Just purchased a 94 lightning off my father n law that he bought as a demo back in 94. It's only got 85k miles on it, but not all is well. It has hardly been driven since about '03. And the last time it ran was back in '17, not long after the trans was pulled to replace the front seal and replace a freeze out plug. A new computer with a jet chip was also sourced at the same time.

I got it drug out yesterday and installed a new battery, fuel filter and a few gallons of fresh gas in the front tank, which was empty. New walbro fuel pumps should be here today. I beat on the front tank and got the pump to kick on for a couple seconds and the truck tried to fire off.

I'm going to change all the fluids, belts and hoses. Also a full tune up, considering the plugs and wires are original to the truck.

I'm interested in seeing what I can do with this paint. It's faded pretty bad, and the primer is showing through on the top. Hoping I can get it to shine up, and wrap the top in black vinyl.

I'm going to use the truck for about 3.5 years(not a daily driver) to make sure all the bugs are worked out, then plan to pass it down to my son when he graduates high school, if his driving record is good, lol. I'll try to remember to get some better pics this afternoon since I've got it drug out.

 

Wow,its ashame that it sat out side all that time. Good luck with it.

 

Yes it is. It has bugged me for a long time. He daily drove it for a couple years, then bought a ranger for fuel mileage. The truck was retired to pulling a race car every week until he sold out in 2001. Then it was pretty much just an extra vehicle for whoever to barrow when they needed a truck. We used it to drag his 66 mustang fastback project home back in about 2006. The mustang took over the garage and the lightning has sat outside ever since.

 

Sorry for the hijack, thought you guys might enjoy this story.

I made my son wait till he graduated college. Made him drive my old 94 Ranger. He found a mustang one of his friends was wanting to sell in the last semester of college. Pretty decent ride. Convinced him to wait the last few months till graduation and we would get him something nice. Me and the wife had bought him a 83 Mustang Convertible with 5.0 5 speed that a guy was fixing for his daughter. She told him she didn't want it. So he parked it in the back of the shop. several years later it was sitting out front for sale. $1500 and he had already replaced all the brakes and lines, wheels and tires, new radiator new heater core, new hoses and new holley carb. Had seats recovered but had rust stains from trim laying on top of them, we coludn't get it off so changed color from white to black on all the interior. It needed a paint job and new top. So we worked on car for almost two years without him finding out we had it. When he came home form college we would move it to my dads or a friends house. I did body work and painted it, did pretty good for my first car other than a derby car. Had the new top put on and made it by the week of graduation. We had a graduation party for him and he graduated on Friday. All day Sat we were driving him around looking at different trucks he had found. It was hard to keep a straight face. But at the party We made him close his eyes and my friend drove it into the back yard and he could hear the exhaust rumbling. Total surprise. Before winter we did find him a truck, 96 Eddie Bauer Extended cab f150 4x4 with 54,000 miles on it, Like new inside, Was used to pull camper. Still driving it, This was in 2008.

 

Got it fired off and running last night. Took about 10 minutes for it to clear out, but it ended up running surprisingly well.

Unfortunately, the tank is still laying on the ground under the truck. The fuel gauge barely moved when you turned the ignition on. So I had poured a few gallons of fresh gas in the other day when I was beating on the tank trying to get the fuel pump to kick on. Well, when I pulled the fuel pump assembly out of the tank, the sock and float where gone. It had about 3/4 of a tank. It got dark on me last night, so I will fish them out later. Going to order a new sending unit with a new float on it. Still got the rear tank to mess with. The rear tank hasn't been used in 20 years. So I hope I don't have to buy a new tank.

I was a little aggravated when I pulled the bed liner. My plan was to pull the bed to do both tanks. Unfortunately the bolt heads are blank with no torx heads. From what I saw, the rear tank would have to be dropped just to get to the nut on the frame.

My son took a few pics and found an old pic from 2017 when we worked on it last and got it cleaned up.

 

Nice ride, hoping it cleans up good again. How is the interior? any rat damage?

Friend of mine in HS dad bought one just like that new in 93, we drove it alot in the late 90's, he pulled trailers with it etc. His dad passed and he still has it, over 350k miles....still runs great.

 

Interior is like new other than just a little sun damage. No big cracks or anything, just some minor fading. When it was parked in the open, luckily it was pointed north, and he did use to put a sunshade in it. It has the 2 bucket seats with a center console. I do have to replace the gears in the window motors with some nuts. I can't remember what size though, 7/16? Fog lights aren't working, I have an airbag light, and the speakers are busted. I did not think to check the a/c yesterday. I haven't found any evidence of rodents yet. Just lots of wasp nest and spiders. Have my sons high school football game tonight and plan on going to Camoground this weekend to relax. Sending unit should be here Tuesday and I'll get back on it then. Hopefully I can get some tires on it and get it to my house by next weekend so I can start working on the paint and cleaning it up. We found some coupons for free oil changes in the glove box from when he bought it. I wonder if I can redeem them?

 

Nice truck hope you get all the "bugs" out

 

Buffer kicked my butt today.

 

That looks awesome. The dirt kind of protected the paint.

 

WOW! What an improvement,nice job.

 

Looks amazing
how about underhood shot?

 

It's coming. Haven't touched it yet.

 

That sure looks like it is cleaning up nicely. If the roof needs attention, and the rest of the truck looks good, I would just have it repainted. Glad to see another Lighting being worked on. Rarely see them these days.

 

Can anyone confirm the nut size to replace the stripped out plastic gears in the window motors? I think it's 7/16 but it's been a long time since I did one.