96 SHO Engine Dead - Swap Ideas

Hello. Got a 96 SHO with a dead motor. It was probably just a head gasket, but since so many mechanics have screwed with it, its probably much more than that. Thinking about putting something else in the car to make it drivable as its just sitting in the yard collecting rust. Maybe the Continental motor or a Mustang motor. Any ideas? The sad part is - the car itself is cosmetically nicer than any of the other cars ..

Well, this is about the time you should start praying to god that you didn't spin a cam and destroy your motor. There is a class-action lawsuit against Ford currently, the 3rd Generation V-8 SHO's have a defect in the cam gears which will eventually cause the sprocket to break and ends up with valves colliding with pistons. As far as I know you don't really have any options as another motor to put in it with any amount of ease. Read up on www.v8sho.com for more information on the cam defect.

Hello. Got a 96 SHO with a dead motor. It was probably just a head gasket, but since so many mechanics have screwed with it, its probably much more than that. Thinking about putting something else in the car to make it drivable as its just sitting in the yard collecting rust. Maybe the Continental motor or a Mustang motor. Any ideas? The sad part is - the car itself is cosmetically nicer than any of the other cars ..

Well thanks for the advice. I had thought about the engine swap because other things are easier to acquire and the car itself could serve some purpose other than sitting there collecting rust. I had even thought about putting in a 6 cylinder 96 Taurus motor which I can get ahold of for around $300. At least I could drive it to the store and back. Grocery runner.Do you know if it would be difficult to swap out for something like that with the intentions of swapping back later?

Well, I'd imagine it could be done, after all you can swap anything with time and money. But don't get your hopes up on finding another V-8 SHO motor later on, because even if you do find one it's going to carry one hell of a premium. Personally I would probably try to part the car out or have a shop take the heads off to see if the cams did in fact slip or if it's something less severe.

continental motor is the only one that would mount up, but it wouldn't really be much faster, just have more torque and the extra weight would probably require you to get some custom springs or else deal with some horrible understeer.

continental motor is the only one that would mount up, but it wouldn't really be much faster, just have more torque and the extra weight would probably require you to get some custom springs or else deal with some horrible understeer.

Do you think it would bolt up to the existing tranny? What would I need to do this besides a couple of kegs?

yes, it will bolt to the existing tranny, the continental used the same one, you will need Continental driveshafts and custom motor and trans mounts though, and nobody knows if the continental motor will clear the taurus hood. You'll also need a continental ECU and wiring harness as well as the ignition system. The SHO fuel pump should be capable of supplying enough fuel for the continental motor.