Just picked up a 1993 Ford Lightning

So i picked this thing up thursday night and it ran okay, not great. It has had a lot of work done under the hood, built motor, AFR 185 heads, E303 cam, 1.72 Scorpion Rockers, all of the egr and emissions crap unhooked, Bassani equal length headers, orx, and side exit catback. Today i spent a few hours cleaning things up under the hood, checked for codes, adjusted the tps, set the timing at 16 degrees(they had it at 20 degrees and the truck didnt like it). Here is a walk around after getting everything done. Next will be a complete tune up, fuel filter, transmission neutral safety switch and remove all of the egr and emission crap under the hood. The smog pump is hooked up but the air lines are disconnected so you can hear the pump working and its annoying. Going to swap in an aluminum radiator with slimline fans and shroud.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiQj3V-k70M

Friend of mine in college had one back in '93. Was a lot of fun. His had a kenne bell on it. Two words...... Twin Turbo.

Potential

Rm

Just gonna enjoy it as is with a few things to make it more dependable. Our plan is to take it on a Route 66 vacation.

Sweet...love those year/model trucks. One guy in my neighborhood has one and I'm waiting for him to sell.

Enjoy!

jewc75 said:

Just gonna enjoy it as is with a few things to make it more dependable. Our plan is to take it on a Route 66 vacation.

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Turbos ARE reliable. LOL! Sounds like a fun trip.

More pics of deconstruction

https://pix.sfly.com/u0ZOxO

Sure looks like a fun project.

No pictures at the moment but the transmission is out. Found more little things wrong with it and stuff i just didnt like how the previous owner did it. Every part i could possibly think of has been ordered and is sitting ready to go in the garage. Ive installed new AEM 320 green fuel pumps and strainers in both fuel tanks, replaced the door locks and ignition cylinder with ones that are keyed alike, replaced every bulb in the dash, and replaced the tach in the dash. Next i will be pulling the engine and replacing every seal/gasket on it. I will also be pulling the camshaft to verify what it is and if i want to go to a better one.

jewc75 said:

I will also be pulling the camshaft to go to a better one.

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Fixed this sentence for you. You're welcome.

tjm73 said:

Fixed this sentence for you. You're welcome.

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LOL, well the only cam id switch to is a Comp 280H or a custom grind.

I would say custom. A 351W with AFR185 heads demands two things in a case like this. First, it needs a cam tailored to the task at hand. Second, the intake on the Lightening can see some gains with the lower getting ported. Look up a dude called TMOSS. He and his kids port those intakes with great results. They quoted me $185 to port my GT40 Explorer intake. Seemed fair. I bought a car so I don't need that intake now.

Im trying to find contact info but have had no luck.

Lemme look...

EDIT: Looks like their website is down. I know he's pretty active on a couple websites. I will PM his email from my contact with them.

Found it, uses a new website. http://tmossporting.0catch.com/

I've read that the 351W GT40 lower can flow pretty substantial numbers when ported. Plenty enough to fully support those heads.

Engine is out. Valvetrain has been pulled and well, someone spent a ton of money building this engine. Ported lower GT40 intake, upper has been ported to match the lower, 1.6 scorpion rockers, lunati pushrods and roller rockers, custom grind lunati roller cam, and cloyes true dual roller timing chain. Tomorrow i will dig into the lower end. I did talk to lunati and they had a lot if info on file for the cam, which is good for me.

Needs more cam. The E Cam with a 351 and AFR Heads is not doing it justice.

He said he found out it has a Lunati cam, not a E303.

86GT351 said:

Needs more cam. The E Cam with a 351 and AFR Heads is not doing it justice.

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Previous owner thought it was an E303. He bought it already modded and didnt know shit, honestly.

Today we pulled the heads off and oil pan. Pistons are forged Mahle .030 over, rods are Scat h beams, crank is a Scat 9000. Running all of the part numbers we came up with 418 ci engine. We also CC'd the heads this morning and verified they are 58cc heads. Mahle says with a 58cc combustion chamber the compression ratio is 12.6:1 Going to get the block cleaned up and painted then i will start putting the heads and top end back together. Cylinder walls still have cross hatching. Overall im super stoked.