what a great day!
You are living the dream. Great pix, and a fun story.
Those girls, and their cameltoes crack me up. They are a super addition to a fun experience at Spa.
I want to see for myself.
Rocky
Those girls, and their cameltoes crack me up. They are a super addition to a fun experience at Spa.
I want to see for myself.
Rocky
Drove home today. Could have visited the track again, but been there many times and frankly got to see all I wanted yesterday. Had a great day yesterday. Today I would just re-see everything, and of course there's no real racing going on. That you can follow. And some obligations back home ;-). Besides, this trip was more about the drive than the destination.
Woke up early, left 6:30, 850 km ahead. Took it easy, never above 150 km/h and found 3000-3500 rpm pleasurable. Traffic was fine, weather also. Sat there thinking about the number of components that could fail ;-)
No queues until Hamburg, then 5 km. With an engine cam'ed to 600HP, there's not much below 2000 rpm. I've found a nice 1000 idle, but moving the car, it prefers 2500 rpm. All in all, this engine is not constructed for highway queues in sunny weather. In and out of gear a few hundred times, hard work. My clutch is not painfully hard, but it's firm. Another challenge was the wiring I had done to get the car rolling Thursday. I had no thick wire, so the entire ignition current went through a thin wire, not good. So I used other ign current users sparingly all the trip. That meant no A/C of course, so hot inside. And I didn't turn on my manual coolant fan. The thermostat driven coolant fan of course came on, I couldn't control that. It rarely comes on but when going from highway speeds to standstill it does. WAD, I'd say.
So I was sitting there cursing at the queue wondering when the thin wire would burst. And since part of the queue used the emergency lane, I constantly looked at the grass to find a spot the Pantera could be pushed if failing, without ending in a ditch. But it all worked out, what a relief to get up to speed again, it felt like hours but on the GPS I only lost 25 min.
While in the queue the guy to my left rolled down his window and yelled: "Were you in Holland this morning?" Yes. "You drove behind me." His hometown was where my hotel was, and then we met up 550 km later. "What are odds", he said? Indeed
Got to the ferry, and again, didn't follow instructions to go to middle lane, parked behind right lane, with space to spare.
When in Denmark an orange older 911 from Norway was right behind me, so I thought I would help him through Denmark. So drove a bit faster than I normally would have, and he followed behind me. We did that for approx 100 km, then I had to turn off the highway, so we waved goodbuy.
Woke up early, left 6:30, 850 km ahead. Took it easy, never above 150 km/h and found 3000-3500 rpm pleasurable. Traffic was fine, weather also. Sat there thinking about the number of components that could fail ;-)
No queues until Hamburg, then 5 km. With an engine cam'ed to 600HP, there's not much below 2000 rpm. I've found a nice 1000 idle, but moving the car, it prefers 2500 rpm. All in all, this engine is not constructed for highway queues in sunny weather. In and out of gear a few hundred times, hard work. My clutch is not painfully hard, but it's firm. Another challenge was the wiring I had done to get the car rolling Thursday. I had no thick wire, so the entire ignition current went through a thin wire, not good. So I used other ign current users sparingly all the trip. That meant no A/C of course, so hot inside. And I didn't turn on my manual coolant fan. The thermostat driven coolant fan of course came on, I couldn't control that. It rarely comes on but when going from highway speeds to standstill it does. WAD, I'd say.
So I was sitting there cursing at the queue wondering when the thin wire would burst. And since part of the queue used the emergency lane, I constantly looked at the grass to find a spot the Pantera could be pushed if failing, without ending in a ditch. But it all worked out, what a relief to get up to speed again, it felt like hours but on the GPS I only lost 25 min.
While in the queue the guy to my left rolled down his window and yelled: "Were you in Holland this morning?" Yes. "You drove behind me." His hometown was where my hotel was, and then we met up 550 km later. "What are odds", he said? Indeed
Got to the ferry, and again, didn't follow instructions to go to middle lane, parked behind right lane, with space to spare.
