Thought this list might be (mildly) interested in a note I posted to the Lighting-L list back in April, so I've pasted it below. Notice what it says about the first 200 trucks. It would be interesting to identify those units and compare with later production. I note that there are at least 2 members of this list with motors assembled in February; however, their trucks appear to have been final assembled in April and May, so they would not be in the first 200. Anyway, here's the post. (I gave permission for part of it to be published in Blue Oval News, so it may sound familar.):

-----Original Message-----
From: James M Philpott
To: Lightning E-mail List <LIGHTNING-L@AMERICAN.EDU>
Date: Thursday, April 22, 1999 4:25 PM
Subject: New Truck Production Delays

>Well, as promised, I have talked to the folks at SVT and here is what they
>say regarding the late product launch of the '99 Lightning.
>
>First of all, according to SVT/SVE, there have been no major drivetrain
>problems and specifically, no problems with the motor. I was told that the
>more than 300 unique components on the new Lightning created some unforeseen
>production line problems on the F-150 line at the Ontario Truck Plant where
>they are being assembled. As a result, various quality issues were
>addressed which took longer than anticipated to resolve. To help in the
>elimination of these issues, the production line managers determined that
>the line was moving too fast to do a quality job of installing the
>Lightning-specific components, so they slowed it down and then stopped it in
>order to revise the assembly process. In addition, the standard F-150 line
>was slowed down to correct some other concerns and that also contributed to
>the Lightning delay.
>
>But now, for the good news. On Friday, April 16, the first 200 trucks
>successfully completed their final quality checks and were okayed for
>shipment to dealers. These first 200 were loaded into transporters on the
>17th and should be in the dealer's hands by around May 1. Before being
>released, however, each one of these first 200 were test driven a minimum of
>20 miles and then, if not perfect, were returned to the line to make
>necessary changes - not only in that truck, but in the assembly procedure
>itself if necessary. This testing program, while being an additional major
>contributor to the delay, should mean that the first wave of new owners will
>not face as many of the new model headaches as they might have otherwise
>plus, hopefully, the rest of the model run will now be less problematic.
>
>Production is now progressing at the target rate of 250 Lightning's per
>week.
>
>Mike Philpott

 

Mike,

Checked out the truck closely this morning. Door piller says 5/99. Tag on driver's side head cover indicates 4-29-99. No covers on cowl screws, making 9.5 - 10 lbs boost indicated now (w/o chip, waiting to install until my G-tech/pro gets here so I can have a true baseline to work with.)

So far I can detect no piston slap and the only surging I can detect is the flat spots in the shift, particularly at low rpm. Truly hope that the shifts will improve as indicated by others on the board. I do have some clunking in the front end when I hit the locks on the right side, but that is being looked into this weekend.

More info coming as it becomes available.



------------------
Chuck 'Wyldman' Shelton
Black 99.5 Lightning Superchip is here! Waiting for Level 10 tranny kit and G-Tech/Pro!

 

Chuck,

I wonder if the piston slap is only found on the early production engines? Seems to me that owners of April and later build dates have not complained of this problem. Maybe the screw covers have something to do with it.

Mike

 

my Lightning was born 4-15 and was #320 off the line. It also has covers on cowling. There is also some piston slap when it first started. I guess that is what the noise is?