Project 5.4L! (long)
 

Well it’s time for a change for me. A week ago I came across a 2000 F150 5.4L short block for $500 with very low mileage. I couldn’t pass up the deal so the block will be in my garage tomorrow morning (picking it up first thing). Way I saw it I had two directions I could go with, one being a NA 2V 5.4L or drop a lightning blower on it. I looked into both and decided on going with the lightning motor conversion.

The deciding factor was fabricating the intake. I have a friend that is good with welding but taking on a custom intake would be a lot of favors and knowing that a lot of work goes into making the correct length runners, designing, etc… I want to stay away from that.

So with that here is my plan (in progress):
·5.4L block and crank, toss the stock rods and pistons.
·Manley H beam rods, JE pistons with (8.5:1 compression).
·Assemble short block with new bearings, oil pump, etc…
·Port and polish a set of PI heads, lightning cams or a custom grind based on the lightning cams, new springs and retainers.
·Port match the lower lightning intake to the heads.
·Assemble long block with lightning upper/lower intake, blower.

Hood clearance will be an issue but to be honest I’m not concerned about it, my hood has 6.75” of clearance from the top of the 2V intake to the top of the hood and 13” of clearance from the valve covers to the top of the hood. I may end up making a set of drop motor mounts and possibly shim the K-member down ½” or so. Obviously I’ll need to convert to an 8 rib belt set up as well as change out the accessories, Pro-M, throttle body and a few hundred brackets. I plan on going to a TKO during the 2002 race season so hopefully that will handle the power, maybe not but I’ll try it anyway… I’ll go with a tubular K-member and coil overs shortly as well and will change springs based on weight, rear suspension and rear end are ready (save a spool or C-locker) for high power. Gears will have to change along with a 28” tall tire to help with traction.

I may drop the AC from the car during this project since the car will no longer be my daily driver just to race and fair weather days. Cooling system will definitely be upgraded. Tuning will be have to be done, not sure who yet but if UPR is up to the task then I’ll take it there. This will be a very involved project but with less than $1800 into it I have the blower, upper and lower intake, intercooler, Manley rods, block and crank. Since I plan on attending more races this year I will simply be putting this together during most of 2002 and I don’t foresee installing it till November or so of 2002. I plan on starting with the stock blower pulley and a very conservative tune at first to work out the suspension and driveline. After that though I will have plenty of room to grow and a solid motor to go with it.

As a contingency plan if the blower route doesn’t work out I’ll have no problem selling the complete long block to recoupe my money. Or sell the lightning parts and buy new pistons and either fabricate a 2V intake or maybe by then Ford may have something available in another car.

Oh and one last thing, 4V is not an option for me at this point. I like the 2V motors and would like to stick to that since I have a GT however if things down work out in the future it could be a possibility.

Bill

Oh very nice indeed. Nice find on the getting the 5.4 cheap.

umm......DAMN!! Thats going to be one hell of a project. GOOD LUCK!!
I really hope it works out for you. I just hope the TKO will hold the torque. Once you start modding that motor, 600ft lbs will be pretty easy to obtain.
There is a Lightning in our garage (my dad's toy,) and he and I always dream about Ford building a Mustang with that motor in it. The power curve is just awesome. It will be a truly sweet car.
Nice to see an innovator, not a follower!!

Yes they are very impressive motors, there are a couple locally that have run 11's with the basic bolt-ons and a small shot of nitrous.

The trans is going to be the only weak point that I see. If it doesn't hold up I'll either go to a jericho manual trans or build up auto to handle the power.

Bill

Yah the Lightning is a great truck. I have raced a guy at my track with one. He has changed blower pulley and exhaust and has run 12.50's. I can get him off the line but once we hit the sixty foot mark all I see is tail gate rest of the way:D

Good luck, that will be one hell of a runner once you get her together. Not that your car doesn't run like a mo fo now.:D

Will

what about the T-56 trans out of the Viper. It has a higher torque rating that the T-56 in the Vette or Z-28

Personly I see no advantage to a T-56. They are heavier and break just as easily as a TKO. Boss330 with a 5.4 4V motor just greneded his T-56. Also the T-56 version from a Viper does not fit the Mustang.

Bill

This is a little off topic, but just for my info. Does the 4.6 and 5.4 intake manifold interchange (i.e. 4.6L mustang with the lightning blower,intake,and intecooler) By the way mustang92 what year blower setup do you have? 00 and 01 are very different.

Just need a good old 4 -speed...say a M22 Rock Crusher from an old GM:D

Nope. Think of a 4.6 and a 5.4 the same as a 5.0 and 5.8. The larger motor has a taller deck height therefore they are wider. The intake is wider on the 5.4. Although both blower setups are different they will both work with the same 5.4. FWIW I'm getting the complete blower set up from a 2001 (no reason to start off at the bottom).

Bill

I know money is always a huge factor, but somehitng to look into is an aftermarket blower. Not sure how far you plan on taking this, but PSP (power surge performance) is about to release a new blower for the Lightnings and it should produce 40-50 more hp over the stock set-up. So with a modified set-up, gains of 65-75 hp can becaome a reality.
Here's some info from Sal at PSP: The factory M112 blower, actually only displaces about 91ci of air per revolution because of the top intake design. The new blower will be a MP112 and have a rear intake, and thus will provide a true 112ci of air, or about a 23% increase in volume.
Now multiply that extra 21ci per revolution by 10,000-14,000 rpm, and you can see where the extra power will come from. Also, it will have a quick change snout pulley, so pulley changes will take 5 min, compared to what they have to do now (swap lower pulleys, and mix with upper combos.) There a lot more info, but Thought I would give you a heads up on it just in case you haven't heard.

Thanks for the heads up. The big restriction on the blower is the intake portion that attaches to the top fo the blower so I know what they are saying. That is the biggest thing that will cause clearance issues on my car so I was already thinking about modifying it for better clearance and better flow. As much as I'd like to add more power I think the swap alone is going to be a big enough task little lone adding more power in the process.

Bill

I see a Jerico in your future! :D

Interesting project Bill. Look me up at SBSO, I'd like to talk to you about it. I've thought about the swap but right now I'm so ******* busy porting everyone else's heads I can barely find time to change the oil in my '98. You should see the shop......I've got heads stacked up like dominos! :eek:

Unfortunately that may be what it takes. I'm now having thoughts of just fabricating an intake for it and keeping it NA. But it will be a while before it's ready and I have all season to gather parts. I can just imagine all the heads piled up just waiting to be ported.

Bill