Well my lil 98 4.6 just rolled over 190k yesterday. It has me considering putting a newer engine in there because I honestly don't know how much more I will get out of this one. It burns a bit of oil between changes but otherwise its a pretty strong motor, and has been since I got the truck. I have been calling around and checking on the 5.4s. I want to put a 5.4 preferably from a 02-03 in my truck, but so far the best price I have gotten was $1350.00 for a pull out 5.4 with almost 68k.(with Egr and all of that and a 90 day warranty). I am wondering I guess if it would be worth the 1400 dollars to buy a used engine with that many miles? The place selling it is a reputable salvage/car part seller. I dont know that I trust ebay for something like that because I cant go and inspect the engines or hear them run before I buy them.

On another note. Whichever engine I buy will have a procharger put on it as soon as I put it in the truck and will be sent to be dyno tuned. I just dont know if I wanna spend almost 3 grand on a reman or new engine. That seems like a huge chunk of change. I guess I am looking for second opinions. Does anyone have any recommendations or maybe a place I could call to get better prices maybe? The price doesnt really matter that much, its just the fact that I dont want to be screwed over because I am ignorant.

Thanks

 

68K on a used engine that is 7-8 years old is not a lot. I would rather deal with a yard that gives me a warranty over an e bay auction any time.

 

So would you say that is a good deal? Honestly, I am no great guesser at the value of an engine. I just want something that will be reliable for awhile. I will have it supercharged and everything, but its not like I will be racing it or anything. I just like the power, but i would rather have it last awhile. I think 68k is still a baby IMO. My truck had 115k when I got it, and I have never owned anything else.

 

Seems like an ok deal, not a steal... but its right in the fair range. Did the 02-03 have forged cranks? I would opt for a 99

 

99 was the last year for forged cranks on the NA 2 valves. There may be a few odd ***** out there but as a rule 99 was it.

 

find a complete motor for as cheap as possible, port the heads and install forged pistons and rods, Sal @ PSP made over 700rwhp on a non forged crank

 

...

 

I guess my 03 was an odd ball then. It came with a forged crank.

Phil

 

All the lightning engines came with a forged crank.

 

Your NA or Lightning block?

 

700hp sounds awesome! I am not sure if thats smart with a DD though. I wonder what the chances would be of finding a low mileage 99 5.4 motor. I am guessing the search is on, and I will let you guys know asap. I want to buy one now while I have the extra $$$ to spend on one.

 

Not the motor that's in it now...lol
The stock 5.4 NA motor that came in it from the factory.
I still have the crank out in my garage that was in the NA block.

 

If you had to guess how much money I would be spending to build up a 99 block with forged pistons and ported heads and all of that mess.. what would your best guess be? I am trying to figure out how much $$$ is involved with this whole deal. Im still going to need to rebuild my trans as well which I can do for free with the exception of cost of parts. I only have 4grand to play with.

 

You could probably do it for 4K if you do it yourself. But you might need to save up some more for the tranny.
A good set of ported heads and cams will be somewhere in the 2500 range. Then about 500 for rods , 500 for pistons ,rings?. I think the cranks go for about 350. You might not need a crank. Bearings ,caskets , head studs. All that will be around 1000 bucks.
Ya need to have the block cleaned up=? ,
Ive seen built blocks for 25 to 3500. That would save you a lot of time and headache.

 

Brad, check out lightningrodder. They have tons of vendors that have great deals on fully forged short and long blocks.