I noticed that my '01 red L is different from a silver '01 L I saw at the dealer. The upper and lower grills on the silver L were a graphite color (dark gray with some metallic flecks). But when examining my red L I realized that only the lower grill was graphite colored and the upper grill was just plain gray/black. Are all red L's like this or is mine unique? Could this be due to manufacturing changes in the middle of the model year?

 

Ben show us a pic of your grill.
Here is a pic of my uper grill, I never noticed any metalic flecks, but I will look in the morning

 

Lets see some more pictures of that air intake on your truck Don. BTW my silver 01, both the upper and lower grills seem to have a grey/metallic mixture in the black. BMWBig6, maybe the dealer wacked your grill and had to replace it ! Relax J/K

 

Here are 2 pics of my setup

 

Thats a great idea.

I would guess you would have to check the filter a lot because it might just get some bugs in it.

Might think about putting a baffle on the fender inlet side. Might not be a good idea to shut it off completly. dont think u could get enough air through your new inlet.

Keep the ideas coming.

 

BMW:

Your upper and lower grill should have the same paint on them. I say paint, because last year's model was not painted. '01's are. Sounds like you got a bad grill.

 

PAINTED? So the '01 grills are not molded in either the graphite or dark gray color? Hmmm - now I'm wondering if someone damaged/wrecked my L before I took delivery. Because if they messed up the graphite colored grill I would imagine it would be hard to repaint it to match the graphite metallic flecks. On the other hand, isn't it easier (cheaper) to replace the grill instead of painting it (you have to take it out to paint it anyway)?

So which way is it SUPPOSED to be? Don C's grill looks black to me (like mine), but are ours supposed to be graphite? I think it's odd that my upper and lower don't match and will ask the dealer about it when I take it in this week.

Any chance that these are both valid Ford parts form different production runs, with different part numbers?

 

BMWBig6 ,

I just checked the grills on my '01 Red L. Both are alike in color....no metallic flakes.



Spike

 

Mine look like Don C's. Believe me, that is paint. Just wait 'til you take a stone or two!!

 

What color is the plastic underneath?

 

**off topic**

BMWbig6,

Very nice picture/image of your Lightning...

 

Thank you, I need to take more pics soon. Only 200 miles on her so far...

Ben