Cheers, this is my first post. I'm hoping I can get some opinions from ya'll. I was recently a victim of the classic Ford Triton Sparkplug Blowout "defect", ejecting the #3. Rather than do an over the fender insert, and risk further damage with shavings in the cylinders, I pulled the head, and now I'm at an impass. I've got 60k miles and have been considering selling the truck once its fixed, but its my pride and joy and am having doubts about parting ways. Choice A) use a Time-sert or similar tool to re-tap the blown plug, put it all back together and live with the risk of the insert failing, another blow out or cooling channel cracking(anyone ever have that happen) not to mention going through the whole teardown process again? Choice B) Spend the money and buy new performance heads. I've got a couple leads on performance heads for about $1500 but I'm looking for some that aren't stock castings that have the same thread "defect". Any suggestions? Opions? Success stories? Advice?

 

There is no aftermarket castings of thees heads. You will have to go with a Ford casting!
I would go with a set of performance heads.Most of them fix the treads when they port them.Just ask to be certain.
I got a set of stage 2 Patriot heads and stage 2 cams for $1800.
Might as well do the cams wile your in there.
Or,
you could put the timeserts in all 8 cilinders and go back to stock with no worrys.

 

Phil is correct.

I'm having a long block built for my '99 Lightning, and my builder is using '03 bare casting (8 threads per hole instead of 4), sent out to Fox Lake for a Stage 2 port, put together with Manley-NexTek springs, Ferrea valves, Manley forged rods and CP coated pistons.

I don't wanna start a fuss, but I don't like the Patriot heads at all. Not after some of the bad stories that have been posted about them on the L boards.

TimeSerts installed correctly will last the life of your vehicle. You won't have to worry about them at all.

I too blew a plug in my Lightning. I had an insert installed and it's been smooth sailing ever since.

Just put an insert into each plug hole on the head you have off and you won't have a worry in the world.

I'd be very careful about swapping the heads and cams though. That can really cost you a LOT of money in the long run.......

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......because you won't want to stop there. Next you'll wanna upgrade the rods and pistons so you can up the boost! Then you'll wanna add a Whipple or KB, then injectors, then 255 pumps, then the suspension to launch better, then slicks, then eventually you'll need a roll-cage, oy vey the list goes on!!!

Stewart

 

I've only got the RH side head off right now, do you think it's worth it to pull the LH side and timesert those as well just to be safe since i have the engine in pieces anyway? I think I pretty much came up with an agreement with myself to keep the truck, but don't go overboard on "fixing". I'm pretty sure I'm gonna forego the new heads and camshafts, but put in new coil packs/connectors, upper pulley, short tube headers, and a new heat exchanger (mines leaking). I figure this way i can get out under $1500 for the work and gets some gains out of it.
Thanks for the input!

 

Heck yeah! It's peace-of-mind to have the plug holes 'serted.

If you choose not to, just remember to change your plugs with the engine slightly warm (not operating temp...literally, slightly warm to touch) and torque the plugs down to about 13lbs. Then check your plugs every 6 months or so and you'll be fine.

Which COP's are you planning on putting in? I hope it isn't the Granatelli's.

I haven't really searched the offerings from the "off brand" exhaust companies, but for headers, you have the equal length Bassani's, or long tubes as your common choices. Shorties aren't a common bolt on for the L's.

Stewart

 

OK, one more while I'm at it....

After removing the supercharger, you got the innercoolers sitting inside of an intake valley which has a plug at the bottom. So, when all this was removed I had oil and sludge built up in the in the bottom of the valley. Any idea what could have caused this? It didn't look right to me, how could that get in there?.

 

You should have seen my intercooler. Yours probably wasn't as bad as mine looked.
Mine...

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My IC...

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Gunk in throttle body housing....


It's oil blow-by cause by a positive crankcase ventilation system. You can put in an oil separator to help reduce the amount of blow-by.

