Results 1 to 7 of 7
  1. #1
    Da Professuh Raptor05121's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Name
    Alex
    Location
    Live Oak, FL
    Posts
    1,444

    Project White Knight

    Where to start....

    Truck is a 1998 Ford F-150 with a 4.2L Essex V6. She rolled off the Norfolk, VA assembly line in Oct 1997 and was brought home by my dad in July of 1998. M5OD-R2 manual transmission, 60/40 vinyl split bench seat, A/C, radio only, no tach, mickey mouse door mirrors, unpainted front bumper and unpainted steelies with stock Firestones on it. Base model for $13K. He immediately put a Lund TriGlas topper on it and upgraded to some Michelin All-Terrain tires and American Racing Tailgunner chrome wheels. Here is the earliest picture I could find (circa 2001/2002, with me in the foreground):



    Fast forward a few years to 2004/2005 when I started to learn to drive (15) and got into vehicles. I learned to drive this beast by a simple trade off: I wash the truck, and my dad would take me out for driving lessons for 30 minutes. This quickly got out of hand as I would wash the truck 3-5 times a week.



    By the time I was 16 (2006) I've accomplished several mods. I painted the front bumper to match, got a K&N Series-77 CAI, got a chrome grille shell with a billet grille, a Plasmaglow Fire and Ice LED tailgate bar, some Hella 2020 lamps for behind the grille, NBS badge swap with custom white inlays, and some eBay headlights with some rice-tastic 6000K HIDs. Lastly I got rid of the hideous grandpa topper for $400. Here is the truck two years after the one pictured above with the same background:



    Then tragedy struck. I believe it was December of 2006 that I got my first accident. I was traveling through a green light when someone pulled out in front of me and I ran into her (1989 F-150) at an odd angle. My front bumper, hood and drivers side quarter panel needed to be replaced. For Christmas I got some rice-tastic chrome LED lights that didn't work for poop. The truck was still in the body shop when I installed them:



    I took the opportunity to have the body shop paint my new grille shell (I kept the old billet grille since it only got a few bends). This is January of 2007:



    Around that time I went to the junkyard and scored some cool items for the cheap. XLT cluster with tach (and fewer miles, hehe) and some XLT mirrors with chrome caps (seen above).



    Got some Lightning-style headlights with LED-turn signals to replace the ones cracked from the accident:





    Then I moved away from home and to Tallahassee to start my college life. I started by getting rid of the ricer (as my tastes improve) and blacking out some things:



    Added some drop shackles:



    Then I did a major undertaking. I decided to do the infamous 99+ bumper swap. It was much more popular and offered many styles to choose from for valence choices. I started out with a junkyard bumper, upper pad, and XLT valence and Lightning grille. I painted the upper pad and bumper and had them installed while living in a 3rd floor apartment. Here is the truck at work (Jimmy Johns delivery):





    I got tired of the XLT valence. I knew what I wanted. The ultra-rare 2003-only STX valence. Limited number run WITH fog lights. The only way I could manage to score one of these puppies was off a buddy who owned a 2003 STX and got his cracked in a side-swipe. Insurance got him a new one and I bought his for an astounding price of $150 (people are lined up wanting one of these). Of course the catch was it was the wrong color:



    Then the problem of tracking down these rare fog lights was a concern. Turns out Ford used them on Mustangs, Edges, STXs, HDs, and even Focus. Bought these bad boys for $40 from a Mustang store. 9145 45W halogens:



    I got tired of my vinyl 60/40 split bench so after hunting through the junkyards, I came across some Lariat dual captains chairs w/ power everything and lumbar with the center console. Again, a catch. Yup. Wrong color.



    Then I had a radiator problem. I found a pin-hole crack in my tiny radiator. So I upgraded to a dual-core and at the same time did an efan swap with custom made brackets



    And got my windshield done up with some 35% tint:



    Added some gauge overlays and LED backlighting:



    And developed a severe problem in the exhaust system leaving me to deal with 9mpg highway for two months before I figured out it was a clogged catalytic converter issue. Got some of these and went back to 18/21:



    So now we're in late 2010 and everything is well. One night I'm headed into work and a dumb-arse college kid decided to make an illegal uturn in front of me. So I hit him. Bye-bye bumper, pad, headlamp, and hood, with severe damage to my beloved STX valence. (no pics that I could find).