When in Denmark an orange older 911 from Norway was right behind me, so I thought I would help him through Denmark. So drove a bit faster than I normally would have, and he followed behind me. We did that for approx 100 km, then I had to turn off the highway, so we waved goodbuy.
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Mikael, first rule of sportscar ownership: NEVER let the car know you're in a hurry.....
Glad you made it home OK.
Glad you made it home OK.
quote:Mikael, first rule of sportscar ownership: NEVER let the car know you're in a hurry.....
Note:
Fails day 2: 0
Fails day 3: 0
Fails day 4: 0
Good read. Sounds like a fun trip
Wish I was their! I eliminated the entire tumbler assembly and hard wired a combination of 1.) the engine on switch and #2 the starter switch that enables the starter button. This has a secondary benefit it allows for cranking the motor with ignition off, if needed for maintenance. Zero problems, I had a massive tranin layout!
quote:I eliminated the entire tumbler assembly and hard wired a combination of 1.) the engine on switch and #2 the starter switch that enables the starter button. This has a secondary benefit it allows for cranking the motor with ignition off, if needed for maintenance. Zero problems, I had a massive tranin layout!
Yes, the ability to run the starter w/o ign is useful, also if you have hard start problems when hot and don't want to go less initial ignition. And I have a secret switch that will disable it all, theft prevention. Many ways to skin a cat...
Hi Mikael - fantastic story and it seems you enjoyed ever single minute (more or less) The white Pantera is may maintained by W. Braun and also run at the Nuerburgring at OGP last year. Very competitive car.
One more afterthought. Sitting in this car for many miles I've decided on some improvements, so next trip will be even more pleasurable:
-ordered new seat belts, after 7 years I've gotten tired of the 4 point harness
-vacuum gauge, tested, shows half the correct value, new ordered
-discovered the boot around front part of steering column was not in the right place, fixed to avoid noise and air
-ordered new ign switch, 70-73 Ford Escort for mine
-when coasting in queues the car tended to jump back and forth, back and forth, don't know if I explain this well. Changed the geometry on the carb linkage at the carb to make it a bit more indirect. This of course gives longer pedal travel, approx 1 cm, but that's OK, it was a bit too direct for my taste. Full travel still opens secondaries to vertical. Actually surfed the web to find a solution that's truly progressive with a cable around a cam, didn't find anything
-wheels need balancing
-ordered new seat belts, after 7 years I've gotten tired of the 4 point harness
-vacuum gauge, tested, shows half the correct value, new ordered
-discovered the boot around front part of steering column was not in the right place, fixed to avoid noise and air
-ordered new ign switch, 70-73 Ford Escort for mine
-when coasting in queues the car tended to jump back and forth, back and forth, don't know if I explain this well. Changed the geometry on the carb linkage at the carb to make it a bit more indirect. This of course gives longer pedal travel, approx 1 cm, but that's OK, it was a bit too direct for my taste. Full travel still opens secondaries to vertical. Actually surfed the web to find a solution that's truly progressive with a cable around a cam, didn't find anything
-wheels need balancing
Hi Mikael,
great write up, sounds like a fantastic trip!!
Cheers, Tim.
great write up, sounds like a fantastic trip!!
Cheers, Tim.
quote:-ordered new seat belts, after 7 years I've gotten tired of the 4 point harness
-vacuum gauge, tested, shows half the correct value, new ordered
-discovered the boot around front part of steering column was not in the right place, fixed to avoid noise and air
-ordered new ign switch, 70-73 Ford Escort for mine
-when coasting in queues the car tended to jump back and forth, back and forth, don't know if I explain this well. Changed the geometry on the carb linkage at the carb to make it a bit more indirect. This of course gives longer pedal travel, approx 1 cm, but that's OK, it was a bit too direct for my taste. Full travel still opens secondaries to vertical. Actually surfed the web to find a solution that's truly progressive with a cable around a cam, didn't find anything
-wheels need balancing
All done except the vacuum gauge is on its way. The old seat belts are for sale in the proper section of this forum. Carb linkage geometry change made a world of difference, less jumping, and the throttle now feels like a modern drive by wire. Now, where should I drive to...?
