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Reply to "Pantera Front Cut"

Doug, most of my mods are of the 'looks OK- lets try it' type. I had a length of 1-1/2" x 3/16" aluminum L and a need for a dropped battery support. The piece is so short (less than 12" I think) the material is unimportant, given its multifunction. And I LIKE light-alloy! A suspension cross-brace probably should be between the upper frame stubs, not the lowers but I had also discarded Bill Stropp's rack-brace when I did the factory-type bump-steer mod. So I thought I ought to attempt a little stiffening in the vicinity.

As far as 'flexible fronts', Larry Stock's SS Pantera once hit a hump-backed bridge at 150+ mph and flew nearly 140 ft during an event. On landing, the entire lower front frame assembly cracked off the areas where it was factory-welded to the tub. Had he not had a welded-on chassis bracing system, things might not have turned out so good. As it was, Larry and his navigator picked up their trophy and drove the '73 200 miles back to Carson City without noticing the front frame extensions had broken free. Surprisingly, the much heavier rear area was unaffected & held its alignment specs. Too bad I couldn't mention this to Carroll Smith who thought the main problem with Pantera 'racers' would be in the rear assembly.
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