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Oldschool Ford Lightnings??


Kevin R.

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No 1984 Lightning. The Gen I's went from 1993 to 1995. They had a N/A 5.8L motor rated at 245hp.

 

Stock for stock a Gen I would stay pretty even with a SN95 mustang, they go low 15's high 14's stock. In the corners the Lightning would walk all over you. Gen 1's outhandle the Gen II's and where the best handling vehicle to come out of ford between 93 and 95.

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Originally posted by Neo:

That's really sad that a truck was their best handling vehicle for that time period.

Why's that sad? I think its pretty cool smile.gif
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btw if anyone is looking for a 1st gen lightning i seen one last weekend that was super clean, white, guy said he would let it go for 7500, he also had a 3rd gen camaro for 4 grand, clean as hell and 58k miles on it, super clean car just in case everyone missed it before
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Guest STRIKEZ

Gents,

RL is right about the years of the GEN 1 L. I am betting he meant a 94. I am a Gen II owner myself. Some of you might know me from Trails. I'm the Black 99 out there all the time.

There is a 94 that runs around town here that has been extremely modded and has Kenne Bell to help plant about 500hp to the wheels. I can't see that guy selling it though. He usually has it in car and truck shows.. Very clean and nice.. If someone is telling you otherwise, they are fedding you BS..

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Originally posted by STRIKEZ:

Gents,

RL is right about the years of the GEN 1 L. I am betting he meant a 94. I am a Gen II owner myself. Some of you might know me from Trails. I'm the Black 99 out there all the time.

There is a 94 that runs around town here that has been extremely modded and has Kenne Bell to help plant about 500hp to the wheels. I can't see that guy selling it though. He usually has it in car and truck shows.. Very clean and nice.. If someone is telling you otherwise, they are fedding you BS..

Have you seen dyno graphs? There isn't a chance in hell that a Gen I Lightning Kenne bell kit is going to make 500rwhp without a lot of juice. The inlets are EXTREMLY restrictive, even if he switched to mustang inlets it would be VERY hard to accomplish (I've NEVER seen it done without one off manifolds and I've been BIG into the Kenne bell world for a long time). I'd like to get lined up with him.

 

 

Jason, Both the R's would beat it, but I wasn't considering a 600 car run that you needed to be licensed to buy a production vehicle. smile.gif

 

 

They had 1993 Lightnings.....

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Guest STRIKEZ

RL,

His motor wassn't stock and only an idiot would try just bolting on a Blower onto a stock Gen 1 L. Your right! The extra air would be useless without a new set of heads, cams, etc. This thing was built!! Short block up. He had allot of work in it. I have always felt that Ford should have put a little more effort in that 351 motor.. for the Gen 1 Lightning.

I have seen a basic built 351 motor, with a midsized turbo, in a Big Ass Heavy Bronce, turn 12.9xx with only pushing 8lbs of boost. He was just breaking it in at that time. So I guess my point is with buiding a 351 up right and then adding some boost. You can reach 500hp... Hell my buddy is pulling 525 rwhp/600rwtrq out of his Gen2 Lightning That was on a Dyno tune. He is still running the Stock Eaton BLower, It is just ported and polished along with the intake. Of course he has rebuilt the whole bottom end, new cams and heads, long tubes, high flow cats, And pushing about 16-17 lbs of boost.. Our little 330 small blocks put out power when pushed... Why do you think they supercharged the 03 Cobra?? They learned from the Lightning...

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Originally posted by STRIKEZ:

RL,

His motor wassn't stock and only an idiot would try just bolting on a Blower onto a stock Gen 1 L. Your right! The extra air would be useless without a new set of heads, cams, etc. This thing was built!! Short block up. He had allot of work in it. I have always felt that Ford should have put a little more effort in that 351 motor.. for the Gen 1 Lightning.

I have seen a basic built 351 motor, with a midsized turbo, in a Big Ass Heavy Bronce, turn 12.9xx with only pushing 8lbs of boost. He was just breaking it in at that time. So I guess my point is with buiding a 351 up right and then adding some boost. You can reach 500hp... Hell my buddy is pulling 525 rwhp/600rwtrq out of his Gen2 Lightning That was on a Dyno tune. He is still running the Stock Eaton BLower, It is just ported and polished along with the intake. Of course he has rebuilt the whole bottom end, new cams and heads, long tubes, high flow cats, And pushing about 16-17 lbs of boost.. Our little 330 small blocks put out power when pushed... Why do you think they supercharged the 03 Cobra?? They learned from the Lightning...

The blowers simply DONT flow enough, its not an ENGINE issue, we had one of the fastest KB cars in the country, we've been involved with it for a LONG time. THe ONLY KB car I've ever seen make over 500rwhp was Joe Zeto's car and it was intercooled with a wild twin throttle body intake. The Lightning KB kits flat out SUCK, the only way to make even 400rwhp with them is to switch to mustang manifolds, which is fairly involved.

 

THe most powerfull KB Lightning I know of is in Cali, its a 427w, AFR heads, a custom cam, aquamist WA injection and 19psi. It made somewhere around 430rwhp.

 

You cant compare Gen II and Gen I engines at ALL.

 

I'm well aware of what the 351's will do with a turbo, but a turbo is not a Kenne bell (heat pump). My truck went 13.4@104mph with 6psi and no intercooler on a 2.2 60'.

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Guest STRIKEZ

RL,

What size is the KB blower for Gen 1 compared to the Eaton M112? It seems allot of guys have upgraded to the GT40 heads and what not on the Gen1 models. I am just surprised at how much the KB setup flows over the eaton on our Gen2 models!!!

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Originally posted by STRIKEZ:

RL,

What size is the KB blower for Gen 1 compared to the Eaton M112? It seems allot of guys have upgraded to the GT40 heads and what not on the Gen1 models. I am just surprised at how much the KB setup flows over the eaton on our Gen2 models!!!

Its not about flow, its about heat. The Gen II's are intercooled. Beyond that the gen 1's KB kits have HORRIBLE manifolds. They come strock with GT40 heads FWIW.
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Guest STRIKEZ

Rl,

I didn't realize the Gen1 kits were not intercooled. That does bite. i know mine runs like a dog in the heat. 3 tenths difference than if it was like 65 out and low humidity. They did a test comparison from the Eaton compared the KB for our Gen2 model and the KB was 30% more efficient. The temps were almost like 100 degrees lower after the intercooler also. It is amazing what engineering can do. Do you ever run your truck out at Trails?

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