'72 #3427

March, 2004. Sold the original wheels and tires and bought some used PIMotorsport wheels to hold us over while our Team 3 Wheels were being made.





Found that a little valve under the dash near the heater core had been leaking for years. Tore the carpet up and found an unlpeasant mess.



We sanded all the rust out, treated the metal and sealed it:

April 2004, our Team 3 Wheels and Kumho tires showed up. We repaired a rusty inner wheel housing, replaced two motor mount bolts, put in new wheel bearings, new suspension bushings, added PI Motorsports heavy duty half shafts, added Pantera Performance Koni shocks, a new Holley 650 double pumper, new PIMotorsports clutch master, stainless clutch lines, stainless brake lines and PIMotorsports carbon kevlar brade pads.

Had the Pantera dynoed at Powertrain Dynamics in Huntington Beach. It made 328rwhp. Not bad!

July 2004, installed some Corbeau seats. They looked fantastic but were terriby uncomfortable. lol.



Refinished the trunk area:


Refinished the modified engine cover:


Cleaned the engine compartment up a bit, but it's still nothing pretty:

September 2004: 09/12/04 - The Mallory Unilite module failed on the weekend. We somehow managed to limp the car home, but it wouldn't move from the garage again until a new module was installed. I also installed a new resistor and power filter in an effort to make sure the module wouldn't fail agian. I hasn't failed again, btw, in five years!

It was time for the cooling system to see an overhaul. The Pantera was fine so long as traffic was moving, but given a hot day and bumper to bumper traffic, it would run hot. So we installed an aluminum high flow water pump from Summit, put on all new coolant lines, an aluminum Fluidyne Radiator (made custom brackets to lean the radiator foreward for better airflow and cooling) and duel Flexlite sucker fans. It was a solid two days worth of very hard work, but man did it pay off! I drove it that day for over an hour in high heat, all through town with the air conditioning on and temps never went above 180 degrees (where the thermostat opens). Fantastic!

November 2004: The stock front bumpers are a bit blocky because they house the turn signals. We purchased some new Carbon Fiber front bumpers from PIMotorsports. These aren't made to house turn signals, so their shape is simple and elegant. We installed the PI bumpers, then removed the turn signals from the stock bumpers and mounted them behind the front grill. Jaime fabricated the new brackets, and I welded them in.

We also replaced the side Ghia emblems with correct, OEM Ghia emblems. The real emblems are a little smaller, and look better on the Pantera.

And lastly, Jaime recarpeted the engine cover/trunk liner (I still need to take pictures), while I cleaned and painted the front brake calipers.

January 2005, one year of Pantera ownership: I switched the stock tail lights out for some GroupIV tail lights with blacked out trim. The look is a little smoother.

The carburetor float level was very high for some reason, and a spark plug fouled out. So I adjusted the carb, threw in a new set of plugs, changed the oil and it's running like a champ! I also took my favorite set of pictures of our car.

October, 2005: Replaced all of the gauges in the Pantera with new Autometer Phantom Gauges. Used Autometer's blue LED's to light them. Merged a universal fuel level sender with the stock Pantera fuel sender, and now have a functional gas gauge, yay! Also installed new water temp and oil pressure senders that were included with the gauges.

November 2005: Jaime and I finished the commercial version of the Auger Resources Pantera Shift Boot and short shift knob. I also installed a third brake light on the Pantera. Found this LED brake like on JCWhitney's website. I feel better having an additional brake light up a little higher.

December 2005: We've been working on the interior, and this time we were focusing on the center console. We wanted to design a center console that would have the stereo mounted horizontally and have cooler switches. I handled reworking the fiberglass and the specifics of how everything would fit together and still allow easy access to the backs of the switches and gauges. Jaime took care of the upholstery. I think it came out pretty good. We are still waiting on our switch labels to come in and there are a few things that we will change soon, but it's on the right track.

September 2006: Had a lifter ticking so I decided to adjust all the rockers. Bought a new intake that is lower so that the Panteras original engine cover will fit. The new Edelbrock Performer intake is also more "streetable", offering more torque at lower rpm's than the old Torker intake it replaces. The old Detomaso valve covers were cracked and leaking, so I replaced them with some Ford Racing tall valve covers. In the process of swapping intakes, I also found that the brake booster vacuum line was resting against one of the header tubes. When I bent the hose to move it out of the way, it cracked and broke in two! The heat made it brittle. I replaced the hose and routed it away from the headers this time. That could have been bad! Also replaced the fuel filter while I was in there.





Got the new engine cover put on. Wow does that really clean things up! Looks so much better back there. Had a loose throttle linkage. Fixed it and can finally tell how much of a difference the new intake makes. Much better! Throttle response is much improved along with low end grunt. Feels more fun to drive.

October 2006: After last month's intake install, the Pantera started having a real pinging problem. I double checked the timing, vacuum lines and everything else. Just couldn't see anything wrong with it. I pulled the plugs and found that the #1 spark plug was coated in oil. I also noticed that the intake gaskets were leaking a little bit of water out of the water passages in the heads. I decided that the intake gasket was probably leaking oil into the #1 cylinder. My understanding is that it doesn't take much oil in the combustion chamber to cause detonation. I also discovered that 351 Cleveland heads do not have water passages on the intake side, so the heads on my Pantera aren't Cleveland heads. The numbers on the heads reveal that they are actually 1970 302 Boss heads. Cool!

I bit the bullet and pulled the intake and valve covers, and reinstalled everything. I also added oil baffles to the valve covers because the rubber baffles built into the grommets were junk. I took the advice of my on-line Pantera buddies when installing the intake this time, using a couple new tricks. Seems to have worked perfectly. No water leaks and the install went smooth with the use of things like alignment studs and quick drying cement. The pinging was reduced, but still noticeable. Friday I picked up a couple cans of Mopar Combustion Chamber cleaner. This stuff has a great reputation of being able to clean out detonation causing carbon deposits. I used two cans and now all of the pinging is gone unless I ease onto the gas in too tall of a gear. This week I'm going to pick up another two cans and see if I can get rid of the pinging entirely.

