My Lightning Arrived!!!!!

[QDRHRSE]

I paid for my Lightning almost a month ago and joined Talon at the same time. I actually bought a ton of stuff without ever driving or seeing my truck as well. It arrived last Thursday and was not quite as nice as I expected but that's ok because I only paid 12k for it....it being a 2000L. I drove it for all of 1 day and now I'm starting to work on it.

I am really well connected @ my local Ford dealership and I have decided to have a couple of my friends do a little work for me. It's going to cost me about 4k but I'm getting a 1200 mile 03 motor and the transmission rebuilt. The motor is a stock Lightning unit and the tranny will be better than stock as we are ordering all hi-po stuff- about $1200 in parts (included in the 4k).

The interior is perfect except the lower outside edges of the seats are very worn, not ripped, just really worn. It's going to cost me around $500 to fix. The Ford factory material is $125 a yard and I need 2 yards!!!!!

I have spent around $1500 on bolt ons.

Anyway, I was wondering if, as usual, I have over spent. The total looks like this:

2000 Lightning- $12,000
Registration $1,400
New motor $1,500
Trans hard parts $1,200
Engine Labor $600
Trans Labor $500
Interior etc $600 (floor mats too)
Bolt on's $1500

Total: $19,300

Also, after the first day of driving I need a new set of rear tires. The roof has 2 dents that you need to be really tall to see and the front airdam/spoiler needs to be repainted....another $1000 or so.

Was it worth the money? Any other things that I may want to look into?

Thanks,

Tom

[SILVER2000SVT]

Mostly sounds good.

Was something wrong with the motor? I can't figure out why you put a stock 03 motor in it. There's basically no difference between them except for more threads in the spark plug holes on the 03 but as long as you check them for tightness every once in a while you will never have a problem. Also in 01 there is a different lower intake, but it is debatible on whether that helps any. The extra power you get from the 01-up vs. 00 is from the factory tune being more aggressive. As soon as you do any mods and tune for them the power is pretty much the same no matter what year.

If you are investing the time and labor into an engine swap at least put some upgraded internals (rods/pistons) in the bottom end. Seeing as that is the weak point in the motor.

[99WhiteBeast]

Tom,
Sounds like you got a good buy initially. The mod bug has hit you before you even got it so its never worth it- but they're hellava lot of fun to drive:D

The interior work sounds a bit high to me but that may be the going rate in Cali- I would look into aftermarket seats (Recaro,Sparco, Corbeau) if it were me.

I also saw a whole set on ebay yesterday for a starting bid of $500- they look like they had some wear as well but that is standard for any high milage L.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/97-03-F150-SVT-Lightning-Suede-Leather-Front-Seats-NICE_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33701QQitemZ800624 5855QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

What are you planning to do with your stock 2000 motor?

[Moonshine]

The part that shocks me is $1400 for registration. :eek2:

I thought the $88 I paid to get the SD registered was high.

[PoorSvtman]

The part that shocks me is $1400 for registration. :eek2:

I thought the $88 I paid to get the SD registered was high.

Its cali, what do you expect. Im sure since its a lightning you have to fork over some extra cash because of how strict they are on emmissions!

[SILVER2000SVT]

The part that shocks me is $1400 for registration. :eek2:

I thought the $88 I paid to get the SD registered was high.

I bought a used car in march and they made me pay state sales tax at registration and cost me $1000 on a $15000 car.

Is this an every year thing for CA? If so, I'm guessing they must be like Mississippi where they charge you something like 5% of the book value every single year. Makes you think twice before buying an expensive car, new or used...

[QDRHRSE]

I have to pay sales tax with the registration. Since I own it outright maybe I can dummy the Bill of Sale. I bought it out of state and the price included shipping.

I'm putting in the 03 motor for 2 reasons. 1) I couldn't turn down the offer 2) When the Ford guys initially looked at it they noticed a cylinder had been healey (sorry if I spelled that wrong....my bad) coiled. Also, it just makes sense to do it all at once. Do you guys think that I should get exhaust too? I'd have to put that on the Visa though.....I'm close to broke.

[QDRHRSE]

Tom,
Sounds like you got a good buy initially. The mod bug has hit you before you even got it so its never worth it- but they're hellava lot of fun to drive:D

The interior work sounds a bit high to me but that may be the going rate in Cali- I would look into aftermarket seats (Recaro,Sparco, Corbeau) if it were me.

