Reply to "Grinding noise when shifting : syncs or clutch ?"

What ZF lube are you using? The Factory Manual says 75-wt regular, and the ZF was built well before synthetic lubes were invented. I have heard that super-slick trans lubes or very thin 'racing' lubes such as Redline causes shifting difficulty in some ZFs. The same lubes can FIX shifting problems in other ZFs, so this is a confusing problem to solve via long distance. My '72 ZF shifts fine using Castrol 70-wt with a small amount of LSD slip-agent in it.

Another suggestion: early Panteras and Mangustas with the transition dash-1.5 ZF used a 1-1/16" 10-spline disc (GM) while production Panteras and their ZF dash-2 use a 1-1/8" 10-spline Ford disc. The spline sizes are only nearly impossible to sort by eye. So some "equivalent" clutch discs fit sloppy and wobble on a later ZF input shaft while others are a rather tight fit. This can make disc wobble and synchro drag worse.

And in fact, synchro wear can make ANY clutch drag if it gets too bad. We're dealing with a 45-year-old mechanism bolted to a high-torque, high powered engine here. I hesitate to point out that most such troubles like this can be avoided by using parts from recognized Pantera vendors, who can also inspect the all-steel synchros for unacceptible action. There are a very few known European Pantera specialists. Good luck-