Went for economy this time around.

PapaGeno21

PapaGeno21

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So I decided to get rid of my Jeep. It was a fantastic truck, and I put around 30K on it in the 4 years I owned it. However, the last two years were only around 3K each LOL. Gotta love having a bike.

However I have decided I wanted a more "Fuel Efficient" vehicle. I wanted to "Go Green" and "Save the planet" so I got myself one of these.

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Its a 95 Gen1 Ford Lightning. 351 Windsor/E4OD Trans. 2WD. This is build number 1198 of 2280 in 95.

Changed the wheels and tires first. I am keeping the wheels as they are originals and are in fantastic shape, but I personally like the ones I put on more. Not to mention they were 28" tall and the 4.10 gears out back was really spooling the motor up on the freeway. So I went to an OEM sized rear and put a slightly smaller tire in front.

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Then I added some bump. Used the amp and wires that were in the Jeep (Kicker ZX1000.1).. Had to buy some small 10's in truck boxes but it all worked out good. Just trying to sell my old 15" sub is being a PITA.

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Put a piece of wood inbetween the subs to hold the amp in place. (Yes I know its upside down but the wires line up better this way)

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And now I have changed the headlights.

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So the previous owner already did some stuff..

Underdrive pullys
BBK headers
Flowmaster Cat Back
Roll pan
Cowl Hood
Cold air intake
Accel Coil
Tint
Tonneu Cover


I swapped in a 160 Amp 3G alternator and changed around the harness so that its using a 2G wire as the charge lead going to the solenoid, vs the dinky one that came with the stock 90 Amp alt.

Not going to do many things to it as this is my daily. Just going to get some traction bars, and slicks.... And I have sitting here next to me a ZEX wet nitrous kit, which is going to use a Nitrous Express plate to spray into the intake. I don't really care for the air intake tube nozzles, so I ended up scoring a plate for it. You can see the plate in the photo on the lower left. Also scored a NOS purge kit as well. Just need some odds and ends and I can hook that stuff up (Traction bars MUST be installed first though). I am just going to run a 100 Shot and hope the thing can run somewhere around 13.5 on the 1/4. I would like to race it at least twice a month next year up at New England Dragway. I have a Mallory 685 HyFIRE VI ignition sitting here next to me as well, gotta just find some time to install it.

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So yeah, that is where I have been. Still riding the bike a ton (almost got 10K on it now), but I apologize for my lack of posts lately. Just been reading a ton on all this shit. I know the majority of it from having built up my Foxbody but nitrous is new to me.

I know some people may think nitrous is cheap and whatnot, which is fine as everyone is entitled to your opinion. But man its fun.

3 Year plan for this truck as its not like my bike and I cannot do everything at once.

Next year I am just going to run it on spray and slicks.

Following year will have a built 4R70W Trans with a brake, and FAST EFI with a nice Heads/Cam combo.

Year after that I want to swap the bottom end to a forged 408 stroker.


Anyways, just figured I would post it up. :)
 
I can't believe I just saw this post! I just now, came from Craigslist where I was looking at Ford Ranger Pick-ups, I swear! Too funny!!! Someone came to the job today with an early 2,000's Ford Ranger with the regular cab and long bed. I'd be able to bolt in a wheel chock up front and take my bike anywhere I wanted without having to rent trailers and such.

Hey Geno, what ever happened to the 351 Cleveland's??? I remember back in the day, nobody wanted the Windsors, but now thats all I see. I'm wondering what the differences were between the two?
 
Thanks man! It seems that the windsors have serious aftermarket support. Well, not seems... They do. The Cleavlands were a lot different and they flow a TON of air through the stock heads, but from what I see is most people who want that kind of power just opt for going straight to a big block 460 as the cleavland isnt as well supported. With the big block you can do just about anything. And it has me thinking as well, but a 408 is just a drop in deal once I am running FAST EFI. 460+ Cubes is badass but you can actually still get like 12mpg out of a 408 where as you will hope and prey to get 7 out of a big block.
 
That's a great looking truck Papa, love the wheels!

Out of curiosity, I looked up the US magazine tests on that truck from 1995 and they tested 0-60s around 7.5 and 1/4 miles between 15.6 and 15.8! That is slow. Like stock Honda Civic slow. A few years back I had a 1989 Civic with 250,000 miles or so and I ran a 16.0 at our local strip so I was very shocked to read those kinds of times from professional tests. :(

Surely the motor must be very muzzled from the factory. What kind of times are people running after all the hillbilly 'look at me' mods?

Looking forward to a new build thread and I can't wait to see what this baby runs on a stock pass before you start the work on it. :)
 
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Dustin said:
That's a great looking truck Papa, love the wheels!

Out of curiosity, I looked up the US magazine tests on that truck from 1995 and they tested 0-60s around 7.5 and 1/4 miles between 15.6 and 15.8! That is slow. Like stock Honda Civic slow. A few years back I had a 1989 Civic with 250,000 miles or so and I ran a 16.0 at our local strip so I was very shocked to read those kinds of times from professional tests. :(

Surely the motor must be very muzzled from the factory. What kind of times are people running after all the hillbilly 'look at me' mods?

Looking forward to a new build thread and I can't wait to see what this baby runs on a stock pass before you start the work on it. :)
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You really trust a magazine? Yes it is not a rocket lol. Thing is choked like you wouldn't believe with the stock heads/intake/exhaust. She only makes 240hp/350tq factory and its heavy at 4480lbs. However, I am going to shed around 300lbs and double the horse.

But they run in real life (Not magazine crap) around 15 flat to 15.2. With a 100 shot, should be around 13.5-13.8. This thing will be going 11's by the time I call it "done".

I am pretty stoked either way, had it around a month now and love every minute in it. Just gonna have to save the pennies and hunt for deals. Not cheap to make big power. Learned that the hard way with the stang.


Also, what is a "hillbilly 'look at me' mods"? I don't personally see anything "Hillbilly" about this truck. Unless just the fact of owning a truck is hillbilly up in canada. :p
 
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You know, I was battling back and forth for about two weeks wether to go solid black or chrome. I felt as though the black would be a little "too much" as the truck really has nothing else to break it up. I am going to do black wheels for the strip set of tires I get, as they will be real skinny front runners and most likely some 315/60R15s in back.

Who knows, I may like that even more once I can see them on the truck in person.
 
FAILURE, I CAN SEE A PARTIAL LICENSE PLATE NUMBER IN THE 3RD PICTURE. HOW COULD YOU LET THIS HAPPEN? YOU ARE THE KING OF BLOCKED OUT LICENSE PLATES. :laugh2:

sweet truck though :Rockon:
 
PapaGeno21 said:
You know, I was battling back and forth for about two weeks wether to go solid black or chrome. I felt as though the black would be a little "too much" as the truck really has nothing else to break it up. I am going to do black wheels for the strip set of tires I get, as they will be real skinny front runners and most likely some 315/60R15s in back.

Who knows, I may like that even more once I can see them on the truck in person.
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Post up pics when you get em!
 
Hey Papa I built a Windsor a few years back. To get it flowing really really nicely get some big vavle aluminum heads and change the intake to a trick flow or similar vendor that posts up flow tests. Then put a nice RV cam in it so you have some streetable power or go bigger and change out the torque converter. Do a shift kit for the tranny they are pretty easy to do by yourself just remember the process everything came out and it will go in really nicely. Finaly add your nitrous youll see alot better gains with it and your tranny won't go to pieces on you. Oh and hope the motor holds out :D. You have a nice truck and looking fwd to the build.:icon_beer:
 
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