wow lots of info here! i'm looking for a 5.8 lightning engine for my 95 f150 . does this make sense ? good idea bad idea ? looking for a clue.

 

yes and no...just a short list below

does the 5.0 have the old 5.0 spark pattern? or the newer 5.8 firing order?



the 5.8 has a wider deck...so the old exhaust won't bolt up without some fabbing


you are gonna need another ECU


you would be better off posting this question in the 1997 and older F series forum

 

Firing order makes absolutly zero differance in this case as to do the swap you have to change the ECU anyway.

Exhaust needs to be changed and the ECM. Everything else should bolt/plug right in.

Just grab the complete engine, intake, accesories everything out of a donor truck. and it it has the manual transmission(I don't know what the lightning had) you may want to grab it as well.

 

Huh? Why do you think that? This is the Lightning forum, and Blurry (the mod for this forum) owns a Gen 1 Lightning and could probably do this swap in his sleep.

Stewart

 

the 351 L motor isn't really anything special in terms of motor swapping

so why not ask the guys in the Pre-1997 forum who do this on a regular basis and that forum sees alot more traffic than this section does.


1 guys help is awesome, but more than 1 guy is even better

 

The motor itself will bolt right in, just need the correct flywheel/flexplate for your tranny and some exhaust mods necessary as already stated, but that is the easy part.

The big question is.. "Is your truck mass air right now?"

If it is and you have an auto tranny this is a relatively painless swap, the 5.0 computer will adapt to the 5.8 and if it doesn't completely adapt just get a tuner.

If it isn't mass air and you have an auto there's a lot more involved. You need either a lightning computer or a mass air computer and engine harness that matches your tranny.

 

Post more info about your 95; transmission, 2 or 4wd and what is the main purpose of your truck?

Assuming this is just a longblock swap (no other parts) the inlet plumbing is different because the Lighting uses GT40 intakes, 65mm throttle body and q 70mm EGR spacer. The throttle cable will have to be replaced, wiring harnesses will have to be lengthened/relocated, and the coolant lines for the EGR spacer will have to modified. I assume that your 95 is mass air equipped so it will manage the engine fine under normal driving condition, however, the fuel and timing tables are much more aggressive in a C3P2 (speed density) and AKC0 (mass air) processor compared to a standard 95 truck ECU.

I have a few pics of a GEN 1 swap my brother and I did to his 94 F-150.