I also saw a whole set on ebay yesterday for a starting bid of $500- they look like they had some wear as well but that is standard for any high milage L.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/97-03-F150-SVT-Lightning-Suede-Leather-Front-Seats-NICE_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33701QQitemZ800624 5855QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

What are you planning to do with your stock 2000 motor?

I saw the auction too. That seat is probably in the same shape as mine. I figure by the time it gets to me it will cost way too much. I'm not sure what I will do with the stock motor. It has about 70k on it and has never been modified in any way. It burned a lot of rubber- that's for sure! I guess that I'll sell cheap in paper or something. I don't want to store it. I wonder what its worth? Any ideas?

[Moonshine]

Is this an every year thing,

No, it's not. You pay sales tax once, at the time of purchase (registration).

Now, for those of us old enough to remember, there was a time when you paid state property taxes on vehicles every year. I want to say that ended in the early '80's. Was that statewide, or was that just a Dallas County thing?

[LS1 Eater]

Also the 01 and up motors have a better aftercooler than the 00 and 99's.

[QDRHRSE]

Do you mean intercooler? The truck already has a newer intercooler. Ford put it in sometime in 2002....the old one was spitting water into the engine. Ford also replaced the engine at that time. The previous owner was a salesmen of sorts and commuted between St Louis and Chicago with the L. I have a complete history on the truck. Since I have access to Ford tech's- I also have access to their OASIS system which books any transaction, with notes, for any repairs at any Ford facility.

[QDRHRSE]

Good news for me-

Somehow the company that sold me the Lightning sent me the title and paper work without a purchase price.....it cost me a little over $600!!! I told the DMV I paid $5370 for it. Since the truck came from outof state they made me get it inspected, smogged, weighed, and I had to take to the Highway Patrol. It took all day but it is officially legal. I also registered my new dirtbike and paid the tags on my Mustang so the DMV still got me for over a $1000. I'm still happy.

[Lyfisin]

Grats guy. I never liked the California registration process. I'm glad I don't have to deal with that anymore, but I still miss CA. :(

[min150mph]

Congrats on the new lightning. I thought you said it had a new motor in it already, why put another one in? I mean wouldn't it make more sense in saving that money and move towards a built motor instead. Maybe I'm missing something. Guess I don't necessarily see having a helicoil as a bad thing. The bad thing I'd see is the few threads on the heads you have. Might just want to replace the heads if it is any cheaper.

Oh BTW where in Palmdale do you live. I used to live off Sierra Hwy and 42nd St East. Just down the road from the track.

[Shiner1]

It may have changed but back in the day if you registared an out-of-state car in Cali and it PASSED the Cali smog inspection you still had to pay the "smog impact fee". Back then it was $400. Plus all of the other fees.

[QDRHRSE]

I remember those days...it has changed. A few years ago the manufacturers got together and agreed to only produce 50 state legal vehicles. So basicially American cars are all built to pass California emissions standards. There are about a dozen states that now have the same general "California Type" smog/emmissions requirements.

[QDRHRSE]

Oh BTW where in Palmdale do you live. I used to live off Sierra Hwy and 42nd St East. Just down the road from the track.[/quote]

If you have been gone more than 3 years you might not know my area as it is new. I live much further west off of Elizabeth Lake Road. My zip code comes up either as Palmdale or Leona Valley. If you take Palmdale Blvd West it eventually turns into Elizabeth Lake Road.

The motor in my L was replaced under warranty 2 or 3 years ago but the previous owner was a Sales rep that drove a lot and managed to drive 70k on the motor.

I play play poker at my friends shop, it's called the Radiator Shop, in case you remember it. It's a beautiful 9400 sq ft shop- the biggest and best in the valley. Anyway, he does a lot of warranty stuff for Ford. Every single Ford tech and their manager play at our game. It's a big game. It just so happens that I got to talking to the tranny guy and he made me an offer that I couldn't refuse. He said the dealership has a few customers that do a lot of racing and he knows the tranny pretty well and knows how to build one. He said he'd rebuild it and do the labor for $500. I thought that was a great deal. He said all the parts would probably cost $1300. How can I beat that price for a built tranny?

