[Shotimes] Hold it a minute.....was: Re: SHO replacement

[Neno]

Comments posted below.. sorry for the long post!


> POS?  Well, once again your view is severely skewed by that California
> living.  I see plenty of Tauri (and SHOs) that are falling apart at the
> seams.  They have rust in inconceivable places, like the middle of a door
> panel, as well as the usual places like wheel well openings, the trunklid
> edge, around the taillights, and my favorite - anywhere near the rear
> license plate.  Of course we can't forget the impossibly rusted on parts 
> of the undercarriage/suspension/exhaust.
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^^ I do agree with this, but it's also a matter of caring for the vehicle.
My brother had a immaculate '94 with not a single SPOT of rust on it. Under
the panels, on the trunk lid, in the doors, etc. He had this vehicle until
2000, in which it still had no rust. Rust to the exhaust, suspension and
undercarriage are NORMAL indications of a weathered vehicle. It's like
trying to prevent a rotor's veins from rusting out. In order for such a
thing, you'd have to go that extra step and take care of "business"
yourself, which would mean POR15 or what-not. As for the exhaust. Lets get
serious. Remove the exhaust off of ANY car without tons of heat and air
tools that has seen snow. A part that gets hot enough to cook your food on
will eventually strip high temp paint, rust, and fall apart. Carbon buildup
and the added moisture buildup don't help, either. This is truly a low blow
at the Taurus.


Plain Jane?  The extreme 'aero' styling of the Gen1s?  The 'everything oval'
styling of the Gen3s?  Plain Jane?  If any MY should be called Plane Jane it
would be the very boring, blend-in-with-the-crowd Gen4s.  The Taurus was
never the flagship of the make, it was merely the cash-cow.  If you want the
cow to keep making cash you've got to put a little pizzazz in it, so how can
it be Plane Jane?
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^^ The SHO was/is a conservatively styled car. Until the debut of the gen 3,
that is. The design is a basic box-shaped car with lines added to it. Very
few, I may add. The skirts have a weak effect, some can't tell a SHO apart
from a Taurus. Aero? What's so aero about a gen 1?! The headlights and side
mirrors? :) I think Mustangs, Capri's, Thunderbirds, Mark 7s, etc were as,
if not MORE, aero than the Taurus. Nothing big there. Just a basic Ford
lineup design.

Tell you what George, why don't you bring the Lowrider out here for a year
and drive on our weather-ravaged rough roads, and let the car experience the
extreme temps and weather conditions of all 4 seasons.  Then when something
breaks and you need to fix it while lying on the ice-covered ground in 0
degree weather, we'll see how fast your attitude changes.  When you struggle
for 2 hours, in the freezing cold, to remove a single rusted bolt and you
continually smash your frozen and bloodied hand into the same piece of
jagged metal, we'll see how fast the tools start flying through the air.
When the rust begins to deteriorate your pristine new paint job, we'll see
how fast the expletives start to fly at the poor defense-less car.  Finally,
when your famous 5-minute strut removal job now becomes a 5-hour ordeal, the
letters POS will finally enter your lexicon.
___________________________________________
^^ I've had a '91 that had gone through.. 10 years of aging by the time I
possessed it. It had some rust, it wasn't anything special. Except the fact
that it was my first car, thanks to many from this list who feel I have
abandoned them and my lost cause to go to a convention, I haven't, but
besides that... That SHO was taken apart dozens of times in the snow. With
it's aged bolts and what-not. I had done 2 brake jobs on it in the snow. My
brother and myself successfully replaced a timing belt, waterpump, CPS, CKS,
plugs, wires, tires, exhaust hangers and clamps in the snow. On both, my SHO
and his. This was me at the age of 16 up until now, still doing the very
same. If it wasn't for the fact that my '89 is almost completely rust free
gen1, I would drive it in the snow. But why risk ruining the sedan of my
dream?  I'm happy.

All in all, the Taurus is a solid car. It IS rigid, handles better than most
stock, even to this day. Of course, you poke at a $35K car and you're
pushing your luck, but the Taurus chassis can be stiffened quite nicely. The
car has a good feel through corners and can keep itself under control with a
set of good brakes. real good manners for a everyday car. Sure the dash
might get a little rattle, but my '89 is still solid. My '91's only rattle
was the glove box. These cars handle like a bat outta hell and comfortably
seat 4, even 5 in some cases. They have 4 doors, a stick shift that
sometimes doesn't work too well (damn mazda.. not FORD! Heheh) and are
sturdy for the most part. The Average SHO in SHOCAGO has MINOR terminal
rust, if even that far through the rotting process. Certain regions do rust
more than others, but learn from one and better the other. Keep those
trouble areas clean, sealed, and well taken care of. Just a difference in
opinion, I guess.

Neno