My 92 Restoration / Question Thread

[Schumacher609]

(This is a cross-post from TCCA where I started the original)

Well I finally did it. After months of searching for a Project SHO I bought one earlier today. It was the first car I've ever actually purchased in my own name and I cant wait to start working on it.

The Rules:

1. I must buy the car with only my own money.
2. I must pay for insurance/registration.
3. I may not keep the car at the house unless it has a current inspection, registration, insurance, and tags.
4. I may not use any of my father's tools to work on the car.
5. Any work must be done on my own/payed for by me and my father wants to stay out of dealing with the car, so no help from him.

The Car:

Red 1992 Taurus SHO 5 speed MTX, 128,*** Miles. It currently does not run because the PO pulled the intake and valve covers off. Previous to removal the car ran but had "rod knock" (I'm putting that in quotes because I never heard the car run). The trans is good and interior is in pretty good condition. The rear seats are damn near mint condition and the front driver's seat will be close to mint after reconditioning. Unfortunately the passenger seat has a tear in it, on the plus side all of the electric seat controls work. She has a sunroof with both the cover and button intact. The body has a few dents and dings and both bumper covers should be repainted if not replaced, but I didn't see any creases and rust is at a minimum. The clear coat is in really bad shape. The slicers are in great condition and only one "SHO" center cap is missing.

The Story:

Like I said, I've been searching for an SHO for just shy of 9 months now. There were many that interested me, but either I didn't have the money, didn't have the space, or couldn't meet the requirements of my father. When I saw the first listing for the car it spiked my interest but seeing as it had a knocking in the engine and was red (18 year olds don't mix with insurance companies as is, let alone in a red car) I didn't want it for the asking price. As time went on and the price dropped the car moved closer and closer towards my top pick. My buddy's dad (I'm extremely close to the family) gave me permission two weeks ago to store a car in their garage. Once that speed bump was out of the way I went to see the car in person. Took a friend that works in a quality performance shop with me to check the car out and we inspected the engine and body as best as we could with out tearing it apart. When i decided to buy the SHO, I pulled an owed favor from a buddy and he agreed to use his truck to tow it. Spent a good hour or two on the UHAUL site and on the phone with them today to work out the best location to get the trailer from and what not. Picked up the trailer, picked up the car car, dropped off the car, brought the trailer back, nothing but net.

The Plan:

Drop the sub frame, separate the engine and trans, rebuild. I plan on tearing down, inspecting, and then rebuilding the engine on a stand. I may rebuild the transmission after the engine because it should probably be done and it would be a cool learning experience. Body work and a new paint job will happen as the warmer weather rolls around as well as reconditioning the leather.

This car is meant to be a fun project and an opportunity to really learn about the car. As I tear down the engine, depending on what needs to be done I may just restore it to its original glory or set up the internals for boost at a later date. I've been buying and will continue to buy suspension parts here and there until the entire thing is overhauled. I've also been buying the tools I know I will need over the last few months and from here on out it will be on an as needed basis.


I'll be keeping a work log of the progress in this thread.

-Mike

 

[Schumacher609]

Here are the pictures:

 

[Schumacher609]

 

[Schumacher609]

And here are the tools: The 3 ton Jack, 6 ton Jack Stands, and 1000 lb Dolly are all new purchases. The tool box stuff I've been acquiring over the last few years. Not pictured is the 1/2 inch drive torque bar I got when i picked up the Jack, Jack Stands and Dolly. Another dolly is on its way because I forgot to get two the first time out.








I spent a while today disconnecting sensors, draining fluids and removing anything connected, indirectly or directly, to the engine. I also swapped out the flat tire that was on the forth slicer with a full sized spare that you see in the picture.

More updates coming soon

 

[Racer X]

The Y-Pipe isn't stock. And it's rust free, at least in the important areas.

Good luck with it!

 

[VortecGT]

good car to learn alot of things on! I know I am. I would recommend getting a repair manual next.