Stewart

 

I don't know, mine might give yours a run for the money! Glad to know this is normal. The COP set-up I was looking at was Accel packs with the Granatelli connectors ...have you had bad experiences with this? Reason being, the factory COP replacement was about $100 for one, so i figured if i can replace all of them for about $350, might be worth it. I was considering the JBA shorty headers mainly because they looked like they are easier "bolt on" to the existing midpipe connection, where as I'm not sure how much work itd take to mount the long pipes. I'm not sold on doing the headers, just figued if i got them off anyhow, I might as well put some nicer ones on! You think id be happier with a cat back? And going back to the timesert issue, I was reading up and finding tht this kit is costing +/- $300 and that only comes with 5 inserts. Man, if I'm gonna be spending $600 to get 8 inserts, i might as well just go with the new heads at that point. What was your issue with Patrtiot Heads? Which do you prefer?

 

There are quite a few experiences posted on the Lightning boards. One guy almost lost his whole engine due to RF issues with the Granatelli coils.

$100 bucks is a lot for one coil. Way too much. If you're dead set on getting new one's, I personally like the Weapon X coils. The polarity must be switched on them (easily done) because they are for a 4V setup, but they are proven COP's.

The cost for the Timsert kit is expensive, but getting extra inserts don't cost another $300 bucks. Three more inserts can be had for a lot less than that.

As for the Patriot heads, again, on the Lightning specific boards the Patriots have taken a beating because of their head failures on built engines.

I got a new set of '03/'04 Ford castings and sent them out to Fox Lake for porting and valve job. They'll be put together so I know they'll hold up to a beating and last a long time.

Headers are a PITA to put on our trucks. Not so much the long tubes, but the Bassani equal length headers.

The JBA's aren't as popular on the Lightning trucks (they are for the 5.0 guys) because as expensive as they are, most guys opt for the Bassani's since the Bassani's are equal length and not shorties.

Stewart

 

I talked to a lady at Time Sert, extra inserts are $10 a piece. I'm thinking about posting a thread seeing if anyone is interested in selling their Time Sert tool....there's gotta be someone out there who might want to part ways with the tool to get some money back from the deal....worth a shot. Do you have a particular parts dealer or website you prefer to buy your mods through? I'd used JDM for the first round of mine, but i've found them to be pricey in some catagories. Tried a quick search for Weapon X coils but couldn't find anything. The actual packs i was looking at were the Accel packs and the Granatelli connectors found at www.rpmoutlet.com Any advice as to where to find all the gaskets i have to put back on (sc, intake, head, valve covers) other than the local autoparts store or dealer?

 

There are wayyyyyyyyy too many threads about RPM Outlet screwing over fellow Lightning owners for me to ever buy anything from them

I have yet to deal with, or even speak to anyone at Weapon X, but there are quite a few guys whom I respect a lot on the Lightning boards who run the Weapon X. One fellow L owner has a really mean turbo setup, and another fellow L owner is running 20+ pounds of boost through his built engine.

You might wanna see if anyone will rent you the tools. Post up on the L boards and see if anyone who already has the tools will rent them to you.

You can reuse your s/c and plenum gaskets without a problem. I've had mine off several times, reusing the gaskets each time. They aren't a one shot deal.

For head gaskets I recommend Ford Motorsport MLS gaskets. Some guys like the Cometics, but I prefer the Ford MLS gaskets.

As for your valve cover gaskets, any quality gasket will work for the valve covers.

Stewart

PS - JDM is VERY pricey.

 

Aren't the valve cover gaskets reusable too?

 

I'v eheard it before and I'll say it again...If you're at a loss of money...get the new heads.....otherwise...retap the hole to a larger plug size..but if you do that...do ALL of them...it's alot easier in the long run.....

 

LOL, yeah, they should be *sigh* I always do that, sorry. Everytime someone asks about valve cover gaskets, I always flash back to working on my 5.0 and totally fubaring the valve gasket, so because of Murphy's Law, if I ever remove the covers, I always have a new set on hand.

Stewart

 

With the thread repair, which would you say it is more risky;
a) putting an insert in only the blown plug hole, thus risking future blowouts in other cylinders
b) inserting all the holes, and thus thinning the walls of the coolant channels etc, is there a risk of future cracking etc.