My Poor Baby's Cousins

Mortality Tables
new 5/13/03
Today I got two letters asking if cam failure is inevitable or abuse/neglect related. I would remind all owners that this is a design defect which has so far effected each and every year and in very large numbers.
Based on rather sophisticated modeling our best estimate is that by the end of 2002 about 77% of V8SHOs have experienced cam failure. By the end of 2003 we project 86% of V8SHOs will experience cam failure. This is a confirmation of my worst fears based on the recent sudden drop of reported failures. When do Sharks Quit Eating?
Our reports are that Ford has been out of engines since last summer, We have also received a lot of reports of folks getting stiffed by Ford even if they have a warranty. What We Know, What Ford Does Not Want You to Know, & Who Is To Blame.
We once thought that an owner should experience a ticking noise for a month or 1,000 miles before a cam lets go. We since learned not to rely on that. We then assumed that every cam failure is at least preceded by some audible warning, That is not the case:
"BTW, for those SHO owners delaying the weld, please consider this. The sprocket on my back exhaust was loose and had moved about 1/8 inch. Absolutely no noise yet. I'm a very lucky guy and I truly do appreciate that fact. " - FPS Cam Weld Experience
We know that about 1,000 V8SHOs have welded cams which should never fail as long as the valves don't stick. We now know that about 21,000 V8SHOs were made. What we don't know is what percent of the V8SHOs with cam failures are repaired and back on the road. Certainly an owner is more likely to repair an engine when the book value was $20,000 than when it is $6,000 or less. Based on informal estimates I suspect only 50% - 25% of recent cam failures are quickly repaired.
If we do prevail in our class action lawsuit it may be in 2007 or later? How many owners will then take that compensation and revive a SHO that has been parked for 4-6 years? We know this, the vast majority of V8SHOs with stock cams have failed or will fail soon to the complete indifference of Ford. Reptiles and ants make better parents. If you have a V8SHO and the cams have not yet failed I can tell you of the guy I know with 190,000 miles before he got the ticking noise. But I could also tell you of 3 cam failures before 25,000 miles and that the average cam failure occurs at 75,000 and that we think about 82% have failed so far. (not that there was ever an aftermarket market for our cars). The target market for new V8 SHOs was 55 years old, now tell me 82% of near retirement owners abuse their cars?
Soon and very soon there will only be those who welded or pined their cams or the very rare exception. Hey maybe you are that lucky? I doubt it, and I am sick because soon our car will all but cease to exist. And Ford never cared, they knew and let it happen.
If you have a V8 SHO, weld it or you will soon lose it. It is that simple. See Folks Who Will Weld Your Cams. One can prevent failure at much less cost and trouble than repair or replace an engine. If you lose an engine and even if you one day get reimbursed by Ford it will never bring back the buffalo.
You need to do the 100k PM anyway, fix the burned rear main wiring harness and clean the butterflies anyway. Why not do it early and save your car too?
See Consensus Recommendation
Sorry to be the one sharing bad news,
Buford

Easter

Ok, honestly, what is Easter to you? Would you rather be celabrating; God in human form who has defeated natural laws of life and death, or a fuzzy bunny? I'll pick the first, thank-you very much. I finally cleaned my (Nate's) car yesterday! I only did the interior, but I finally got the coffee off of the steering column. You know, the stuff that's been there since November. I even, maybe, got a little sun. I know it's not good for my skin, but I didn't get pink and it does a hell of a lot of good for my insides. I love the sun! Happy Easter! He is risen! Alleluia! (ok, enough exclamation points) !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (sorry)

3 Doors Down: Kryptonite

I took a walk around the world
To ease my troubled mind
I left my body laying somewhere
In the sands of time
But I watched the world float
To the dark side of the moon

I feel there is nothing I can do, yeah

I watched the world float
To the dark side of the moon
After all I knew it had to be
Something to do with you
I really don’t mind what happens now and then
As long as you’ll be my friend at the end

If I go crazy then will you still
Call me Superman
If I’m alive and well, will you be
There a-holding my hand
I’ll keep you by my side
With my superhuman might
Kryptonite

You called me strong, you called me weak,
But still your secrets I will keep
You took for granted all the times
I never let you down
You stumbled in and bumped your head,
If not for me then you'd be dead
I picked you up and put you back
On solid ground

If I go crazy then will you still
Call me Superman
If I’m alive and well,
Will you be there a-holding my hand
I’ll keep you by my side
With my superhuman might
Kryptonite
Yeah!!

If I go crazy then will you still
Call me Superman
If I’m alive and well, will you be there
Holding my hand
I’ll keep you by my side
With my superhuman might
Kryptonite

If I go crazy then will you still
Call me Superman
If I'm alive and well,
Will you be there a-holding my hand
I'll keep you by my side
With my superhuman might
Kryptonite
Yeah!!

I think of Nate everytime I hear this (and yes, you are still Superman.)

Growing Apart

You see, there once were two little girls,
And these girls were very much the same,
And they became the best of friends.

They had pure hearts behind clear blue eyes,
And they had imaginative dreams stored in clear minds.

The one little girl would stumble,
And the other little girl would support her.
The one little girl would lose her way,
And the other little girl would open her eyes.
The one little girl would cry a tear,
And the other little girl would wipe it away.

The two little girls shared their dreams,
And confronted their fears.
They comforted each other in times of despair,
And they were the best of friends.

One day, the one little girl found her dreams to be crumbling,
And she looked to the other for support,
But the other little girl had turned into a woman,
And dreams were empty hopes to her.

The one little girl could no longer see the right path,
And she asked for assurance in what was right,
But the other little girl had become a woman,
And her footpath was paved with eggshells and glass.

The one little girl cried a river,
And she reached to the other for a dry shoulder,
But the other little girl had abandoned her childish fears,
And her shoulder was drenched with the sorrow of a woman.
Her arms surrounded the world in the raw,
And justified their careless bloodshed.
She no longer had the strength to spare.

The one little girl still held this woman as her friend,
And she saw the hurt in her clear blue eyes,
And she did not understand.

The one little girl offered her love to her friend, who was now a woman,
But her friend needed more than she could get.
The one little girl saw that her friend would never be happy,
And she was very much like her friend,
And the one little girl could no longer find a reason to be happy.