Steps in the Right Direction - Build Thread for my two Lightnings

Please put together a part list Jeff. I may end up doing the same thing and needless to say, I’m new at putting together a turbo kit.

And yea me too on the reactions! I had a guy do a photo shoot of mine not long ago at Sams…lol


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Oh this is going to be more of a "junkyard" build than anything I've ever done before. But I'm going to have fun doing it! It's going to be simple, use an FMU with a booster pump (though I may do a surge tank for it just to play with that, too - but I have a booster pump laying around), and a boost retard.

I drew up a mating flange for the Bassani exhaust (which I believe is the same as the stock flange, just with larger holes) and had it made by SendCutSend. That's probably the fanciest piece of the puzzle!

I need to reach out to Stinger again about the 3rd gear coast clutch issue with the xShift - if they resolve that, I would buy another one. I do plan to tow with this truck, though, and would prefer to have the 3rd gear engine braking.

I'd actually like to eventually put a stout motor in the red truck, and put the 393 into the white one.
 
In the process of building a mid-mount turbo setup for the white truck now. Goal is to have it simply bolt in where the muffler section is in the Bassani exhaust.

Always love the reactions these things gets. Driving out of the parking lot at work a couple of days ago, a couple of younger guys watching as I drove, I could hear one of them say, "Wow, man, it's a Lightning!"
I like the turbo under my truck. Got a moto being built and putting twin 67's under there.

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That would be cool. As I’m getting better at cutting and putting pipes together, haha, I suck at welding I think I could see myself trying something like that in the future
 
Hey Jeff what size pipes are you doing! I have a box of 3" stainless your welcome to have for some NC BBQ.

I ordered a 409 U bend of 2.5" and one of 3" from Summit. I have the flange, a 2-into-1 Y pipe, a few V-bands, and a ball-and-socket connection. A flex joint, a little race muffler, and however I decide to plumb the wastegate, and that'll be about it for the hot side. I'll get it all coated once I have it done.

Cold side I'll probably just do all 2.25" mild steel with silicon couplers and rattle can it for rust protection.
 
I need to reach out to Stinger again about the 3rd gear coast clutch issue with the xShift - if they resolve that, I would buy another one. I do plan to tow with this truck, though, and would prefer to have the 3rd gear engine braking.
Let me know what they tell you... I've noticed the same thing in my truck and it is kind of annoying.
 
Just so you guys know they are at the mercy of the Megasquirt developer, James over on MSEXTRA. James has mentioned trying to get that in the next version of the trans firmware.
 
That's the scary thing about this stuff. We're at the mercy of a couple of people for the hardware, firmware and software. Very narrow set of failure modes there.
 
That's the scary thing about this stuff. We're at the mercy of a couple of people for the hardware, firmware and software. Very narrow set of failure modes there.

I think the hardware availability could be said about any EFI. Now one guy doing firmware is certainly a risk, but the flip side is he’s very available and every update is full of requests directly from users. To me it kind of balances out in that aspect.

Just like the cooling fan PWM requests the best way to move this trans item along is to post over on MSEXTRA. The more people who do so the better!
 
Just so you guys know they are at the mercy of the Megasquirt developer, James over on MSEXTRA. James has mentioned trying to get that in the next version of the trans firmware.

Does he know how to get my truck to start? Before Jeff and i have a bonfire in his drive way..
 
Did some spring projects on the white '94 -

Used a piece from the wrecked red truck bed to repair the major rust hole in the bed of the '94. I used 3M body panel epoxy to install the piece and I'm reasonably happy with the results, especially compared to having a gaping hole in the bed.

Replaced the rotors and bearings with PowerStop and Timken goodies. The old rotors were woobbbbllllyyyyy..... I have new shoes for the drums, too, but haven't tackled that project yet.

Got the fog lights back on - one bracket is a touch bent, so I need to put some effort into straightening that. Note regarding the Nissan/Depo lights that seem to be an exact replacement for ours - the wiring grommet in the back of the light is a different size, so you can't use the factory wiring as a replacement for the wiring that comes with the light, and for some reason "they" decided that black should be hot and white should be ground, so I blew a couple of fuses before I realized what was wrong. Now I have to eventually redo my nice wiring.

Got new key fobs programmed, new moisture barriers in the doors, and the passenger-side lock actuator replaced.

Next up, LMR door repair kit install, JBG dash support repair kit, and change out the driver's seat with a spare one I have (have to move the recliner handle to the better seat).

Got the dash trim kit, door handles and wing vent handles from JC Customs and now I have to decide which truck they should go in.

I've put ~7000 miles on it since it came to live with me last August. I love having it.

Note - I've been using 3M's adhesion promoter on some plastic repairs and it GREATLY enhances the effectiveness of various glues, especially plastic epoxy, on the interior pieces.
 
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Just so you guys know they are at the mercy of the Megasquirt developer, James over on MSEXTRA. James has mentioned trying to get that in the next version of the trans firmware.
I'm wondering if I can write a function to take care of this. I haven't tried to do any on the transmission side, but I don't see why I couldn't. It's not that complicated. Pseudocode "If (Gear=3rd and OD=Off and Decel=True) then Set Coast Clutch Output On"
 
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