I was just thinking, a lightning is a souped up F150. Why not use lightning specific parts to hop up any F-series with a 351?
If you got a speed density ecm from a first generation lightning, used a 351 block, GT-40 heads like came on the lightning, used the lightning camshaft, used the GT-40 intake pair, for a moderate performance boost, mass air wouldn't be nessessary, would it? If the wiring harness is the same, all that you would need to do is plug in a lightning ecm, modify your engine to lightning specs, and enjoy 240 horsepower. Of course you could do modifications that don't affect airflow, like bump up the compression ratio, add an MSD, advance the timing some, if you wanted to push your luck maybe bore the engine out and port and polish (more polish than port) the heads. That would probably give you nearly 300 HP. Without the added cost of a MAF conversion! This probably ain't as good as a mass air conversion, but it beats kicking out several hundred dollars just as a precursor to modifications that make the power you are after.

 

Check out 50tech.com.Lots of info on speed density.While a mass air conversion is probably better in the long run,there are a lot of guys running speed density mustangs with blowers,etc.The biggest thing to watch is cam duration and lobe centers.On a speed density system maintaing good manifold vacuum is key.In fact the mustang guys claim that speed density cars perform slightly better at wot due to the stock air and fuel maps.

Billy

 

How about a fully programmable SD system that can handle of 30psi of boost?

[link:www.wmsracing.com/wmsweb/sdsfly.html|SDS Programmable Fuel Injection]

 

ive got a completely stock longblock in my 94 lightning. im running the stock speed density with a chip calibrated for 42# injectors. ive been running a supercharger for 3 yrs now with no driveability problems. this season my truck will run high 11's on stock speed density. thats well over 400hp. i keep telling all you guys that you DONT need mass air. bull, i think i think we both spoke in a thread about this about a month ago. do a search on mass air and it will probably come up.

 

Hey lightning,how much boost are you running?Did you install the vortech yourself?If so, was it a pita?That part about tapping the oil pan looks like it would be.I wish I would have done a little more research before I built my truck motor.I was told by a few people that without mass air you could'nt do much to it.I've since found a lot of guys like yourself who are hopping up their motors with no problem.

Billy

 

I was just thinking, a lightning is a souped up F150. Why not use lightning specific parts to hop up any F-series with a 351?
If you got a speed density ecm from a first generation lightning, used a 351 block, GT-40 heads like came on the lightning, used the lightning camshaft, used the GT-40 intake pair, for a moderate performance boost, mass air wouldn't be nessessary, would it? If the wiring harness is the same, all that you would need to do is plug in a lightning ecm, modify your engine to lightning specs, and enjoy 240 horsepower. Of course you could do modifications that don't affect airflow, like bump up the compression ratio, add an MSD, advance the timing some, if you wanted to push your luck maybe bore the engine out and port and polish (more polish than port) the heads. That would probably give you nearly 300 HP. Without the added cost of a MAF conversion! This probably ain't as good as a mass air conversion, but it beats kicking out several hundred dollars just as a precursor to modifications that make the power you are after.

91 F250 4x4 XLT LARIAT

bigbluetruck:

I believe that what your talking about with a lightning swap will work. The only other thing I believe that you must have with it is the map sensor from the lightning. I guess there are pluses and minuses from both sides. The only problem is trying to find the lightning parts. I don't think I have ever seen one in a wrecking yard.

It definatley would be nice to open the hood of a f250 and be staring at a lightning engine! Another thing to look at is the cam that comes with the lightning. I'm not sure which one comes stock with it but I'm sure it is set up to rev high and the peak HP/TQ levels are probably above 3500RPM. Maybe someone here knows of a cam that would make the power down low and still be compatable with speed density.

 

i believe the lightnings peak torque is at 2800-3000 and hp is at around 4700 or so. there are also a few aftermarket cams which will work with speed density. crane makes one specifically for the lightning. crane # 444232.

im was running 8lbs boost with my powerdyne setup but ive since switched to an intercooled vortech race blower and run 14lbs boost. with the powerdyne i went 12.79 and with this vortech i should run high 11's. i installed both kits myself. the powerdyne can be done in an afternoon. very easy. as for the vortech is a little harder but no big deal. and you dont have to tap the oil pan on the f-series kits. you install a drain fitting in the driver side valve cover. pretty easy. the f-series kits come with an s-trim blower which is a good street blower but it has its limits. im trying to build a 10 sec truck. so i bought a ys-trim race blower (much bigger) and made a custom bracket which is extra thick and doesnt flex under high boost. this causes belt slip. i had to grind some of the a/c compressor boss off to get it to fit. i pieced together a 10 rib blower belt setup also. then what i did was buy an intercooler from a powerstroke truck and fabricated it into the front of the truck. i custom made all the ductwork myself. its a pretty neat setup and i cant wait to race it. but for those who just want an easy bolt on, a regular vortech kit can be bought for around 2800$. and it would be the best money you ever spent on your truck.