    After getting her back from the body shop. I lost my junkyard bumper and upper pad, as well as the grille surround with my junkyard painting and got a brand new FoMoCo bumper, grille, and shell with body shop quality paint. I still have the slightly scratched hood, the Lightning grille survived the crash, and my STX bumper was patched with bondo. Around this time I also bought a SCT Xcal 3 with custom dyno tuned for $400. That really woke up the beast of a V6!



    Later that month I moved back home. I bought some Lightning-style headlights (black) and got rid of the LED turn signals and got Lightning-style turn signals (also in black) with mind for my next project. Here they are getting cut open:



    And projectors added:



    Random mod. I found the old Hella 2020s I had from years back, modded them with 4x 100W Sylvania Silverstar H3s, and threw them under the rear bumper with custom relay setup for reverse fogs:



    A month later I then ditched my eBay ricer lights with Niteshade and cut open my OEMs for my next retrofit, Harley-style LEDs:



    Don't forget the custom soldering:



    eBay ricers on the left, my home-made on the right:



    Lastly I did a little willy-nilly mod just for fun. Wig-wag foglamps with dual-switching relays. $15 parts and an hours labor. My headlights are HIDs so they went in the fogs (now 9005 65W bulbs):



    That's about it for the mods. So far my truck is at 255,000 miles. The only other things I am missing is the Pioneer CD player with 4x new Pioneer speakers in the cab, Zune HD for music (or my Driod Razr for Pandora). I am also a volunteer firefighter, so I cant forget my toys:

    Laird antenna for VHF (installed by me) and Yaesu FT-2400 Amateur radio with jumper pin mod for use on public service frequencies (also installed by me). Which will soon be replaced by a Kenwood TK-7180.



    I am constantly adding (hopefully slowing down since college and gas is consuming all of my monies!) so check back often. Thanks for reading.

    -Alex
    Last edited by Raptor05121; 01-09-2012 at 09:39 PM.
    4.2L V6 - M5OD | SCT XCal 3 @ JawsRacing | K&N Series-77 | 16" Dual Efans | Magnaflow High-Flows
    50W 5000K FX-R Projectors | Philips LumiLED Taillights | 60" Plasmaglow Fire & Ice | 2" Drop Shackles

  2. #2
    Member Fordguy77's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Name
    Chris
    Location
    A-Town, Colorado
    Posts
    96
    Looks good you have taken it a long way.
    We the Willing, Led by the Unknowing, Are doing the Impossible, For the Ungrateful.
    We have done So Much, With So Little, For So Long, We are now Qualified, To do Anything, With Nothing.

  3. #3
    Super Moderator kozal01's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Name
    Patrick
    Location
    West Michigan
    Posts
    822
    Wow great work! Nice truck!
    2005 F-150 Supercrew Lariat 4x4
    Salvage recovery
    Edge Programmer

    2001 Ranger 4x4
    Salvage recovery
    A few mods

  4. #4
    Member Bothe's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Name
    Scott
    Location
    Kitsap, Washington
    Posts
    97
    Great lookin truck! Your hard work is definitely paying off
    98 F150, Lariat, 4x4, 5.4l, Tow Mirrors, Straight piped, Police/Fire scanner, CB

  5. #5
    TAC 14-2 Carolina Boostin's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Name
    Preston
    Location
    NC
    Posts
    4,214
    nice truck man!!
    2012 supercab ecoboost

  6. #6
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2019
    Name
    KamRoniCC
    Location
    Panama
    Posts
    9

    Project White Knight

    That sound that comes out the fan when it starts, it really hurts.
    Are you already using caps to soften the output voltage?

    An osciloscope, I envy you.

  7. #7
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2019
    Name
    Alex Moroz
    Location
    Ukraine
    Posts
    20
    cool car bro.
    Thanks for the review and info, very useful. I think maybe it’s buying this car. at least a little forum revived.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •