Expy/lightning opinions wanted!

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

toms89

technical advisor
Joined
Mar 13, 2011
Posts
5,173
Reaction score
442
Location
MD
I am kind of at a cross roads.

I need to pull my motor as I have a 'ticking/knocking' noise that needs to be identified / repaired before it has potential catastrophic failure which could raise the expense considerable depending on the source of course.

The body of my expy is quite heavily rusted on the undercarriage but its limited to the body and is more or less cosmetic. The frame is in good shape. I think it would go many more years but may look like poo if the rust starts to work its way through.

I still have my stock motor in the garage which I can re-install saving the "built" motor for a future project or sell. It would actually be worth some serious cash to someone in the lightning community.

I now have a Taurus sho as a daily driver or it can share daily driver duties with the expy. I do not wish to mod it in the near future as it is a very nice ride as she sits and I have a bumper to bumper warranty. I would like to keep the expy as it is my "truck" and serves all the truck duties well. It would also serve well for winter driving. I do not want to drive my Sho on winter salted roads awd or not. The undercarriage of the expy is already rusted so what the hell.

Now that I have the Sho it does give me the opportunity to get a bit more 'wild' with the expy. Higher stall, performance oriented gears, louder exhaust, etc... would be less of a concern because the Taurus can serve as family transport.

The only thing is I know I am putting a high dollar drivetrain in a low dollar vehicle in which the some of the parts is worth far more than the vehicle as a whole. Yeah I know its already that way but I did not realize the extent of the rust until I was actually doing my conversion the first time. It also already has a built tranny in it as well which I do not have a back up for so If I return it to stock the built tranny would have to remain with the expy.


Do I repair and continue to use my expy as my truck and 'boy toy' knowing the extent of the rust ? See what a 4wd expy is capable of on the 1320 ??
It is a hell of a lot of fun to drive plus has excellent sleeper status. :flamingdevil:

Or do I return it to stock short of the built tranny and continue to drive as is ?
 
Last edited:
OP
OP
toms89

toms89

technical advisor
Joined
Mar 13, 2011
Posts
5,173
Reaction score
442
Location
MD
Forgot to mention the custom dual 3" exhaust on it as well. Likely to hurt the power with the stock motor...
 

FordandPolaris

Full Access Members
Joined
Feb 7, 2012
Posts
2,246
Reaction score
265
Location
Saint Cloud, MN
If it were my project, I would hunt for a Southern truck with a blown motor (bad version, not the good version haha) or something of that nature. $500 will buy it, and $500-1000 will ship it to you so you don't miss work. And you could look for a 97-98 to get that center axle disconnect, which could be useful in your application. Either way, then you have a vehicle worth adding a huge cost drivetrain to.

Also, if you don't plan on daily driving new expy as much in the winter, the Southern expy would last forever in theory. I have put considerable thought into acquiring a truck for myself using the same method and building the current 5.4 (as you and I have talked about before) that I have.
 
Last edited:

tallsville

Full Access Members
Joined
Jul 10, 2009
Posts
3,174
Reaction score
169
Location
LA
As stated before you could find a newer expy with no rust and just transfer the engine, tranny and exhaust. And since you have a daily driver you can take your time and do it right. You could do a frame off and coat the frame and under carriage to stop any future rusting.
 

tallsville

Full Access Members
Joined
Jul 10, 2009
Posts
3,174
Reaction score
169
Location
LA
And since you have all the tuning software you can really dial it in.
 

dairyair302

Full Access Members
Joined
May 28, 2014
Posts
60
Reaction score
1
Location
st.francis mn.
Go to the west coast and geat a clean expy for cheap, swap all your performance parts into it, put the stock crap in your rusty expy and have a seperate summer and winter suv.
 
Top