 

As far as getting parts, I can get any ecm I want from our remanufacuter at work, all of this type of ecm looks the same on the outside, I can turn anything in as a core. I already have a pair of GT-40P heads that I am working on. They are only different on the exhaust side from the GT-40 head used on the lightning. The intake side is the same, so no problems with vacuum. Get the motorsport GT-40 351 lower intake, GT-40 or cobra upper, a 65mm throttle body. Get a stock lightning cam or an aftermarket that was meant to work on a lightning, get a throttle cable meant for a lightning(I have the part number for an aftermarker one that will work). I'll have to look into the map sensor, but you may be right. I got to thinking about this, a stock 351 lightning has more power than the 460 they were making around that time. Going this route would save several hundred dollars for someone as long as they don't plan on anything real wild.
I may look into this farther but heres what I am thinking about
351, bored .030"
run about 9.8 compression - I won't be using a blower, the CR doesn't have any affect on the ECM,
GT-40P heads, smoothed on the intake, exhuast ported and polished, combustion chambers polished.
GT-40 351 intake, matched to heads
Stock or nearly stock lightning cam,(which is actually smaller than the regular 5.8 cam to keep the ecm happy)
use 1.7 roller rockers in place of the stock 1.6's
19 lb injectors should work
cost: $120 for ecm, $75-100 cam, heads I already have, GT40 lower $370
The lighning used the gt40 upper, but I may use the cobra, it is cheaper and flows nearly as good. Also if you don't put the cobra emblem on it, alot of people would never know it's not factory.
Ever seen a lifted 3/4 ton 4x4 lightning? It would be better if someone with a red 93-96 would do this, use lightning wheels, and put the lightning decals on the bedsides. It would have a few scratching their heads.

 

Ford made a Bronco version of the Lightning at one time, but only as a prototype. I am thinking they were wanting to call it a Thunder. As for the engine swap, I was thinking about the same thing. I have a 351W already, so it's more of changing the intake, exhaust, heads, and ecm for the most part. I am still looking into this project, as I fear I will need a rebuild in a year or two.

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 29-Mar-02 AT 02:02 AM (EST)]I'm in the process of adding more performance to my 94 351. I work at a dealer and called the ford tech hotline. They suggested reworking my stock heads with bigger intake valves but keeping the exhaust stock, port matching everything, headers, bigger exhaust, and the most expensive, extrude hone the intake. Install a E303 cam. They said after all this I should have an estimated hp and torq above the lightning specs but in a sleeper engine. They also said that with these mods that the speed density set up would do fine, so I'll save a lot of moola there.

So far I have added headers off of a 94 lightning, $90. I got a used cat back exhaust from a friends 97 CC f350 diesel, cut the number two inline cat off my exhaust and made an adapter to match the 3.5 diesel pipe, and a stainless 3.5 tip, its a 99% bolt in, $100. Installed K & N filter kit. I found that having the heads redone was not cost effective when you can buy new ones from summit for around $500 that are the motorsport ones anyway. so I am saving for that now. When I install the heads I will work on the port matching and maybe extrude the intake.

Just my couple o' pennies,
Jim

 

Okay, I have done quite a bit of work on cars and trucks, but have never heard of extrude honing the intake. What does the process entail, and how does it help?

 

Extrude hone is a process where a media that is pumped through internal passages where you could never get a die grinder or other tool. The media is kind of like silly putty with sand in it. It is also expensive. I think an intake costs like $700. You can get a cobra intake (or most aftermarket) cheeper than that.

 

extruding an intake costs around 350$. and big cfm gains come of it. a extruded gt-40 intake gains 80cfm of airflow per runner. but be careful how much you port your intakes and heads. when you port your runners you lose air velocity but gain top end breathability. now this is bad for us truck guys. air velocity = torque. and these heavy trucks need torque to move them. unless you plan on running a blower which gives you the velocity you need. i dont recommend hogging the intake system to holy hell. you will have a truck thats a real pig until 4000rpm and then it will turn on. you will be disappointed and it will be a bore on the street. i know it sounds good. all magazines have words plastered all over "port" cfm" horsepower" and it sounds great. but this is real life. you should know what effect a mod is gonna have before you have it sone.

 

ttt

 

I have looked this over and it looks like an easy project. All you need to do is build your engine to lightning specs. (If you vary from lightning specs, just do changes to things that have no bearing on the ECM. Examples: Increase compression, Free up exhaust, install ignition upgrades, polish combustion chambers.) Then just plop in a lightning ECM. Lightning owners on forums on the net seem to agree that some mild modifications work well on their engines. They tell me that a 0.030 overbore, porting(as long as you don't go wild) 1.7 ratio rockers like the cobra versions, and cams made to work with a lightning ECM - cause no problems. This ought to get you to 300HP pretty easily, if that aint enough use LIGHTNING2FAST's method and supercharge it. I'm still weighing out doing this or converting to mass air and building my engine along the lines of the cobra r but with parts like the camshaft more suited to making torque. I'll need plenty of that to get my truck moving. Full of fuel with driver it's about 5700 lbs. Add a passenger and some junk in the bed(or just a passenger depending on how big of an old boy he his) and your at 3 tons. Thats alot more than a mustang.