My dads 1938 Explorer.

Great White Drake

You used to call me on my cell phone
Jun 23, 2010
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Basically a 1938 body dropped on a 2000 Explorer sport chassis with some interior switches over. Perfect for my dad.

What is the bolt pattern for these? He wants to do steel wheels with a fat white wall.
 

Dasfinc

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Sep 28, 2007
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Explorer sports never were offered with the V-8 under the hood in the pics, is it an explorer sport frame with a V-8 swap? or a full wheel base V-8 explorer? (Not that it matters at all, that's cool as fuck). Who built this thing? I'm almost surprised that I've never seen or heard of it before.

Wheels are 5X4.5, I have several sets floating around that I'd sell very reasonably that would look killer on that. None are Steelies however :(, but I do have some OEM Mustang 18's that would look dead-sexy on that.
 

Great White Drake

You used to call me on my cell phone
Jun 23, 2010
6,094
8,246
Explorer sports never were offered with the V-8 under the hood in the pics, is it an explorer sport frame with a V-8 swap? or a full wheel base V-8 explorer? (Not that it matters at all, that's cool as fuck). Who built this thing? I'm almost surprised that I've never seen or heard of it before.

Wheels are 5X4.5, I have several sets floating around that I'd sell very reasonably that would look killer on that. None are Steelies however :(, but I do have some OEM Mustang 18's that would look dead-sexy on that.

I was guessing sport because of the wheels base but it might be a full wheel base explorer. Idk much about it, neither does my dad or the guy that sold it :rofl:

Some guy in Florida built it, gave it to his son up here last year and the son didn't have any interest I guess.
 

Dasfinc

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Sep 28, 2007
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I was guessing sport because of the wheels base but it might be a full wheel base explorer. Idk much about it, neither does my dad or the guy that sold it :rofl:

Some guy in Florida built it, gave it to his son up here last year and the son didn't have any interest I guess.

I'm a total loser when it comes to RBV's (That's the general chassis code Rangers/Explorers/Bronco II's were known as).

Those wheels were the 'basic' wheel I think if you got a V-8 powered explorer. The more loaded ones had the tear-drop 16's, or the multi-spoke 'Limited' wheels.

Sports were more commonly found with the 'deer hoof print' wheels for the early models, and then the 16 inch 'teardrop' wheels in later models.

Neither sports or Sport-Trac's came with the V-8 as an option for the 95-05 generation trucks.
 

Great White Drake

You used to call me on my cell phone
Jun 23, 2010
6,094
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I'm a total loser when it comes to RBV's (That's the general chassis code Rangers/Explorers/Bronco II's were known as).

Those wheels were the 'basic' wheel I think if you got a V-8 powered explorer. The more loaded ones had the tear-drop 16's, or the multi-spoke 'Limited' wheels.

Sports were more commonly found with the 'deer hoof print' wheels for the early models, and then the 16 inch 'teardrop' wheels in later models.

Neither sports or Sport-Trac's came with the V-8 as an option for the 95-05 generation trucks.

Thanks for the info. Is there any way to clean this shit up under the hood? What wires to eliminate or is there a missing engine cover? It's shoe horned in there.
 

Dasfinc

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Sep 28, 2007
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Thanks for the info. Is there any way to clean this shit up under the hood? What wires to eliminate or is there a missing engine cover? It's shoe horned in there.

Top left side plug is the main ECU, the 3 fat plugs across the top are normally tucked waaaaay to the driver side down low, and those are the chassis harness wiring (gauges, lights, climate, etc).

No engine cover on those setups, but I'll snap a photo of my motor bay in like 5 minutes if it helps you visualize it
 

Great White Drake

You used to call me on my cell phone
Jun 23, 2010
6,094
8,246
Top left side plug is the main ECU, the 3 fat plugs across the top are normally tucked waaaaay to the driver side down low, and those are the chassis harness wiring (gauges, lights, climate, etc).

No engine cover on those setups, but I'll snap a photo of my motor bay in like 5 minutes if it helps you visualize it

A pic would be helpful fir sure. What year do you think this is? I'm completely lost with Fords. This is a sohc 4.6 right? Not to be a complete dumbass :rofl:
 

Dasfinc

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Sep 28, 2007
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A pic would be helpful fir sure. What year do you think this is? I'm completely lost with Fords. This is a sohc 4.6 right? Not to be a complete dumbass :rofl:

Nope, its the good old 5.0 Small Block.

They made them from 1996-2001 in that flavor.

1996 through half way through 1997 have GT-40 Heads; 1997.5+ have GT-40P Heads (which are a spec better, but have shitty header options). I think the heads have "Three Bars" stamped on them if they are GT-40P heads.

However; I suspect from the wheels alone that its a 96/97 Chassis. The take rate for XLT (Base) V-8 trucks with NO options on 15 inch rims was uncommon after 1997.

I posted a pic of my motorbay just above your post.

The rear will almost certainly be a 3.73 LSD 8.8, and the 'motor plate' (that goes over 2 bolts on the intake manifold) helps identify the year as well.

REAL nitty-gritty, other things that differed year to year aside from the heads:

2 wire or 3 wire Cam Position Sensor (I can't recall which was newer/older)
96-98 Explorers had the VSS/Speedo off the Trans or X-fer case, while 99-01 had it off the rear diff
96-98 were Return-Style fuel system, while 99-01 were Returnless
1998 or 1999 they Introduced PATS (Chip Key) as Standard.
1996-1997 used Conical Air filters, 1998+ Switched to Panel filters and a more traditional 'air box' design.

*edit*

sure looks like it has the Conical filter housing in your pics, so its almost certainly a 1996 or 1997 Explorer under the sheet metal, which means no PATS, and Return style fueling.
 

Dasfinc

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Sep 28, 2007
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I'm just flabergasted still that someone went through that much trouble with an Explorer Chassis! Its not like its a super refined chassis, its a torsion bar front with CV's for the 4wd system in the front (if equipped), and with leaf spring/SRA in the rear

the 02 to....... 2010? Explorers came with the 4.6 Modular motor, and were IRS trucks, WAY more refined, significantly wider under-hood/chassis wise, but not quite as simple to work on as the earlier trucks.

More important for a swap recipient like this is more likely how NARROW the second gen explorers were, and that's what I suspect made this swap preferred over something more modern.
 

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