Engine Cover Kit Discontinued??

[Dr. Zaius]

I drove sticks for many yrs, wife didn't and I took on the challenge on trying to teach her and failed, but a friend of hers with apparently unbounded patience stepped up and succeeded, so wife drove our datsun 510, Saabs, Honda Prelude Taurus SHO, etc. She got quite good at it......eventually.

My wife was driving a manual Ford Escort and I was driving a 5.0/5 speed Mustang GT when we were dating

I taught both of my sons how to drive stick with my V10/manual trans Super Duty. It was a great vehicle to teach them in as the V10 made so much torque it was nigh impossible to bog down in a parking lot.

I still think about getting myself a manual trans Wrangler TJ just because I want something with a manual, but I'd have to give up my GC to do that . I can't add yet another to the collection.

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[dtech]

My wife was driving a manual Ford Escort and I was driving a 5.0/5 speed Mustang GT when we were dating

I taught both of my sons how to drive stick with my V10/manual trans Super Duty. It was a great vehicle to teach them in as the V10 made so much torque it was nigh impossible to bog down in a parking lot.

I still think about getting myself a manual trans Wrangler TJ just because I want something with a manual, but I'd have to give up my GC to do that . I can't add yet another to the collection.

Did it require a lot of clutch pedal effort on a truck that size ? The smoothest stick I drove was the tranny in the SHO IIRC Getrag, even though the clutch was a pos, probably designed by Ford, as the sho poster mentioned the engine was yamaha , I just now remember after 2 or 3 yrs I started getting occasional misfires in the SHO, thought it was injectors eventually raised the hood and saw the arcing from the spark plug wires, most of them, Ford must have bought the cheapest possible, sorry for the rant but the 1991 SHO quality was abysmal.

 

[Dr. Zaius]

Did it require a lot of clutch pedal effort on a truck that size ? The smoothest stick I drove was the tranny in the SHO IIRC Getrag, even though the clutch was a pos, probably designed by Ford, as the sho poster mentioned the engine was yamaha , I just now remember after 2 or 3 yrs I started getting occasional misfires in the SHO, thought it was injectors eventually raised the hood and saw the arcing from the spark plug wires, most of them, Ford must have bought the cheapest possible, sorry for the rant but the 1991 SHO quality was abysmal.

It was surprisingly light pedal effort and very smooth, though I think some of that smoothness was the V10 torque. It just glided away from a stop.

I had a 1994 Taurus SHO that I loved. The early SHO had lots of clutch problems behind the Yamaha V6. In either late '91 or early '92 Ford increased the clutch diameter and improved the pressure plate to solve the clutch issues.

 

[P. A. Schilke]

Did it require a lot of clutch pedal effort on a truck that size ? The smoothest stick I drove was the tranny in the SHO IIRC Getrag, even though the clutch was a pos, probably designed by Ford, as the sho poster mentioned the engine was yamaha , I just now remember after 2 or 3 yrs I started getting occasional misfires in the SHO, thought it was injectors eventually raised the hood and saw the arcing from the spark plug wires, most of them, Ford must have bought the cheapest possible, sorry for the rant but the 1991 SHO quality was abysmal.

SHO was supposed to be just Yamaha heads, but Yamaha said the block and internals were not up to the increase in power so they completely redesigned the V6 but kept the attaching points the same as the Ford 3.0. When I did the SHO Ranger (see elsewhere in these Forums) Car Engineering had fixed the undersized clutch. I also had Engine Engineering take the rev limiter out of the calibration and could twist the motor to 10,000.... I wish we did not have to send that truck to the crusher...so much fun on the road and I used parts from the SCCA Racetruck test mule to make it handle... Everyone wanted to drive it so I gave the keys to my Secretary for safe keeping...very few people drove it because it would likely have been crashed. Took it to Purdue University where I had an advanced project being engineered by the engineering students. Got pulled over by Indiana State Police three times....Damn radio... 1st officer just wanted to see what it was all about and radioed buddies who then pulled me over as well...Sheesh.... It was a head turner and sounded awesome... One fun project...

Best,
Phil

 

[dtech]

IIRC the stock sho had a 7k red line and had mechanical lifters which made a lovely sound when revved , I drove mine hard and had numerous issues, the one I recall most were the rear struts, one of the oems failed early and I had them replaced at sears with Monroe with a lifetime guarantee and they of course failed several times along with the rear sway bar links breaking a few times as well. Stuff liked the cps, ac, fuel pump also failed. Changing the timing belt wasn't fun either, limited working space. But it was a blast to drive.

