Looking to buy a V8 sho.

[Sixety8msg]

So I am a Ford guy by heart and I have owned a lot of odd ball fords (what can I say they are my favorite!!!), 1984 Mustang SVO, 1985 Mercury Capri, 1994 & 1995 Lincoln Mark VIII. Now I want to own a 96-99 SHO! I want one in toreador red, silver, or black.

I am a mechanic by trade and I have worked on this PITA's a few times, so I am somewhat familiar with them.

Just curious, anything I should look for when buying?

 

[luigisho]

Cam issue. Welded already would be preferred. Test drive for tranny slipping. Other than those two weak points the GenIII has been much more reliable than the GenI I used to own. Not as much fun as a 5 speed manual, but it's never failed to start.

 

[Rubix]

Transmission records if the seller has them and take a test drive to make sure it's operating properly. The tranny is perhaps the biggest death catalyst of these cars, aside from cam failure. First and foremost, however, you want to know whether or not the cams have been welded. If the seller does not know then there's a good chance they have not, in which case you can pull the valve covers off and simply look. If the cams are not welded, you will want to do so immediately, drive the car as little as possible (preferably not at all) until they are.

Those two issues aside, the only other stuff is common among any car. Engine maintenance, suspension, tires, interior, etc.

Good luck, there are some great gen 3 deals to be had


Side topic, is that your gen 2 in your avatar? Looks nice, any other pictures?


edit: Luigi beat me to the punch... his comment about 5 speeds can be remedied by Northeast SHO's 5 speed conversion... DO IT

 

[Sixety8msg]

Cam issue. Welded already would be preferred. Test drive for tranny slipping. Other than those two weak points the GenIII has been much more reliable than the GenI I used to own. Not as much fun as a 5 speed manual, but it's never failed to start.

I have read up on the cam issue, do they use the same transmission as auto trans as the rest of the auto bulls use? The transmission that I had in my 01 Taurus needed to be replaced 3 times and boy did I hate replacing that SOB.

I am also looking for websites with performance parts, I used to have a folder when I first joined this site but I lost it. Any places you can tell me would be great, even if they only have SHO specific exterior modifications and whatnot.

Transmission records if the seller has them and take a test drive to make sure it's operating properly. The tranny is perhaps the biggest death catalyst of these cars, aside from cam failure. First and foremost, however, you want to know whether or not the cams have been welded. If the seller does not know then there's a good chance they have not, in which case you can pull the valve covers off and simply look. If the cams are not welded, you will want to do so immediately, drive the car as little as possible (preferably not at all) until they are.

Those two issues aside, the only other stuff is common among any car. Engine maintenance, suspension, tires, interior, etc.

Good luck, there are some great gen 3 deals to be had


Side topic, is that your gen 2 in your avatar? Looks nice, any other pictures?


edit: Luigi beat me to the punch... his comment about 5 speeds can be remedied by Northeast SHO's 5 speed conversion... DO IT

I was looking for a 5 speed conversion thread, that would be friggen sweet. Like I said I am all about the odd ball ford performance vehicles and the SHO has always been on my list. Later on in the ownership of this car because I plan on keeping this one longer than the previous cars I have owned, I want to build another motor made for a blower and push somewhere around 350-375 whp.

 

[luigisho]

There aren't that many options as far as GenIII modifications and vendors of such go.
For cosmetic mods I would look over at the TCCA site. They have more people interested in doing this to this body style.

The transmission is similar to, but not the same as, a non SHO Taurus. There should be a few threads with the 5 speed conversion but there are no "how to" write ups. This swap is very custom and not a simple bolt on modification. The best place to start is nesho.com. They were talking about offering a kit or service to modify to manual. You can also try shosource.com for parts.

There are a few blower cars out there but I've seen them frag a few motors (as could be expected). I would suggest getting a GenI or II for this. There are much more v6 SHO motors out there compared to v8's. Makes replacement a little easier on the wallet and on the time locating them. I would like to see you build a GenIII blower car though.

 

[Sixety8msg]

Ya I just have to do my research that's all.

I had no freakin clue North East SHO was only 15 minutes from my house!!!!

 

[medgraphsho]

I have read up on the cam issue, do they use the same transmission as auto trans as the rest of the auto bulls use? The transmission that I had in my 01 Taurus needed to be replaced 3 times and boy did I hate replacing that SOB.

I am also looking for websites with performance parts, I used to have a folder when I first joined this site but I lost it. Any places you can tell me would be great, even if they only have SHO specific exterior modifications and whatnot.



I was looking for a 5 speed conversion thread, that would be friggen sweet. Like I said I am all about the odd ball ford performance vehicles and the SHO has always been on my list. Later on in the ownership of this car because I plan on keeping this one longer than the previous cars I have owned, I want to build another motor made for a blower and push somewhere around 350-375 whp.

The stock gen3 tranny cannot handle a 350-375 WHP set-up

 

[luigisho]

Ya I just have to do my research that's all.

I had no freakin clue North East SHO was only 15 minutes from my house!!!!

Then you're in really good shape. That's about the best place around to get help. Plus you can see Kirk's new Gen IV SHO.

 

[Sixety8msg]

I am going to have to head over there sometime soon to talk to the guys and see what goes on over there.

Oh and do you have an AIM username ? If not that is cool I am just trying to find someone to chat with about these cars.

 

[97SHOgt]

I'll sell you mine if you want a nice one...

http://www.shoforum.com/showthread.php?t=104039

 

[luigisho]

I am going to have to head over there sometime soon to talk to the guys and see what goes on over there.

Oh and do you have an AIM username ? If not that is cool I am just trying to find someone to chat with about these cars.

There are email lists for the v8 cars. You can check out the v8 group on Google and the v8sho.com mailing lists.

 

[SHO U UP]

I have read up on the cam issue, do they use the same transmission as auto trans as the rest of the auto bulls use? The transmission that I had in my 01 Taurus needed to be replaced 3 times and boy did I hate replacing that SOB.

I am also looking for websites with performance parts, I used to have a folder when I first joined this site but I lost it. Any places you can tell me would be great, even if they only have SHO specific exterior modifications and whatnot.



I was looking for a 5 speed conversion thread, that would be friggen sweet. Like I said I am all about the odd ball ford performance vehicles and the SHO has always been on my list. Later on in the ownership of this car because I plan on keeping this one longer than the previous cars I have owned, I want to build another motor made for a blower and push somewhere around 350-375 whp.

I doubt any V-8 SHO has that much power or has even had that much power. And with mine and Eric's being the most recent ones to be "boosted", I'm figuring we are still under 300 fwhp. Sure you can add nitrous but you better have another motor on deck.