Lightning Supercharger On 5.4 Dohc

5.4beast

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Apr 9, 2014
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I'm putting a navigator 5.4 (currently under construction) into a 1998 mustang GT.
I'm building it with a blower in mind. Forged internals, Low compression.

I've seen these blowers on Ebay and want to know what else is needed for the install.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2010-2011-2...Parts_Accessories&hash=item338bf9a140&vxp=mtr
I know I need the crank pulley, and the belt tensioner. I'm going to fab an intake and build my own intercooler setup. (is the intercooler necessary?) Do I need the lightning computer? I am planning on tuning it myself. I'm thinking i'll go low pressure, maybe >8psi for my street only application.
Just point me in the right direction please.
 
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How do you plan to tune it yourself?
The link you posted is for a gt500 blower and drive by wire t/b what are you going to do with that?
How exactly are you going to build a from scratch lower manifold?
Yes you need an intercooler!

Sounds like you need to work out a well thought out plan before you wind up in over your head!
 
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84Ttop, as far as tuning, I was planning on going to an aftermarket efi. And have access to a Dyno.
As for the eBay post, this was an example of some I've seen. I'd choose more wisely when i made my final choice.
As to the intake. I work at a custom fab shop. We can make things a lot more complex than an intake.
Thanks for the info on needing an intercooler, I know a lot about building engines, but not much about superchargers or turbos.
And I am looking forward to having a complete and well thought out plan. But this involves reading what i can, then asking questions. This forum is where i felt i would start;)

And needless to say, I'm only asking this because like everyone else, I have a budget. If i cant go on the cheap, I'll save my money for a while and buy a kit. But wouldn't it be cool to do this for half of the price of prebuilt kits?
 
+1 on the intercooler. If you cool the charge enough, you can push higher boost pressures with less risks.

Also +1 on not going with the Lightning blower. If you are going to all the trouble of putting this thing grand scale engine build and custom intake, you are going to want big results on the back end. Lightning blowers are good but will likely end up a limiting factor. I think after all the effort you would be shortchanging yourself with a Lightning blower. If you want big numbers, go turbo, big centri or a big positive displacement. That is my 2 cents. Good luck.
 
I should clarify I have no need or desire to hit 1000 hp. In fact I'd be very happy at about 500. This is just a street car. Not a daily driver for sure, but something I'll drive now and then. I know I can make a great race car with a few turbos. But again. Street car only.
 
Id recommend slapping the engine in and getting it going first then worry about boosting it after the fact

the blower should have an intercooler but you can make do if you run meth or water injection

Any ford ecu can be tuned for boost no problem
 
Keep in mind that the Lightning has a 2V SOHC engine while the Navigator has a 4V DOHC engine. So you would be better getting a Navigator ECU and tuning that for boost if you plan to run a 5.4 DOHC engine with a supercharger. If you can't get a Navi ECU, then go for either a 2003-2004 Cobra ECU or a 99/01 Cobra ECU. Both will have to be tuned for the engine. You don't need an expensive EFI set-up. You can run those engines by flash tuning the any of those ECUs. Sniper and others make simple tuners that allow you to input engine size, compression, boost, etc into a tune to flash into your ECU. That is the simplest way to go until you learn more.

If you run a Navi engine with a top mount blower you will need a cowl hood...like at least 4 inches. If you run a centri blower then you can get away with cutting certain spots on the bottom of the hood itself. I had to do this. If you do it right, then you won't be able to tell that any cutting was done when the hood is down.

And you don't really need to fab anything for the intake manifold if you run a centri blower. If you go top mount, then I'd say go with Whipple or KB. Stay away from the Eaton blowers. The Lightning blower will not work with the Navi engine because the intake manifold part is for a 2V head. And the blower bolt pattern does not match the 03-04 Cobra blower bolt pattern. You could try to find an 03-04 Cobra blower set-up along with some 4.6-5.4 conversion plates. This will allow you to match up the 03-04 4.6 Cobra blower intake manifold onto the 5.4 heads. Beware tho that this will add probably about an extra inch of height onto the engine.

And again, don't forget to take into account the headers/exhaust manifolds, X/H-pipe, and K-member. You may need a tubular K-member to save some weight and for fitment. Your stock X/H-pipe will not fit once the 5.4 is in. You will need one specifically for a 5.4. Try to find a X/H-pipe made for a 2000 Cobra-R. This will fit perfectly.
 
You're gonna have to do some very serious fab work to build an intake/intercooler to put an M112 on a 5.4 DOHC. Probably a lot more work than it's worth. The M112 on the 2-valve Lightnings already runs out of breath very quickly, so throw better flowing 4-valve heads on that and it's not going to make any power over 5000 rpm. You're going to have to have a serious cowl hood to fit that setup, also. You already have to notch the hood when putting an M112 on a 99-04 4.6 Mustang (it can be covered up by the hood scoop), and the 94-98 hoods have even less clearance. You'd probably have to have a 6+" cowl hood.

What kind of power are you building this 5.4 to hold? And what's your drivetrain look like?

If I was building a DOHC 5.4 to custom-install into a Mustang, and weighing options between power adders, it'd be a no-brainer: turbo all the way. You said you're gonna build an intake anyway, so just build one that'll fit under whatever hood you want to run. The exhaust is going to have to be custom anyway, so with a turbo, that's 2 birds with 1 stone. And since you have a little more displacement to help spool the turbo, you can afford to go with a larger turbo without sacrificing spooling abilities. Only want 500 rwhp? Throw a small 62 mm on there that'll fully spool by 3000 rpm, and you will have a torque monster. Or if you want to go big power, a 72 or 76 mm would still spool fairly easily and probably make 750+ rwhp.

And honestly, the cost won't likely be much more. As mentioned, you've got to do the intake, intercooler, exhaust, etc. anyway. So the extra cost would probably only be the cost of the turbo vs. blower.
 
Id recommend slapping the engine in and getting it going first then worry about boosting it after the fact

the blower should have an intercooler but you can make do if you run meth or water injection

Any ford ecu can be tuned for boost no problem
thanks for the info decipha! That is exactly what I'm going to do!
 
If you're interested, I have a Bassani X-pipe for a 2000 Cobra-R Mustang. The Cobra-R in 2000 came with a 5.4 liter DOHC engine and Bassani was the only company to make an X-Pipe for them as far as I know. I used it on my 5.4 conversion. I kept it around thinking I would do another 5.4 conversion but I don't think I'm really gonna get into all that again. So I'm just gonna sell it. Let me know it you're interested. This will bolt right up to 5.4 exhaust manifolds or ST headers and connect to any cat-back exhaust.