 

[yamahaSHO]

SHO was supposed to be just Yamaha heads, but Yamaha said the block and internals were not up to the increase in power so they completely redesigned the V6 but kept the attaching points the same as the Ford 3.0. When I did the SHO Ranger (see elsewhere in these Forums) Car Engineering had fixed the undersized clutch. I also had Engine Engineering take the rev limiter out of the calibration and could twist the motor to 10,000.... I wish we did not have to send that truck to the crusher...so much fun on the road and I used parts from the SCCA Racetruck test mule to make it handle... Everyone wanted to drive it so I gave the keys to my Secretary for safe keeping...very few people drove it because it would likely have been crashed. Took it to Purdue University where I had an advanced project being engineered by the engineering students. Got pulled over by Indiana State Police three times....Damn radio... 1st officer just wanted to see what it was all about and radioed buddies who then pulled me over as well...Sheesh.... It was a head turner and sounded awesome... One fun project...

Best,
Phil

Would you happen to know Gary Morrell?

IIRC the stock sho had a 7k red line and had mechanical lifters which made a lovely sound when revved , I drove mine hard and had numerous issues, the one I recall most were the rear struts, one of the oems failed early and I had them replaced at sears with Monroe with a lifetime guarantee and they of course failed several times along with the rear sway bar links breaking a few times as well. Stuff liked the cps, ac, fuel pump also failed. Changing the timing belt wasn't fun either, limited working space. But it was a blast to drive.

No lifters in the SHO motor.


I've got some time in SHO's (hence my username)... I happen to tune the fastest one ever to exist. At the time we broke into the 8's, it was a stock block and crank (which was out of a junk yard).

I had two SHO's, but this was the one I couldn't leave alone.

http://idcarofthemonth.blogspot.com/

I've run a few SHO motors up to 10k RPM (one was a salt flats SHO) and two things happen... Without making it breath up top, there is no power and oiling becomes a problem. IIRC, the undersized clutch was fixed after MY89.

 

[P. A. Schilke]

Would you happen to know Gary Morrell?



No lifters in the SHO motor.


I've got some time in SHO's (hence my username)... I happen to tune the fastest one ever to exist. At the time we broke into the 8's, it was a stock block and crank (which was out of a junk yard).

I had two SHO's, but this was the one I couldn't leave alone.

http://idcarofthemonth.blogspot.com/

I've run a few SHO motors up to 10k RPM (one was a salt flats SHO) and two things happen... Without making it breath up top, there is no power and oiling becomes a problem. IIRC, the undersized clutch was fixed after MY89.

I do not know what happened to Gary....I never met him in person but had conversations with him.. I never had a problem with running the motor to 10,000 rpm. Engine Engineering delivered me the motor but the east/west config caused us to hack up the dash... for the throttle body which was burried in the cowl. Not being interested in strait line at the time being a road racer, not on my radar screen. We had a North/South manifold on the drawing board and the SHO Ranger was a go program, except for the fact Marketing said we had to package A/C....We could not do this so the program died... I drove the Ranger SHO to 147 mps on the high speed oval at Ford Romeo Proving Ground....A record for the fastest truck in Ford history (at that time).

Thanks for the blast to the past as I forgot all about Gary...

My saltflats was with a Merkur that achiveed 200mph plus... But that is another story... Thanks to Tompson Automotive in Livonia Michigan. There is a Hot Rod article called Ford Banger on our Mazda 4 cyl in the Ranger at 320 hp....

Best,
Phil

 

[NotBudule]

I drove the Ranger SHO to 147 mps on the high speed oval at Ford Romeo Proving Ground....A record for the fastest truck in Ford history (at that time).
Best,
Phil

Did "SHO" stand for "Shit ! Hold On! " ?

 

[yamahaSHO]

I do not know what happened to Gary....I never met him in person but had conversations with him.. I never had a problem with running the motor to 10,000 rpm. Engine Engineering delivered me the motor but the east/west config caused us to hack up the dash... for the throttle body which was burried in the cowl. Not being interested in strait line at the time being a road racer, not on my radar screen. We had a North/South manifold on the drawing board and the SHO Ranger was a go program, except for the fact Marketing said we had to package A/C....We could not do this so the program died... I drove the Ranger SHO to 147 mps on the high speed oval at Ford Romeo Proving Ground....A record for the fastest truck in Ford history (at that time).

Thanks for the blast to the past as I forgot all about Gary...

Gary is a friend of mine... He's still in Colorado Springs and I still keep in touch with him. He came out to one of my track events at PPIR this summer. He recently picked up a nice C7 Grand Sport, which motivated me on my next 'fun car' purchase.

