Fordnatics List Archive

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Mail From: (email redacted)

Following is an exerpt of my reply to (email redacted) re: the Taurus SHO,
answering some of his questions.

I have an 1992 SHO and belong to the SHO registry, a club especially for
SHO owners. The SHO Registry magazine provides detailed information for
replacing the cam belts, adjusting valves, etc. I can answer some of your
questions here. The address of the SHO registry is PO Box 159 Carrollton,
Georgia 30117. At $35 a year, they also will update you with technical
service bulletins for your car for and addition $39.


1. Typical problems of SHO's appear to be weak brakes, mainly rotors
vibrating; a few owners have had steering problems & some clutch problems,
mostly covered by warranty.

2. The SHO engine has shims. This engine appears to be very durable, several
owners have over 100,000 miles and still going strong. Most people who have
checked the valve clearances at 60,000 miles when replacing the belts have
reported valves were within tolerances. In most cases the opinion is not to
worry about valves unless there are other problems that warrant checking the
valves. The SHO Registry has details on procedures for doing the valve work
yourself.

3. There is a rubber cam belt; factory recommends replacing every 60,000
miles. Again there are good instructions on how to do it yourself and there
is a SHO owner that has a kit that includes the belts and tools needed to
replace the belts and adjust the valves... i.e. lots of good help out there.

4. There are better brake rotors and pads available but the cost is high. I
have had rotors replaced at 12,000 under warranty and several owners have
had success with factory warranty work on older cars with history of needing
replacing. I can provide addresses of places where replacement brakes are
available if you would like this. I plan to replace the stock rotors with
higher grade ones once Ford refuses to do it under warranty. Most everyone
recognizes that brakes are a weak point... but the brakes are 'fixable' and
something I can live with.

5. I have read of several owners putting in chips and other modifications to
the engine... getting upwards of 250 - 300 hp. Again I can provide addresses
and Prodigy email addresses of people who have done work on their cars or
sell parts.

6. I do understand a V-8 is planned for 1996, but probably not Yamaha
designed... will be the modular design.

Hope this helps... I really recommend the SHO if you want a sporty four door
that is a sleeper. Insurance companies do not charge more for a SHO than a
regular Taurus!! The shape of the body seems to make the car hug the road
and make it more solid/controllable as speeds increase over 80 mph. At 100
there is a very comfortable feeling, at 4,000 rpm and still some power left.

Any other questions please contact me. I can provide names and addresses
of people & shops who have expertise in SHO's.

Regards,

Jim Musser

This read-only message was archived from a public mail list.
Mail From: Barry Freese <(email redacted)>


With due respect to Jim's personal experience...

> Hope this helps... I really recommend the SHO if you want a sporty four door
> that is a sleeper. Insurance companies do not charge more for a SHO than a
> regular Taurus!!

SHOs are GREAT cars, however, a friend of mine worked for Liberty Mutual.
L.M. would not insure SHOs at all. If an insurance company is charging
the same for an SHO as for a GL, LX, or whatever Taurus, I'd question
their actuarial research.

B.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Barry W. Freese `68 Mustang GT Fastback `88 Thunderbird Turbo Coupe
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lindenwood College-Founded 1827 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This read-only message was archived from a public mail list.
Mail From: "Paul Sorenson" <(email redacted)>

Barry,
In regards to your message to Jim about insurance rates:

With due respect to Jim's personal experience...

> Hope this helps... I really recommend the SHO if you want a sporty four door
> that is a sleeper. Insurance companies do not charge more for a SHO than a
> regular Taurus!!

SHOs are GREAT cars, however, a friend of mine worked for Liberty Mutual.
L.M. would not insure SHOs at all. If an insurance company is charging
the same for an SHO as for a GL, LX, or whatever Taurus, I'd question
their actuarial research.

B.

> I had MAJOR concerns about getting the SVT driveshaft from my Insurance Co
when I bought a Lightning. Considering I was going from a Ranger into a
Lightning, I thought for sure especially here in Mass that I was really
going to be in for a insurance shock. My agent knew up front that the
Lightning was a high performance vehicle. Lo and behold, it had the EXACT
Insurance symbol (rating) as my Ranger. So it ended up costing me the same,
I then added a LoJack alarm and retrieve system which lowered my theft
another 25%. So in summary, I guess if your insurance company won't insure
your hipo vehicle, or charges more, look around because there are some
companies that won't punish those of us with hipo tastes.
Barry, this isn't meant to be a flame, just a point to show that sometimes
the little people get a break from the $$$ Insurance Co. BTW. I don't insure
through LM..
Paul