LGHTNGfeverUAE
Member
I need some opinions on a clone project I had in mind.
I have a 00 Lightning with some nice cosmetic work on it (looks great) such as lowered suspension, rims, etc but its got 140K mileage and has spend more than 70% of its last year off the road with weekly maintenance issues which has been really really frustrating - s/c bearings replaced, radiator replaced, cracked rims, blown tires, exhaust problems, idler pulleys, suspension issues, new brakes/discs etc etc. The car is fun when its working but its getting old and I cant afford endless maintenance and a built motor and when it doesn't work I want to sell it I get so frustrated! I hardly go a week without an issue and I have to baby the car all the time. I also don't want to mod it further than a 4# pulley and some minor upgrades for fear of more problems. Kind of takes the fun out of it.....
An 04 Sonic Blue L just went onto the local market in Dubai (we have less than 10 Lightnings in the whole country!) for a really cheap price ($11000)which has a built longblock from DSS Performance (15# boost, cams and heads), old shape 2.3L KB and what appears to be a built transmission - has a transmission cooler & has a "terminator kit" (?) - also an electric fan & larger radiator. The car has 50K miles but has appears to have been abused and been badly maintained and driven hard. Needs a better tune and sounds little rough.
I always thought about cloning my car onto another newer truck so I could take the best part of my car such as upgraded brakes, rims, suspension kit etc etc and enjoy a few more years of the truck without endless maintenance costs - a built block would be a plus as I could run some bigger boost. I was considering this with the other truck and then selling mine to cover the cost, leaving me with a better car. Or alternatively taking the block, transmission and KB onto my car.
The issue is that the 04 has been driven hard and the interior is not in a great condition with stains and broken bits, the body would require a re-spray and I have no idea what state the engine in. The KB appears to have a bearing issue too and the engine smoked when first started up (although it hadn't been started up in a while).
My questions are:
* What kind of abuse can a built engine take? If I checked the engine, what should we look for?
* Would it be easier to refurbish the 04 to a better state or to swop the parts to my car and sell off the 04 afterwards.
I am kind of at a crossroads on this as I don't want 2 lemons in one garage....
00 Lightning:
* Nice rims & paintwork - cosmetically looks great ++
* Not reliable and lots of parts need replacing due to age and mileage --
* Bolt on upgrades on stockblock - no more power --
* Nice interior incl navigator consol and good sound system ++
04 Lightning:
* Nice colour - sonic blue is great ++
* Paintwork in poor shape - needs respray --
* Built Motor & transmission ++
* Abused, not sure what state the engine is in --
* Poor interior, seats ok, stains and lack of maintenance --
* KB needs attention --
* Upgraded radiator ++
* Electric fan ++
Any comments or suggestions welcome and much appreciated.
I have a 00 Lightning with some nice cosmetic work on it (looks great) such as lowered suspension, rims, etc but its got 140K mileage and has spend more than 70% of its last year off the road with weekly maintenance issues which has been really really frustrating - s/c bearings replaced, radiator replaced, cracked rims, blown tires, exhaust problems, idler pulleys, suspension issues, new brakes/discs etc etc. The car is fun when its working but its getting old and I cant afford endless maintenance and a built motor and when it doesn't work I want to sell it I get so frustrated! I hardly go a week without an issue and I have to baby the car all the time. I also don't want to mod it further than a 4# pulley and some minor upgrades for fear of more problems. Kind of takes the fun out of it.....
An 04 Sonic Blue L just went onto the local market in Dubai (we have less than 10 Lightnings in the whole country!) for a really cheap price ($11000)which has a built longblock from DSS Performance (15# boost, cams and heads), old shape 2.3L KB and what appears to be a built transmission - has a transmission cooler & has a "terminator kit" (?) - also an electric fan & larger radiator. The car has 50K miles but has appears to have been abused and been badly maintained and driven hard. Needs a better tune and sounds little rough.
I always thought about cloning my car onto another newer truck so I could take the best part of my car such as upgraded brakes, rims, suspension kit etc etc and enjoy a few more years of the truck without endless maintenance costs - a built block would be a plus as I could run some bigger boost. I was considering this with the other truck and then selling mine to cover the cost, leaving me with a better car. Or alternatively taking the block, transmission and KB onto my car.
The issue is that the 04 has been driven hard and the interior is not in a great condition with stains and broken bits, the body would require a re-spray and I have no idea what state the engine in. The KB appears to have a bearing issue too and the engine smoked when first started up (although it hadn't been started up in a while).
My questions are:
* What kind of abuse can a built engine take? If I checked the engine, what should we look for?
* Would it be easier to refurbish the 04 to a better state or to swop the parts to my car and sell off the 04 afterwards.
I am kind of at a crossroads on this as I don't want 2 lemons in one garage....
00 Lightning:
* Nice rims & paintwork - cosmetically looks great ++
* Not reliable and lots of parts need replacing due to age and mileage --
* Bolt on upgrades on stockblock - no more power --
* Nice interior incl navigator consol and good sound system ++
04 Lightning:
* Nice colour - sonic blue is great ++
* Paintwork in poor shape - needs respray --
* Built Motor & transmission ++
* Abused, not sure what state the engine is in --
* Poor interior, seats ok, stains and lack of maintenance --
* KB needs attention --
* Upgraded radiator ++
* Electric fan ++
Any comments or suggestions welcome and much appreciated.
