I am considering an engine swap for my 93 Lightning with a LMR 427 CI crate motor 450 HP Willl my stock 351 parts such as intake starter alternator injectors match up to this motor? I realize it will have to be tuned but will my headers fit on this motor and what time to do such a swap? My present motor has 140 thousand miles so upgrades might not be worth the money any advice appreciated
engine swap
- Thread starter rdcoma
- Start date
If the 427 is a stroked 351W all your parts should fit however you wont be making 450 hp with stock injectors and intake, exhaust. Honestly a well taken care of 140k is no problem on these engines. Many have put boost to them with 200k plus. I plan to do a stroker when I pop my engine but until then the stock one will do fine. I would love to have some old school 427 badges on the fenders though. You can make about 400hp with a good set of heads, exhaust and relatively mild cam on your stock engine (will still require a tune). With a different intake and more cam you can make 450 or more but then you will be loosing the low end torque that makes your truck fun to hammer from a stop light and cruise around with nice vacuum for the power brakes and such. The stroker eng with stock components will make a little more power and a good bit more torque than the stock engine and would retain all the good attributes and be a fun daily driver. Depends on what you want to do with the truck. Fun street truck or make the most power. Got to think about stall converter and trans mods to match your engine combo as well. I would spend a week reading every build you can dig up on this site and see which way you want to go.
bumperquip
Active member
With all due respect, this thinking is a bit narrow and premature IMO.
Jabo is spot on. At 140K you're motor may be in top condition and upgrades would be well worth the money.
My advice would be to do some diagnostics before writing yours off for replacement (compression, leak-down, etc.).
My motor has quite a bit more miles than yours does. I purchased my truck having a well stocked bank account set aside strictly for restoration and rebuild of my truck, motor included. However, upon my completion of the mentioned diagnostics, I found that no rebuild, refresh or redo was needed in any way.
I think you should look at your original motor a little more closely before you spend the time and money to replace it with something not OEM.
... but that's just one poor sap's humble opinion.
SA94Lightning
refreshed and alive again
140k. HA HA. My Old G1 was at 400k when trans dumped. So I decided to "do it all".
Should have left motor alone it likely would have ran another 200k before it needed rebuild. Just saying you may be surprised how long a properly maintained SBF will go.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Should have left motor alone it likely would have ran another 200k before it needed rebuild. Just saying you may be surprised how long a properly maintained SBF will go.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk