Today is the big day! I bought a ZF -2 off ebay. It should arrive today. It has been out of a car since 1980. What should I do before installing it? 1362 has a dash 1 now. I have the dash2 clutch disc and bellhouse, Thanks M Menson, and the correct pilot bush. The bottom cover was removed for inspection before delivery. Thanks Parapantera! I'll be using PI side mounts. They are simple fabricated angle pieces that bolt to the swaybar mounts. I talked to a vender and told him I was going to saftey wire the ring gear, he said that is not nessisary unless the original bolts have been loosened. The original bolts have teeth that bite into the gear. Any thoughts are welcome..??? Bill

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I talked to a vender and told him I was going to saftey wire the ring gear, he said that is not nessisary unless the original bolts have been loosened. The original bolts have teeth that bite into the gear.

A VENDOR TOLD YOU THAT??!!!

Was that a Yugo vendor? I can not imagine any Pantera-knowledgeable vendor telling you that.

Yes, the stock ring gear bolts do have 'teeth', but due to the hardness of the ring gear, those teeth do not really get a bite. When they loosen, they begin to back out. Everything is fine until they get out far enough that on the next rotation they find a portion of the case to be slammed against. Being a very hard alloy, they (thankfully) snap off instead of jamming. And if the gods are smiling on you, that bolt head harmlessly falls down to the bottom of the case. But the gods are not always kind.

I will never forget the PCNC member who showed up at one of our tech sessions with a small Ziploc baggie. In that bag were ten bolts heads and five bolt thread sections.

He had used a coat hanger to fish all those pieces out the bottom drain hole of his ZF, after one piece plopped out into the oil drain pan while performing his first oil change on his newly acquired Pantera.

Amazingly, the only damage was a case crack, apparently caused when a piece was flung against the case, that was not of major concern. He was one of the VERY lucky ones.

Pantera Land is full of other incidences of bolt heads falling out during an oil change and cases ruined when they were cracked after a bolt head became jammed in the gears.

Bill, many owners have bought the safety-wiring kits (bolts and tool and wire) and done it themselves. Apparently it is not rocket science. I suggest you call a real vendor and order that kit.

The 'vendor' who gave you that advice is either ignorant or does not like you. Of course loose bolts need to be tightened - genius advice, there. The big question is WHY would they become loose? Because there was a design flaw, and they DO loosen.

The problem is you cannot check ring gear bolts with the ease of checking the engine oil. Your first hint of a problem may be the horrendous bang when your case cracks, gears are destroyed, and you find yourself (hopefully) at the side of the road with that nagging voice in your head...

'Why did I listen to that STUPID vendor?"

Larry

5000 dollars later. Here it is. I'm going to have to safety wire it. Any pointers?

Put a bell on it.

I've been using Redline MTL in all of my cars with manuals, except the Pantera. I just haven't got to it yet.

Gary Hall told me to try it a while back and I can tell you that it is a very interesting formulation.

It makes shifting easier but more precise, like it was a new gear box. Frankly, my ZF could use a little of that medicine.

If you go to their web site you will read the reason it is made. I suppose to paraphrase it, it is fully synthetic gear lube, with special friction modifiers added for the synchros.

See. Full synthetic gear lube is too slippery for your synchros and they won't slow down the spinning gears properly. It's kinda like oiling your brake pads. The pads need friction to work.

The MTL has those friction modifiers and makes the trannie feel tight and precise. Like I said, my ZF can use that.

I have been using full syn 75-90 Valvoline. It works fine in all but third...that pesky grind. Now I have a spare ZF so instead of shifting easy. I can just jam it into third without fear. I don't know if it grinds less but it but it does grind a shorter period of time! How come my new dash2 is missing the top rear fill plug?

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How come my new dash2 is missing the top rear fill plug?

Dash 2 doesn't have one.

John

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Originally posted by jb1490:

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How come my new dash2 is missing the top rear fill plug?

Dash 2 doesn't have one.

John

Some do.

Mike

The dash 1 is out, but there is a bushing holder that is pressed in the rear of the crank, any idea on how to get it out? I got the needle bearing out fine. The bearing holder is a larger dia, hopfully the same size as my new pilot bush. I made a tool to push grease in but it ain't moving. Don't make me get a bigger hammer???

What I did was take a tap and thread it in. When it hit the crank it pressed the bushing out. It was a while ago. Might have been a 1/2 "? Don't remember the size?

This is the bush that comes out, the new one in my hand. I'm surprized that the flywheel has hot spots all over it, in only 5000 miles