On my way to my Chevy dealership to buy a part for my Vette, I see a white Lightning at a hair salon w/a for sale sign. So, immediately I hang a quick u turn. As I pull up next to it, I see its really dirty, the driver side mirror is broken out and the guy comes out. I tell him I have a 00 on order, but was curious what he wants for this one. He opens the door and the driver seat is very very discolored and the whole interior is filthy (he tells me he's selling it cause he moved to a new house and doesn't want to trash it, funny, already looked pretty trashed to me). He wants $34K. I politely said wow, I've ordered a new one for MSRP, he says yeah, but not like this one. He said this one cranks out 410 horse. He lifts the hood and tells me that he has a Roush chip and blower pulley and it makes 11 pounds of boost and he claims he consistently runs in the 12.86 bracket (even with the F1's). I saw the stock airbox, and asked him about that, he said he tried a K&N and it made no difference. He then tells me he raced a Viper and blew his doors off. He also told me that he runs this stuff in the intercooler, I asked if it was water wetter, he said no, he said water wetter corrodes the intercooler. He told me also he has ran it on courses and he pulls .98 lateral g's (a 2000 vettes specs out at .93 g's). He told me they made 4000, 1000 that went to Canada, 3000 to the U.S. and that they made 1000 of red, white and black (what about the 1000 to Canada). I politely thanked him for his time and wished him the best in selling his L. Do any of things he told me sound correct?

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Hey Peter I have seen that Lightning, on Frank Loyd Wright, with the for sale sign on it. It have seen that "for sale" sign on it for over a month. I saw it @ the dealership when i was pulling in 2 weeks ago to get my gas do-hickey fixed. When I went out to see who was driving it he was gone. Um about those in Canada (not sure how many), but they did get some stuff different on them, day time running lights & a speedometer that works in kilometers. The rest sound like a bunch of malarky. I should stop & see if he wants to put his wheels to the test. I havent heard of any co. out there (besides Downs Ford) that has or will have a blower pulley on it. Also I havent heard of a roush chip. Man I'm doin absolutly nothin right now I just might stop by where I always see it parked & take a "look" at it.

 

It sounds like this guy needs to meet someone I heard about today. When shopping for some upgrade speakers I got into a talk with the sales kid (all excited about his new VW Jetta). He told me about a friend who has a 99.5 L that's really dissatisfied. He took it down the track in Bithlo (notoriously bad traction) and could only turn a 14.9 or something like that. Well, he takes the truck over to a local engine guy, Vinci Hi Performance, and they tell him he needs to do the following and he will be in the 12's.

1. Replace the pully, they CLAIM to have a new one on order from eaton that is attached to a new shaft. They plan on dissasembling the blower to install it

2. Add another fuel pump ?

3. Add a $500 super duper ignition system that will suposedly allow him to "tune" the ignition timing.

No mention of chips, intakes, nitrous or any thing else that WILL make these trucks run better.

Just think what happens to the poor slob that buys this potential piece of s**t after the current owner realizes he screwed it up and dumps it on the used car market! Sounds a lot like the guy with the "Roush" L for $34K.

I told the kid that he should be able to run mid to upper 13's with less than a $500 investment and I could show him how. The kid thinks I'm full of it..... Oh well.

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Mark Whatman
mwhatman@worldnet.att.net

• 99.5 White Lightning (stock)
• 99 Buell S3 Thunderbolt (not stock!)
• 98 F-150 Lariat (Flowmaster)
• 96 26' Velocity Offshore Race Boat (far from stock!!!)

[This message has been edited by Mark W (edited 12-18-1999).]

 

Here are two previous messages I posted to Downs Ford. This doesn't have much to do with Roush but at least it's factual.


The pulley listed on the Downs Ford Online store states "Blower Pulleys
(2-3 psi. increases, easy to install)."
Here is the web site for the Lightning parts & accessories.
1: http://www.thefordsource.com/store/m.../lightning.htm

I'm not quite sure what to make of this. I am going to send an e-mail to Downs regarding warranty & installation difficulty. The E-mail is info@thefordsource.com


Sal is very knowledgeable regarding the function & sophistication of the I Gen & II Gen Lightnings, so I don't doubt his information, but I would like to know how downs can list & advertise the pulley as being "easy to install." Easy for them? Or easy for the customer? See the point?

