Update: 2003 Lightning Project - Back on the road !!!!

EZ SPEED · 03-20-2007, 04:52 AM

Well I finally have my 2003 Lightning back on the road again after a LONG time down. The truck has been down since November 1st of 2005, which is 16 months and 15 days.

And you know whats even better? Its also PAID off !!
Last friday I went to the bank and paid it off . . . the went home and busted my butt to finish it up and was out driving it later that afternoon !!!

A little bit of background history for those of you that don’t know . . or have forgotten since its been so long.

I originally took the truck apart to fix a broken valve and had planned on just installing some ported heads to replace the stock heads. But when I removed the heads I saw some scarring on the cylinder walls of the engine block and decided to pull the whole engine for a rebuild. And at the same time I decided to build a turbo setup for the truck.

Also during this time, I had been collecting up parts to add a turbo to my 93 Lightning and I wound up spending a LOT of my time on the 93L. I did however get the 03’s turbo headers build, a section of the downpipe, and the Muffler /tailpipe assembly finished.

But I hit a few problems . . . The 93L turned out to be a MUCH larger project than I intended, I had some financial difficulties, and then I changed my mind about the direction I was headed with the 03L.

I saw that the 03L was headed towards becoming a dedicated race truck and I realized that’s not what I wanted. So I removed all the turbo stuff before I was even finished and sold it all and started putting the truck back together as a supercharged Lightning.

Here is a rundown of what the engine WAS BEFORE:

VT Engines built shortblock
Stock heads
Crower stage 2 cams
Accufab tb and JLP sheetmetal intake
Dynatech longtubes / high flow cats / Bassani catback
Kenne Bell 2.3 / JLP sheetmetal intake
529 / 615 – 11.85@115 mph on 20 psi

And here is the NEW combination AFTER:

Built shortblock (by Me !!) .020 overbore with Manley Rods/ Manley Pistons and rings
Fox Lake Stage 2 ported heads with SS 1mm oversize valves
Comp Cams Stage 3 cams
Bassani headers / Bassani catted mid pipes / Bassani catback
Steig stage 4 ported Eaton / stock upper plenum / stock tb
Meziere electric water pump
Reicard Racing blower spacer
Reicard Racing 2.80 blower pulley / 6# lower
PSP nitrous plate (just incase I want to add meth inj. Or nitrous later)
I plan to run 16psi of boost

I also powdercoated everything !!!

Here is a few teaser pics.

I will try to get some better pics up later this week.

EZ SPEED · 03-20-2007, 04:53 AM

I forgot to mention that while the truck was down for the past 16 months, I had the hood repainted, rear side steps repainted, and installed a roll pan.
In addition to powder coating everything on the engine, I also added a JLP Intercooler tank (polished it myself), Canton sheetmetal radiator overflow tank (polished it myself), and a Canton sheetmetal power steering tank.
I installed SPAL dual 14” electric fans in front of the radiator controlled by a DC fan controller, and SPAL 6.5” fans on the heat exchanger , and even painted “Lightning” on the backside of the radiator so that it can be seen from the engine compartment.
I also installed a Moroso aluminum sheetmetal transmission pan, relocated my Optima battery to underneath the bed along with adding an alternator shutdown relay and a master on/off switch.
I also moved a lot of the wiring harnesses to inside the fenders, moved all the wiring / relays off the firewall, replumbed the intercooler lines with AN fittings and push-loc hose, bent up new lines for the brakes while deleting the ABS and moved my line-lock to down on the frame. I also cleaned and painted the frame from the front bumper to the transmission crossmember. I completely deleted the rest of the EGR stuff, deleted the EVAP stuff, and deleted the troublesome PCV stuff.
I painted the master cylinder and brake booster with hammertone paint.

There are still a few details that I want to work on before its perfect, but its getting closer everyday. I have all the pieces to do the console / bucket seat conversion waiting for me to start that project also.

As soon as I can get the motor broken in ( my machine shop guy made me promise no boost till after 500 miles, he knows that I usually break them in as I drive them . . .WOT . . .ha ha ha) then it will be time to visit the dyno. I hope to have both of my Lightnings ready for the Dyno in the next 4-5 weeks.

