93 ATX Redemption Thread

[vortex2450]

(MODS if I put this in the wrong place I am sorry and please help me by moving the thread, thanks)

Well I'm sure some guys across the forums have seem my numerous threads dealing with numerous issues I've ran into with my recently acquired 93' ATX.





I decided instead of making new thread after new thread I'm consolidating all my future problems here and am hoping my fellow SHO lovers will pitch in and help me on my quest to restore this 210k car along with throwing in some advice or know how.

Story goes I bought the car for $700 form a clueless previous owner without any knowledge of how much I would have to replace but a voice in the back of my head going "this thing is gonna need work!" and being that these are hard to find around here my first reaction was ""

It has some history too, from what I can tell it was an Interceptor for a good part of it's life after which the second owner drove it for about 70k miles and from there it was sold to the guy I bough it from who lived in Salty road MA. A condition that has created a couple issues I've had to correct. It's had some wear and tear but nothing too much besides to usual SHO problems spots.

Anyways, here's a list of everything I've done so far:

Fixed Hood/Trunk Latches
Tune-Up (Oil,Filter, Plugs)
Replaced 4 ft of rear brake lines
New rear calipers, brackets, rotors, and shoes.
New y-pipe
New Pass Taillight
New Driver Corner Light
Cleaned MAF,throttle body, intake runners
Sanded and repainted battery tray/hold downs
Tranny Service (new filter/gasket, flushed with Mercon V).
New transmission cooler lines, bypassed straight to cooler.

With all that I'm still at just $1500 invested in this baby including tags and that good stuff, so despite the minor annoyances I feel like I came out on top.

Onwards, as for the ongoing "to-do" list I have compiled most of everything I've spotted/thought of. I will strikeout/add issues as they are completed/arise. I will attach an estimated dollar amount to each fix to give me a better idea of how to pace myself.

Restore Leather - $15-$20 in supplies
Restore Headlights - ~ $20
Repair pass side body panel "hangers" -$7
Replace monroof button - $10
Rebuild Rear Window motors - free
Stop fender rust spots - $15
Recharge A/C - $30
Replace flex pipe - $40
Upgrade PCM - $100
Replace Tie-Rod Ends - $50
New Wiper Blades - $40
Upgrade Spark Plug Wires - $120
Replace All Suspension Bushings - $120
Replace Sub-frame Bushings - ???
Replace/Upgrade Sound system - $180
Car bra - $90
Upgrade fog Lights - $20
Replace rear SHO center caps -$20
Replace P/S pump - $100-$150
Upgrade to Round Button EATC - $25
Upgrade fuel pump -
Replace Intake Coupler Hoses - $50
New wheel bearings all around - $150
Better Flowing Exhaust - $550
Replace front rotors,calipers,and shoes (brackets are newer looking)
Replace trunk - $50 -$90
Replace Motor Mounts - $100
New Struts/Coils
Upper/Lower 60k
New Paint Job - $350 DIY
Transmission Rebuild/Build Up - $900 DIY



these prices are a quick guess from searching around Rock Auto Advance Auto, and SHO Source, if anyone thinks anything up here looks pricey let me know where I can find a better deal and I'll love you forever, well not reallyy... but it'd still be a great help to a college student on a budget.

And Current Issues/Fixes I will simply bump into the thread.

 

[sperold]

Job 1 is pampering that automatic transmission. A failure there will more than double your current investment.
Make or buy the "transmission - automatic - oil cooler lines - trans to radiator, you can buy the end fittings at Rockauto, so other places may have the whole thing.
A lot of people buy the PCM for the 94 - 95 model car (D4U1) and it is supposed to firm up the shifts and yield a longer life for the transmission, so I would move that up to the top of the list to avoid your last listed item - transmission rebuild / buildup.
If your front brake brackets are newer looking, you may have larger rotors installed, so measure the diameter before you buy anything. Your choices could be 10.2, 10.9 or 11.6 rotor diameters.
In the mean time, put a bra on the front of the car to try to eliminate your second last item - new paint job.`

 

[vortex2450]

Job 1 is pampering that automatic transmission. A failure there will more than double your current investment.
Make or buy the "transmission - automatic - oil cooler lines - trans to radiator, you can buy the end fittings at Rockauto, so other places may have the whole thing.
A lot of people buy the PCM for the 94 - 95 model car (D4U1) and it is supposed to firm up the shifts and yield a longer life for the transmission, so I would move that up to the top of the list to avoid your last listed item - transmission rebuild / buildup.
If your front brake brackets are newer looking, you may have larger rotors installed, so measure the diameter before you buy anything. Your choices could be 10.2, 10.9 or 11.6 rotor diameters.
In the mean time, put a bra on the front of the car to try to eliminate your second last item - new paint job.`

I agree with the pampering, my dad laughed when I told him Ford used a Windstar transmission in the SHO's after I took him for a quick ride, I meant the rebuild mainly as a build-up as once I've completed everything else I plan on turning this car into a mildly turbo-ed DD.