 

[Bob Gervais]

Red/Black is an excellent combo, and the car's not in bad shape at all! Hamal's correct, that y pipe isn't stock, and it also looks as if there's remnants of a SHOShop catback on there, complete with Edelbrock mufflers. You're gonna want to put a resonator on there, them suckers are loud!

Good luck with the build!

 

[randy'sho]

welcome....aftermarket sunroof for sure....don't take this wrong, but I have seen nicer SHO's in the junkyard....good luck!

 

[SHOmethewayhome]

in the words of that albanian guy in Taken, "good luck"

what's up with the white part of the hood?

how much did the car cost you?

 

[NEp8ntballer]

part the car now to save yourself a massive headache, recoup your cost and save yourself untold amounts of money that you could spend on something else... like a better starting point.

you'll thank me later. there's a 9 page thread dedicated to my car in the nebraska SHO club section if you want to get a better idea of what I'm talking about.

 

[Bob Gervais]

don't take this wrong, but I have seen nicer SHO's in the junkyard

How could one not take that wrong? We all had car one, and chances are for most of us it was a pile. Mine was. ****, my first SHO I bought on my 30th birthday was a rusty pile. But I learned from it, about it, and moved onto better cars. I'd have to say, this one is in WAY better shape than my first SHO was.

It sounds to me like the OP bought the car to learn from, and is going to be doing most of it himself. I applaud this type of learning, and IMO he's not starting with that bad of a foundation. Take into consideration it's an 18 year old car, and really, it's not that bad.

Way to douche things up though.

 

[randy'sho]

How could one not take that wrong? We all had car one, and chances are for most of us it was a pile. Mine was. ****, my first SHO I bought on my 30th birthday was a rusty pile. But I learned from it, about it, and moved onto better cars. I'd have to say, this one is in WAY better shape than my first SHO was.

It sounds to me like the OP bought the car to learn from, and is going to be doing most of it himself. I applaud this type of learning, and IMO he's not starting with that bad of a foundation. Take into consideration it's an 18 year old car, and really, it's not that bad.

Way to douche things up though.

get back in your wheelchair old boy! Like others have said, good luck to the OP, but the work that will be involved with this caliber of car is unbelievable~ not trying to discourage anyone, just stating a fact and if you don't like it then you can PM me and not "douche" (as you say) in someone elses post!

 

[ViPER1313]

Considering that you are under a seemingly tight time (only have 2 weeks to store it at your buddy's house and get it running?) and money deadline, I think it is in your best interest to buy a running 3.0l motor and simply drop it in place. If the old motor really does have rod knock, it is going to cost you more to tear the engine apart, install the new parts and re-assemble it than it would for you to just buy a junkyard motor.

Personally, with the rules you gave, I would sell this car that you just bought ASAP and buy one that is already running.

 

[Bob Gervais]

get back in your wheelchair old boy! Like others have said, good luck to the OP, but the work that will be involved with this caliber of car is unbelievable~ not trying to discourage anyone, just stating a fact and if you don't like it then you can PM me and not "douche" (as you say) in someone elses post!

Not quite ready for the wheelchair yet, but that was almost intimidating. The work involved in the car is not unbelievable. This ain't my first time at the rodeo, or my second for that matter.

You discouraged the kid, I (and others) are encouraging him. Therefore the comment in the thread. Up to you, we can either drop it here, or have a PM dick swinging contest.

 

[Guido0136]

Hey if the price way right than any SHO is a good SHO in my books. Good Luck!

 

[Bob Gervais]

Considering that you are under a seemingly tight time (only have 2 weeks to store it at your buddy's house and get it running?) and money deadline, I think it is in your best interest to buy a running 3.0l motor and simply drop it in place. If the old motor really does have rod knock, it is going to cost you more to tear the engine apart, install the new parts and re-assemble it than it would for you to just buy a junkyard motor.

Personally, with the rules you gave, I would sell this car that you just bought ASAP and buy one that is already running.