Italian LX · 03-20-2007, 05:22 AM

Looking good, Eric. It will be nice to see that truck finally back on the road again.

coupe · 03-20-2007, 08:04 AM

89five0Gt · 03-20-2007, 08:10 AM

i love the lightnings

rtusnake · 03-20-2007, 10:02 AM

Everything looks great and very clean. We can have a battle of the ported eatons now

. How do the cams sound idling?

Scothew · 03-20-2007, 10:27 AM

Awesome man! I know youve missed it as we all have.

Btw, you shoulda mentioned the VERY start of the truck.. stock block carnage

EZ SPEED · 03-20-2007, 12:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Italian LX

Looking good, Eric. It will be nice to see that truck finally back on the road again.

Thanks !!! . . .Yeah, I need to ride by your house and check out the stroker coupe

Quote:

Originally Posted by rtusnake

Everything looks great and very clean. We can have a battle of the ported eatons now

. How do the cams sound idling?

I am not sure about the cams just yet. I had to idle it up until I get a chance to work on the idle part of the tune. Hopefully they will be more noticable than the Crower stage 2's that I used to have.
But it will never sound as good as the 410 in the 93L with the AFM B41 cam

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scothew

Awesome man! I know youve missed it as we all have.

Btw, you shoulda mentioned the VERY start of the truck.. stock block carnage

Yeah, now the Lightning has 16,300 miles and its 3rd engine

myillwillinc · 03-20-2007, 01:33 PM

looks awesome man!!! i have the same cams and valves in my 5.4 motor. so does it sound?

TheJeanyus · 03-20-2007, 02:00 PM

Great to see that truck up and moving again.

03-20-2007, 04:52 AM	#1
EZ SPEED Friends Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Tempe Arizona Posts: 3,029	Update: 2003 Lightning Project - Back on the road !!!! Well I finally have my 2003 Lightning back on the road again after a LONG time down. The truck has been down since November 1st of 2005, which is 16 months and 15 days. And you know whats even better? Its also PAID off !! Last friday I went to the bank and paid it off . . . the went home and busted my butt to finish it up and was out driving it later that afternoon !!! A little bit of background history for those of you that don’t know . . or have forgotten since its been so long. I originally took the truck apart to fix a broken valve and had planned on just installing some ported heads to replace the stock heads. But when I removed the heads I saw some scarring on the cylinder walls of the engine block and decided to pull the whole engine for a rebuild. And at the same time I decided to build a turbo setup for the truck. Also during this time, I had been collecting up parts to add a turbo to my 93 Lightning and I wound up spending a LOT of my time on the 93L. I did however get the 03’s turbo headers build, a section of the downpipe, and the Muffler /tailpipe assembly finished. But I hit a few problems . . . The 93L turned out to be a MUCH larger project than I intended, I had some financial difficulties, and then I changed my mind about the direction I was headed with the 03L. I saw that the 03L was headed towards becoming a dedicated race truck and I realized that’s not what I wanted. So I removed all the turbo stuff before I was even finished and sold it all and started putting the truck back together as a supercharged Lightning. Here is a rundown of what the engine WAS BEFORE: VT Engines built shortblock Stock heads Crower stage 2 cams Accufab tb and JLP sheetmetal intake Dynatech longtubes / high flow cats / Bassani catback Kenne Bell 2.3 / JLP sheetmetal intake 529 / 615 – 11.85@115 mph on 20 psi And here is the NEW combination AFTER: Built shortblock (by Me !!) .020 overbore with Manley Rods/ Manley Pistons and rings Fox Lake Stage 2 ported heads with SS 1mm oversize valves Comp Cams Stage 3 cams Bassani headers / Bassani catted mid pipes / Bassani catback Steig stage 4 ported Eaton / stock upper plenum / stock tb Meziere electric water pump Reicard Racing blower spacer Reicard Racing 2.80 blower pulley / 6# lower PSP nitrous plate (just incase I want to add meth inj. Or nitrous later) I plan to run 16psi of boost I also powdercoated everything !!! Here is a few teaser pics. I will try to get some better pics up later this week. __________________ 2020 Range Rover Sport HSE P525 Dynamic - Firenze Red - Supercharged 5.0 - 518 HP SOLD - 2010 Camaro SS [/B] - Featured in GM High Tech Performance and Camaro Now Magazines - http://www.superchevy.com/features/g...of-perfection/

