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During the process of bringing this 72 Pantera back to life and road worthy, one of the more interesting aspects is the difference in attitudes of the various vendors I have dealt with. For obvious reasons, none will be mentioned. Many have been quite fine, but some attitudes have been enough to piss off the Pope. Two cases in point are 1) "that can't be because I have never heard of that and you must have some aftermarket junk on the car" (referring to a bone stock unmolested one owner car), and 2) charging shipping back to me after resolving leaks on a couple rebuilt calipers the vendor sold me (and had not tested everything for leaks before shipping and blamed ME for not properly tightening fittings HE should have handled). Symptoms of limited competition and captive customer base. Oh well, live and learn.
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snaponbob, I think we all know what you mean. Parts that are stock sometimes you are forced to use a vendor for them. That can be painful at times. This forum is a really good source for parts also. Just list what you are looking for and help is usually right there. For the guys that are looking to modify / improve their cars the vendor list opens up dramatically. I have bought parts from Summit Racing for my pantera as well as some of the smaller Panter Vendors all with good experience. one that comes to mind is SACC Restoration great experience.
Pretty much coming to the end of the road with this project. Carb "fixed" (I hope!!) and will bolt it back on in the AM. Calipers came back (from a vendor that didn't do them right it the first place) and will be hung in the AM as well. If they bleed properly the wheels will go back on and I'll roll the car to a better spot to fire up the engine again. Lots of junk coming out of the exhaust (that has sat since 1990) so I want it away from the tool box and work bench !!!! Assuming all goes well, the rear passenger panels and seats will go back in after I finish details at the pedal box. Then we find out if the clutch is still good and the effort reduction kit is done properly. MIGHT drive it this Thursday or Friday. In any event, the owner will be back next week and maybe I can make him smile !!!
While it IS true it doesn't take much to piss me off, I think you will find good, and bad, vendors everywhere. The Pantera world has no lock on the good or the bad.

Perhaps you can learn to not shop w/ the poopies anymore? Don't know if that will ever help or not, but it may be the customer's only recourse.

and, don't forget the phrase "I didn't have good luck with that vendor." when people ask you questions.
I have been a member of multiple car clubs and in dealing with good and bad vendors we always try to highlight a good vendor whenever we come across them. I really value another members positive referral and will go to that vendor.
In that spirit, I would like to compliment Tommy Hodges and Extreme Pantera in Buena Park, Ca.for his recent work on my car. He pulled out all the old Hilborn efi electronics ( been fighting the lack of real tuning ability for 2 years)and installed the latest FAST xfi elctronics. It was a very complicated installation, but Tommy was up to it and did a fine job. I then took my 408 stroker Pantera to Superior Auto Engineering in Placentia, Ca ( another good group) and they were able to dyno tune it so that it now runs better than ever and picked up another 20 rwhp. It came in at 477 rwhp @ 6,000 rpm, with 448 ft lbs of torque.This is the first time in 5 years of working on my car that it is a delight to drive.

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quote:
Originally posted by Carlsbad Car Guy:
I have been a member of multiple car clubs and in dealing with good and bad vendors we always try to highlight a good vendor whenever we come across them. I really value another members positive referral and will go to that vendor.
In that spirit, I would like to compliment Tommy Hodges and Extreme Pantera in Buena Park, Ca.for his recent work on my car. He pulled out all the old Hilborn efi electronics ( been fighting the lack of real tuning ability for 2 years)and installed the latest FAST xfi elctronics. It was a very complicated installation, but Tommy was up to it and did a fine job. I then took my 408 stroker Pantera to Superior Auto Engineering in Placentia, Ca ( another good group) and they were able to dyno tune it so that it now runs better than ever and picked up another 20 rwhp. It came in at 477 rwhp @ 6,000 rpm, with 448 ft lbs of torque.This is the first time in 5 years of working on my car that it is a delight to drive.


Holy crap. Why drive it? Just pull up a lawn chair, grab a martini, and stare at that glorious engine compartment.
quote:
Originally posted by garth66:
quote:
Holy crap. Why drive it? Just pull up a lawn chair, grab a martini, and stare at that glorious engine compartment.

Amen brother!


Can I have a hallelujah!!! That is one hot looking engine. And I think it would perform just as good as it looks. As a matter of interest are you planning a trip down the 1/4 mile any time soon. Would be interesting to see the times with that sort of power.
Gentlemen,
Thank you for the kind words about my engine
picture.It takes 2 Aleve pills to get it looking like that prior to a show.
As far as some track time, I would need slicks to get any traction, even with 335x35's, it blows the tires off in 1st gear and barely holds in 2nd.However, when it does hook up, 100 mph
is only a few seconds away. Very fun entering
the freeway too.
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