Ram Air! I mixed PIMotorsports' Pantera side air ducts and Vararam's Street Ram Air Intake system to build my very own Pantera Ram Air intake. Works like a charm. I am shocked at what a difference it makes, even under low speeds. Feels like there is a ton more torque. Got sideways in first gear while test driving tonight, something that hasn't happened before. At low speeds there can't be much, if any. ram air effect. I can only guess that the more important difference is fresh/cool air? It's probably ten degrees cooler tonight than it has been for a while. Fall is in the air. No matter the reason, the Pantera was a blast to drive this evening. I couldn't be happier with the end result.

April 2007: I took out the door locks and installed remote door poppers in preparation of shaving the door handles. I also installed a new window regulator system from Vader Racing. Both are really nice updates to the Pantera. I can now use a remote to open the doors (no more door key, yay!) and the windows roll up and down in seconds!

August 2007: The Pantera has always had a flat steel gas pedal and normal looking rubber pedal covers so I thought it was time to dress it up a bit. Ultimate Pedals makes great looking Pantera pedal kit so I thought I'd give them a shot. I'm very impressed! Super high quality, great looks and they're grippy, thanks to the rubber inserts. Very cool!



We finally got some traction on the Pantera door panels. Because of the door poppers, we no longer need the door lock on the inside of the Pantera door.

The factory door panels were made of some kind of plastic/fiberglass material that hasn't stood the test of time very well. They were warped, cracked and brittle. So Jaime and I decided to go the hot rod route, and make our own, flat door panels. They don't wrap around like the factory ones did. This means that the door lock hole and surrounding metal will be exposed so they needed to be cleaned up and finished nicely.

In the pictures below, you can see the original door lock hole and surrounding, unfinished metal. I welded up the hole with new sheetmetal, filled the seams, sanded and repainted semi-gloss black. Jaime cut the new door panels out of wood, sewed up a new cover (half UltraSuede, half UltraLeather), put in the new panel clips and installed the new door panel.

September 2007: We finished both door panels and armrests, kick panels and the rear firewall cover.





This weekend we installed the Cat Eye Quad Headlight Kit from Amerisport Industries. The kit converts the huge factory froggy looking headlights to more modern, low profile headlights. Expensive, but amazingly high quality. Installation would have been straight foreward if our Pantera didn't have a couple frozen headlight adjustment screws, and a oddly sized headlight bucket hole that didn't have enough clearance. At any rate, after working the majority of Saturday on the conversion, Jaime and I were eventually victorious. The car looks awesome with the headlights on now (yay!) and night vision is greatly improved.

October 2007: I installed a brand new Momo steering wheel from Precision Pro-Formance in the Pantera. Looks more modern and it's really comfortable, I love it!

December 2007: I welded in three pieces of 2" x 1/4" Steel Plate down the length of each door sill area for chassis strengthening. The holes for the old seat belt plates are covered up since I'll be converting to a 3-point seatbelt system. Jaime finished up the center firewall piece and we finally fit the new roll bar. The seatbelt tabs at the top had to be cut off, ground, rewelded and repainted to match up with the seatbelt bolt holes. I drilled and tapped the 1/4" steel plate on the floor for the roll bar to bolt to. Everything is extremely solid and tight fitting.





I moved on to installing a new fuseblock in the Pantera. Nothing was wrong with the old one, but this new one is so slick and compact that I couldn't resist. Since I already had the seats and carpet out of the car, I had lots of room to work. The old fuseblock used old style fuses and was seperated into two seperate blocks. One small block just for the window motors, and one large block for everything else. The old style fuses are getting harder and harder to find and I just don't see them having as good of connectivity as the new style.

This new fuseblock was purchased from Pantera Electronics. It's the same size as the larger of the old fuseblocks, but includes the power window fuses as well. The fuse ratings are labeled on the side, and when a circuit is blown a little LED lights up to show you which fuse is the problem. So cool! Installation is easy and everything worked on the first try!







Today I did manage to get the new 3-point retractable seatbelt system figured out and installed. Passenger side is done, drivers side awaits backordered parts from Summit Racing. Going to be so much more comfortable (and safe) than the factory lap belts. I also installed new door latches (not in the picture).

January 2008: The box surrounding the e-brake lever was too big and blocky for our new seats. Jaime designed a new one out of cardboard, then I cut it out of sheet metal and welded it up. Jaime covered it and designed a custom e-brake boot to cover the base of the lever. The ash tray is new as well. It's the same one that can be found in the Vipers. I liked it because it was a lot simpler than the original one, and didn't look as dated. The interior is coming together!

August 2008: I was so taken by Pantera Electronic's fuse block, that I wanted more. First, I installed Pantera Electronic's LED Front Signal Lights Conversion. These things are bright! In the first pic you can see the new LED panel installed into the original Pantera housing. This is an awesome install. Much easier than I expected. No modifications are made to the factory housing, just open it up and insert the LED's. Run the wires through and put connectors on them. They plug right into the factory harness. The only other thing left to do is install an electronic signal flasher. Pantera Electronics also makes a nifty flasher. It has a Green LED that lights up letting you know that the flasher has power and is operating correctly, plus it makes an electronic "di-doo" flasher sound. The flasher sound is quite loud, great for people with loud engines. It was a litte too loud for me though, so I put a little strip of foam tape over the speaker hole and now it's pefect! Did I mention that these are bright?

Second, I installed Pantera Electronic's Headlight Motor Controller. The Panteras are getting on in their years now, and one of the things that people are having problems with is the pop-up headlight operation. Not only does Jon's controller make the headlights reliable, it addresses a ton of other issues with the factory set up.

