Number of third gens

[luigisho]

There are not a lot of these left out on the roads. Time and a fatal motor flaw eventually take over.

pax, smn

and the tranny starts to go--unless it's a passion it doesn't make financial sense to save many of the older cars. I loved/hated my GenIII but I was not going to rebuild the tranny when it started slipping. Most of the rebuilds posted on here didn't last very long and I couldn't justify it.

so the average non enthusiast --no way

Patrick is one of the few left on this forum really asking questions and wondering about possibilities for this model. The community for GenIII's here and, I'm sure everywhere else, has really shrunk.

 

[patrick hubbard]

Thanks. I fell in love with my car the first time I saw it

 

[patrick hubbard]

I keep telling my wife if my trans goes I'm going to do a manual swap

 

[luigisho]

that was one of the things I missed about the earlier cars.

That and being able to install new stereo head units easily. I hated that oem setup with the climate control. Great motor if the cams are welded correctly and the rest of the car is better with design improvements vs the earlier ones too.

 

[stephen newberg]

It was a really great car for its time. And in some ways, its still pretty good. And certainly solid, once you deal with the cams. I think most people that have trouble with the transmission have been trying to do hammer downs from start, and the car was simply never designed for that. The Gen I/II was. The Gen III was designed as a BMW 3 series competition (for that time) and did that very well. Even now, its a very reasonably preforming car in the sport sedan class because though its HP output is no longer high, comparatively, it is very light compared to modern sports sedans, thus keeping it still close quickness wise. And its handling was good to start with and can be made outstanding with a bit of fairly low effort modifications.

pax, smn

 

[luigisho]

Yeah I never beat on it but it started slipping around 180k. There is a point where stuff needs work.

 

[stephen newberg]

Very true. Even without abuse, automatic transmission wear over time and distance and need to be reworked. Mine is at a bit over 200K and no slipping so far, knock on wood.

pax, smn

 

[luigisho]

I hope yours has alot of miles left on it. If the tranny was still running I feel like the motor had a ton of life left in it.

I wound up trading that car for some work on a GTP I bought to replace it-- which I loved as much as any SHO I owned so it all worked out.

 

[stephen newberg]

Glad to hear it. I have had the SHO for a couple of decades now and am no longer using it much. I am at that stage of trying to decide if I should keep it indefinitely as a backup car and maybe some day classic or just send it along to someone else that will appreciate it. Still no clue which way to go on that. It still runs like a Swiss watch except for the AC, which died long ago, and the ABS pump, which could use a rebuild. Neither are really central to anything. I suspect, as you mention, the engine, once the cam sprocket problem is fixed, will go on indefinitely. It is remarkably solid.

pax, smn

 

[gamefanatic]

A/C is an easy fix. If you do go for a fix I recommend using a remanufactured OEM pump vs the New ones available (they are all from the same manufacturer). I personally got one off Ebay from a wrecked SHO after going through3-4 "new" ones in two years.

Where I live A/C is as important as gas...

 

[stephen newberg]

Yes, the A/C should not be hard to deal with, I just have not gotten around to it since here on Vancouver Island in Canada, A/C is really only handy for a couple of weeks a year, and even then you can just use sports car air conditioning instead (roll down the windows and drive fast ).

Where did you find the re-manufactured OEM pump? I looked around and hand no luck.

pax, smn

 

[gamefanatic]

The new model I had bad experiences with was from UAC. Just not made with the same standards as the original, clutch and electrical are both not as good. I have yet to open one up to see the differences

RockAuto has the Four Season, and Shosource.com advertising they have them though they use the wrong picture.

My eBay one has been going strong for over a year now.

 

[stephen newberg]

Thank you.

pax, smn