Jack not sure what you decided...I saw this thread come up today and thought I'd comment. I had a small block Chevy with 48 IDA's choked down to 42's that I ran for three years. Ran awesome, were certainly beautiful to look at. But as posted earlier, they do need some REGULAR (read bold letters...hint) tinkering to keep them in sinc...you wouldn't think once you set them up they would change, but they do. The linkages aren't mongo pieces so you are working with pretty small diameter linkages that won't allow you to apply large amounts of torque to keep every adjustment in place...that maybe why they need regular adjustment could be cured by going to larger, heftier parts (I had stock linkages from Weber). Also the car it was in had a tail section that hinged backwards or could be entirely removed with two pull pins, opening up the entire engine bay which made it 1000% easier access than what you will have with the Pantera.
One of the things I remember distinctly was thinking to myself quite often that "it would be so nice to just have a big 4 barrel on this engine so I could stop tinkering and I would have a consistent experience every time I started it". I never changed out the Webers just because the 48IDA's look so great and perform so well when dialed in...that is if the damn linkages could just stayed in one spot. But I can tell you they don't....and when one gets out of sinc you are effecting 25% of the cylinders...this usually causes the most problems at idle or slightly off idle which is more likely an issue with a street car and stop and go traffic...once you are off idle and at 1/4 or better throttle you're ok, it was a bear keeping it adjusted for idle. With all the obstacles on a Pantera getting in the way to do the usual re-adjustments(rear body sections), I would think twice...as my older body just doesn't like the things I use to do. Although you could probably just lay on the roof with you upper body hanging over the motor (remove your big belt buckles so you don't scratch the roof) with the deck lid off and reach down to do the adjustments....OH but you better have fast reflexes to get out of the way if you get a back fire from the carbs. Good luck, it'll be fun no matter what you choose.
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