[Shotimes] 11.87 second SHO...

[Ron Porter]

Yeah, the way Del wrote was more like what you expect from a mainstream car
mag that has to sell ad space (can anyone say "Motor Trend"??). I feel the
SHO Club magazine is fine in this regard, but I do expect a club magazine to
give owners the straight scoop and not the vendor's BS. It is funny reading
back through some of the old ads and the bogus claims.

Actually, there WERE discussions after the "low 12s, 11.87 best" claim came
out, and I knew it was absolute BS. We did discuss it on the list and in
Dallas the next year, IIRC.

I wasn't saying that I didn't like his wheels (actually I do), or that all
the parts he discussed are bogus (Pro-M, Koni and Centerforce are fine).
It's just that once I lose the trust of an author due to bogus claims, I
don't believe anything else I read from that person. He went over-the-top on
his descriptions.

Now......here's another one for the barf bag!!!!! It is the vendor,
specifically Bob Walter at Logicams. SHO Registry, Volume 4 Number 1, Spring
1994, on Page 7 (the Logicams full-page ad).

"Ted Breaux's 1989 "SHO" 3.0 litre DOHC Four Cam V-6 Now Making 325 HP On
The Dyno Documented"

"A 1934 Ford Phaeton With A V-6 Yamaha Four Cam-Four Valve DOHC Engine
Making 450 HP...With A Mustang "T"-5-Speed Tranny And A Jaguar Third Member"

No mention of either of these cars with blowers. Sorry, can't buy either one
of these, particularly 450 HP from a "Four Cam-Four Valve DOHC" SHO Motor!!

Ron Porter  

-----Original Message-----
From: shotimes-admin@autox.team.net [mailto:shotimes-admin@autox.team.net]
On Behalf Of Donald Mallinson
Sent: Wednesday, May 28, 2003 10:37 AM
To: shotimes@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: [Shotimes] 11.87 second SHO...


Ron,

Yes, Del is/was a friend of mine...haven't talked to him but 
once since the One Lap, and at the time I didn't agree 100% 
with what he wrote, but I wasn't in charge of the magazine, 
and it wasn't my place to do anything about it.

I told him I thought the power-up was bogus, but he loved it.

Almost nobody believed the Borla 32 hp ads, but they were 
running in a LOT of other magazines and a lot of companies 
were taken in by a shady dyno shop that gave big numbers in 
order to get the dyno business from a lot of hop-up part 
companies.

I think I put in an article with more realistic estimates of 
power from things like the UDP, Cat-back, High Flo Y-pipe 
and Pro-M/K&N combo.  I think I was even a bit high on that 
one, but dyno testing later proved the combo fairly close to 
what I wrote. That was based on my Vericom.

In his defense, I think the Pro-M is still the best MAF to 
have, bar none.  The Hypertech isn't my cup of tea, but it 
did some good at a time when nothing else was available., 
the Borla DID add some HP, just nothing close to the 32 
claimed, more like 5-8. And I wish I had bought one way back 
when, so I would not have spent so much time and money 
replacing Walker systems!  Wheels and tires are a personal 
preference so Del liked them, you didn't.  Tire technology 
has come a long way, and I don't think even YOU can argue 
with the thought that the Firestones were better than the 
stock tires the car came with!

The Centerforce clutch was and is a good one. I had one and 
loved it.  There wasn't much else available at the time and 
the stock clutch wasn't the equal of the Centerforce for 
sure.  now we have more and better choices.  But not back then.

Logicam was a respected company that offered some good 
stuff.  The cams did make HP, just not as much as Del 
Claimed.  People are still putting in modified cams, the 
Logicam allowed people to use stock shims, I think that is 
better than the cut down cams offered now.  Later on some of 
them broke, but at the time, Del couldn't know that.  Also 
cheap dyno time wasn't available "way" back then.

Koni is still a very good strut insert and nothing wrong 
with talking about them.

Power-up...well, as I said, I even called Del on that one, 
but didn't have any say in what was put in the magazine.

What he wrote isn't any different than what you see in car 
magazines on the stand every day.  New stuff is tested and 
usually found to be "good".  Some of the crap that people I 
know and usually respect, hawk to get money for their 
cable/TV shows/magazines makes me sick.  Del was a lot 
better than what I see everyday today.

I won't trash Del because he wrote those articles, I would 
have done it different, and I like to think I have good 
automotive press habits with the current magazine (other 
than the publishing schedule).  The SHO Registry was never 
about great press or engineering dazzle, it was about the 
club and the car and the people.  Not much was available to 
write about so just about anything got in.  I know, I 
probably put in some stuff that I would like to take back, 
but then, hindsight is great.

Most of what Del wrote about is good stuff.  I don't 
remember seeing any indignation from you, me or anyone else 
show up after those articles, and Bill would have put it in, 
he wasn't opposed to letting people voice their thoughts, 
same as I am now.  But it was a glorious time when Ford 
still accepted us as part of the family, the car was winning 
award after award, and anything of interest about the car 
was looked forward to, by the much bigger club membership.

Today, age and reality can let us look back and make fun of 
that somewhat naive view of the world and the SHO, but I 
prefer to see it for what it was,....the early days when 
everything was good.

Don Mallinson



Ron Porter wrote:
> OK, I went and dug out the old Registry magazines.
> 
> Don, I know that Del Smith was/is a friend of yours, so no offense,
> but......
> 
> SHO Registry Volume 2 Number 4 Winter 92-93: First article on the "Super
> SHO" (my quotes), describing the "incredible' performance from the Pro-M
> 77mm MAF, the Borla catback, and the Hypertech chip. Also talks about new
> Speedline wheels and Firestone SVXZ tires. I feel nausea coming on.....
> 
> SHO Registry Volume 3 Number 3 Summer 1993: the "Super SHO" gets the
> Logicams, and a new Centerforce Clutch. Claims that 0-60 is now 5 seconds,
> with 1/4 mile times in the low 12s with a best of 11.87!!!!! First off, a
> 5-second 0-60 would hardly get you to the 13s. At this point, I have a
> wastebasket nearby as the nausea and the smell of b*llsh*t gets very
> strong!!
> 
> SHO Registry Volume 3 Number 4 Winter 93-94: No more about the
> "11-second-Super SHO", but Del Smith writes an article about Koni inserts
> and POWERUP. First thought is that he must be able to hold his breath for
a
> long time, considering how long he had his nose up the ass of the Koni and
> POWERUP sales reps so he could get freebies.
> 
> Looking back on it, I don't know Del Smith personally, and maybe he's a
nice
> guy, but anything that he wrote for the SHO Registry magazine is absolute
> BS, and not to be believed. It is the "Dark Ages" of SHO history, as far
as
> I'm concerned.
> 
> 
> Ron Porter 
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