02-01-2006, 07:14 PM
Since the Z is gone, and the bike is basically bulletproof (until I bin it), I need something to work on and drop $$$ into. After carefully looking over the WRX, my Gravely 5240 Tractor, and an assortment of weed whackers - I settled on the biggest, baddest vehicle in the stable. So begins the "Project Lightning" thread...
The best word to describe the current state of the L is "tired". I bought it in excellent condition almost 4 years ago, then drove the piss out of it for the 60k miles. Between life, love, and 2-3 other cars, the Lightning always came last.
It looks like hell. Paint is faded, from being parked outside (and also from being "decorated" at the wedding). Previous owner(s) installed all sorts of taped on accent trim, and most of that has fallen off, leaving behind ugliness. I dropped the tonneau cover and scratched up the outside of the bed. Had a trailer jump up and ding the tailgate as a car was being loaded. The list goes on and on... No rust though
Needless to say, theres probably some body work and paint in the not too distant future. And I hate the wheels - for some unknown reason a previous owner sold the original Lightning wheels and put some stupid M/T wheels on it. Those will have to go.
The interior is reasonable. Carpet was stained up and got some oil spilled on it. Seats are in great shape. Most of the interior trim and plastics are holding up well. Stereo is fine.
Mechanically, things aren't horrible, but they're not getting any better. I *have* kept up with most of the maintenance, so the engine is in pretty good shape. The transmission is typical high-mileage E4OD - shifting intermittently, dying slowly. Don't know about the rearend. One of the rear axle seals was leaking, but has since stopped (maybe it sealed itself back up, or maybe it ran out of stuff to leak). A/C compressor froze up on the way back from VIR last February, and I removed the whole system. Front brakes are good, rears probably need new shoes. Suspension is really worn out. Steering box is on life support. I found most of a swaybar endlink bushing sitting in the driveway the other day.
So what am I going to do about it? This is my short list of things to be accomplished in the next month or so.
* Clean, polish the exterior. I've got a new Porter Cable random orbital buffer and some Megiuars products to try out this weekend. This should provide a good baseline for the actual condition of the paint.
* Re-aim foglights (currently they only illuminate fog about 12 ft. above the road :lol
* Repair 3 (!) big chips in the windshield.
* Install new carpet (ordered a couple days ago, should be here next week), sound deadening (haven't decided on what yet), and some misc interior pieces (new rear-window latch, door sills, etc).
* Install new shocks (ordered some Bilsteins today - they were stock on the Gen 2's and *dirt* cheap)
* Install new bushings all around (probably Energy Suspension and some misc pieces)
* Install new hitch receiver (already have this)
* Investigate the condition of the transmission and rearend. Probably will plan on at least changing the diff fluid, which gives me a good excuse to pull the cover off the pumpkin. Who knows what I might find...
* Change rear brake shoes
Pictures to follow as things get done. I'll try to get one of the current condition of the truck too, so we can all *gasp* in agony.
The best word to describe the current state of the L is "tired". I bought it in excellent condition almost 4 years ago, then drove the piss out of it for the 60k miles. Between life, love, and 2-3 other cars, the Lightning always came last.
It looks like hell. Paint is faded, from being parked outside (and also from being "decorated" at the wedding). Previous owner(s) installed all sorts of taped on accent trim, and most of that has fallen off, leaving behind ugliness. I dropped the tonneau cover and scratched up the outside of the bed. Had a trailer jump up and ding the tailgate as a car was being loaded. The list goes on and on... No rust though
Needless to say, theres probably some body work and paint in the not too distant future. And I hate the wheels - for some unknown reason a previous owner sold the original Lightning wheels and put some stupid M/T wheels on it. Those will have to go.The interior is reasonable. Carpet was stained up and got some oil spilled on it. Seats are in great shape. Most of the interior trim and plastics are holding up well. Stereo is fine.
Mechanically, things aren't horrible, but they're not getting any better. I *have* kept up with most of the maintenance, so the engine is in pretty good shape. The transmission is typical high-mileage E4OD - shifting intermittently, dying slowly. Don't know about the rearend. One of the rear axle seals was leaking, but has since stopped (maybe it sealed itself back up, or maybe it ran out of stuff to leak). A/C compressor froze up on the way back from VIR last February, and I removed the whole system. Front brakes are good, rears probably need new shoes. Suspension is really worn out. Steering box is on life support. I found most of a swaybar endlink bushing sitting in the driveway the other day.
So what am I going to do about it? This is my short list of things to be accomplished in the next month or so.
* Clean, polish the exterior. I've got a new Porter Cable random orbital buffer and some Megiuars products to try out this weekend. This should provide a good baseline for the actual condition of the paint.
* Re-aim foglights (currently they only illuminate fog about 12 ft. above the road :lol
* Repair 3 (!) big chips in the windshield.
* Install new carpet (ordered a couple days ago, should be here next week), sound deadening (haven't decided on what yet), and some misc interior pieces (new rear-window latch, door sills, etc).
* Install new shocks (ordered some Bilsteins today - they were stock on the Gen 2's and *dirt* cheap)
* Install new bushings all around (probably Energy Suspension and some misc pieces)
* Install new hitch receiver (already have this)
* Investigate the condition of the transmission and rearend. Probably will plan on at least changing the diff fluid, which gives me a good excuse to pull the cover off the pumpkin. Who knows what I might find...
* Change rear brake shoes
Pictures to follow as things get done. I'll try to get one of the current condition of the truck too, so we can all *gasp* in agony.
My two feet.
![[Image: img_3507.jpg]](http://www.boostrot.net/gallery/d/1445-2/img_3507.jpg)
