I know I'm supposed to be the expert on swapping the Harley/Lightning engine into standard F-150's but unfortunately, I also have a lousy memory.

There was a guy who used to hang around here, Adrian was his name. He is(was) a Ford Tech. He swapped the entire drivetrain from a Lightning into his '97 and ran into some special issues with the dash and wiring.

As I recall, he had to swap out the instrument cluster to a '99 or later one along with the dash wiring harness. This was in addition to all of the regular new parts.

Adrian, if you're still around, get in touch with me. My e-mail to you was returned (bad address) or if there is anybody else who has been here done this, let me know.

 

hey mike thanks man, i will be checking here daily to see if he posts . jason

 

I have made the swap and can help with some info. I used the Xcal II to disable the anti theft system. Give me more info on what you have done already. Did you change the fuel pump? You will need to do alot of custom wiring to get the everything to work. Is your truck 2wd or 4wd? Which tranny are you using?

 

hey mark, this is jason, im the one trying to do the swap. lets post here so the info is available for people in the future. all i have done is put a 2002 harley motor and transmission with the engine bay harness in a 97 xlt 3 door with a 6 foot bed. mike has been helping me thus far and i know from him that i will also need upgraded fuel pump left side harness dash harness instrument cluster intercooler pump mounting bracket . im trying to find out if i got a transmission harness put on or not i cant remember. so tell me where im at. i appreciate all the help, you guys are very cool, and very helpful thanks jason

 

2 wd sorry i forgot that answer jason

 

What year is your truck? Did you use the Lightning PCM and wiring harnesses? Which ones and did you swap your Instrument Cluster? That is the big question.

 

My truck is a 98. 4x4 Scab 3 door. I used the Harley PCM,GEM and Instrument cluster. I had to pull out the dash and had to install the Harley wiring harness. The problem is the Harley has so much extra in the way of electrical accessories.

Basically I got the wiring manuals for the 98 and 02 and traced each circuit. I then had to switch the connectors to match the 98 cab harnesses. There are some things like ABS and airbags that I eliminated from the system because of the drastically different configurations. A lot of soldering and staring at diagrams.

The Harley also seems to have different pin locations than the lightning harness.
Mike, I purchased my fuel pump and 4r100 tranny mount from you if you recall. Ohio....Mark?

 

how many connectors did you have to re solder? if im not a mechanic but im mechanically inclined is this something you think i can do. also my 97 and the harley are identical in more ways than your truck and the harley or am i wrong about that jason

 

I never know if a persons name here is any part of their real name, you must be Mark from Clyde, OH?

Why did you use a Harley Dash Harness, any F-150 would have worked, then you could have got one that had essentially the same options as your truck. Were you able to get the harness out of the wrecked truck or did you buy a new one?

 

That's me.
I used the used the Harley harness because the connections are different for the instrument cluster. Yes, I did get the harness out of the donor vehicle.
If you look at the number of connections actually going through the firewall, the Harley harness actually has less. This is because they do not have impact sensors mounted behind the bumper on the later vehicles. Also the Harley has the ABS controle module inside the engine compartment while the earlier versions place it inside the cab.

I will look back over my notes and different diagrams to advise on using a harness from an alternate vehicle. This may be a easier way to go.

In my case, I decided I all ready had 2 harnesses, no sense buying a third.

 

hey mark, its jason. when you say that there was no need to buy another harness are you refering to having to by a harley dash harness? the two harnesses that you had, neither were harley dash harnessee correct?

 

I had the Harley dash harness and my original dash harness.

 

Any '99 or later dash harness will do the job so it would be bst to find one from a truck that has similar options. More would be OK but never fewer.