Better sit down for this....
(http://www.coolcats.net/sotc/images/98mountaineer01.jpg)
1998 Mercury Mountaineer, 5.0, AWD, leather, moonroof, all power, loaded up.
I said, "Screw you, Old Man Winter, I will beat you now! Bwahahahahahaha!" Or something. ;)
Better photos this coming week.
Gonna make a super secret grill for that one too?
oh no not the exploder...lol
sweet ride eric. you were hinting about getting something around here awhile ago...i was wondering what it was gonna be...
Can't wait to see the convertable version ;) .
Haha, nicely loaded for a DD, did you get a good deal on it?
So if ya won't be needing that Blue Max Cougar anymore just send it to Chicago and I'll take car of it for you :D . Nice Mountainer I like the color. Btw did all Mountainers come with the 5.0? I don't recall seeing one of that vintage without a V8 badge.
No secret grille. Well, now that you mention it, that's not a bad idea. Hmmm.... ;)
Yeah, it was a REAL good deal for the year, mileage, and price range. Best thing is, it came from an exotic car dealer. Got to mess around with a few Porsches while I was there. They had a new Boxter coupe under a black silk cover. Not for public eyes until next month...but my dad and I got an exclusive sneak peek. ;)
All 1997 (first year) Mountaineers were 5.0 and AWD. Starting in 1998 you could get the 4.0 V6 or the 5.0 V8; 2WD, 4WD or AWD. The AWD/V8 combo was definitely the most desirable model though.
And for now I'm planning to keep the dark Blue Max. Will have the light Blue Max V6 for sale in the spring though.
Well, I guess there comes a time when we all have to bite the bullet and get something more practical. Good choice. It looks very nice.
Now what I'd like to see is you to mod that thing to match the Convertible. Paint, interior, ground effects, side pipes the works. That would be awesome :D
You know...I was really looking for a white one so I could do that! Most of the Mountaineers I've seen have a charcoal bottom color, and coupled with this blue, that doesn't look very flattering. But this has a lighter shade of Shadow Blue on the bottom and I'm diggin' it. If I ever get tired of it, though...it will be the silver of the convertible. Far as everything else, it's probably going to stay stock. It's really nice the way it is. And I don't know how side exhaust with running boards would work anyway. ;)
2 words.... super charger....:laughing:
ive actually got my eye out for a wrecked mountaineer or eexploder V8 or one otherwise intact in the local bone yards so i can leagally swap a 5.0 into the ranger...its gotta be 96 0r newer and i have to retain the obdii :(
Just drill a couple of holes and stick the U-bolt for the pipe through the running board, walla problem solved...:hick: :hick:
Kiddin of course... Nice ride...
Nuts I liked the dark blue one. So are you going to have 2 show cars now? The Blue Max and the convertible?
lol tom thats funny but sad cause i know people who've done that.......
Eric......just make some mounting tabs out of heavy gauge metal and bolt them to the existing running board mounts........ but thats just my :2c:
nice find bro
So.. you ended up getting it eh?. Congrats bro. It's a nice colour too. First, a G5 and now an SUV... You really are The Man™!
Good luck with it. Hoe soon till it's a vert?:hick:
Better photos as promised:
(http://www.coolcats.net/ximages/mountaineer01.jpg)
(http://www.coolcats.net/ximages/mountaineer02.jpg)
(http://www.coolcats.net/ximages/mountaineer03.jpg)
I'll have to wait until it's in my garage to crawl under and check out the exhaust situation. ;) No convertible version, I'm afraid...it's got a power moonroof so that's all I need. A sliding rag would be
shweeeet but not too practical for winter driving!
I am just
soooo close to doing that. The Max is an easy 7 out of 10, maybe 7.5. It does need some work, like a wee little bit of bodywork and a fresh coat of paint. But after that it really could be a show-quality car. The underneath was undercoated when new. I was told it never saw winter and from the condition of things, I can believe it. The trouble is...I am at least the 7th owner of the car. It's seen a lot of in its day mechanically. But now that the engine and transmission have been replaced, and it still has a measly 112,000 miles on the body, it is a prime candidate for having a coupe show car. Very tempting indeed. I remember seeing a dark Blue Max just like this when it was new, on the showroom floor, and fell in love with it, and promised myself that I would have one. Well, now I do, it's just getting crowded in the garage! And to be honest, I am still hoping to find a nice light blue '84 again. That's really my main goal; the Max is just holding me over until that day. At this rate I'll end up keeping the Max forever though. :(
Eric with a blue car... surprise surprise...
Congrats on the addition. I too am going to have a "practical" car... a 99 intrepid. It's blasphemy I tell you, but paying my mom monthly for it would be a dumb ass opportunity to have passed up.
Well atleast its not an exploder
That will be a comfy ride to work in the mornings. Good choice.
SWEET!
I remember when my parents leased a Mountaineer back in 2001 that you said you wanted one. Congrats man!
One thing that I did that REALLY helped was swiss-cheesing the front of the airbox (if yours has the box and not the cylinder) and removing the snorkel. Pull the black plastic cover on the radiator support (so it will get fresh air from the headlights) and tape it to the driver's side of the airbox...instant cold air kit! Better throttle response and more growl.
Nice machine.
Tint those front door windows!
Cool, thanks for the tip Jeeves. There are a few little 'issues' I have to take care of, before thinking of performance, but that sounds like a great freebie. Maybe throw a K&N in there too.
Yeah, its really cool. And it scares your non-car friends when you punch it and hear that V8 open wide for a full shot of air. All of a sudden it isnt a dorky SUV to them!
I considered duals, but I've seen a few rednecked Explorers and the duals didn't work for me. A bigger tailpipe and some magnaflows were however a good idea. From the manifolds back to the lers its a pretty good system. Nice H pipe too.
Never did it on the Mountaineer, but on our Navigator we took off the roof rack, really cleaned up the look of it. Supposedly helps a little with aerodynamics too, and these things need all the help they can get!
This truck has a lot of punch...very ballsy indeed. It can definitely get out of its own way when needed. Thing is, I don't really drive much anymore, so fuel economy isn't high on my priority list--although I am getting better mileage than the Blue Max now. So instead of filling up every 3 1/2 weeks, it may now be every 4 weeks. ;) I have considered a Magnaflow ler as my friend put one on his '00 Lightning and recommends it. It is louder but seems to flow a lot better than stock, and marginally better than a Flowmaster. But I agree, the redneck dual setup isn't good. I want to keep this mostly stock, maybe a few custom things, but mechanically it will stay factory style because it's reliable and works great IMO.
When you removed the roof rack...what did you do with all the holes?
I'da sold 'em on eBay ;)
I used to remove racks from Explorers to install light bars on, and I just threaded the torx bolts back in and painted 'em with white touch up paint. Of course, cop cars don't hafta be pretty...
Just thought of something. God forbid anything happen to the Mountaineer but if something does free upgrade for the Blue Max (GT-40p heads and Explorer intake!).
The threaded holes in the roof fill in nicely when you put the torx bolts back in. I wouldn't have thought of it but the 'gator wouldn't fit in a parking garage we use and the fleet manager selling us the truck told us to remove the rack...bingo.
You can see little dots on the roof like a Lancer EVO, no biggie. Maybe I could get some flatter bolts from Home Depot...not concerned though.