Running up to 10k RPM for short bursts are generally okay. When run that high for long periods, we'd always spin a bearing and always the same bearing (tested on more than a few SHO's). I am a road racer and that 8 second SHO is the only drag car I tune. I've got a turbo S2000 for my track car. It's been awhile since I really worked on an SHO (other than the blue one at the track, between passes), so I don't recall all the specifics.

 

[yamahaSHO]

Did "SHO" stand for "Shit ! Hold On! " ?

Shit happens often.

 

[P. A. Schilke]

Gary is a friend of mine... He's still in Colorado Springs and I still keep in touch with him. He came out to one of my track events at PPIR this summer. He recently picked up a nice C7 Grand Sport, which motivated me on my next 'fun car' purchase.

Running up to 10k RPM for short bursts are generally okay. When run that high for long periods, we'd always spin a bearing and always the same bearing (tested on more than a few SHO's). I am a road racer and that 8 second SHO is the only drag car I tune. I've got a turbo S2000 for my track car. It's been awhile since I really worked on an SHO (other than the blue one at the track, between passes), so I don't recall all the specifics.

Hi Jason...

Probably explains it as we only hit 10,000 for a brief second as we ran out of real estate...

Such a fun truck... Wonder if the SHO Ranger weighed less than your car? Ranger was a bullet... My 147 mph run would not hit 10,000...being a AeroBrick.. as it were.

Rangers have no business being that fast at this time...the buffeding was White Knuckle, but I kept my foot in it when the foot said "lift"... back down after that.... Would I do this again? You bet...could at my old age...No way... It was a time and place... I hold the track as the fastest truck on the handling course... However... the Handling Track was dismantled...so what does this mean... For me personally a big deal...for Ford...hoah hum...

Kudos for Yamaha doing a superb job making a sow's ear into a silk purse.

best,
Phil

 

[dtech]

Would you happen to know Gary Morrell?



No lifters in the SHO motor.


I've got some time in SHO's (hence my username)... I happen to tune the fastest one ever to exist. At the time we broke into the 8's, it was a stock block and crank (which was out of a junk yard).

I had two SHO's, but this was the one I couldn't leave alone.

http://idcarofthemonth.blogspot.com/

I've run a few SHO motors up to 10k RPM (one was a salt flats SHO) and two things happen... Without making it breath up top, there is no power and oiling becomes a problem. IIRC, the undersized clutch was fixed after MY89.

89 was 1st yr sold, another poster I think had it right with clutch being fixed late 91, early 92, I had an early one but made it to nearly 90k, replaced it myself in my garage, my back reminds me of doing this stuff everyday now. And yes been a very long time since I've adjusted valves, the sho was dual overhead cams but the valves weren't self adjusting and required shims. I always felt the sho handled reasonably well for a good sized sedan.

 

[yamahaSHO]

89 was 1st yr sold, another poster I think had it right with clutch being fixed late 91, early 92, I had an early one but made it to nearly 90k, replaced it myself in my garage, my back reminds me of doing this stuff everyday now. And yes been a very long time since I've adjusted valves, the sho was dual overhead cams but the valves weren't self adjusting and required shims. I always felt the sho handled reasonably well for a good sized sedan.

Looks like I was a year off (https://shoforum.com/threads/1990-sho-9-25-or-9-75-in-clutch.128636/)... It's been awhile since I really worked on SHO's, however, I was one of the go-to people for information on them back in the day... Particularly when it came to modding, boosting, and tuning.

I wish my Polaris RZR's utilized the same shim over bucket setup as the SHO (and many motorcycles). Instead, they are like a Subaru and built onto the bucket, which means the cams have to come out.

I agree, they handles decently for what they were.

These are 3 different SHO's I'm driving on track, and I was fairly new to track driving back then.

 

[Dr_Strangelove]

Folks as a general PSA for the community:

If you Google the part number L1MZ6A949A

You may find a new one in a Ford dealer parts department across the country. I just found one in Richmond, VA for $60 new. Paying $20 shipping to NV so actually coming out under that eBay order.

As of this posting I'm seeing two more available at various dealers across the country.

Edit - for anybody curious why I'm so bent on getting one now; I've got $20 worth of hardware sitting here for it. I ordered the bolts and nuts when I got my eBay order in and the cover got famously cancelled lol. Who doesn't love a classic tail-wagging-dog scenario?

 

[airline tech]

When I got mine - Friday, On-Line Part # L1MZ6A949AA - (Dealer-Website), thought it would be new part number(modified) - picked up cover and box had the old number L1MZ6A949A
Just a FYI - so I don't know if they are in transition over to a new one or not, I was just happy to get one. I asked parts counter about it, and he did not know.
So quite possibly the extra (A) may be the newest part number (IDK)

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