I. Isolation & Elimination of Vibration Noise Under Acceleration at 2,500 RPM to 3,500 RPM.
II. Elimination of the Creaking Noise when Entering a Driveway on a Slope at an Angle.
I. Elimination of Vibration Noise Under Acceleration.
A. The 'Wings' that the enginge screen rests on and attaches to causes a vibration noise.
A.1. Remove the wings and add fuel hose slit down the middle to all the perimeter edges of the wings.
A.2. Reinstall the wings, and if the screws are loose, either use larger screws, or cut 1" sections of zip ties and put them in the screw holes just before you put the screws into the holes. Cut XS zip tie off at the top after tightening.
B. The Heat Shield to the side of the gas tank causes a vibration noise.
B.1. I isolated this noise from the top using 4" sections of fuel hose and heater hose. I stuffed them into the space between the heat shield and the gas tank from above, just before I reinstalled the wings. It lowered the vibration noise level.
B.2. I got two old tennis balls and got my wood saw and cut them in half since I was out of larger diameter radiator hose and since I've had it up to my eyebrows with trips to Auto-Zone. I jacked up the Beast and found this problem area with the use of my thum taping on the offending source of vibration noise. Once identified, (well that's when I crawled back out and cut the tennis balls, for lack of a better source of rubber insulator), anyway, once identified, I pushed the tennis ball halves up between the gas tank and heat shield until the harmonic vibration was no longer possible.
C. The Driver Side Rear Splash Shield caused a vibration noise.
C.1. Two of my old racketballs were squeezed in between the spash shield and the gas tank, and are serving a new function their manufacturer never could have foreseen. (Spalding)
C.2. A piece of fuel hose slit along the side was slid down the side of the splash shield until it rested snugly along the inner side of the body (fender) panel.
D. The Last Source of Vibration Noise is Still Untested, but It's The Throttle Cable.
D.1. The throttle cable was originally isolated from the firewall with rubber. 30 years later, long since deteriorated. I'll isolate this vibration noise with a section of fuel hose and a small hose clamp, pop-riveted to the firewall to secure the throttle cable from any movement and also isolate heat and noise into the cabin area of the Pantera. (Compliments of 'BD' the credit for the hose clamp tip-belongs to).
II. Creaking Noise in Front Suspension.
A. When I installed the new polyurethane bushings in the A-arms, they were dutifully lubricated with Anti-Sieze Compound. (A tip from Chuck Melton, who I've never met.) So, they could not be the source of the creaking noise.
B. I was really concerned that the frame could be twisting at an angle and popping loose some spot welds.
C. The simple fix was to take off the front tires. Remove the sway bar mounting brackets, lubricate with anti-seize compound under each of the two sway bar brackets on each side, and
D. Since I remembered how much these new sway bar bushings had to compress to hit metal to metal when I installed them, I decided it was a good idea to 'loosen the grip' these sway bar brackets had on the front sway bar, and accomplished this with one flat and one locking SS washer under each bracket to bolt to mounting point. (You'll need 8 each of flat and locking washers).
WAA-LA!
No more vibration noise (except very low level by my right elbow) and
No more creaking noises as my car frame gets flexed and twisted on angles. That stress was tranferred back to the sway bar and bushings freely rotating and sliding as designed.
YEE-HA! That's what I like. Just like a new car. Bumps without rattles, no creaks or squeaks. A little smoother ride too, but still very tight.
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