03-20-2007, 04:53 AM	#2
EZ SPEED Friends Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Tempe Arizona Posts: 3,029	I forgot to mention that while the truck was down for the past 16 months, I had the hood repainted, rear side steps repainted, and installed a roll pan. In addition to powder coating everything on the engine, I also added a JLP Intercooler tank (polished it myself), Canton sheetmetal radiator overflow tank (polished it myself), and a Canton sheetmetal power steering tank. I installed SPAL dual 14” electric fans in front of the radiator controlled by a DC fan controller, and SPAL 6.5” fans on the heat exchanger , and even painted “Lightning” on the backside of the radiator so that it can be seen from the engine compartment. I also installed a Moroso aluminum sheetmetal transmission pan, relocated my Optima battery to underneath the bed along with adding an alternator shutdown relay and a master on/off switch. I also moved a lot of the wiring harnesses to inside the fenders, moved all the wiring / relays off the firewall, replumbed the intercooler lines with AN fittings and push-loc hose, bent up new lines for the brakes while deleting the ABS and moved my line-lock to down on the frame. I also cleaned and painted the frame from the front bumper to the transmission crossmember. I completely deleted the rest of the EGR stuff, deleted the EVAP stuff, and deleted the troublesome PCV stuff. I painted the master cylinder and brake booster with hammertone paint. There are still a few details that I want to work on before its perfect, but its getting closer everyday. I have all the pieces to do the console / bucket seat conversion waiting for me to start that project also. As soon as I can get the motor broken in ( my machine shop guy made me promise no boost till after 500 miles, he knows that I usually break them in as I drive them . . .WOT . . .ha ha ha) then it will be time to visit the dyno. I hope to have both of my Lightnings ready for the Dyno in the next 4-5 weeks. __________________ 2020 Range Rover Sport HSE P525 Dynamic - Firenze Red - Supercharged 5.0 - 518 HP SOLD - 2010 Camaro SS [/B] - Featured in GM High Tech Performance and Camaro Now Magazines - http://www.superchevy.com/features/g...of-perfection/

03-20-2007, 05:22 AM	#3
Italian LX Daddy x4 ...we're done Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Oxford, AL Posts: 11,551	Looking good, Eric. It will be nice to see that truck finally back on the road again. __________________ -Brian '86 Mustang GT Convertible '88 Mustang LX coupe '11 Odyssey TE '21 Insight Touring

03-20-2007, 08:04 AM	#4
coupe Super Moderator Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 6,313	__________________ " If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough. " - Albert Einstein

03-20-2007, 10:02 AM	#6
rtusnake Halfshaft Killer Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: The Kingdom Posts: 3,910	Everything looks great and very clean. We can have a battle of the ported eatons now . How do the cams sound idling? __________________ 03 Cobra 06 F250 (\__/) (='.'=) (")_(")

03-20-2007, 08:10 AM	#5
89five0Gt Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: behind Skillet Posts: 1,356	i love the lightnings

03-20-2007, 10:27 AM	#7
Scothew Censored Jihad Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: B'ham, AL Posts: 4,108	Awesome man! I know youve missed it as we all have. Btw, you shoulda mentioned the VERY start of the truck.. stock block carnage __________________ Theres only one way to get to Carnegie Hall..... .... Practice.

03-20-2007, 01:33 PM	#9
myillwillinc Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 593	looks awesome man!!! i have the same cams and valves in my 5.4 motor. so does it sound? __________________ 5.4 project in the works..... link: http://www.illwillinc.com/97mustang.htm PowderCoating and Anodizing: http://www.illwillinc.com/

03-20-2007, 02:00 PM	#10
TheJeanyus Administrator Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Huntsville, AL Posts: 14,774	Great to see that truck up and moving again. __________________ 1998 Mustang GT Coupe - World's Slowest Racecar 2005 Toyota 4Runner SR5 V8 2013 Volkswagen Jetta Sportwagen TDI