Two things with the Pantera.
1) You need to raise the front of the car, the nose, as high as you can get it to reduce the angle of the lift "inserting the engine".
2) I made a solid "t" to fit the end of the lift so that the chains hang straight down to the exhaust ports and do not touch the valve covers. Other wise you can stress out the valve covers.
It also aids in stopping the engine from swinging as you thread the needle with the engine assembly/
It is highly adviseable to remove the carbs or the throttle bodies. Cover the intake ports with duct tape. Remove the distributor cap, rotor and plug wires. In fact, it isn't a bad idea to remove the spark plugs since it is possible to crack them with the hoist chains.
While Marlin's suggestion of putting a pad between the lift and the engine assembly is a reasonable caution, my lift won't come crashing down. I can control the rate of descent by opening the jack valve gradually.
I do know that the jacks can be sometimes tempermental and sometimes act as only completely open or completely closed but I think that on an engine lift if that is happening then it is time to service the jack or replace it. It is not supposed to operate that way. You need complete and reliable control of it.
Also I have found that the larger engine hoists are better for the Pantera since the legs that go under the car are thicker and you can extend them further without risk of them bending. However, it is close under there and part of the thing of raising the nose of the car up is to help clear the top of the engine lift legs to the bottom of the car.
The "technique" of installing the drive train in the Pantera is "just a little bit different" then other vehicles. Go slow. It is a very tight installation.
I honestly don't know how the factory got it in without removing the carb.
You mount the font of the lift arm as close to the engine as you can get it and you use the "equalizer" in the back on the transmission to raise or lower it over the rear sheet metal or maybe more precisely change the angle of the drivetrain as it goes in.
You literally thread the needle with the installation.
Make sure that the casters on the lift roll easily and smoothly with nothing on the floor to obstruct that movement.