Twin Turbo, 32V Lightning Build Delivers 800+ Horsepower

One Lightning owner wanted monster power, so he swapped out the stock heads & supercharger for a set of 4Vs & huge turbos.

The Ford F-150 SVT Lightning is one of the greatest on-road performance trucks of all time. The supercharged V8 delivered enough power to make it one of the quickest and fastest stock trucks ever and owners found that small modifications could lead to big power gains.

However, picking up a few extra ponies from a set of headers, pulleys and a tune wasn’t enough for one of the Lightning owners on the forum. He wanted monster power and to achieve that, he swapped out the stock heads and the supercharger for a set of 4V heads and a pair of huge turbochargers.

The result is one of the coolest SVT Lightnings we’ve seen, looking like a relatively stock truck with aftermarket wheels while packing more than 685 rear-wheel horsepower.

ShockTherapy’s TT 32V Lightning Project

When F150Online member ShockTherapy introduced us to his F-150 Lightning project years ago, it quickly became a long thread package full of in-depth build details and pictures of the project at each step of the path. Since this was “only” an engine build, there was less to talk about in terms of progress, but the OP provided information on every little step of his build.

That level of detail made this twin turbo, 32V head swap into an incredibly long thread, with 26 pages of discussion and pictures before the dyno numbers were announced. Because of the length, detail and unique nature of the build thread, we won’t walk you through the project as we normally do when we feature a build.

Instead, we will give you a quick preview of the project and invite you to grab a drink before reading through the 32-page build.

The Plan

When ShockTherapy began his Ford F-150 SVT Lightning build, his plan was to remove the stock engine from the engine bay, remove the stock cylinder heads with two valves per cylinder and remove the factory supercharger setup. He planned to replace the stock heads with a set of four valve-per-cylinder heads (hence 32V) from a Lincoln Navigator and in place of the supercharger, he would install an intake manifold that would be force-fed by a pair of huge turbochargers. Of course, he also installed the camshaft from the Navigator, along with making some required changes such as relocating brake lines in the engine bay.

Over the course of a few months, the OP kept the forum updated on the progress of the build, resulting in one wicked SVT Lightning. On the 27^th page of the thread, he reveals that the completed project laid down a whopping 685.3 horsepower and 673.3 lb-ft of torque at the rear wheels. Using a conservative drivetrain loss ratio of just 15 percent, this twin turbo 32V V8 is making somewhere in the area of 800 horsepower at the crankshaft.

So, if you have some time to kill and you want to read every step of the process in switching an SVT Lightning F150 from a supercharged 16V engine to a twin turbo 32V engine, this thread is a gold mine of information.

Join the F-150 Online forums now — FREE!

Patrick Rall

"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.

"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.

"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.

"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.

"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.

"Being based on Detroit," says Rall, "I never miss the North American International Auto Show, the Woodward Dream Cruise and Roadkill Nights, along with spending plenty of time raising hell on Detroit's Woodward Avenue with the best muscle car crowd in the world.

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