I dunno, the way I read it, he got permission two weeks ago to store the car there. I didn't get anything about timeline of storage. Unless I read/interpreted it incorrectly?

I would agree though, if there is only two weeks to get this sucker running and driving, a different car would be a much better idea.

 

[sperold]

That is quite a project you have on your hands. If you have lots of contacts, through your family, of people in the business, then carry on. It is always expensive to bring something back from the dead. The base car looks solid for where you live. I don't like that partially disassembled motor very much and the fact you couldn't drive it before you purchased it. I personally wouldn't rebuild the manual transmission without a reason. And don't go too far into the engine either. Tidy up what is there, reassemble, and get a feel for the condition. Don't do the rod bearings just yet.
Once you have one of these things, fate brings you in contact with other SHO's, so keep an eye out for another for parts / whatever.
No matter what SHO you buy, it is going to need parts and money. Start slow on this one. Job one is to get it running so you can move it around. Forget about the engine stand rebuild for now and get a baseline of what it needs. You can determine if it needs a clutch and transmission work once it is mobile.
The car looks a little silly now, but this is at its worst. Keep in touch with the guy who sold it to you, he should tell you the truth about things now and that will save you some time.

 

[stangeater]

Not quite ready for the wheelchair yet, but that was almost intimidating. The work involved in the car is not unbelievable. This ain't my first time at the rodeo, or my second for that matter.

You discouraged the kid, I (and others) are encouraging him. Therefore the comment in the thread. Up to you, we can either drop it here, or have a PM dick swinging contest.

Don't think he was trying to discourage anybody. I believe he was just stating the obvious. I believe he did say good luck also.

You can also encourage someone charging at a burning building with a squirt gun if you want to. I'm sure they'll eventually put the fire out, but they probably wasted a lot of time doing it.

To the OP, good luck with your project, you definantly have your work cut out for you! My first sho was a 92 also.

 

[Schumacher609]

Thanks to everyone for the words of encouragement. I actually have an unlimited time span for storage and I talked to someone else that was interested in buying it before the intake/valve covers were removed. He said the knock wasn't terrible and the seller claims to have parked it right after it started. One of my friends drove the car before the knock started and he says it shifted through all of the gears fine.

The car cost me a little under $550 to get it to where it sits right now (including gas for the truck and trailer rental etc.), so the way I see it is if its not worth fixing, to me at least, I can part it out and recoup most of the money spent thus far. After all it won't cost anything to pull it all apart, its putting it back together that will be expensive. The most obvious plan is to rebuild the engine or swap a new one in. Then it will all go back together and my attention will be pointed at the suspension. Then the interior followed by the exterior. I'm going to take care of the rust spots asap though so they don't get any worse.

I've already begun to tear into the project and as it sits right now most of the wiring harnesses have been disconnected, the radiator, its hoses, the overflow tank, and mounts have been removed. The battery and try are also out along with the remainder of the intake. All of the exhaust bolts are soaking in PB blaster so i can remove them later tonight or tomorrow after work. BTW I've been spending extensive time keeping all of the things removed or disconnected cataloged so nothing gets lost or forgotten.

I know the trans has to be drained and i assume the engine oil should be too but i wanted to double check on all of that. What is the best way to disconnect the front suspension? Should I support it, go from the top of the struts, then disconnect the rest of it once the subframe is dropped? Or start from the subframe side and remove it at the axles leaving it attached to the car?

As far as contacts, I have a few. I'm currently working in a gas station and spend a few hours during the week in the garage, and I'm in the garage all day Saturday. My father also has many contacts from the restoration of his two mustangs, both those of knowledge and tools, and wholesale parts.

Thanks again for the encouragement. I know its a huge undertaking but I'm taking my time and have some great resources including the community here.

 

[VortecGT]

the best way to pull the drivetrain in your case is pull it all at once. Mainly the struts tops and subframe bolts are all that holds it in.