Beartooth
New Member
I've been wrenching and tinkering most of my life, first on a '64 Fairlane, then I've got a '97 F250 Powerstroke (also 4x4 all manual), followed by an assortment of German cars, a Jaaag project car last year, and a (probably) flipper '98 Mountaineer I got this spring. I tend to get into a lot of things people tell you are best left to "the professionals," so I guess I'm somewhere between that and the fool who rushes in where angles fear to tread. We had several Fords when I was growing up, and I've been partial ever since. We had an Aerostar that broke any idea I might have had of Ford being infallible, but the bulletproof, 351-powered vans on either side of that mistake made up for it. I've never owned a Taurus, and I don't need one for the time being, but I've mostly been impressed by them - especially the SHO. Two different family friends had one back when. One thing I've got to say: Ford screwed up by not offering the 3.0 with a manual. I'm kind of intrigued by the MT5, but the HSC four is so archaic (I was a little taken aback to learn a couple years ago that it's just a revamp of the Falcon straight-six with a few improvements and two fewer cylinders). I love the SHO, and even for the time, it's remarkable that such an expensive engine ended up in a mainline Ford. They nailed it with the original (a few mechanical weaknesses aside): that jewel under the hood and a stick shift. It was an incredible value, but didn't get the sales it deserved, I can only guess because it was "just a Taurus" (with a million on the streets already) - just a Taurus that could match a BMW M5... I remember when the fish-mouth Tauruses came out: it was a look I couldn't fall in love with even as a Ford guy, but I've come to be impressed with how nicely appointed those were. The SHO losing the stick shift was also a disappointment, but they're still a pretty amazing car. I'm only going on what I've gathered on the cam sprocket issue, but I have to wonder if they'd be starting to get collector attention were it not for that; it seems too many met an early end. I can't ignore an engine with great power-to-weight ratio though, and it seems once the cams are welded it's a very solid engine (I'll have to peek under the valve covers as soon as I get mine home; this one's middlin' with 118k). I don't know what I'll find as a new home for mine, but it's too cool to go to waste, so I jumped when I found one wrecked on Copart recently.
Anyway, as for the rest of it, I'm a pilot by trade - mostly working part-time as a military flight instructor after ten years in the Navy. I was born in Billings and lived in MT almost all my life except for my time in the Navy. I love being near the mountains - I go up there regularly. Obviously, cars are my biggest passtime - which is becoming more an avocation. In other things, I run quite a bit and am part of a club, I'm active in my church and a deacon, and I'm kind of a music fanatic. A couple years ago I got into vinyl after my Dad gave me his old (but very high quality) record player. That also extends to AV: I have a HT projector, I've built speakers for the house, and I almost always end up upgrading the speakers and/or HU in just about any car I get my hands on. Oh yeah, I almost forgot: I live in a log home that I mostly built myself... I guess you could say I'm a hands-on kind of guy.
Anyway, as for the rest of it, I'm a pilot by trade - mostly working part-time as a military flight instructor after ten years in the Navy. I was born in Billings and lived in MT almost all my life except for my time in the Navy. I love being near the mountains - I go up there regularly. Obviously, cars are my biggest passtime - which is becoming more an avocation. In other things, I run quite a bit and am part of a club, I'm active in my church and a deacon, and I'm kind of a music fanatic. A couple years ago I got into vinyl after my Dad gave me his old (but very high quality) record player. That also extends to AV: I have a HT projector, I've built speakers for the house, and I almost always end up upgrading the speakers and/or HU in just about any car I get my hands on. Oh yeah, I almost forgot: I live in a log home that I mostly built myself... I guess you could say I'm a hands-on kind of guy.
