I am in the process of looking for some new heads for my lightning. My current lightning spit a plug out....while at vaccuum and 20mph. I guess it was time that it happend.

Well, I cant find any used 03-04 lightning heads, but it looks like the market is nearly flooded with 4.6 liter sohc heads. Will these heads work on a lightning? I make about 15PSI @ WOT with an eaton. The heads are off a mustang GT and are "PI" heads. Do I need to do any modifications to get them to fit? Do they raise compression ratio too much?

Any help would be great at this point....my DD is sitting in the driveway and the shop wants $2600 to install 4 Timerserts.

 

there are windsor heads and romeo heads. as long as you get Windsors you'll be just fine. they are exactly the same. i believe even the cams are the same from what i've been told.

 

how can i tell the difference?

Is this a direct swap with no other modifications?

Will this adversely affect hp?

(thanks for the input)

 

There are def many L's out there with the 4.6 heads on it, as said as long as you get Windsor Heads your good to go. Sorry I dont know the markings to tell the two apart but I know on my old Procharged 4.6 Stang the easy to tell difference was the amount of bolts holding the valve covers on.

I find it hard to belive there's no 5.4 heads out there though ???
I may have some links for you when I get home from work...

 

All Windsor heads have 13 bolts for the valve covers. All Romeo heads have 11 bolts. All 5.4 heads are Windsor heads and have 13 bolts.

Windsor heads have pressed on cam gears, Romeo heads' gears are bolt on. Other than the cam caps being girdled for some applications there are no significant differences between the heads themselves and they can be interchanged.

 

You can use either head just make sure you get PI heads. If you get Romeo heads then you will need the valve covers too as your windsor covers wont work. I believe JDM uses Romeo heads on all their built motors.

 

I've got an '03 head if you want it... email me -> jeff (@) jkfritz.com

I'm replacing both heads on my truck with ported ones. My passenger side head is an '03 replacement with all the threads.

 

If your still looking for heads check the classfieds i have a set listed in there off my 02 lightning good shape ,good luck jarrod

 

this is exactly right. my VT engine came with romeo heads on it, the only difference that matters when swapping is the valve covers.

 

Thanks for all of the replies.

I really want a set of 03-04 heads, with more threads. It will give me peace of mind.

I found a set of 04 4.6 liter PI heads with cams for $400 shipped with about 7500 miles on them. I am just going to ditch the cams and put my stock lightning cams on...unless I can find a good deal on some stage IIs

Im just waiting for the guy to email me back so I can send him some money

 

Damn, Shane...sorry to read about your plug blow out!
Hope you get it back on the road soon!

 

yeah Ed, it sucks. We were very fortunate where it happend and the circumstances that it happend under. It could have been disasterous. I called and emailed Garrett, but I havent heard from him in two days. Bob helped me out a little bit over the phone.

The quote to get it fixed...which included time-serting one head....$2600 +$600 or so more to timesert the other head while everything was off.

I am hoping that I will have enough room to put the heads back on with the shorty headers attached. At least then, I can put those stage 8 locking tabs on there that are impossible to put on withoutu the heads being off. We will see though.

 

Wow! Sounds like a BIG job! Can't you just "cert" the plug hole that was damaged for now to get you back on the road?

If I was closer to ya I'd give you a hand! Good luck!

 

Why do you need to remove the heads? There are quite a few installers that make the repair with timeserts with the heads on the truck and will never give you another problem. It's probably in the $100-$150 range and takes less than 1 hour.

Even if you do still want to replace the heads there's no reason why the 4 thread heads won't do well if you have inserts installed in all the holes. IMO that would be a more reliable solution (if done properly) because the inserts are made of much stronger material than the cast aluminum material the head is made from.

 

silver,

Thats what I have heard too. However, this shop says that they have to remove the head so that no trash gets down into the valves or cylinder. Unfortunately, the plug that blew is on the back passenger side. I dont think someone could get a drill back there to tap it.

I dont know of any shops up in this area...or in the atlanta area.

Maybe Ed (poster above) does.

I was planning on spending about $1100 to have it done....if it can be done cheaper, that would be great.