Your best bet is if you can locate a used lightning drivetrain and swap it into your expy. The lightning motor is very docile and drivable if you are light on the throttle yet if you put your foot into it, it will make its presence known. There are a few making over 500 rwhp with the eaton blower that comes on the lightning. The eaton blowers are known for making monster torque numbers as well and this will be great for pulling and breaking parts.lol. If you swap to one of the many aftermarket blowers the sky is the limit. There are many routes you can take once you have a built lightning motor. Check out http://www.lightningrodder.com/ if you are considering a lightning swap.
decisions decisions
- Thread starter nvycrmn
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The lightning has different intake, injectors, fuel pump(s), intercooler/ heat exchanger, pulley bridge, crank pulley and etc. It would be much more difficult to make a "bolt on" positive displacement blower for a stock non lightning 5.4. I believe they did make centrifugal blower kits at one time for the 5.4 but they have since discontinued them.
99 Expy
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The powerstroke would be kickass, but from what I have seen from other threads, the wiring in them is so difficult to get to work, most say to take whatever you are working on, and put the body on the frame the motor is in, but anything is definitely possible with lots of time and money
I am just going to wait till I can afford my powerstroke and have two seperate vehicles to mod...
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nvycrmn
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yeah, it is startin to look like its gonna be a lightning swap....we will wait and see what spring brings. not gonna start the build till i get out of the navy...
Expeditionary
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here's my opinion, 350 Chevy small block (built ford tough with chevy stuff) or if you wanna stay ford a 351 out of a bronco. thats if you want to go little, if you wanted to go bigger 383 stroker, 408 stroker, 427 stroker. Anything big like that, that you can get out of a donor vehicle I.E. bronco, and drop the C6 or whatever tranny it has bolted to it in there. keep it naturally aspirated, while its out of the truck do new pistons, forged crank, heads, exhaust manifolds, injection system, or holley 4 barrel if its carbed.
Really if you looking to make it into a sled puller your going to be up there with built twin turboed D-Maxes pushing near 1000hp and 1700+ LB-FT
Sooo my opinion is to go with the old saying "there's no replacement for displacement"
Also do you have a 4.6??? because you talked about doing a 54 swap, anyway those arent too bad I dont think my buddy did one (had one done) on his 97 Expy after he ran the 4.6 a lil too hot... or out of oil
and it threw a rod right out the side of the block 
Cost him about 4K to do it, and im pretty sure he used a crate engine 5.4 but I could be wrong
Good LUCK!
Either way its going to be a bad B*tch no matter what you do with it!
Really if you looking to make it into a sled puller your going to be up there with built twin turboed D-Maxes pushing near 1000hp and 1700+ LB-FT
Sooo my opinion is to go with the old saying "there's no replacement for displacement"
Also do you have a 4.6??? because you talked about doing a 54 swap, anyway those arent too bad I dont think my buddy did one (had one done) on his 97 Expy after he ran the 4.6 a lil too hot... or out of oil
and it threw a rod right out the side of the block Cost him about 4K to do it, and im pretty sure he used a crate engine 5.4 but I could be wrong
Good LUCK!
Either way its going to be a bad B*tch no matter what you do with it!
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