??The real deal of Lightning motors??

[Blainer]

I have been looking in alot of places and was wondering... what the real deal is?? The 99s and 00s had the sparkplug deal, then came the weak rod deal. My question is, did they fix all this by my 2004? From all I have read, the weak link is still the rods, yes? That the motor is good to 450 to 500 HP. I want to see what I can get away with now, until I rebuild the engine later this year. Thanks

 

[chrisheltra]

What happens if you push it too far and it doesn't last until later this year?

 

[SVTL Joe Joe]

I have been looking in alot of places and was wondering... what the real deal is?? The 99s and 00s had the sparkplug deal, then came the weak rod deal. My question is, did they fix all this by my 2004? From all I have read, the weak link is still the rods, yes? That the motor is good to 450 to 500 HP. I want to see what I can get away with now, until I rebuild the engine later this year. Thanks

your misinformed,

the 99-02 had plug blow out issues

the rods from 99-00 trucks are said to be strong than the later models, but they arnt H beams so obivously with the rest of the motor being forged the rods are the weakest link

often people will swap rods and pistons for a budget build,

also why is power your goal and not times?

 

[Blainer]

I have a stock motor and SC. I have done (and presently doing) all I can do - external to the motor and SC. Will get tune soon, then take it to the track to see what it will do. Later this year I will address upgrading internals, SC and maybe Trans. I just want to make sure my motor doesn't get close to catastrophic failure.

Detroit Rock City: Yeah, that's what I remember now that you said it. I know it all, I just can't remember it all now.... Maybe??? Thanks guys...

 

[Kryo-Genik]

your misinformed,

the 99-02 had plug blow out issues

the rods from 99-00 trucks are said to be strong than the later models, but they arnt H beams so obivously with the rest of the motor being forged the rods are the weakest link

often people will swap rods and pistons for a budget build,

also why is power your goal and not times?

and youd be partially wrong too man. even some 03's had the shitty threaded heads not just 99-02's

 

[SVTL Joe Joe]

and youd be partially wrong too man. even some 03's had the shitty threaded heads not just 99-02's

yeah i was gonna add that, but wasnt sure on it so only spoke of the things i did

i have heard both that the lightnings had bad heads until early 03 and i also heard that late 02 had good heads, im sure the latter is false,

i was just speaking in general :beer:

 

[SID297]

yeah i was gonna add that, but wasnt sure on it so only spoke of the things i did

i have heard both that the lightnings had bad heads until early 03 and i also heard that late 02 had good heads, im sure the latter is false,

i was just speaking in general :beer:

I'd actually heard that the head update was done on the late 02 trucks too. I'll see if I can get the real answer next week.

 

[BT1288]

I'd actually heard that the head update was done on the late 02 trucks too. I'll see if I can get the real answer next week.

I hope so. Mine was 4613 of 4726 in '02.

 

[Harley#356]

the date of the changover to 8 thread heads was like 11/24 or 11/26 of 2002 IIRC. somewhere around late Nov '02

 

[SVTL Joe Joe]

the date of the changover to 8 thread heads was like 11/24 or 11/26 of 2002 IIRC. somewhere around late Nov '02

damn, i think BT made it just in time according to his build #

 

[BT1288]

damn, i think BT made it just in time according to his build #

I think they were building the '03's by then. Mine was built May 29th '02.

 

[Fade 2 Black]

You could read the FAQ page as it contains pretty much all you might ask. :beer:

 

[SID297]

I hope so. Mine was 4613 of 4726 in '02.

You could pull a plug and look in the hole.