While I was messing with the electrical stuff, Jaime got to work on the loop style carpet. She made patterns out of paper first, then cut out the carpet and sewed various pieces together, essentially creating a "moulded carpet" look, only better. The fit is stunning. I'm totally amazed. Not a wrinkle or bare edge to be seen. Fanstastic!

September 2008: Finished putting custom air vents into our new carbon fiber hood that we purchase from Panteras by Wilkinson. The hood is super nice and fits great. It came without vents, and that actually worked out nicely because we didn't want to install the traditional Pantera hood vents. They're very rectangular, and the straight metal grill really makes them look dated. We wanted something with more shape, made from a more modern material. And since we're running the radiator in a more laid down position, we were able to make the vents taller to help release more hot air.

First I had to come up with the design. I designed the vents to mimic the shape of the gap between the back of the radiator and the front of the trunk. Had to leave room for the hood support beams on the sides and in the center. I rounded the corners using a small paint can cap, and adjusted the front most line to have the same curve as the front of the hood (instead of the straight line of the radiator). Jaime found the steel mesh material from an on-line computer store. Comes in flat sheets. Once we had the design and metal mesh, we needed a way to shape the mesh. Made a trip to Low's for a couple planks of wood and some router bits. Traced the pattern onto the wood and made a positive and negative shape for each vent. Inserted the mesh, fit the wood pieces together and clamped them down, pressing the mesh into the proper shape. Primed and painted the vents semi-gloss black with rattle cans.







Next, I traced the design onto the back side of the hood so that I could see the vent position relative to the hood supports.



I used a metal cutting disk on the dremel and cut from the front side of the hood to make sure that all of the lines were perfect. This is the most carefully I've ever cut anything! All the lines came out perfect. Once the holes were cut, I hand sanded the edges and test fit both vents.





Now it was time to finish off the newly cut edge. Using 1/4" pinstriping tape, I followed around each vent hole to make a guide line. Then I outlined the guide tape with a second piece of tape, and removed the original guide line tape. This gave me a perfect 1/4" piece of exposed carbon fiber around each vent hole. Jaime finished masking off the rest of the hood and I scuffed the carbon fiber resin lightly to help the new paint stick. This time I painted with glossy black. Once the paint was dry I installed each vent using a bead of black silicone sealant on the back side of the hood.











Once the silicone was dried we re-installed the hood. Pardon the dust on the rest of the car. We're getting there, one piece at a time!

January 2009: Jaime finished the Pantera seats this past week! We bolted them in and took it for a drive this evening. This is the first time that it's been on the road in over a year! :O Time sure flies when you're having fun. I also haven't ever taken a new photo of the white on black switch labels either, so here they are.

July 9th, 2009: Time for some serious work to be handled by the Guru's over at PIMotorsports. This is stuff that I don't dare mess around with myself. They asked me to visit the shop regularly, to give feedback and make sure that everything is going just as I'd like it to. How cool is that? Here's a run down of what's going on in the pics.

Just getting started here. Paint has been taken off where the steel Group4 style fender flares meet up. Notice that the line overlaps the side marker lights. Those will be filled in, and new side marker turn signal indicators will be placed behind the front wheel arches, similar to a lot of cars you see on the road today.



This is one of the new wheels test mounted in the rear. They are a more modern interpretation of the Group 4 style wheel. 18x12's for the rear. 17x8's for the front. The rolled lip on the wheel creates a huge deep dish look. Wheel centers have been painted a dark metallic silver to visually push the centers back, make the disk brakes show up more, and tie back into the dark carbon fiber hood, deck lid (coming soon) and the blacked out chrome. Tires are Nitto 555R's in the rear, 305/35/18's. Nitto 555's up front, 255/40/17's. The tire sizes were hard to find, but they have a great look to them. The rears look beefy and have a tall side wall.



Front bumper area is being prepared to be smoothed since I moved the turn signals behind the grill years ago. Also notice that the lower valance has been removed. It didn't take much. It was so rusty and curb crushed that it almost fell off. Radiator support underneath has also rotted away. The radiator support is being rebuilt and new valance welded on.



The rear end has been smoothed. The rear bumperettes will not be going back on, nor will the Pantera emblems.



I installed door poppers a while back. Now the door handles have been smoothed. Here you can see the new metal that has been welded in.

July 10th, 2009:
The new wheels and tires were bolted on one side, and the fenders temporarily fit to the body. We're checking fitment here and decided to bring the rear wheel out another 1 3/4", and the front out another 1". The wheels have to be sent off, the center weld cut so that the centers can be moved and rewelded. Then the wheels will be repolished, and possibly repainted. Can't go this far, and then not do it right.





This is the new front valance top, and the old one below. Not much left of the old one besides rust and bondo. I bought the replacement piece on ebay a while back.

July 17th, 2009:
Drip rails have been removed and the body welded up.





Radiator support has been rebuilt (thought you can't see it anymore) and the new front valance has been put on.



Got the wheels back after having theirs welds cut, centers moved, and re-welded. Check out how much lip is on the rear wheels now! :O
The paint will need to be touched up where it was bolted into the machine that does the cutting.

July 25th, 2009:
Flares are welded up.









Bought a new big brake kit from Pantera Performance in Colorado. Wilwood calipers, two piece rotors, stainless lines, new master cylinder, proportioning valve, etc. I disassembled the calipers, painted them blue, sanded off the Wilwood logo and reassembled. These will go on the car once I get it back from the paint shop.



Our own Auger Resources/Pantera Electronics LED tail lights with clear lenses have now been smoked. I think they're going to look great with the Carbon Fiber bits on the car and the dark wheels.

August 22nd, 2009:
Fenders are done. I really like the fender vents in the front of our Lotus that help alleviate the high air pressure that builds up in the front wheel wells, so we decided to do something similar on the Pantera. We wanted the vents to follow the lines of the new flares. We originally only planned for one, but after cutting the first, Josh drew out a second and I really liked the shark gill look it created. The holes will be filled with an embossed screen mesh that will fit flush with the fender (same style as what Jaime and I made for the hood vents). In this first shot, you can also see the new mounting hole for the side marker lights that will fit nearly flush with the body.