I would think that since Downs Ford is advertising these products, that there is some type of warranty advice to gain from talking with them. They are a dealer after all.

I will report back my findings and post the messages here. I did e-mail Downs once before regarding pictures of the products. Downs removed the pictures about one week ago, and I asked if they could put them back up. They will be adding photos of the Lightning products again.


Here is the E-mail I received back from Downs Ford:
"Here is the low down on our supercharger pulleys for the 99 Lightning's. You are probably thinking that it is the pulley that goes on the supercharger but thats not correct, what we are building is a lower supercharger pulley. The pulley will consist of the bracket, pulley and bearing already to be bolted in. There is only three bolts that hold that pulley and bracket on so yes it is easy to install. We have installed the prototype on our 99 lightning and have seen 2 1/2 psi of boost increase. Since our dyno is down we have not tested for hp increase as of yet. If you have more questions feel free to ask them. I will go the the f150online now and see if there is more questions I can answer.

Joe Amato

OOOppps almost forgot, the warranty. That is up to your dealer, each dealer is independently owned and can do with what they want with the way the cover vehicles that have been modified. We are here to sell RACING parts which are not covered under warranty. Here is an example of the way it works. Say you put gears in your truck and the gears break, well that is not covered. Say the axle bearing went than that is. This is the way it suppose to work but not every dealer does it."-Downs Ford Motorsports\

So there is what they had to say.

 

As far as the first question, i dont know anything about what went to canada but i do know 4000 give or tale a few were all that they made . i have the exact numbers somewhere but i know for a fact they made 866 white lightnings. the next was black (1400 and something )and red was the most common (1600 and something units)i remember white cause thats what i have.this is from svt, i know these numbers are fact. as far as 14.9 in the quarter, traction or not he dont know how to drive. the first run i made i took off nice and easy and i pulled a 14.1 stock, then heated the tires to a 13.88 stock. maybe the kid should tye the new and improved turbo windshield wipers and pressurized digital headlights and maybee look in jc whitney for the all new "add a cylinder" it bolts right up to the back of the stock block and produces 172 rear wheel horsepower!!!!!!!!!! dont forget to "rain-x" the windshield thats good for a half of second in the quarter. lol lol lol

 

Thanks guys for the info. Yoda, yes it is the one on Frank Lloyd Wright. I've learned a great deal about the Lightning from this board in a very short time and I thought everything the guy was telling me was incorrect, but I figured I'd get the right scoop from you guys. From reading the posts, I definitely feel once mine arrives, Sals chip and filter will be the first thing I do.

 

Peter B, Dang Roush has a chip . Never heard of one myself, sounds to me like the guy has no clue what he was talking about.

Mark W, What is a "Roush" L? Some sort of Roush Lightning or something??

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Mumbly also known as Buck
Carrollton Texas (DFW), Member of Fordified.
Black 1999 Stage 3 Roush F-150 Super Cab Flairside
Here are all the goodies: Kenne Bell Supercharger, Roush Suspension, 18"x 9.5 Chrome Wheels, B. F. Goodrich Z295/45, Full Ground Effects, Roush Leather Signatured Interior (Front and Back), Flowmaster with Side Exit Infront of the Wheel, Embroidered Floor Mats, F1 Cobra Hood, ******* Hard Tonneau, Bedrug, Slide Window, and lots of other little odds and ends

Work mumblywork@myf150.com
Home mumbly@myf150.com




[This message has been edited by Mumbly (edited 12-19-1999).]

 

Buck,

In the first post in this thread the lame owner of the white L for sale said he had a Roush chip and blower pulley. I was comparing what the guy here in Orlando is saying he's having done to that that guy said he had done.

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Mark Whatman
mwhatman@worldnet.att.net

• 99.5 White Lightning (stock)
• 99 Buell S3 Thunderbolt (not stock!)
• 98 F-150 Lariat (Flowmaster)
• 96 26' Velocity Offshore Race Boat (far from stock!!!)

 

Mark W, Cool just trying to figure it out. Thanks.