new 11/02/2003
One of local fellow V8SHO'ers (a '97 TR) let me know that a '96 TR that was owned by an individual who lurks on occasion has been "sold" to a RICER shop in town. It sit's behind the shop in the grass just as it looked in this guys garage after he had it towed from the Ford dealer that placed his timing chain, cover and cam cover on his tan leather back seat after they discovered the sprocket failure and quoted him over $10,000 to fix it (don't know if that covered the replacement of the back seat or trunk liner they ruined). The cylinder head is still in the trunk along with all the loose nuts and bolts. Now here is the funny part, the guy with the '97 thought he would see if he could get this car cheap and they said sure, only $3,800 as is! He said he just about shi7 himself and left laughing.
Ran into another yesterday in a hardware store parking lot that I know has just recently been traded as the current owner does not resemble the previous owner who was a Jamie Presley look-alike that I had informed about the cam several months back. The car sounded so quiet, almost forgot how silent the stock intake and exhaust are. In any case, she said she hated the looks of Taurus and would never have bought one, but her husband surprised her with it and only paid around $4k for it. I let her know the issues and directed her to the website.
Her only comment was "why wouldn't Ford tell people about this if it was really a problem"? I don't know, why would they I asked. "cause it's just the right thing to do" was her response.
Are you listening Dearborn?
By the way, the '97TR may be joining our list soon, is getting his cams welded this next week and owns a SuperCoupe he takes to the strip.
Carter Fuji
I, too, ran into another SHO today, outside Pep Boys. Silver 98, with the raised "SHO" on the front doors. He said it's the second V8 he's had (96 on lease). I asked if he'd had engine troubles, and he said no. I told him about the cam problem and the website. He said, "I'm probably okay, it's only got 45k on it." I told him to read up, failures starting as early as 14k (or, at **) miles, as Larry found in discovery for the lawsuit).
Brad Bender
99 TR/Tan 51k welded
I have lost track of the count, Buford would know. I had two sheets of V8SHO cards that he made for me several months ago. Say, for example they were 4 across an 7 down. That would be a total of 56 cards that I have handed out. I don't go into great detail when I approach a new owner. I give them an over view of what we know, and invite them to research at their own leisure. I can't tell you if they have visited or not. I don't find that "panic peddling" does much good. I would be most grateful if this thread were to become an ongoing one. The results would be interesting.
Uncl Lar