Reply to "Electrical component - what is it?"

The blower motor on most Panteras CAN be removed without disturbing the dash. I've done it twice on a '72 L with the early dash. That fable was spread by people with fat hands and an inability to work blind, as you cannot see the bolts holding the blower mount or fan ducts so must work only by touch. A set of 1/4"-drive metric sockets is essential. Send the kids away 'cause swearing helps, too! There's also much fiddling needed to clear the motor and dual squirrel-cage fan assemblies from their ducts during removal.

The plastic fans are brittle and very fragile- easy to crack one which throws the assembly out of balance and causes noise & vibrations. It's also extremely easy to reassemble the fans on the motor shaft backward or to install the assembly end-for-end, such that it works perfectly but blows no air. Reversing the fan leads does not fix this on a squirrel-cage fan assembly. I think Mike Dailys 'Panteraplace.com' website has a detailed description.

I will also say that although it is possible, it's far quicker to just remove the dash. That gives you the opportunity to fix other little things in there that is otherwise impossible to reach: duct-tape up air leaks in the steel AC/heater box, replace the age-rotted foam doughnuts between dash & AC box, and even "port-match" the holes in the dash to the holes in the steel box- which are usually off by as much as 50% of the open area. Repositioning the steel box on its tab-hangers on the firewall helps efficiency, too. Note that the dash need not be completely removed- only pulled away and laid across the seats- which can also stay in place.