Rear Quarter: Check out how much lip that rear wheel has. Amazing. I have a new carbon fiber deck lid that should be arriving in another week or so. It'll partially be painted body color. More on that later.





Rear: The car must be a foot wider now. Crazy stuff. Those Nitto Drag radials look fantastic. I'm thinking about having the exhaust ceramic coated so that I don't have to fuss with the black Paint burning off. Not sure though. Maybe that'll be too glitzy.

Nice work Bro! Maybe we will finally have another nice Group 4 in the OC area! Cars & Coffee?

For sure! Your car was one of the biggest influences on my decision to go the Grp4 route. Thanks!

Will be headed to paint in the next week or so for the rest of the paint to be stripped.

Whats the color going to be, pearl orange or lime lambo green?

Hahaha, wow, you're good! Sunset Pearlescent Orange. Mitsubishi Eclipse color.

Looking awesome! Love the wheels. Where did you get your rollbar and flares?
Mike

Thanks!!!

Rollbar through Precision Pro-Formance.

Flares are being done by PIMotorsports. Not sure where they get em, but I'm really glad that I didn't try to tackle that job myself. It's an insane amount of work to fit them, especially the lower pieces.

Got to ask why you would remove the script from the back of the car?
I like people to know what I'm driving and am proud of what it is.
tom

Freakin' beautiful.

Love those vents in the flares! Nice interior too! Yes, go for the ceramic coating on the headers. Zero maintenance. Just get nice polished or powder coated tips if black is what you want.

Wider is better - so fill up those flares with your beautiful wheels and fat boots. Don't be afraid about being tight to the lip of those flares. A tough suspension shouldn't travel that much.

MacMan,

Beautiful car. My car #3428 was built right after yours. It's also red. I'm currently redoing the engine, drive train and other mechanical systems. I just got my ZF back from Dennis Quella and engine is at the builder now. Hopefully, I'll be back on the road soon.

Dennis

quote:

Originally posted by new&slow:
Got to ask why you would remove the script from the back of the car?
I like people to know what I'm driving and am proud of what it is.
tom

I hear ya. I'm also proud of what it is, but I'm just not fond of the way the Pantera script looks. I'm not a big fan of script on cars at all really. Removed the "Dodge" and "Viper" scripts from the rear of my Viper as well.

Hopefully I can find a better way to display the Pantera name.

quote:

Originally posted by DW:
MacMan,

Beautiful car. My car #3428 was built right after yours. It's also red. I'm currently redoing the engine, drive train and other mechanical systems. I just got my ZF back from Dennis Quella and engine is at the builder now. Hopefully, I'll be back on the road soon.

Dennis

Right on. After this I'm gonna drive mine for a while, and save up some money. Then get to the engine bay.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by David B:
Freakin' beautiful.

Love those vents in the flares! Nice interior too!QUOTE]

Thanks!!! Still a bit more to do in the interior. Gotta hook up the A/C and recover the dash, but at least most of that is just hard work and not as much money.

Ha I knew it had to be pearl orange, I could feel it in my bones, nice! I love the sleek look myself on all my cars, no script or bumpers or wipers or any such stuff. Thats how the retrorods are done now. I actually get more people stopping me without the script asking what is it? It is more fun that way. Have you seen those shots of another Group 4 here in southern CA that is pearl orange?

Oh no, are you serious? There can be only one. It's not too late to go lambo green. I have at least a week to change my mind.

Yup, I don't have any wipers either now (I think I just heard a couple people faint). If I ever happen to get caught in one of the two SoCal rainstorms per year, Rain-X will do just fine.

Vroom vroooom!

quote:

Vroom vroooom!

BARF, BARF!

Wow! not sure how but I have missed your car thread the last couple months. The work looks amazing can't wait to see it painted and on the road.

Vroom vrooom

quote:

Originally posted by LF - TP 2511:

quote:

Vroom vroooom!

BARF, BARF!

Soooo, you're sayin you don't like the green. I was thinking there was probably a reason that there are very, very few green panteras.

quote:

Originally posted by Mark M:
Wow! not sure how but I have missed your car thread the last couple months. The work looks amazing can't wait to see it painted and on the road.

Nah, you only missed a couple days worth. Posted them all up over the weekend. Thought I'd join the crowd.

quote:

very, very few green panteras.

Chris,

There is a PCNC owner with an original forest green (or whatever De Tomaso called it) and believe it or not, I have always liked how that car looks with that color.

The faded, lime green color seen on some....now, that's another story.

Larry

There's a HUGE vat of Corona Beer somewhere that this car should be sitting at the bottom of!

Michael

quote:

Originally posted by Cyboman:
There's a HUGE vat of Corona Beer somewhere that this car should be sitting at the bottom of!

Michael

Wow! I dunno man, that car is pretty awesome. Hats off to that guy. I would have maybe gone with black wheels instead of the gold ones. I understand the factory wheels were gold, but if you're gonna go lime green... Glad to see someone had the balls to do it. Heh

Chris,

Awesome job! I was reading those posts and by page three I was saying to myself "man, if he puts Group4 fenders on that car, I'm gonna have to go down there and take it from him". It is getting pretty close to being my perfect alter-ego Super-Pantera.

As far as color choice goes, the orange does look pretty hot, but for a car that REALLY stands apart, the lime would be awesome as well (and unique). Just so you can get an idea of what direction might work, here are a few options. Personally, I would seriously consider Lambo lime.

Great work and posts. Thanks!

Mark

Option set 2

Option set 3

Yeah I am still sold on Lambo pearl lime or pearl orange too. Our cars need to stand out, they just are not loud enough to get attention!

Here is a photo of that orange car I was talking about, I believe somewhere here in southern CA I believe it was on rides domain or somethikng like that with a few more photos.

