Thinking about a 96' SHO

[My_Silver_SHO]

After having owned 3 V6 SHOs (93', 94', and 95') I am thinking about buying a 96' V8 SHO for my son.

The 96' SHO needs a tranny rebuild, the owner says the cams were welded. What else should I look for for? What trouble spots should I concentrate on?

Thanks.

 

[Liquid_force]

from what I've learned if you have the cams and trans covered the rest are basically wear type items that any car will be susceptible to.

A couple things that are routinely pointed out are rusty brake lines and rusty strut towers.

The intake manifold runner control (imrc) can get gummed up especially on higher mileage cars. If it gets bad the butterflies will basically lock up and the little gears that control it will be damaged.
Mine was a mess when I opened it up to weld the cams. I spent at least a couple hrs cleaning that up.
If you're going about 20 and stomp it you should clearly hear and feel the secondaries open right around 3500 rpm. If you don't, the imrc isn't working. The cheap fix is just to wire it open which many people do as a low end (very slight) HP mod.

A/C can be problematic. When I bought mine it would work for a minute or two then stop -- a common problem as I discovered. Most (nearly all) of these cases can be remedied by disassembling the compressor clutch and taking out a shim. Not a difficult job, but a frustrating one.

strut condition. OEM sho struts are non-existent or very near it. I guess people are replacing badly worn ones with 2000+ taurus struts.

Brakes have been a pain for me. I had a lot of pulsation when I bought it. Put on new rotors and new ceramic (oem material) pads. Felt great for 3-4k then started pulsating again. Tried to get some help from the mfg - didn't work. Replaced them with a different brand - same result. Don't know what the deal is, I'm just going to live with it.

I haven't really had any other issues.
I got a few warnings from non SHO "car" people pre-purchase that this is a high maintenance vehicle, but having a fair amount of repair capability I decided to roll the dice.
I've put 12k on it since I bought it and haven't done anything more than I thought I'd need to do.
I'm REALLY enjoying driving it, even to work!

 

[BamSHO]

I've had many SHO's Gen1,Gen2, and finally a Gen3. These cars are a love/hate. SO far with my 98 is IMRC went out, just replaced RR Sarc strut. Overall car isnt bad, but I know and read about the issues before I got into it. I agree it is a fun car to drive.


Brian Michael
98 silver Gen3

 

[My_Silver_SHO]

OK. So I bought the 96' SHO knowing it has a bad tranny. I have sourced a lower mile trany that I am having freshened up and transgo shift kit installed. I think I want to get a new TC, but not sure which stall speed to get. I am thinking a little higher stall would help get things moving.

This car is for my son... its going to be a great project for both of us.

 

[sperold]

I think the regular torque converter is fairly high stall compared to most cars, so even the stock one would be OK.
I think there is someplace in your area that is famous for these transmissions, I think it is northwestsho or something like that, snoop around on this forum and something will come up. Put up a post asking who makes the best transmission rebuild.
I understand that the 96 was the best of the bunch as the de-contenting began right away when sales were miserable....little things like reflectors in the doors instead of lights.... but noticeable.

 

[fitefanSHO]

I was told 97 was the "best of the bunch" as far as Gen 3's go...

 

[Funmart6]

They all suck!!!!
Just kidding, I love my car, just hate the crappy transmissions that came in them.

Sooo, who builds the best rebuild? I will be looking at trying to find one soon and want a rebuilt transmission from someone who actually knows what they are doing.

 

[My_Silver_SHO]

I think the regular torque converter is fairly high stall compared to most cars, so even the stock one would be OK.

I spoke with Winner's Choice Transmission Parts and they said the same thing about the Stall speed. They build TCs in-house and will build to spec, I think I will stay with the stock stall speed.

I had and ATX built for my 93' SHO with TransGo shift kit and it was perfrect. The shifts were fast at smooth at part throttle, when you floored it shifted with chirp. The best thing about the tranny builder was that he asked how I drove my car and said the heaviest springs are great for racing, but not so much for street use.