I'm an owner of a 99 L that recently had my warranty expire and now I am ready to mod. I see that many of the 99 owners I used to see posting here have moved on,or traded up for a newer model. For those that still own 99's what mods should I go for on a truck w/ just over 36k on her and about $700 to spend? I'm looking for performance mods,not cosmetic ones(I have those already). Its basically a daily driver(Not driven in the winter),tracked only about once a month(but w/ mods will surely come more tack time) and shown often. I'm looking to keep the drivability and obviously keep the truck together,ie not destroy the tranny,bottom end,nor granade the engine.

I'm leaning towards chip,cold air intake of some sort and a pulley(1-4 but no higher)and,when funding allows,perhaps a shot of nitrous.Not a huge shot,nothing over 100.

So weigh in w/ your opinions,especially w/ pully size and to add nitrous or not.

Thanks,
Storm Shadow

 

Chip/filter combo
some good spark plugs
either line mod or accumulator

Don't bother with a pulley yet, the chip/filter combo will give you enough of a kick in butt to last you til funding allows.

 

i agree with capt it will make a sotp difference without a doubt

 

chip and filter with the 90mm upgrade

 

Storm,

e-mail me spanky777william@hotmail.com i got some stuff for sale and maybe you are interested.

 

my 99 is out of warrenty too. a couple of weeks ago is was trying some combinations, and one that surprised me was:
2lb lower
conical air filter
line valve tranny mod
NO chip

It ran fast, and shifted well, and no "chipped" xtra stress on tranny.

 

Hey Storm Shadow, mine is a 99. With $700 you could probably get everything in my sig except for the cat-back. I suggest you get the Densos if you increase the boost. Other than that mod away!

 

Just gettin' in from a night "out" and I figured I'd get back to you guys.

Thanks for the replies. I have a couple more questions: Don't shoot me for these ones but...whats the "line mod"? Ditto on the "accumulator"? Can you run a pulley w/o a chip safely?
And will said pulley truely do something about the shift points that are currently there?They suck as is.
Lastly could $700 possibly get a 13.68 99' Bolt into the 12's? In full street trim mind you ;-)

Thanks again guys,and its cool to see some 99's still around.

Storm Shadow

-Spanky,You will have mail tomorrow my friend.

 

Hey SS

Well, I traded my 1999 L for a Lincoln Blackwood on Tues., exactly three years to the day that I got her.

Pretty much like the rest of the comments above, I had a Superchips flip chip (stock/mild street), a PSP conical filter and a full meal deal Bassani exhaust system. Of course one does not dare quote dyno figures much anymore but let's say it rear wheeled at about 350 which gives a tad over 400 at the flywheel.

That combo was extremely streetable with little or no extra stress on the motor. I never ran it at the track, but it should have gotten very deep into the 13's set up this way.

In my order of preference, the chip was the most noticeable and pleasant mod. It totally eliminated the mushy shifts and various ignition retards that the stock program gives you and just improves the general driveability 100%. Now, there are chips and there are chips. I also had/have another chip that I specified be set up very aggressively and it just did not work out for me. The shifting was what I asked for, slam bang, but it did it all the time, part throttle/full throttle etc. It was also very sensitive to "winter gas" that we have here in Atlanta and I could not use it in the winter. I was not willing to keep adding Octane Boosters and all that.

Next on the list was the conical air filter. If you have not driven an L with one, you are missing half of the visceral thrills of a supercharged motor. I used to punch it for several seconds just to listen to the sound.

Third, and I would not do the whole system again, was the exhaust replacement. It sounded great but you can get the sound a lot cheaper and I read of few owners of the complete system that saw any real improvement over the stock manifolds and a decent cat back or even cat to tip system.

As to vehicle longevity, I had not one warranty or repair issue period in 3 years and 20,000 miles that were related to any modifications. In fact, I never replaced the intercooler as it never leaked. I had some early problems with the seats, the dash lights are out again and I ruined two tires (road hazard stuff).
The truck was essentially bulletproof as I had it equipped, which incidentally was from the 2nd to the 6th month I had it. There was next to nothing to be had for the L when I got mine and we all had to wait for stuff to come out.
I cannot comment really to your 100 shot NOS, but I suspect that would be a major issue regarding engine/tranny longevity. BBQMAN knows a lot about this and I gather it is not a simple modification.

Keep us informed how it goes. Moby is gone but I will be around this thread for quite a while I hope.
Bill

 

BTT

Still need to hear about this "line mod" and "accumulator"? The chip n pulley is a virtual done deal,but I'm still curious as to these two mods. I really need to "hang out" here a bit more often.


Thanks again,


Storm_Shadow

 

I think they would rank this way from elite to not highly recommended:
1.Factory Tech Monster Box or other complete beefy trans
2.F/T accumulator body
3.Line mod kit
4. chip increased line pressure.

I have a Superchip with no increased shift firmness (cause I plan on the F/T body) and compared to stock, that by itself shifts much better.

There are other kits-LevelTen and lord knows who else, but those are the ones you'll see the most.

Factory Tech has a write up about trans mods on the PSP web site. Plus a search here will give more than you can digest in a day.
BTW, not to sell you on anything, I just put a chip, K&N panel w/modded airbox and 4# pulley on mine and it sure wakes up the beast in this truck. I picked a 4# to be on the conservative side and stick to a middle ground. There are a lot of 4s on Ls here and they have been on for a while. Mine is a daily driver and I wanted reasonable dependability. If it wasn't I'd have done the 6#. Maybe I should have anyway?!?!

Keep reading-caged or not caged pulley, Diablo/Superchip/Autologic chips, Bassani, JDM, brandX exhaust. Be prepared for overload.