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1994 Ford F150 Lightning Is Done!


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This is a rebuild of an AMT model I built about 15+ years ago. I was never really happy with the final product, especially the floppy wheels and the wheel design. Having recently built the Revell Ford F150 SVT Lightning with different wheels and tires, I had the stock wheels and tires left over and thought they would look good on the AMT F150 Lightning. This should be a basic disassembly and rebuild with new paint and maybe some sort of hood scoop and stripes.

Lighning01.jpg

Lightning02.jpg

My paint will be Tamiya TS-8 Italian Red.

Lightning03.jpg

Now to look through my parts box for a hood scoop and some decals.

More to come...

Edited by mrmike
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Thanks guys for the comments! I owned an '87 F150 Lariat XLT short bed for 13 years and sold it with 187,000+ miles on the odometer. It was time for it to go as it was becoming a money pit and I didn't have the money to fix it any longer.

Anyway, dis-assembly has begun and the body and interior are headed to the kitchen sink for a nice warm bath with Dawn dish detergent.

Lightning04.jpg

Lightning05.jpg

Lightning06.jpg

More to come...

Well, it appears that my thread has been moved by a Mod or Admin from On The Workbench to the Pickup Trucks section. While I am initially not happy about it, a simple and brief heads up would have been nice instead of me going into a near panic mode searching for this thread only to have to find it here. I have seen other threads about pickups in the On The Workbench section and it does make me wonder why the move. OK, I am off my soapbox now and moving forward and I would appreciate no other comments made on this small matter. Thanks.

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Should be cool!

One little tip if you're interested- all 1994 and newer F-Series trucks had a driver's side airbag. AMT neglected to update the steering wheel for the '94 and '95 versions of their kits, but if you happen to have an AMT Taurus SHO kit made after 1991, that kit has a steering wheel that looks pretty close.

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Thanks guys and thank you Chuck for the tip on the steering wheel. Unfortunately, I do not have a Taurus SHO kit so the kit steering wheel will remain.

Shane, I really liked how your truck turned out!

Since I haven't got a decent Ford hood scoop in the stash or the parts box, I'll just add the stripes.

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The body and other parts after their bath. A little bodywork and some primer to check my progress.

Lightning07.jpg

I found something that these wheels need...disc brakes! These were left over parts from the Shelby Mustang kits that I built.

Lightning08.jpg

I drilled out the centers with a 1/4" drill bit chucked into my cordless drill and carefully drilled away. I'll paint them up and install them.

Lightning09.jpg

More to come...

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I've picking away at the Lightning off and on during the afternoon. I got the rotors painted with red calipers.

Lightning10.jpg

The engine has been partially disassembled, cleaned up and I drilled the heads for plug wires.

Lightning11.jpg

The chassis has been carefully disassembled for detailing. The suspension will not be attached until the chassis and body have been rejoined so I can determine a new ride height for the Lightning.

Lightning12.jpg

More to come...

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The disc brakes have been painted and installed on the wheels.

Lightning13.jpg

The interior is complete and ready for installation.

Lightning14.jpg

The only bodywork necessary is to fill a sink mark on the right rear fender of the box.

Lightning15.jpg

More to come...

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Tonight, I was trying to figure out a way to lower the Lightning and I found a solution. In the rear, I cut down the forward mounting blocks for the rear springs.

Lightning16.jpg

With the rear suspension in place and a wheel and tire mocked up.

Lightning17.jpg

On the front Twin I-beams, it was a simple matter of cutting off 1 1/2 coils from the springs.

Lightning18.jpg

More to come...

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Thanks guys!

This afternoon I got a chance to paint the body parts of the Lightning with Tamiya TS-8 Italian Red.

Lightning22.jpg

Lightning23.jpg

Lightning24.jpg

Sorry about the pictures, I had to adjust the exposure rate so the paint doesn't look pink. I've been putting off working on the engine. I still need to drill the distributor for plug wires and re-assemble the rest of the engine.

More to come...

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