RaceTruckDriver17

Man, it’s been a while since I posted here. There has been a few developments on this build since the last update:

First off, this build has sorta stalled out right now. We haven’t made much progress on the grill, we don’t have the “performance” chip plugged in yet, and, since it’s wintertime in my part of the world, we don’t drive it much right now.

Secondly, Dad and I decided that what we have is what the build will be. The only things that we are going to do to it yet is plug the chip in, get a new set of OEM rims, and possibly get a new set of tires on the rear.

And thirdly, we got the Focus ST seats installed. It’s kinda dark outside now, so I’ll take pictures of them tomorrow.

So, that’s the latest update on the ‘97 Flareside. I hope to have more soon.

RaceTruckDriver17

A little delayed, but I have the pictures of the new seats. And a minor update.

First of all, the build plans changed...yet again. We are now going to get a cold air intake and throttle body for the truck, and go from there.

Secondly, the truck is no longer called "Matilda". It is now known as the "Ugly Duck".

And thirdly, here are the pictures of the new Focus ST seats





We also ordered a new side panel for the driver's seat. You can see that it's missing in the 4th picture.

Anyways, that's it for now. I will probably have another update soon. Hopefully it will be about the grill and a new throttle body.

sddesigns

Nice looking seats, great find!

RaceTruckDriver17

Thanks! A friend of a friend had them sitting in his shop for a good while, and was looking to move them. Glad we could put them to good use!

RaceTruckDriver17

Well, that was quick. I made some more progress today.

The grill is about 50% done - we got the center piece repainted, and I tried to clean up the emblem a bit. It isn't perfect, but have you seen the rest of the truck?



And, we have found a throttle body. We're going to pick it up this coming weekend. More on that later...

Next up on the to-do list: finish the grill, find a cold air intake, and find a new set of rims (the ones we have now are a little "used"...).

sddesigns

You should make plans to visit the Ford Nationals in Carlisle next June lots of part vendors and plenty of Fords to see.

RaceTruckDriver17

Oh yes, it is an annual tradition for us to go to the Ford Nationals Thank you for mentioning it.

sddesigns

I'll be there in the show field this year.

RaceTruckDriver17

Great! I'll keep an eye out for ya. We might have the '97 in the field, too. We'll see if we're still working on it then...

RaceTruckDriver17

Got a bit of a bigger update today.

The trim panel for the driver's seat arrived over the weekend. We could only find one in Stone gray, so we'll have to paint it black to match the rest of the trim.



And, we got the throttle body that I was talking about. It is a brand new BBK Power-Plus 75mm throttle body. Apparently there are 2 different kinds of 4.6/5.4 TBs, but this one is the correct one for my application.



Not sure what's next for the build, but we do have a small list to do before we call it done (for now...). So far we're looking at a cold air intake, DOT rear tires, sport front tires, aftermarket rims, a fuel cell for weight distribution, a DECENT tune (not one of those crappy plug-'n-plays), a rear lowering kit, and then we should be about where we originally planned to.