new 7/14/02
I have just purchased a 1996 RHD SHO Vin No. 1FALP54N8TA238923 from its second owner, the first being the Ford Motor Company.
The information I have been given is that it was an early production unit, shipped to Japan for assessment then brought over to the UK and subsequently sold with 6000Kls on the clock.
After reading your article on cam sprocket failure, I was so concerned about my engine blowing up (as it has now done over 125000Kls) I contacted the previous owner who is a mechanic, to see if he had rectified this problem.
To his surprise he noticed the cams had been welded already, so FMC must of known about the cam problem early on in production.
Hope this is of interest to you SHO owners.
Regards
Mike Chapman (from UK)
So the FOMOCO knows about this cam problem all along.
Rene Carlos Cruz <AtreidesPrime@comcast.net>
Rene,
We can't assume that. Who really knows when the cams were welded. Unless the
current owner removes the covers and looks (I think for now he is taking the
word of the previous owner about the welds, and that person may have mistaken
something else for the welds we are talking about) he won't really know if the
sprockets are welded. I would recommend that he do this, just for peace of mind.
Personally I think Ford knew about the problem long before we started making a fuss here, but with help from a lot of owners and some friends in good places, we managed to get Ford to admit at least a little bit publicly that there is a problem. They can't keep their head in the sand anymore. Just hope they do the right thing, and quick, or the problems for us and for Ford will just get worse.
Now if we can just figure out a way to purchase that RHD SHO and get it back to the states! Also, I know some RHD SLO's were built for the countries across the pond, but not 100% sure if any SHO's were built. I would guess there were. Where are they?
Don M.
Found a link that SHOs that 91 of the 96 models were made as RHD and 1 of
the 97's:
http://www.geocities.co.jp/MotorCity-Circuit/8831/Data/Data1.htm
Carter Fuji
Greenwood, AR.
check this one out