I had the same thought although they look stock, I'll measure as you suggested because it can never hurt.


As for the leak, I can NOT find any thing that even resembles those lines, so I'll have to conceive fabricating my own.

Why did Ford run the transmission cooler line through one side of the engine radiator? I don't know but unless it's an important reason I'll just run all new lines straight to and from the stock cooler until I can dish out for a better after market one.

 

[SHOtimer]

Ford did not use a Windstar transmission in the SHO.

The SHO has it's own transmission. The SHO motor would destroy a Windstar tranny.

Just get some adapters that screw into the transmission and have a ****** and replace those metal lines with rubber ones, you will get better flow.

I don't have my tranny fluid going through the radiator at all. I just have it plumbing straight through the aux tranny cooler and right back to the transmission.

The aux tranny cooler on the SHO is very good.

Doug

 

[sperold]

I think the transmission cooler lines go through the rad for cold weather operation and to get it up to operating temperature in a hurry.
Like Shotimer has said, get the adaptors (from RockAuto, if nowhere else) and do your own neopreme lines which will be less restrictive than the original hard lines, and that will prolong the transmission's life.
When the brake upgrade occurs, the people simply take the next generation of brake parts and retrofit them on the earlier cars..... that is why all the parts look stock, because they are stock.
Shotimer is right, most of the parts on a SHO do not need upgrading, your tranny cooler will be fine.
You will be very happy with the performance of the automatic.
There is not a lot of extra capaciy left in the transmission to handle modifications like boost, so keep it very light, otherwise you will need upgrading and rebuilding.

 

[vortex2450]

Ford did not use a Windstar transmission in the SHO.

The SHO has it's own transmission. The SHO motor would destroy a Windstar tranny.

Just get some adapters that screw into the transmission and have a ****** and replace those metal lines with rubber ones, you will get better flow.

I don't have my tranny fluid going through the radiator at all. I just have it plumbing straight through the aux tranny cooler and right back to the transmission.

The aux tranny cooler on the SHO is very good.

Doug

That's my mistake, your right, I just didn't read enough into the article I based that exclamation from. DOHHH!!! haha

I was thinking that would be my best option versus trying to patch in new metal to replace the broken stuff, simplifies things and creats a more straightforward repair. Besides, "sperold" has a point and it hardly gets under 32F where I live and I don't plan on moving North anytime soon so I'll don't think I'll worry about the lines getting too cold.

I did think the stock cooler looked like a pretty substantial radiator and after doing my senior project on computer water cooling I know the in's and out's of things in that area of expertise but would it really hurt to upgrade/install another cooler?


I am having thoughts on a mild boost turbo set up which is why I included things like brake upgrades, suspension upgrades, solid motor mounts, and trans rebuild/build up in my "to-do" list as options for if I decided I have the money to spend.

Thanks guys, the thoughts help me get ideas spinning and push me in the right direction, I hope my questions aren't too abrasive, I truly wanna learn the in's and out's of my SHO which is why I may ask questions I probably could've found the answers to on my own; I just like to be sure with input from people with experience.

 

[SHOtimer]

The stock cooler with the radiator bypassed will probably do you just fine.

It takes a substantial amount of $, time, and knowledge to get a SHO boosted, plus you need a good platform. Do some searching in the modification section.

Your SHO will be very demanding just getting it back to 'stock' condition after it has been beat on for 17 years.... A lot of time that is most of the project.

Your questions arn't too abrasive at all....don't hesitate to ask, we've all been there.

However, their is 20+ years of SHO knowlege avaliable here on the forum in previous threads...a lot of time you can find a ton of knowledge/info just by searching.

www.shotimes.com is an old school place too.

I've had my ATX for around 8 years. I like to think it is one of the nicer ones around...we don't have rust here in Cali, so that is a big battle I don't have to fight.

The SHO has also been 90% of my mechanical training. The car by itself will push you, even without boost. You need to get everything up to spec before you start looking into psi.

Doug

 

[vortex2450]

The stock cooler with the radiator bypassed will probably do you just fine.

It takes a substantial amount of $, time, and knowledge to get a SHO boosted, plus you need a good platform. Do some searching in the modification section.

Your SHO will be very demanding just getting it back to 'stock' condition after it has been beat on for 17 years.... A lot of time that is most of the project.

Your questions arn't too abrasive at all....don't hesitate to ask, we've all been there.

However, their is 20+ years of SHO knowlege avaliable here on the forum in previous threads...a lot of time you can find a ton of knowledge/info just by searching.

www.shotimes.com is an old school place too.

