Newbie w/97 SHO

[MikeW72]

Hello everyone,
I just picked up a 1997 Red SHO for $400. I purchased it from the son-in-law of the original owner. The car has 217,000 miles which mostly from his long highway commute. The car runs and idles nice. It doesnt sound like it has that mileage. From what the guy told me his father-in-law took really good care of the car but unsure if the cams were welded or it had the original transmission. I spent today going through the car, I changed the oil, fuel filter and air filter. I inspected the brakes it needs new front rotors and pads. The rears look good. I did notice two brake lines running to the back were rotted. I was told the car leaks oil but the guy didnt know where it was coming from. After the oil change i noticed a small puddle of oil underneath the filter and fresh oil pn the filter even though i had tightened it sunggly. anyone have thoughts? I am unsure of the transmission but i took it around the block quickly seemed to shift good, the fluid is dirty. It also has an exhaust leak from the flex pipe.

I was wondering if there was anything i am missing, ive never owned a SHO before, I did own a 24v 96 Taurus back in the day which was a great car.

My plans for the car is to get it safe and on the road. I went to the auto parts store ordered the new flex and got all the things needed to do the brake lines.

Any suggestions would be great thanks!

 

[LJRuddy]

The oil leak from the filter is a fairly common problem on these cars. Had it on my last 96 and the fix wasn't too bad. Here's the how-to for the fix.

http://www.v8sho.com/SHO/RepairingaLeakyOilCooler.htm

 

[MikeW72]

Thanks! That seems pretty straight forward, I'll see if my uncle who owns a local garage has a 30mm wrench. I forgot to mention that I added a little sea foam to the oil and gas tank. I also put in a new battery the car was sitting for 6 months. Tires are also on my to do list.

 

[MikeW72]

Anyone have a quick fix for the rear portion of the side skirt to stay on. The mount is completely rotted. I think it's fairly common? I'd imagine those things suck up all the crap on the road and hold it against the metal there.

 

[LJRuddy]

As for the rear brake lines, look under the driver's front door. There's a black plastic cover that protects the brake lines in that area. Remove the cover and inspect the lines there. If you see rotted lines in the back, I guarantee you'll find them in worse shape under that cover. Be sure to keep an eye on that. It's not fun trying to stop while exiting the highway after those lines rupture.

 

[MikeW72]

Yes i removed the line that hooked into the ones from the master cylinder im replacing both there about 82" long.

 

[LJRuddy]

Yea I had to do that as well... Luckily I had a 98 parts car I was able to pull rust free lines off of for free. It's a pretty simple job if you don't have to bend your own lines.

 

[MikeW72]

Im working on the first one im just matching up the lines and carefully hand bending them. I bought a flare kit from the auto parts store for $30. I watched a quick turorial video ill have to take some pics its not to bad at all and the new lines are sooo nice.

 

[My_Silver_SHO]

Im working on the first one im just matching up the lines and carefully hand bending them. I bought a flare kit from the auto parts store for $30. I watched a quick turorial video ill have to take some pics its not to bad at all and the new lines are sooo nice.

You can rent many tools at AutoZone includding the flare set.

 

[MikeW72]

I asked this morning they said someone had rented it and didn't return it. The larger fitting that goes into the abs block? I just flanged both ends and used a union to retain the factory one looked clean no rust.

 

[stephen newberg]

Anyone have a quick fix for the rear portion of the side skirt to stay on. The mount is completely rotted. I think it's fairly common? I'd imagine those things suck up all the crap on the road and hold it against the metal there.

Do you mean down at the rockers, that is the plastic cover over them that flairs out to the wheels? If so, yes, it is not uncommon, and likely there is a good deal of rusted away metal under the car on both sides in that location. If it is not yet throughout and structural, you grind to good metal and either weld in new metal or do body fill, though if the later you will need to hollow out mount holes for the plastic skirt.

If it is structural, you need to put in new metal. There are about 3 layers in their, one a honeycomb support structure, the others coverings. That support structure you can buy very inexpensively from Ford's version of a classic car parts inventory. I forget its name, but it was very handy when I was having the body on mine restored 3 years ago or so.

pax, smn

 

[MikeW72]

The metal that holds the rockers on in the rear is completely gone and although there is some surface rust there the floors seem pretty solid. I got two brake lines in and done when i depressed the pedal down it felt firm at first then right to the floor. The line running from the box across to the passenger exploded. I just got the car back together, bled the brakes and took it around the block, the brakes feel good i def need new pads and rotors on the front and maybe a rear caliper as it didnt bleed as good and i faintly heard some grinding. I am very suprised with the pickup of the car but its a little loud w/rotted flex pipe. I am happy with my progress so far i still need to pull the oil coller/filter housing off and fix the oring. Im looking at set of tires too.

Thanks for everyones imput so far!!

 

[My_Silver_SHO]

If your rear calipers or pads are shot, checkout RockAuto.com. RockAuto has a closeout on rebuilt loaded calipers for $16.83.

 

[stephen newberg]

Wow, that is seriously cheap.

pax, smn

 

[toledogt]

You were unsure if the cams were welded. Did you check? Not sure if you need to remove intake to check.

 

[MikeW72]

I do not know if the cams were welded that is correct, I am only assuming because of the mileage on the vehicle that they were. I can probably remove the front valve cover fairly easy to access the front cams to see if they were welded.

Two more questions:

Is the SHO SHOP still in bussiness I have seen alot in reference to them but when I visit their website I cannot find the area to buy parts. I am interested in the intake adapter and the flex pipe bypass, although I am considering making my own bypassing the third cat.

Back to the oil cooler leak, if I disconnected the oil cooler from the block to replace that o-ring can I use a 30mm socket on my impact wrench to remove it or does it have to be a 30mm wrench?
I would imagine I will loose some oil but consdering the cooler is higher than the pan not much, I just dont want to have to replace the 6.5 quarts of synthetic I just put in, is this correct?

I am currently awaiting the flex-pipe from Walker, a door panel kit for the passenger panel and two loader rear calipers from Rock Auto. I picked up two used Toyo Proxes for $25 for the pair with 50% tread left, I am going to mount them on the rear, the ones on there are dry rotted. Other than that the three lines are done and blead. Oil change, fuel filter & air filter. Interior is cleaned. Going to DMV next week.

 

[BamSHO]

Yes SHO Shop is out of business. SHOsource is another good place to buy parts. The 3rd cat delete some do and some dont. MY silver 98 had it removed, my black 98 still has it on. Before you really start driving it, pull the front valve cover off, should take around 20 min to do. Thats how I found out the silver car wasnt welded, but my black one is.

Brian Michael
98 black Gen3

 

[platoribs]

http://www.shosource.com/catalog/index.php?osCsid=jc678ssjpq7t19tp51a5h9ln36

 

[MikeW72]

Ok thanks! I got the new flex pipe although it solved 90% of the leak theres still at little leak towards the front of the car. Next week im going to have it up on the lift. My next goal is to get the oil leak fixed but its coming along.

 

[My_Silver_SHO]

The y-pipe sometimes develop pin-holes under the heat-shield near the junction. I had mine repaired rather than buying a new y-pipe.