. The state made me put on the system from my declared year (2001 F-Body) even though it technically was a less efficient system.

Replace the stock 82' Charcoal canister with an F-Body unit. Apparently the charcoal is different.

I don't remember what I originally had, but I had to relabel my check engine light with "MIL".

I passed on the second attempt as I recall.

What they didn't catch is that I was running 4.8L truck heads. I restamped them with the correct casting numbers.

They were curious why the computer wasn't throwing any codes for a pressurized gas tank, but I played dumb and they let it go.

I recommend calling the place you intend to go, talking to the inspector who will do the inspection, and make sure you're reading from the same music. I did this and I'm sure it helped to move things a little bit. If I just scheduled and showed up out of the blue, they may well have been more of a PITA. They will NOT give you a concrete list of "do this and you will pass", some areas are grey and open to interpretation, but they should at least be able to offer guidance.

[Shaolin Crane]

Ron I have someone that can help, guaranteed. Text me for details