I've had my ATX for around 8 years. I like to think it is one of the nicer ones around...we don't have rust here in Cali, so that is a big battle I don't have to fight.

The SHO has also been 90% of my mechanical training. The car by itself will push you, even without boost. You need to get everything up to spec before you start looking into psi.

Doug

I completely agree and understand the scope of my goals, I know what it takes to a SHO with this one's background up to spec and then some.

Ever since a brush I had with a failed purchase of a 95' Tbird (and god was it a niceeee one too) when I was 15 I've had a burning interest in a couple of cars I would call buried gems, particularly the 94-97 TBird LX's, the 93-98 Mark VIII's, and more recently the SHO's. All three cars I would consider "gentlemen's hot rods of the 90's" and all three, uh I mean the two others cars I would love to own.

With that being said I don't wanna be just another 18-19 year old who did a sloppy job of building a fast car, I want this car top notch along with a better wealth of knowledge towards it's mechanics and the rigors of a turbo set-up.

As you said, the work ahead is mostly time in restoration which is coincidentally more a matter of equipment, knowledge, and time versus money. Which is why I've made myself a list to pace myself with, I've chugged along repairing a good amount of problems I inherited with the car and know I'm in for a a lot more of it if I want my car "mint".

I will not put a time constraint on myself and will do each item on my list in due time. If I do (or don't) decided boost is right for me once I have done the restoration work I will still end up with a great looking ATX SHO in prime condition that will still hang with the newer generations of cars running more than 240K on the clock (I say that's the driving I'll do in 2-1/2 to 3 years and also when the 60k job is due). At that point I could invest in an MTX is good condition and move my interest of boost there.

Either way I ran the lines today, I didn't buy new fittings for the trans mission, I spliced in the soft lines as close as I could and ran double sided barbs with hose clamps, seems to be holding fine after I forgot to tighten a clamp and lost about 2 quarts in my 15 minutes of driving it without realizing my mistake. O well, I'll chalk it up to experience.

The SHO runs GREAT! I love the looks I get on the free way after those 30-75 passes as I get off the ramps. The tie rod bushing are bad on the pass side as I can sometimes hear them clank on my dirt drive way and the driverside rear bearings squeak at me sometimes. Two items I'm moving to the top of my list.


NOTE: Although I love my SHO I still dream of a white 97' Tbird LX with a built terminator engine pushed by a twin-screw @ 15 psi channeled through a T-56 with a 4:10 rear end...... maybe even with a direct shot of giggle gas .... heh

EDIT: It's all conjecture at this point but I will still commit this thread to my restoration work and hopefully I'll catch a few fans in the end :angelnot:

 

[vortex2450]

BUMP!

Guess it's time for an update.

Bare with me, I typed the whole thing up and then it just disappeared and I couldn't retrieve not matter how hard I tried :\

I worked on getting the interior pretty again this past Sunday and Monday.

7 hours total + a shop vac, a rug doctor, a toothbrush, a bunch of simple green and ALOT of elbow grease and the car feels 100% more welcoming.

The job is 85% done, I'm waiting on the next paycheck so I can get some leather conditioner.

I was very surprised how good the interior came out and believe my efforts were 150% worth it, can't wait to see/feel the leather after the conditioner.

Here's some pics I took in the middle, I'll put up final pics after the conditioner has been massaged into the leather.



This is a good illustration of the cutting power of Simple Green, things were like this everywhere I scrubbed.



The back seat was the most stubborn area as the dirt here was sun baked in and took some real pressure to get out, after a while i felt like I was wrestling with the car.



A huge difference.



This is way I saved the driver's seat for last.



Once again, simple green works wonders with enough pressure and patience.



I was messing around with the panoramic here, the head rest did get stitched out though, guess practice will eventually make perfect.

Once the leather is finished I'll post some before/after comparisons for anyone considering taking the time to do this.
I will say that the car feels so much more comfortable, if I haven't said it already, haha.

I also plan to knock a couple things out my list soon, including the A/C recharge, replacing the moon roof button, rebuilding the rear window motors, refinishing the headlights, and replacing the fog lights.

I've given a car bra some though but at $90 I'd rather set the money aside for more demanding fixes.

Anyways, after I did the cleaning I got very excited and decided to shoot a video of the car, just the typical stuff, me sounding dumb on the mic, inside the car car, start up, revving inside and out, me sounding dumb some more, showing some of the cosmetic issues, an acceleration teaser, me talking again. blah blah blah.

Anyways here's the vid,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38qiEhb1FEk



I was extremely excited as I already said so that's why I can't seem to shut up. Anyways, at least this video gives me a documented point in time to refer back to in the future in regards to progress I'll have made then.

