Why do so many users on this board leave all of the information fields in their profile blank? Has someone had a problem with supplying too much information?

Yours isn't exactly full

I don't use ICQ, AIM, MSN or Yahoo.

I have everthing filled out that I have except the bio.

I just don't feel the need to make my information available. If it isn't necessary to give it, don't. That is my philosophy as far as information goes. Although it is unlikely the information given here will find its way into a database, most places it will.

Are you lonely? Would you like us all to post complete profiles so that you can decide who would be worthy of contact for possible friendship?

I am a member of several community style websites, and one thing has always held true since the first time I signed up: An excess of information in a personal profile almost always leads to undesired contact, either by too many of or the "wrong type" of people. I don't want to spend my whole time online fending off messages from random strangers, so I keep my information to a minimum.

Not lonely! This is the only web communnity that I am a memeber of. Just curious why someone would be concerned about putting ANY information in their profile. At least you know my name and what city I live in, not trying to start a war, just curious.

I don't know those things. I almost never look at anyone's profile.

Well, this is the BBS where I'm *least* likely to provide such details, even though it's the one where I'm most likely to be willing to let other members know...

The reason? I don't want some (empeg-less) punk reading that my name's Joe Bloggs, that I live in SomeTown, USA, and then picking up a phone book and paying my house a visit...

There's that, too. How could I forget about that? With the recent rise in thefts I decided to take out a few details. But that would only be my reason for this board.

An excess of information in a personal profile almost always leads to undesired contact,

I think that would depend greatly on the nature of the venue.

My bbs profile is filled out in its entirety, and I think in the last three and a half years I have received perhaps two unsolicited contacts based on that profile information, and I wouldn't categorize either of those contacts as "undesired".

One of the contacts was the result of a Google search that picked up the word "ShoWagon" from the bbs which then led to me, so I got to chat with another ShoWagon owner.

tanstaafl.

I assume he was as psyched about owning one as you are. Or did he all of a sudden realize what he had? (I remember you saying that you bought yours off a little old lady, or some such, for next to nothing.)

BTW, I was just looking at a web page about SHO wagons that says that Ford only ever built two. Do you know the provenance of yours? Is it one of those, or was it one modified after market?

Bitt: Can't be too bad a day for you then with that comment:

ROTFLMAO

Apparently, it is, as I have no idea what you thought was funny.

Ok let me explain,
you can look at your comments re: tanstaafl's SHOWagon
on two levels.
[no offence intended to tanstaafl's choice of vehicle intended - it sounds a really cool piece of kit].

The first assumes you know that a SHOWagon is a very special piece of kit and has all sorts of features not available in the average Station wagon and they are very rare etc etc.

The second assumes simply that you don't know all that and merely that tanstaafl owns one and thinks its the bees knees, and no-one else has ever heard of them before.

If you re-read your post taking into account only the second level, its actually quite funny and looks like you are making several very subtle and pointed digs at the whole ShoWagon "exclusivity" type club without being too obvious.

The first assumes you know that a SHOWagon is a very special piece of kit and has all sorts of features not available in the average Station wagon and they are very rare etc etc.

It doesn't really have special features... just an extra powerful engine that's been transplanted from a Taurus SHO. (In Doug's case, an after-the-fact transplant, not from the factory.)

Well, unless you count his sleeper stereo as a special feature.

yeah, it is pretty funny if you read it like that.

It's more than just the engine. Assuming that it's a good SHOWagon, then it's got a much better suspension as well.

Oh. See; I am having a bad night.

For Doug's benefit, I am in the first camp, but I'm sure he already knows that.

Do you know the provenance of yours? Is it one of those, or was it one modified after market?

You are correct, Ford built two of them, back in, what was it, 1991? They did a red one as a show car that was tested by Car & Driver magazine, and a white one that was a test mule and only driven around the Detroit area.

By my estimation, there are probably about a dozen ShoWagons in existance. Mine was built by a mechanic who worked at a Ford dealership in New Hampshire; he built it for his wife. I was told that he started with a brand new wagon, and transferred components from a wrecked SHO sedan into it. This is not a trivial undertaking, BTW... just a about everything is different between the SHO sedan and the standard Taurus sedan, and there are further differences between the sedan and the wagon. Engine, transmission, motor mounts, transmission mounts, suspension, axles, brakes, wheels, tires, electrical system, wiring harness, engine management computer, lights, accessories, dash, carpeting, seats, instrumentation, shift console, sound system... just about *everything* is different.

The guy I bought it from was not the original owner/builder, and I don't know exactly how he acquired the car. He had driven it for about five years and discovered that SHOs are real expensive to maintain (parts are two to five times as expensive as the equivalent part on a standard Taurus) so he stopped maintaining it. When I got the car, it was running on five cylinders, brakes were metal on metal, power steering pump was making alarming noises, the carpeting was pretty well destroyed (grocery-getter/kid-hauler duty) and there was not a body panel anywhere on the car that didn't have paint scrapes and door dings. He tried to trade it in on a new mini-van, but the dealer wouldn't take the car even for free. Couldn't really -- how could an established dealer sell, guarantee, and assume liability for a car with the wrong engine, wrong brakes, wrong wiring, and God-only-knows what other bastardizations had been done to it. So he (the owner) figured the car wasn't worth anything and put it up on a swap and sell program on a local radio station for $1495 or best offer. I heard about it (interesting story in itself) and the rest is history. $1495 is pretty cheap -- but still probably about twice what it was really worth.

The ShoWagon owner who contacted me one-upped me, though: his is a Generation III wagon with the V-8 engine. Maybe the only one in existance. But, to alleviate the shame a bit, I can tell you that the people who are knowledgeable about SHOs are not enthused about the Gen. III cars. Build quality is down, and the V-8 SHO motor has some well documented problems -- notably failure of the camshaft drive sprockets and the rocker arm assemblies. Some people have been quoted repair costs approaching $10,000. I have heard (but have no data to back this up) that performance wise the V-6 Gen. II vs the V-8 Gen III is a wash.

I do get quite a kick out of my ShoWagon -- the ultimate sleeper!



tanstaafl.