OT: my car question

[RIPBARNBURNER]

i'd like to post some pics and hear some feedback of my non gm car, but wanted to make sure it was alright first. any objections?

[dcjredline]

I would say it falls into GENERAL. Go ahead.

[RIPBARNBURNER]

cool. so its a 2003 taurus sel. 24V V6. mostly aesthetic mods done so far, painted the grille, rocker moudlings, and chrome spears to body color. added a dark blue mettalic pinstripe to the body and a silver painted stripe to the bumpers. put on clear etched(look) ford logos on the taillights. also removed the intake silencer and added a purolator high flow panel filter. im pretty happy with her so far, not many major problems yet. future upgrades include, but not limited to, trans cooler, 3.4 SHO V8 swap, full custom exhaust, mach chin spoiler, centennial headights (black inside), redo interior with black. thoughts?

[CieraSL92]

Look's nice. Not crazy about the color though.

[RIPBARNBURNER]

meh. they gave me the price i wanted, and i was in dire need of a car as i was just starting a job when the wagon died, but i grew to like the white. she'll be a really deep red though once i get around to getting repainted

[Zaloryan]

Those 3.4 V8 SHO motors can be pure hell to work on. You have to pull some sort of surge tank just to pull the spark plugs. I don't know the details, but my father's SHO is due for plugs and I'll post the details once we get the plugs replaced. However, I will say you can find rebuilt/completely new SHO motors for a reasonable price if you have a good core. I'll have to find the site. That particular V8 sings like no other and I will say our SHO can certainly scoot! But in my opinion, the third generation SHO isn't the best choice if you're doing an engine swap. Get a SHO V6 from a first or second generation SHO with a 5 speed. You could get an automatic with the V6 but it the manuals were more common. Third generation SHOs with the V8 only came with an automatic.

In any case, I'd check out www.v8sho.com There's tons of good information on the 3.4 V8. And see shosbrosgarage. They sell performance parts for all SHOs. Very fun cars, but diffucult to work on.

[RIPBARNBURNER]

thanks for the info. the v6 will not work with my car. completely different engine, and to get one in it would be WAY more money than its worth. the v8 swap has been done a couple times, and isnt too difficult to do. the spark plugs wouldnt be too much of an issue for me, as i have to take the intake manifold and all such attatchments off to do them on my duratec lol. the tough part will be finding one running with the cams welded that someone is willing to get rid of for cheap. without the cams welded the motor is a ticking time bomb.

[Pontiac6ksteawd]

If you buy a FWD Ford or Dodge, save money for the transmission it WILL need in short time.

[BignastyGS]

My step son has 3 89 SHO's for parts. To let you know,putting a clutch in one of them is a bitch. But,the Yamaha motors are really easy to work on.

[RIPBARNBURNER]

If you buy a FWD Ford or Dodge, save money for the transmission it WILL need in short time.

yeah i know. over 80k now, and a full trans service on the way so she should be alright for some time

[ochy38]

I like it, for a taurus. I def think the black headlights will improve the look mightily. I dont think those rims really work with the raised white lettering imo, and the tires should match. But, overall probably the nicest white taurus ive ever seen!

[02GTP]

i work for ford and i can say the taurus is a very reliable car. we routinely see them with 200K+ miles with no significant work done. i think they are kinda bland (but so is an a-body). and with 200hp it will scoot more than your average a-body.

[Prospeeder]

i work for ford and i can say the taurus is a very reliable car. we routinely see them with 200K+ miles with no significant work done. i think they are kinda bland (but so is an a-body). and with 200hp it will scoot more than your average a-body.

But ford wasnt intelligent enough to put a transmission cooler on them ever and they just burn up the transmissions. Good engines, bad transmissions, and boy did those cars have the shittiest interior plastic, everything just broke, i speak of 80's and 90's ones, im sure they grew a brain and put trans coolers and better plastic in them now.

[Pontiac6ksteawd]

No they didnt. The ford exec I spoke to a year or so ago said that it kept the Ford Techs in a job, all those people running around with the crappiest FWD tranny ever made...

[RIPBARNBURNER]

I like it, for a taurus. I def think the black headlights will improve the look mightily. I dont think those rims really work with the raised white lettering imo, and the tires should match. But, overall probably the nicest white taurus ive ever seen!

thanks! well i had only enough to get 2 tires at the time, because it was winter and 2 were bald, SO. lol. they are the stock SEL wheels, they will be replaced eventually by MOMO winters.

i work for ford and i can say the taurus is a very reliable car. we routinely see them with 200K+ miles with no significant work done. i think they are kinda bland (but so is an a-body). and with 200hp it will scoot more than your average a-body.

yeah weve seen quite a few with mucho miles on them. hopefully mines goes that way as well