how about some details of your throttle solution
quote:how about some details of your throttle solution
It's not pretty, I just welded it the way I liked it. I've increased the distance to the pivot point/axle, and before idle was at 5:30, WOT at 8:30, now idle is at 5:00 and WOT at 8:00. And cable is pretty horizontal going to carb. The main point is that in our cars where the acccable comes from the front, the standard bracket on a Holley does not give you enough radius/distance to pivot point, you have to weld/bolt some extra bracket on IMO.
After that I readjusted all the stop bolts on the pedal, to ensure WOT is really WOT and that hammering down the pedal doesn't break the cable.
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One more modification I thought of during the many km's to Spa. With my hi CHI intake and the filter not being able to be lowered more and still have the needed 3/8" clearance to the tubes, it's hard to see what's behind me. I can see the face of the driver in a normal car, if there's a Pantera behind me, I'll never know.
So I moved the mirror up. It's alu so I couldn't cut and weld, so I grinded off alu for the front part of the base. This lifts the arm going forward. Before I could get almost two fingers in between arm and windshield, now only one. This means that the mirror is moved a bit up and that I can now see "down" over the filter, not just horizontal.
If you do this, take care not to crack windshield when installing, the arm is now closer to the windshield.
Mirror shown where the right part of the bracket is a few mm lower than originally
So I moved the mirror up. It's alu so I couldn't cut and weld, so I grinded off alu for the front part of the base. This lifts the arm going forward. Before I could get almost two fingers in between arm and windshield, now only one. This means that the mirror is moved a bit up and that I can now see "down" over the filter, not just horizontal.
If you do this, take care not to crack windshield when installing, the arm is now closer to the windshield.
Mirror shown where the right part of the bracket is a few mm lower than originally
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Mikael good idea with the mirror. I have the same problem with the airfilter blocking my view. You started another thread concerning rear view camera which I think is a brilliant idea. Unfortunately the thread went off track with some irrelevant comments. But there are tons of suitable rear view mirrors with a build in monitor to connect to an aft facing camera. Even if it is intended as a back up camera I think it could be helpful if it was switched on permanently to duplicate the purpose of a rear view mirror? The camera lens should then be fitted under the roof just behind the aft window or alternatively on the grill behind the condensor (might be more exposed to the elements then)
Such a mirror could be strapped to the OE mirror or in replacement of same. Some of them feature a recorder connected to an integrated forward facing camera and also the option for GPS/Iphone/Android interface.
ebay
Such a mirror could be strapped to the OE mirror or in replacement of same. Some of them feature a recorder connected to an integrated forward facing camera and also the option for GPS/Iphone/Android interface.
ebay
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Mikael just a thought to your throttle cable/spring setup. The spring should be attached at the same spot as were the throttle cable pulls and as much as possible in a straight line with the cable direction. That would put the minimum strain/wear to your throttle blade shaft/bore. With your setup you get an aft-downward pull on the shaft it self. With the above mentioned suggestion there will be no forces/wear on the shaft/bore.
The OE spring design does not suffer from this dilemma as it reacts on the cable and not the carb.
Just a thought as I mentioned
The OE spring design does not suffer from this dilemma as it reacts on the cable and not the carb.
Just a thought as I mentioned
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Goodroc, yes the spring could be placed better. But at least I have two, that's better than OEM. I don't think the spring on the cable makes normal return spring unnecessary. What if bracket holding cable breaks? Then there's nothing to pull throttle closed...
Agree on geometry, even seen Panteras with spring working on top from the front, that's an axle killer.
Agree on geometry, even seen Panteras with spring working on top from the front, that's an axle killer.