Yup, I was looking at his web site last night. http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2477051 He's got a lot of pictures of it up there. It's finished now and he's been to a bunch of shows. Awesome car.

The Eclipse color that I'm looking at is more red than that. It's different enough from his that I'll be able to sleep at night.

quote:

Originally posted by Mark Charlton:
Option set 3

Holy smokes, you've got a nice collection of cars Mark! Just looked at your website. One day... one day I'll have a Mangusta and a GT40 too.

Wow! The car is looking Great! Thanks for sharing all the photos. It is always great to see all the ideas and ways they are being used on the Pantera. Looking forward to seeing it with the new paint.

BTW, anyone know where people are getting those side Detom emblems, like the one on the orange car above? Almost looks like a vinyl sticker.

Chris, maybe when you're finished we can work out a trade.

The emblem on the orange car doesn't look like a sticker close-up, but I have no idea where it came from. I know that some guys (David B on his GT5) have used the front grille emblem on the fenders and it looks great. Smaller, but better proportioned than the one on the orange car, IMHO.

Mark

And the smaller emblem on David's GT5

Mark

Neat! Those front emblems must have come on the later cars. My '72 has the big ol branding iron one.

quote:

Originally posted by MacMan:
BTW, anyone know where people are getting those side Detom emblems, like the one on the orange car above? Almost looks like a vinyl sticker.

probably here?

http://www.poca.com/pocastore/...ath=8&products_id=20

Awesome. Purchased a set to check em out. Thanks!

The "branding Iron" logo is a Euro car thing (later, not early if I recall correctly). The rectangular emblem is the standard front grille logo for American cars.

They can be bought at Wilkinson/Hall/PI and (after the pin is snapped off) be adhered with foam tape. The POCA store logos look like vinyl not metal as on the Orange car.

Mark

quote:

Originally posted by Mark Charlton:
The "branding Iron" logo is a Euro car thing (later, not early if I recall correctly). The rectangular emblem is the standard front grille logo for American cars.

Wow, I had no idea. Crazy.

wow the car looks awesome congrats.Question it looks like the front fender flares were cut just above the lip why? Just curious Thanks

Nicely done! Keep the pics coming.

quote:

Originally posted by sam c:
wow the car looks awesome congrats.Question it looks like the front fender flares were cut just above the lip why? Just curious Thanks

Not sure I understand your question. The old fender flare gets cut off so that the new flare can be positioned. After the new flare is welded on, the remaining extra fender under the new flare is removed, and the inside of the fender is smoothed.

It's been a while, but here's another update on the Pantera. Keeps looking rougher and rougher doesn't it?

The paint has mostly been sanded down to bare metal, or "All Metal" (an aluminum based body filler) in these shots. I'm happy to report that the car is very straight for the most part. There is evidence of a small fender bender on the right front fender, but other than that, it's solid. Notice how much lead is in the rear uprights. It probably 1/8" thick, maybe more. That'll all be sanded out and built up again with All Metal.

MacMan, I don't mean to side step this topic, but I do have a question. Can you give me as much info as you can regarding the old Team III wheels you had on your car? Backspacing front and rear, Tire Sizes, Etc. I an thinking about ordering a set. What is your opinion about the backspacing? Should I use the same as your old wheels or would you recommed a slightly different dimension? Your help is much appreciated

The recessed emblems is a Rodder's trick. What you do is cut a whole in the location you want your emblem, then build a small metal box slightly larger than the emblem and tack it on the back of the body panel. Then fill the instaled box with body filler and push the emblem into the fresh plastic, before the plastic is too dry remove the emblem (using thread instaled on it BEFORE pressing it in). The VOILA you have a custom touch for your Cat.

Denis

Fancy!

The emblem looks like some that I purchased from Wilkinson's a few years back. Made of some metal with adhesive on back with peel off paper that said Made in China.

Oooh, that's cool. I'm thinking about having mine done in vinyl. Did something similar with the Viper and I really like it.

Any paint on the Pantera yet?

Brilliant thread, don't know how I missed it. Thanks for taking us along!

quote:

Originally posted by Mark M:
Any paint on the Pantera yet?

Don't think so. Going to have to poke the body shop guys this week. It's been too long.

That's the thing I hate about body shops: they tell you 3 months, then 6 months later when you ask what's going on/ how's it coming along (after next to nothing has been done), you're now suddenly 'in a hurry' and 'breaking their balls' (but all the while they're telling you they need more and more money). Now all of a sudden, you're the bad guy rushing them. I just don't get it.

Michael

This is a cool thread and I can't wait to see the finished car!!

Guess what I saw today? Yup, it's back from Paint and it is nothing short of stunning. I was blown away. Totally exceeded my expectations. Lots of work to do now. Wheels gotta go back for some touch up, the whole car has to be reassembled, new mirrors, the fender vents and fender liners, etc, etc.

Pictures came out grainy. Don't know what's up with my camera lately.

Very nice. The body mods look great. What color is it?

Mitsubishi, "Sunset Pearlescent". It's red in the shadows, metallic orange in the sun. I've seen the color on a lot of Eclipses, but it never looked THIS good.

Long live Panteras!

Absolutly georgous .....love the lower vents!

Thats funny I was driving by PIM Thursday and was looking to see if your car was back from paint. Didn't see yours but there was another group 4 project. Looks great!

The car looks great! No door handles is the way to go!

Michael

quote:

Originally posted by Mark M:
Thats funny I was driving by PIM Thursday and was looking to see if your car was back from paint. Didn't see yours but there was another group 4 project. Looks great!

You must have just missed it. Came back Thursday evening.

Yeah there are a couple Grp4 cars being built there at the moment. A red one which PI is buiding to sell, I believe. And a black one that was started right after mine. Very fun to check in on the progress every now and then and see what other people are doing.

