Ok well as my luck seems to be getting worse! LOL I found out the crate engine i put a deposit on ws for a 97-98 model truck and didn't use the power improve heads making the intake different..... After a boat load of problems getting the deposit back and actually doing proper research i decided to do it the correct way and purchase a complete brand new longblock direct from LKQ... I also found my stock exhaust manifolds were wasted to i sprung for a set of BBK shorties since i dont want to mess with long tubes and these ceramic coated ones are dimesionally the exact fit to my stock manifolds and look pretty. SO I have now realized the 4.6 is pretty much a waste of time for perfomance upgrades and i have decided to Dress the engine up to look pretty but thats as far as it goes. With having the new enging installed professionally with everything to the tune of around 4300 bucks I have basically a entirerly new truck (since i have redone basically every part of the truck) besides the trans with a 3 year warrenty. Big fiasco with all of this but i think im going to be very happy with the reliabilty factor of the truck once finished and next year will be able to drive it more than 4 times! LOL

 

Holy 4,300....
I guess that's not bad. What a turn of events you have had lately.
Should be like new now... but she's eating up gobs of money.
Hopefully it hasnt thrown you off the confidence path too far and you get back into working on it yourself.
I did a full rebuild on an engine once, never had done one before. It was for a friend... and I told him I thought I could do it. Bought the manual, did it step by step machine work... new crank, rods, pistons, rings, valves..etc... took me about 8 weeks to finish it. We installed it and it never ran right. The cams didnt break in right, timing was off, intake mani developed a leak after a week and so on... what a mess. He ended up taking it to a shop and paying 1600 to have it taken apart and reassembled. A big let down for me because at the time I felt that I was detail oriented and was following procedures to the T. I was about 20-21 I think. I kept my hands away from mechanics for a while following that. Now I can't keep my hands off away from it. Neither my wifes or my own vehicles have not been in a shop in over 8 years other than for inspections upon purchase and recall issues. It's not just to save money, I enjoy it.

 

I have always taken great pride in always doin maintenance on my own vehicles. I have done alot of suspension work, body work and electrical on my cars and have had great luck... It was just such a let down to fail since i love this truck so much. But on the same hand Its almost turned into a challange now. I know i can do it.... Just need to get a better understanding of how these mod motors work. This was my first top end tear down and like you i followed every step in the chilton to a tee. It was alot of money for this old truck of mine but to me its well worth it and i have put so much into her she has become part of me. I know sounds stupid but its the truth. I'm sure ill go at it again but i need to get passed the frustration of the first attemp fail first! LMAO!

 

Glad you haven't given up! Hopefully you'll have good luck this time around. Can't wait to see it!

 

That is crazy lol, but

Hopefully next time you'll listen ? Doubt it actually. I know Tajareme and I both have tried to point you in the right direction in the past with this. Some just have to learn their own way for it to make any sense. Nothing wrong with that, -if time and money aren't an issue. I wished you luck all the same.

Just finished helping another w/lightning engine install that started about the same time you purchased that blower. Well, just before. Found him the motor and had him send the PCM to Troyer, which he got back about a week and half ago. With the tune, he's just over $4400, - actually about 5 grand as he choose options that weren't absolutely essential. Never the less, the guy ended up with a very nice low mileage L engine,- complete. Very happy with the turn-out for sure.

So now your looking for something solid, a third party reman lol. Well, I won't go into that decision, but I'll post some other info for yuh. Going that route w/the 4.6L. To get the most out of that w/NA reconditioned factory parts, choice would be, - a Non PI rebuilt block w/the PI top end. You'll end up with a noticeable performance improvement vs just a PI reman. Much more than just a PI re-man.
Not adding LT's is just crazy, but I've mentioned that in the past as well. It's an easy install with the right guidance and there are complete T-304 16 gauge bolt-on kits available for the lower deck height of the 4six's. These are relatively cheap!
The BBK's are more less a joke anymore. With this, BBK wised up. In order to liquidate stock, shorties for the Ford modulars have been offered to Merchants for practically nothing. This way Merchants can offer promotional deals to the public. This is pretty much the only way they can make money on a product that has failed in the market as a "single" item. Yea they look pretty and flow a little better over factory, -but they DO NOT net any gains in performance for the Modular motor.
_________

I would never choose a 3rd party re-man route, -for good reason. This is another waste of money IMO. A LARGE waste. The info above is simply given for you to keep in mind.

This is also Engine/builder known info. Needs to be mentioned since this IS NOT the engines forum on this site. When talking motors, this info is more-less common knowledge and can be found there.

Many are here to donate knowledge, -save you time and expense. That's what we do and are good at it.

 

the main reason behind this whole idea has come down to reliability. For one the blower was never installed, Number too i have come to the realization i was trying to turn my 11 yr old truck into somthing it was not.. Number three i HAVE taken ALOT of advice from members on this site and have great sucess.... Just be cause i tried to replace my intake gasket and failed in no way is that not taking the advice of others on this site into consideration. I took a shot at something and failed and i did learn a lesson and it cost me money. I deff deserve the "I told you so" attitude because i should of just left the 4.6 as is. And last but not least the reason behind the reman is to beable to use my truck as a daily driver and havea 3 yr warrenty on the motor. I will add NO power adders to this truck and the headers are for replacement of my stock manifold which were rusted beyond repair. I have decided come spring mid summer i will be purchasing a Gen 2 lightning and having somthing that was built for forced induction not try to keep making my truck somthing that it was not intended to be. Sorry for the punctuation as this was from my cell.

 

Well, -just remember, I warned you about a 3rd party re-manufactured engine. Warranty or not it's still big hassle using it and you never get away with it costing you nothing when its bad. Can easily turn into costing you more time and money. It's much better finding a low mileage replacement. Sure there's a chance taken there as well, - guess what, your chances of getting good used one are much better with the modular. Since most re-sellers thoroughly check them out before they offer them up. They include warranties as well, some just as good. It's a lot cheaper going the most logical route.

But it sounds like you've given up, - in more ways than one IMO. It's not even close to practical, that's for sure. I'd just go with a 5four. Very easy install and you don't have to tune if you don't want to. There's nothing THAT professional about installing an engine correctly. A caveman with good common sense can achieve this successfully. Taking a engine apart then putting it back together is another story.

 

At least you didn't just give up on it!

I had almost the same intentions as you, i was going to swap the lightning powertrain into my truck, but only when my 4.6 croaks (which will be never). I had just about everything except for a fuel pump, h/e and i/c pump to do the swap, but I figured why waste all my time and money on my only vehicle and hope and pray that it will run when installed.....when it currently runs and has zero problems besides a ton of miles.

So the other week I picked up a S10 county truck and I'm going to do a ls swap in it, which will suit my performance needs!

 

yes with being in the middle of remodeling our new house my daughter just starting school and trying to go back to collage at 32 kinda realized my priorites are changing but i love my truck. its not my daily but its old and paid for and the idea of making it a high perfomance machine is just not worth the value of the truck any more. doing an engine swap right now my self is not in the cards for me. like i said ill buy a lightning at some point and then ill have my long awated lswap but already done! lol