Reply to "1974 Pantera"

Hi Fangio,

You might be better off to find an early car that already has the polished stainless window surrounds and small bumpers. If you do decide to buy the 74, be aware that changing from black window surrounds to polished stainless is a lot of work. You will not have to buy any new trim, you just have to strip the paint off and have it polished. In order to remove the trims/mouldings from the windscreen rubber requires the removal of the windscreen. Under no circumstances attempt to remove the stainless trims from the rubber without taking the windscreen out because you will not be able to get them out without bending them. The gentle bend will not be obvious until you have finished reinstalling the windscreen and find the corners of the trim will not sit down tight against the rubber.

The trims around the door frames are much easier because they pop off, and back on again. The rear quarter window will have to come out with the rubber just like the windscreen, this is not easy with the engine in place.

As the other guys have said, there will be quite a lot of holes to fill too.

I recommend you post pictures of the car you are considering buying on this forum so that you can benefit from our combined experience. We will soon tell you if it's any good or not! Pictures of the rocker bottoms taken from lying on the ground and the bottom of the lower front valance will tell us an awful lot. Or ask one of the guys from the New York area like Ron to look at it for you. Please have the car inspected by someone with Pantera specific knowledge.
Just because the car has a nice paint job does not mean what lies beneath has been done properly.

We are here to help you.

Johnny