Niiiiice dude! When done, lets team up with my dark cranberry 4 car at Irvine Cars & Coffee. I lost Steve and Randy as Orange County Group 4 buddies when they sold their Group 4 cars, now I am all alone with no Group 4 buddies

Great looking color! I like the darker orange, My car is the light (Mclaren) orange and the color doesn't thrill me...for some reason it just OK. I really like the handless doors, makes me want to do the same.

quote:

Originally posted by DOES 200:
Niiiiice dude! When done, lets team up with my dark cranberry 4 car at Irvine Cars & Coffee.

Absolutely!!! Count me in!

are those wheels 18s?

Car looks great! Wheels really make it with the car as they are. What do you have to do to them?

18's in the rear. 17's up front.

Just gotta have the paint touched up. We had to change the offsets, and the machine chipped the paint right where the centercaps go. That's it though.

What are you using to open the doors? Electric poppers or remote power window control?

Dan

Electronic selenoids (one for each side) are activated via the remote on my keychain. The doors have a spring that pushes them open once the latch is pulled by the selenoid.

That Pantera is one of the prettiest that I have ever seen.

I am looking forward to seeing it in person one day.

quote:

Originally posted by four walling:
That Pantera is one of the prettiest that I have ever seen.

I am looking forward to seeing it in person one day.

Wow, thanks man! :O

Wow! What a transformation! It looks GREAT!

Keep the pictures coming!
Ron

Its come a long way - Very Nice!!

Great looking car!
Color is very cool.
Keep up the great work!

Oh Brooke is back! I'm still waiting to hear those 180's.

Now that the body has been painted, reassembly begins. We still have a bit of paintwork to do (hood, decklid, wheel touchups). I also have some other goodies like the new Wilwood brakes to put on as well, and carbon fiber side mirrors. In these pics, the windshield is back in, headlights, side markers, tail lights and exhaust. The side markers are some Ferrari lights that I found on ebay. They fit nearly flush on the body. Gonna look real nice and keep me safer at night. The tail lights are tinted Carello clear lenses with LED's for colored lighting.

Looking exceptionally nice and the color really pops and the black trim, wheel centers compliment it very well.

I see you removed the roof line drip gutter, which also adds to the modern look. I'm thinking about this on #7024. I assume it is just a case of grind it off and weld the seam?

Julian

Yup. Josh over at PIM did it a bit at a time (cut a six inch strip off, then weld it up and repeat) so the seam wouldn't flex apart or anything. Also had to fill the holes where the rivets originally held the drip gutter.

Pretty simple, and it looks great.

"I also have some other goodies like the new Wilwood brakes to put on as well, and carbon fiber side mirrors"

If you are considering glass mounted mirrors like I have on my car, I would suggest sitting in the vehicle and have someone hold the mirror to the glass where it would be mounted. Make sure that you are comfortable with the angle of the mirror glass.

I personally like to have my mirror glass angled more to the outside then is allowed on my mirrors.

footnote edit: WOW everybody-sorry about the big pic...this computer stuff is hit or miss for me sometimes

Yeah, you're right. I push my mirrors out really far, compared to what most people (and manufacturers) expect. Fortunately I am going with a set of mirrors that will adjust as far as needed:

Mirrors Link

I have an extra set of euro GR4 round side lights in red and amber if anyone is looking. They have black rubber bezels, not chrome.
Will

quote:

Originally posted by MacMan:
Yeah, you're right. I push my mirrors out really far, compared to what most people (and manufacturers) expect. Fortunately I am going with a set of mirrors that will adjust as far as needed:

Mirrors Link

I have a set of these in black with an extra set of convex lenses if you are interested, I bought them for the GT40 and decided to go with something else.

Ron

quote:

Originally posted by tajon:
Oh Brooke is back! I'm still waiting to hear those 180's.

Not back, just lurking and drooling!
Unfortunately still no progress. Still very busy with getting the business back on track.

This is why I love reading about other peoples progress and projects. Although my P car sits in the corner of the shop waiting for my free time, 4NHOTROD and MacMan are getting it done.

MacMan has created quite a animal here, its come a long ways from the car it was when I saw it here in Utah years ago. I love the color and all the subtle mods he has done to personalize it while keeping it true and identifiable as being a Pantera.

Love your car. Beautifull color and body work. I like the side rear view mirrors out really far also. I found some testarosa mirrors that reached out far enough to see past the group 4 flairs and pretty much eleminated any blind spot. This picture doesnt look that great but they give the car that low-wide look.
Rick



Yeah, you're right. I push my mirrors out really far, compared to what most people (and manufacturers) expect. Fortunately I am going with a set of mirrors that will adjust as far as needed:

Rear view with mirrors. I also eleminated the little wing window that seemed to always be right in the middle of the mirror. I had some new glass made that filled in the whole space, right up to the mirror mount.
Rick

Wow, now that's cool! One piece side windows. Awesome!

quote:

MacMan has created quite a animal here, its come a long ways from the car it was when I saw it here in Utah years ago. I love the color and all the subtle mods he has done to personalize it while keeping it true and identifiable as being a Pantera.

Wow, thank you so much! That's crazy that you saw the car in Utah! Here it is the day that I first saw it. Awe...

Lots of work still to do, but things are quickly coming together. Got the carbon fiber hood and decklid back from Paint. The sides were painted body color, leaving a carbon fiber stripe down the middle. The stripe will be continued over the roof, and down the front and rear of the car with fake (but very convincing) carbon fiber vinyl.

Over the last couple of days I have completed the carbon fiber stripes, made the side mirror mounts and got those put on, got the door panels on, brush finished the wheel lips and did a bunch of cleaning. Today Jaime is going to help me make the screens for the "gills". We'll be at Cars & Coffee on Saturday.

I just has to say:

I think I just might have got myself a new favorite cat!

Wow, thanks!!!

Got the grills done for the gills today.

I'm with lambo! Damn nice cat!

Car looks amazing!! The brushed look on the rims looks spectaculer!! WAY better than than the polished look!!!