Once again, sorry I sound annoying but I hope you enjoy the vid.

anyways, I'll update with the finished interior pics sooner rather than later, it's 11:30 now and I need to get to bed.
Until then, peace.

 

[SHOtimer]

Looking good...simple green does do great.

Sounds like you may envy my fleet...ie: SHO & Mark VIII.

It is a great combination.

Doug

 

[vortex2450]

hey guys, I know I haven't been here in almost a month, money has been tight but I landed a great job so I'll be knocking a lot more off my list a lot quicker.

Looking good...simple green does do great.

Sounds like you may envy my fleet...ie: SHO & Mark VIII.

It is a great combination.

Doug

your are right, I am green with envy

I lvoe the interior of the Mark 8, but the Tbird strikes me better.

I have done some aesthetic stuff to the exterior, finished my leather restoration, and a couple other odds and ends. Right now I'm in the middle of thoroughly cleaning everything in between the stock air box and the ends of the plenum.

I'll update with (many) pics once I feel I have reach a good update point.

Stay tuned..

 

[vortex2450]

Update, been working a lot but I've attacked one thing or another almost every weekend I had.



For starters here's my interior after finally receiving a conditioner treatment (I know the car is somewhat messy).



Took off and took apart the manifold then I gave it a strong detergent bath.

Figured I would go ahead with the color change i wanted to give it since it was already off and now clean.

I choose to use DupliColor High Heat Engine Paint, Primer, Deep Ford Blue, White, and Clearcoat of course.




Day 1, disassembly






Primer. Nothing special.



Getting the first coat on.



Right after the first coat of Clearcoat.



The butterfly valves were a challenge to sand and prime but I got em'.



Here they are after a good 2 coats of blue. Note the Paint choice for reference.



Although not very important I wire cleaned all the rusty nuts for a shiny clean look, it's the extra work like this that makes a difference for me.




After a struggle to get everything back together here it is plus some scratches. :frantic:



Here's it is finally in the car.




I also painted the MAF and the intake brackets, I know I'm missing the right front one, still putting off fighting the get in back on, lol.





The weekend after I finished the manifold I went nuts with two cans of Duplicolor Automotive Ceramic White and Painted my wheels and the SHO rear and side emblems.




Although not noticeable from a distance these wheels had some history of abuse in the form of scratches, dings, and chips, so I took some bondo to the larger pits, chips.





Here's the wheel between coats. Yes I primered twice along with 4 white coats and 3 clearcoats, all with 600 grit wet sanding inbetween.




The always painted SHO bumper emblem haha




Once I got every thing on I was liking the look. White is a pain to clean as I live on a dusty dirt road but worth it. I always get stares ( good I hope ) when I go somewhere.







Here she is all buttoned up. After realizing how dim my headlights are I was ready for the headlight resto. I chose the Sylvania kit as it was on sale from advance and actually included with good ole' sandpaper and the works.




The kit came with 400, 100, 200 grit wet sandpaper, masking tape,"surface activator", some wort of finishing compound, white application towels, the final clearcoat/polish with UV block and a glove for skin protection during application.





Here's the final result, I am very pleased with this kit, there are still some nicks and pits that I could get to with 400 grit sand paper but it still is a great face-lift for my baby. I did take off the front plate holder as it was torn up, and yes I have black spray paint on the front to help conceal all the paint that had but scratched off from what i'm saying is the results of a careless driver.

I took in between pics but the difference is negligible until the final clear coat application. This kit get two thumbs up from me.

After getting tired of hearing the crapped out sub tearing apart I decided to replace it with the driver from my 3 yr old wal mart stereo.



This is the old sub with a shot surround.



After a little modification with a dremel I made this fit, after re installation I was able to turn my system up without hearing the old driver hitting the bracket.


But the sound was still lacking so I found time to install my nice Sony head unit, I bypassed the factory amps, and haven't taken the time to reconnect the sub woofer but the difference was great, even with the stock 17 yr old speakers ( and without the subwoofer) the radio comes alive.



I've heard complaints about Sony's stuff and it's not that Id go buy their crap "xplod" subs but this head unit is amazing and it's the only one I found that looked clean enough to pass my sharp standards.


Up next on my list of fixes is the moonroof button, the sagging rear bumper, stopping my fender well rust, and replacing my flex pipe.


BTW: I ran a full bottle of seafoam through my car about 1 week ago and made a glorious smoke show for all the people at Advance I figured after a full 5 minutes of stead smoke and a can of seafoam my car should of been clean, well yesterday I was helping my friend Seafoam his Trans AM while I did my oil change and since he used only maybe 2/3 of his bottle I figured I would run the rest through the Yamahammer and maybe get out any bit of carbon deposits left.

Needless to say, "little" is the wrong adjective.

Here's the vid with only 1/3 can

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8Rc-N0mfmo
:splat: