The following is a record of events that are based on a true story...The Apten Experience.

Edit: Due to the confusing nature of the post I re-edited it and re-posted it below...wouldn't let me delete the whole thread...sorry

 

Holy double info batman!! I was getting confused

Hope it works out...just waiting for John at JLP for my block. I have already proted the s/charger at Apten. Looking forward to seeing what it feels like!!

Michael
01 L - JLP built

 

For those of you wondering about numbers, I didn't post to tell my numbers because I have none. No baseline and no after, because I don't know of a dyno near me. My truck is stock besides the ported blower. There are already numbers out for this process anyhow. I just posted to let others know what this actually entails. So I would like to thank Apten for offering this group purchase and being a respectable business. Oh and the bottom of the blower is top notch

 

My SVT mechanic came to my house and removed my blower to send to Apten (it's still there). He told me there is no reason to replace the hardware to reinstall. He knows his ***** too. Just wondering why everyone is thinking it is MANDATORY to change all the hardware

 

It's probably not a bad idea to replace the hardware (nuts and bolts) when a blower is removed and installed again as the bolts are torque-to-yield and should only be 'good' for one use...but new hardware wasn't part of the intercooler recall when Ford did all of the '99-'00's - food for thought!

 

I've taken mine off more than a few times. I use the same bolts and same gaskets. No problems here.

 

Dam that was like reading one of my post

OR SOMETHING

Best I could get out of it is, you don't know if it helped,
it does make more noise, you seem to have picked up a lb or 2,
your L was down for 2 weeks, and it cost you over $600.00
Sounds like a typical L mod to me, hehehehe

CONGRATS Rollin Limp
I think

I'm joking with you Bro, feeling the difference of 1/10 - 2/10 th's is sometimes outright impossible without being at the track to see it reflect on the ET.

EVERYONE that did this Mod has reported only positive results,
I'm sure you'll find the same results

 

More on the order of 3 tenths. I have seen it first hand

 

Not sure what exactly is going on with the F150online forums but when you edit a lengthy post and then repost you occasionally get the content of that post duplicated in the same post.

Another words what you wrote shows up twice in the same post and no matter how many times you edit or how hard you try it keeps duplicating! This is what RollinLimp2001 is talking about when he says sorry about the double post. Last night I had the same thing happen repeatedly. Seems to happen only when a post is long and you go to edit say typos, etc..... Hmmm, never seen this happen anywhere before..

 

just wondering why you had to refill coolant? ive changed mine twice now and never messed with any coolant?

 

I drained the coolant that was in the intercooler itself and the lines going to it because I pulled it out and cleaned it real good with some carb cleaner and little bit of degreaser.

Ya I'm sure I picked up something just not sure if it was the 25-35HP like most are reporting. I think the reason they picked up that much is because they were pushing more boost than stock. The more air you try pushing out of it the more the porting takes effect. I haven't seen any dyno's on a stock Lightning but I would like to think that it would be less.

Some people think it's necessary to change the fuel filter with every oil change also...to each his own mechanic principals. My dad owned his own shop for 15 years so if he tells me that he would change out the gaskets then I go along with him. Plus just the piece of mind knowing that an inexpensive gasket is not going to be the reason for me to spend another 2-4 hours taking my engine apart.

 

So are you happy or not with the transaction; can't really follow all those days and what you ment by posting them

 

The following is a record of events that are based on a true story...The Apten Experience.

Friday, January 02 - The dissasembly begins on the engine. Following the steps from the AZLOC post (Supercharger removal and torque specs) the process took a good 3 hours due to some minor complications on my part.

Saturday, January 03 - Arrived at UPS to ship my blower. Watched AND helped the associate package the blower to prevent damage. Paid for Second day Air for it to arrive on Tuesday, January 6th. (side note: do not think that the UPS quotes online are going to be anywhere near what you actually pay...mine was almost $30 off)

Saturday, January 03 - Called the only dealership near me that was open to get some prices on the parts I would need to put the blower back on. Also decided to check online to see if I could find them cheaper. Genuine Ford Parts Website was found they had the parts at almost half the price I was quoted by the dealership near me. Ordered the parts that day and was told they should be at my door no later than Wednesday, January 7th.

Tuesday, January 06 - Received a call from Hope that evening saying that she had received the blower and it was fine. Talked to her about what I wanted and paid for the porting and shipping. Was told it would prolly be 2-3 days to complete the work and another 2-3 business days to get it back to me.

Monday, January 12 - Called Hope at Apten to check on the status. Phones were busy. Sent an email. Called again and spoke to Hope. The blower was done, and she said it should be shipped out today.

Tuesday, January 13 - Called Hope again to get a tracking number. Blower was still there. She appologized and upgraded my shipping to express at no cost. Blower should go out tonight or tomorrow morning.

Tuesday, January 13 - Called Bob Utter Ford (Genuine Ford Parts) to check on my parts. One part had to be special ordered and happened to just come in that day. 2 day shipping should be here by Thursday, January 15th.

(continued on next post)

 

(continued from previous post)

Wednesday, January 14 - Received my parts from Bob Utter Ford. All checked out good.

Thursday, January 15 - Received an email from Hope at Apten with my tracking number. Looked it up online and said it was 30 miles away from me in a shipping center. Looked at the estimated delivery date and it said Monday, January 19th! It's 30 minutes away from me and they want to hold it for 96 more hours...so I called to see what the deal was. Had it placed on hold.

Friday, January 16 - Go to FedEx that morning to pick up my blower. Lady was pissy because customers aren't supposed to pick their stuff up or something. I look at the delivery date on the invoice and sure enough it says the 16th! Officially dislike FedEx.

Friday, January 16 - Get home and proceed to put my engine back together. Follow the steps in the AZLOC link above, replacing the gaskets and torqueing the bolts to the specified settings. Have it back up and running in a couple of hours. Fill the coolant back up and take it out in the rain for a test drive. Runs fine, but can't test it out because of the rain. Supposed to rain all weekend!

Saturday, January 17 - Get up and it's sunny and warm out (70s). Hop in the L and lgo for a spin. After it warmed up I tested it out at a couple stoplights. Noticable sound difference to the whine. Factory boost gauge was now reading 9.5# under WOT and peaking above 10-10.5# around 5000-5500RPM. Would like to say there's a difference but after not driving the L for 2 weeks I seem to have forgot was it used to be like. Definately barks second gear louder and "flashes" the speedo on third now. Time for that 4# pulley now to see what it can really do!

Here's my costs broken down:

Apten Ported Eaton: $440.00
Departure shipping: $89.87
Arrival Shipping: $47.00
Gaskets: $46.48
-Upper Intake to S/C $3.70
-S/C to Intercooler $14.15
-Intercooler to Lower Intake $18.50
-EGR $3.18
Cleaner for Intercooler: ~$6.50


Total: $629.85

 

Sorry how that got all confusing but it kept messing it up worse when I tried to go and edit it...hopefully the repost will clear it up. To sum it up...I really think this mod needs some added boost for it to be worthwhile. The price is not the only consideration for this project. My truck was out for two weeks so I had to figure out rides to and from work and then to and from school. If I still had my second car or money to blow on a rental this would be no issue, I just didn't expect it to be down for 2 weeks. So for some of you my issues may not be one in your case. I'm still pleased with my purchase with Apten and am looking forward to putting some more boost thru it...