Ron

quote:

Originally posted by r mccall:
Car looks amazing!! The brushed look on the rims looks spectaculer!! WAY better than than the polished look!!!

Glad you think so. It sure seemed like a big risk when I broke out the sand paper. "Am I sure I want to do this?" Heh

Got lots of comments on the wheels this morning at Cars and Coffee. Everyone loved the finish, so I'd have to call it a success.

Every time I check, you've done something else amazing to your car. Looks Great!

The close up of the gills shows the great work and attention to detail on the car!!! NICE.

Happy New Year to all.

Thanks guys!

On the theme of carbon vinyl. Could you take a photo of it, so it can be compared to the real carbon fiber (as in two photos in the same light, same angel) on your hoods? I hava been looking for some vinyl like these, and all the tests I have bought have been shit, so I would like to know who supplied yours.

StickerCity just came out with a new vinyl that has a 3Dimensional surface so that it catches the light like carbon fiber does:
http://www.stickercity.com/pro...d=21813&cat=0&page=1
It should be a better match than what I have at the moment. I'll probably switch to that stuff soon. I was using their older stuff, which is simply printed. Looks acceptable at a distance, but that's it. Doesn't stand up to a closer look. I'll still grab a pic for you, but I'm pretty sure the new stuff is the way to go.

-Chris

Please do that. On my car, I plan to make it look a bit like the good old GTS, and with both lids in bare carbon, I need carbon-look below the beltline too, and vinyl might be easier than making new bodypanels.....

A GTS done with carbon fiber would be awesome. This vinyl is very easy to work with too, so it's pretty ideal.

Nice bro!! I like how you deleted out all the windshield wiper crap, no need for that stuff in Southern CA (well at least untill the local gum shoe shows up).

From what the pictures show, that carbon vinyl looks a good bit better than those I found on eBay. Will try to get me a little testpiece of that 3D type to see how that looks.

This weekend's project: Wilwood brakes. Got the fronts done and the new master cylinder in. Gotta do the rears tomorrow.

Finished up the brake install this weekend. Went very smoothly, and they stop like crazy!

FWIW, my personal favorite wiper setup is that blue car a few weeks back that has a modified front hood that HIDES installed wipers. I'd buy such a setup if a vendor started making them- I'm not good on bodywork!

Chris, the cars is looking amazing!!! Even the carbon vinyl looks good. Thanks for sharing all your work!

I love your interior, especially what you guys did with the switches. I love the color of you car and I'm not a big fan of how carbon fiber looks, but you're starting to make me change my mind

Thanks!!!

Just spent the last few hours fixing most of the busted photo links. While I've been away from the forums, work has continued on the car so I have some catching up to do.

December 19th, 2010
I made a vinyl DeTomaso emblem for the Pantera with colors to suit the car. I love it!

April 2nd, 2011
After a long break, I’ve come back to the Pantera for another round. This time the focus is on finishing the interior and engine compartment. This is the new lump of iron and aluminum which is going in. After literally years of thinking about the motor, I ultimately went with my gut and I am really excited about the end result. This is a Windsor stroker motor with Webers that just put down 592hp on the engine dyno. I think it’s beautiful.

April 24th, 2011
Jaime and I have been working on the Pantera dash. It’s the last piece of the interior that needs to be redone. Once it was out of the car and stripped, most of the holes were fiberglassed over. We won’t be using the old factory vents and such, so we made new holes, sanded, prepped, etc. Today we covered the dash in dense foam padding. I just manned the spray adhesive while Jaime made patterns and trimmed. Tomorrow the upholstery work begins. We have some very cool ideas in the works, so hopefully all goes to plan! Pardon the low res photos, but I left my fancy camera at work and shot these with the iPod.

April 30th, 2011
More photos to show from the Pantera.

Pic with the dash removed and the new Vintage Air unit:



The electronics are moved to the right side of the engine compartment for easy access.



The gas tank was rusty inside. I always had to run fresh fuel filters to keep the gunk out of the motor. Since the motor was out, it was time to freshen up the gas tank. It was boiled out and re-sealed.



Extra holes welded up in the engine bay. Everything is removed and ready for paint:



And here is the engine bay back from paint. Looks nice, cleaned up, and the semi-gloss black will keep the focus on the motor and trans.

May 14th, 2011
Check it out! Jaime and I finished up the Pantera dash this morning. Would have finished last weekend but we ran out of adhesive. I visited five stores on Sunday, looking for more but nobody carries it. We gave up and had to order it on-line. At any rate, the dash is done now. It’s not perfect, but that’s how these things go. Still looks impressive overall, and much improved over the 39 year old vinyl that it replaced.

The material is Alcantara up top to reduce windshield glare, and Ultraleather on the rest. Blue contrast stitching follows along the top edge where the two materials meet.

Thanks to Jaime for working so hard on it. Next step is to get it into the car.

May 25th, 2011
The dash is back in the car and the electronics are hooked up. Seats, center console, various bits and pieces still need to be put in. The Vintage Air system really blows! Looks nice. I gotta see if I can change the air control knob lights to blue so they’ll match the rest of the interior.

The transmission is back from its rebuild and polish. Looks amazing, and it should, considering what it costs to rebuild a ZF. :P

May 18th, 2011
Everything is still being hooked up, but it’s sitting in place on motor mounts. Yay! I don’t think the engine and trans could “pop” much more against that semi-gloss black engine bay.

The deck lid has to be cut a little bit so that it can close and we will need to find a solution for the engine cover. I am also going to get taller velocity stacks so that they are slightly taller than the deck lid.

June 4th, 2011
Mmmmmm, Forgeline wheels. I have waited soooooooo long for these (17 weeks to be exact). This is the first time they’ve done nickel plated deep dish lips of this magnitude. Satin black, center-lock centers. Titanium fasteners. This is pic taken while the wheels were being assembled. I’ll post new pics soon.

