I have a friend with a 96 F-150 5.8 and we've been kicking ideas back and forth on what to do with it. It runs strong and doesn't need anything, but it's not his daily driver and he's not afraid to chop it up a little. He's got a lead on a complete 5.4 Lightning engine and trans for not much $ and we're talking about doing a swap.

My questions are as follows:

How much do these engines (complete with accessories) differ dimensionally?
Has anyone on here done a modular swap in one of these trucks?
Will the engine clear the firewall without radical mount adjustments?
Would we have to run an electric fan setup due to clearance issues?
How far off are the motor mount locations?
Will the Lightning intake and S/C fit under a stock hood without dropping the motor mounts on the frame?
Are the 96 and late model Lightning E4OD's compatible?


If anyone has any suggestions or advice to offer, I'll greatly appreciate your input. Please don't tell me that "it can't be done," "why don't you build the 351," "you're an idiot for trying," "why would you do this," etc. I'm just looking for some advice before he pulls the trigger on this engine and trans and would like a heads up of what we're getting into.

Thanks,
David

 

the newer lightning if i remember correctly uses a 4r70w trans which is different than the e40d but is similar in size to it. since you have the lightning trans with the engine it should at least be close as far as mounting. youll most likely have to get a custom made driveshaft. theres a lot of hood space under there so i dont see the space factor being too much of an issue. motor mount locations arent similar at all so youd have to make something custom there. id recommend an electric fan anyways since im 99% sure a newer lightning would have had one anyways and you can find a good electric fan pretty cheap. someone on here did swap a 4.6 mustang motor and 5 speed into one of these trucks and did a writeup of it somewhere. you would need to find all the lightning computer and electronics to make this all work. i personally wouldnt do it but i think it would be cool if you did.

 

i agree i wouldn't do it but if i were you i would figure on custom headers custom motor mounts and a custom trans crossmember or at least hacking up the original one.... where do you live i'll help you get that 351 out of your garrage if you want custom driveshaft and you'll also probably want to upgrade the rear on the truck your swapping it into if i recall the lightnings have huge rear axles...i did a gear swap on an 02? a while back and i remember thinking damn these axles are big

 

I was thinking 4R100, but sometimes my memory gets a little blurry...

 

Like 1966Tbird says, I think the newer Lightnings came with the Ford 9.75", which is a step-up from the 8.8" in terms of strength. The only issue is the availability of gears and lockers, I don't see a lot of stuff for them in the catalogs.

 

Thank you guys for the replies. I'll try to find the 4.6 swap thread and start reading. I'm not afraid of fabbing engine mounts and a crossmember as I've done them in the past. I know the guys at a local shop that will build the driveshaft cheap, so that's not a problem either. Computer and electronics are available, so no worries there. The only thing that I'm not wild about is custom headers because I don't have a bender and don't want to spend that much time fabricating. Are the stock 5.4 manifolds big enough to cause clearance issues? Is the 5.4 that much wider than the 351? We would probably run the stock rear end until it grenaded then swap it just to keep the initial cost of the project down. It's no big deal if it comes apart and has to sit for a week or two because he'll have something else to drive.

Thanks again, keep it coming,
-David

 

for a different rear end do a little research on the older ford truck rear ends since my knowledge on them strengthwise is a little foggy. but you can get a 10.25 axle out of an older f250 or f350 which is what diesel trucks use and it would bolt right up into your truck since the mounts for everything will be the same and save you alot of effort reworking a newer lightning rearend. ive never measured but from the looks of even a 4.6 modular motor it looks wider but maybe its look is deceptive. buy some headers for a 4.6 mustang im pretty positive they are the same. if you look on crownvic.net and on youtube there is a crown vic with a 5.4 swap and im sure some mustang guys have done the same swap and they could probably tell you what they used for headers.

also i checked some notes i took a long while back and the lightning trans is a 4R100, my bad. i remembered the 4R part lol.

 

The 5.4 is a monster.. physically I mean, bigger than a 460 in every dimension, and even more so when there's a whipple charger on top of it. It's also one powerful motor so you'll absolutely need the Lightning tranny and rearend or the 8.8 will need ladder bars and better axles to keep it from flying apart and possibly taking out the custom driveshaft you just had built. It would certainly be a challenging project but also a rewarding one so good luck. I'm sure a good running 5.8 and E4OD would be worth some $ resale too.

 

i did a quick search and heres what summit carries for 5.4L headers. looks like you can choose just about anything you want


5.4L/330, FORD - summitracing.com