I took my wife's dog to here friend's house a few weeks ago and noticed a Lightning sitting in the driveway. It's the '97-ish body style, which is my favorite and I knew it had been sitting for a while since it was dusty all over. I don't know these people all that well, but I asked whose it was and they said it was their son's truck and they wanted to sell it. Apparently he let it get low on oil, killed the motor (I don't know if it just knocks or it's stuck solid) and he wants $2k for it. I told my wife and she asked if it was worth fixing, and I really have no clue. Is the Lightning 5.4 different other than the blower? Is it a pain to swap out, since I know the engine in that generation is halfway under the dash. The truck itself looks decent from what I saw, maybe just filthy, but no obvious damage. The kid has no money and his parents just want it gone. So my question is, is it worth saving? Thanks in advance!

 

The engine has lower compression than a stock 5.4 so it is not a direct swap. Depending on your cost to rebuild, I would say it is well worth the money. Even if you parted it out, you should recoup your $2000. Depending on the mileage and overall condition, they seem to run from $8000 on a low end to $12/13,000 on the high end for that year I think.

Might also come on over to lightningrodder.com and get a ton more info. Also some pics would be good.