SHO with bad cams

[ryan21288]

I am thinking about buying a SHO that snapped cams. The guy wants $500 for it. The body and Interior is mint. Is the motor bad or could i just replace the cams also how much am i looking at for a used motor.

 

[NovaSS]

do a search with the words "cam failure" BEFORE you hand over any cash. Most of the time its "engine replacment time" and then you have to have the cams welded.

 

[St Louis SHO]

:frantic: Say it aint so!

 

[ryan21288]

its so lol...i really want a v8 sho

 

[NotSoSlowSHO]

Sounds like a sweet V6 SHO candidate. :swing:

 

[ryan21288]

Sounds like a sweet V6 SHO candidate. :swing:

i have a V6 SHO now but i really want a V8 just because of the sound and it being a better daily driver. I am getting another V6 that i want to supercharge so i would like the V8 as a daily driver

 

[luigisho]

Find a replacement motor before you buy the car. How many miles on it?

 

[ryan21288]

Find a replacement motor before you buy the car. How many miles on it?

i believe around 130k. Im wondering how much it would be for a replacement motor

 

[St Louis SHO]

I'd say you'll spend about 1k, before installation. Plus a camweld on top of that....

 

[97SHOgt]

I would just look for a runner. It would be easier. These cars are cheap nowadays anyways.

 

[ryan21288]

So theres basically no way to rebuild the V8 engine after the cams snap. Im going to school for automotive and one thing i was hopeing is that i would be able to take the motor out and rebuild it then put it back in. Even if it means new valves and pistons. I would probably upgrade them. Plus im gonna do the same thing with the tranny and i have the opertunity to use mine so i figured i could take that and build it up. Do you think this is a good idea? The body and interior look really good so it would def be worth putting the money into

 

[St Louis SHO]

You can't buy head bolts. Head gaskets are nearly impossible to find. If you did find gaskets and bolts, buy valves and pistons, you'd spend about 3k by the time you had it all buttoned up. See the pattern?

 

[SHOZ123]

You can get short blocks for under $500. Why rebuild them. Now rebuilding the heads is another story.

 

[ryan21288]

Ehh i decided not to buy the car. Im looking at a 97 SHO on wednesday. I saw it while checking out a car for my friend. It looked like it was in really good shape. They want 2495. not sure of the mileage or any other info but hopefully its good. What should i look for other than asking about cams. Any little tips you guys can give me.

 

[kit352]

tranny and rot under the door sills. coil packs are a known problem with these and can get costly. lifting of the dash sucks but is common, a/c is is also a known issue, make sure the vacuum lines behind the intake arent all melted.

 

[SHOZ123]

Can't say as I've had much problem with my AC over 10 years. Did remove the shim and have the freon flushed and filtered once, but that was it.

 

[kit352]

thats the ac issue i was talking about. its a trip to the shop if you dont know or want to fix it and seems to be an almost guaranteed problem.

 

[SHO1]

AC shim issue Sounds like a normal wear prob to me, like brakes or an mtx clutch, etc. Would also expect to atleast need a recharge/flush soon if not right away on any car that is 10+ yrs. old. especially if nothings been done to it in the past. Certainly not an issue like coils or cams!

 

[ryan21288]

well i went to look at that SHO today. Its a 97 with 130k very basic. It had the mach system but the speakers were blown. The dash was comming up over the gauges. A/C was ice cold. The car ran amazing and i think the cams were welded by ford? it had a sticker on the front radiator suport that said something was repaird. Not sure what but im guessing cams. Motor ran absolutely perfect. Smooth as ****. No ticks. Shifts were nice and smooth. But there was a bad part. The car has a problem where after about 15 min of driving if he is stopped at a light after about a 30sec the car will stall and then you half to give it gas to get it started again. No idea why but there is a CEL. But that may end up being good for me. I am looking for a project car becuase im going to school for auto tech. Plus he is strongly thinking about doing an as-is trade with my car. He really just wants it off his lot. He said he knows hes going to lose money but he would rather have a running car that just needs some body work. What do you think the problem could be?

 

[kit352]

i think ford just pinned them to fix it, nothing like a weld. id take a trip to autozone witht he car and have them scan it.