Through the poker game I hooked up with another Ford tech who was also an avid Dirtbike rider. I went to his place to do some riding and we got to talking about the Lightning that I just bought and he opened his garage and there was a new lightning motor sitting on the floor still wrapped to the palet. He wanted $1500 bucks for it and another $600 to put it in. How could I turn that down?

I'm not made of money but I have enough to afford all this stuff. I have wanted an L since the Gen 1's came out but I could never afford one. The last few years have been pretty good for me and now I can afford it. I plan to use the L as my regular old house truck. I might as well go through it and make it the way I want it. I also want to be the only guy who can go 140+ with a dirtbike in the back!!!!!

I've started working on the truck and hope to have it complete in the next month. Right now it's sitting at the interior shop having the fronts of the seats redone. Damn that SVT interior material is expensive- $125 a yard!! Maybe I'll go back tomorrow and take some pictures.

[min150mph]

I left at the end of 1994 so things have probably changed a lot since then. I know the area you're in though. We had friends that lived right off the lake back then. I remember that area as being very nice and if I'd stayed that is the area where I'd like to have lived.

I guess I was just wondering if it would be better to get yourself a built motor instead of a newer stock one, but if you don't plan on adding pullies etc. then it doesn't really matter. Just realize that adding larger pullies on a stock block and going 140mph will cause you to break. I understand they were some good deals, but If it were me I would have just gotten the parts and built up the motor instead of getting another stock one. All depends on your end purpose. Mine is going fast and have lots of boost without breaking. Yours may be different.

[QDRHRSE]

No, my goals are similar. I think that you have a good point. However, I'm getting a new motor directly from Ford for $1500 and having it installed for $600 (at the dealership). Retail is $8000 plus a sum I won't say out loud for the install (if I was a regular customer). Besides, I'm already spending all the extra money I have. For now the 20k or so that I'm putting into the truck will have to do. Maybe in the future I will use the old motor as a core for a more serious race type engine. Before I sink even more money into my truck I want to see if I like it. I'm dead serious when I say that it will be my around the house utility truck. I used to have a regular old F150 for towing, hauling, trips...etc. This new L will be taking the old F150's place....we really loved Miss Daisy, she was an extra cab.

Anyway, how fast will a mildly modded lightning go for a sustained period? I was hoping to do the Silver State Classic in the L. Could I race the 115-120 class? That would be a cruising speed between 115 and 130 for 90 miles. I'm upgrading the stock fuel pumps to 255's as well. Looking back on my old posts I realize that I said that I wanted 140 with my bike in the back but I was just joking about that. I just want my riding buddies to know that I could (also a joke)!

Everybody- thanks again for the replies. I don't know anybody else around here with an L. It would be nice if there were a couple of locals that I could use as points of reference. You guys are all that I've got. Sorry about all the stupid questions and the long posts.

Tom

[QDRHRSE]

....I can't stop buying stuff on EBAY. Somebody please help me. I bought JBA headers and a Moroso deep sump pan last night. Headers $351, Pan $119. I'm buying chrome 01-02 wheels tonight. Is $1160 a good price for brand new SVT L wheels? If anybody knows of a better way or place, please let me know by 6:00pm Texas time.

Tom

[dboat]

....I can't stop buying stuff on EBAY. Somebody please help me. I bought JBA headers and a Moroso deep sump pan last night. Headers $351, Pan $119. I'm buying chrome 01-02 wheels tonight. Is $1160 a good price for brand new SVT L wheels? If anybody knows of a better way or place, please let me know by 6:00pm Texas time.

Tom

I have some chrome 02 wheels I can sell you.. at a better price.
Dana

[QDRHRSE]

Just in case the PM didn't go through....


....Speak to me my friend I am listening. Tell me more. During the day you can email me @ TSobelman@PAHealth.com and my home email is Mabeline@sbcglobal.net . Heck, you can call me anytime @ (805) 404-214. I can pay immediately.

Thanks,

Tom

[dboat]

PM sent


Just in case the PM didn't go through....


....Speak to me my friend I am listening. Tell me more. During the day you can email me @ TSobelman@PAHealth.com and my home email is Mabeline@sbcglobal.net . Heck, you can call me anytime @ (805) 404-214. I can pay immediately.

Thanks,

Tom

[QDRHRSE]

Sorry, I'm a 'tard....(805) 404-2114.

Tom!!

[dboat]

Sorry, I'm a 'tard....(805) 404-2114.

Tom!!

PM'd you back..