Reply to ""L" engine"

The 5 mph bumpers and the low emissions motor were mandated by the US government for the 1973 sales year, and so I personally doubt the earlier motor was mixed with the 5 mph bumpers. But anything is possible.

'72 verses '73 motor

In terms of desirability, the emission motor is not a bad motor.

The version of the 351C installed in the "L" differed from the engine that preceded it in the following ways:

(1) open combustion chambers volume increased by 3 cc's
(2) 8cc dish in the piston domes
(3) 2V sized valves (2.05" intake, 1.65" exhaust)
(4) exhaust gas recirculation
(5) camshaft timing retarded 4 degrees
(6) compression ratio decreased from 8.8:1 to 8.0:1
(7) rated net bhp dropped from 280 to 264.

This motor was referred to as a 351C-4V, however it retained all the good hi performance parts of the motor that preceded, which was referred to as a 351 Cobra Jet. Both motors had the same engine code, "Q", and are often referred to jointly as Q code motors. Both motors are superior to the first 351C 4V, the one with the closed combustion chambers. They are superior because they were equipped with larger 4 barrel carburetors, 4 bolt main bearing caps, dual point distributors, "cobra jet" high lift camshafts, larger crankshaft dampeners.

Both Q code motors are thought of as low compression motors because both had open combusion chamber cylinder heads. The '70-'71 351C 4V motor had closed combustion chamber cylinder heads, and a compression ratio of about nominal 9.7:1. Although all of Ford's literature claimed the compression ratio was 10.7:1, this is not the case.

Dual pod verses single pod dashboards

The "single pod" dash does not define a "L" Pantera, the bumpers and emissions motor do. The single pod dash is simply just another one of many running changes that were incorporated into the Pantera during its '71 to '74 production history. This is not necessarily mixing and matching. The later dash was less expensive to produce, but at the same time it was also more ergonomic.

George