More progress in the engine bay too. Axles are back in. Chassis brace is polished and installed. New motor mounts, pulleys, belts, etc. AirCon condenser and new fan in place. I thought I had new velocity stacks, but the company sent me steel stacks instead of the aluminum ones that were advertised. Uh, no. Ordered another set from a different company. Fingers crossed.

July 6th, 2011
I worked with Josh over at PIMotorsports to come up with this design for the new engine cover. Webers always require a little trimming of the deck lid, and that’s where most Pantera owners leave it. Cut a hole and call it good. But I wanted it to look finished, as if the car was designed to have Webers from the beginning. I wanted something that would sit flush with the top of the velocity stacks and we also needed the engine cover to remain rigid.

So this new engine cover evenly wraps around the velocity stacks (not pictured) and ramps up to their max height. It ramps down and sits flush with the deck lid at the back. It’s seen here in bare fiberglass, but it’s off to paint this week so we should see the finished product next week. So exciting!

July 22nd, 2011
We are very close to being able to drive the Pantera home. Looks like next week everything will be buttoned up and ready to go. I have some new pics of the engine cover for you. Once I get it home I’ll smooth and paint the trimmed pieces of the deck lid, and get to work on a bunch of other little bits and pieces.

August 15th, 2011
Two years ago this month we were putting fender flares on the Pantera. How crazy. It seems like just a few months ago.

I’ve been working hard on the Pantera for the last two weekends. Nothing terribly visual, just a bunch of important odds and ends. I have a good number of cuts, scrapes and bruises, and I think a separated rib.

Swapped in a new 100 amp alternator. Got the timing and fuel pressure set properly. Have the carbs pretty close. Put the rest of the interior back together. Painted the under side of the decklid and cleaned up the cut-outs around the webers. Re-painted the engine cover semi-gloss black. Moved the throttle cable to a higher position on the gas pedal, etc, etc.

Drove the car around all weekend to put some miles on the motor. The ol Pantera gets tons of attention and drinks plenty of gas. Every time I parked the car people were taking photos or asking questions about it. I took a couple quick pics myself to show the finished engine cover and decklid set-up.

I've got to do a photo shoot soon. Get pictures of everything as it sits today. It's come a long way since 2004!

I was just going back over the pics. The car is incredible! You and Jaime have a great eye for what is going to look good. Which Vintage Air unit did you end up using?
Mike

It's the small unit with the three vents. I believe a four vent would work too, but it's a tighter squeeze. Three seemed fine to me. I'll dig up the actual part numbers this week and get back to you.

Absolutely beautiful. Love that dash/A/C. Super craftmanship

Absolutely beautiful indeed! Love to see it in person and really relish the craftsmanship.

This car is totally awesome and the amount of dedication, time, expense and love clearly shows in your finished show stopping masterpiece. Once day I will be like you my friend!!! Bravo and simple brilliant!!!

MacMan,
Are you just going to run w/o an air cleaner? Doesn't that shorten engine life?

As with everyone else you car came out amazing.

I too was wondering about which vingtage air unit you used like ktmike asked?

Are the electronic controls for temp and flapper setting part of the vintage air unit or sourced seperately? Looks like a good solution to eliminate those pesky sliders.

quote:

Originally posted by Corey Price:
MacMan,
Are you just going to run w/o an air cleaner? Doesn't that shorten engine life?

Real men don't need air cleaners! It gets parked in the garage, it doesn't rain in SoCal and I don't put a ton of mileage on it, so I don't expect it'll be an issue. Whiplash has never run filters on his either, and I got a ride in it a month or two back, and the thing still screams.

I just put screens on them to keep anything big out.

I'll keep an eye on the oil and see if I can get a sense of it getting dirty more quickly.

quote:

Originally posted by pantera2077:
As with everyone else you car came out amazing.

I too was wondering about which vingtage air unit you used like ktmike asked?

Are the electronic controls for temp and flapper setting part of the vintage air unit or sourced seperately? Looks like a good solution to eliminate those pesky sliders.

Thanks!!! I'm still gonna dig up those part numbers for you. All the AC related parts, the vents and the controls are all Vintage Air stuff. That was my big concern for the AC, was getting rid of the cable sliders. :P

quote:

Originally posted by MacMan:

quote:

Originally posted by Corey Price:
MacMan,
Are you just going to run w/o an air cleaner? Doesn't that shorten engine life?

Real men don't need air cleaners! It gets parked in the garage, it doesn't rain in SoCal and I don't put a ton of mileage on it, so I don't expect it'll be an issue. Whiplash has never run filters on his either, and I got a ride in it a month or two back, and the thing still screams.

I just put screens on them to keep anything big out.

I'll keep an eye on the oil and see if I can get a sense of it getting dirty more quickly.

Please let us know how it goes. It doesn't rain that much here in Utah either, but we definitely have dust... I was under the impression that air cleaners can be a fire hazard if the webers aren't tuned correctly.

It does look great, by the way!

Wow, beautiful build. I really like what you did with the fiberglass Weber plate -- looks factory.

The carburetor inspired dash ducts look nice too -- did you make these too? I am interested in what you used for the Vintage Air unit as well. Does it interfere with your A/V equipment? Do you have any A/V stuff in your car -- I cannot remember from the photos I just looked at 2 minutes ago; scary.

Looks Great!

Mark

So we used the Compac Gen II system. It has heat/cool/defrost. Part number is 68000-VUZ-A.

Those carb inspired vents are optional Vintage Air bits. I love em. I really want to take the blades off and have them brass plated to complete the look.

I don't currently have any audio equipment in the car (besides the mufflers), but my center console has plenty of room. I have a pocket where the radio would go.

We DID loose the glovebox. That was the only sacrifice. The dash was totally smoothed over there. I don't have any gloves anyway.

I've been watching this thread and don't know where to start on my comments.....the original car was nice to start with... then it started to transform into THE DREAM. Where do you start your compliments: the paint, the flares, the engine, interior? I can only imagine the time you have spent on the car. Absolutely outstandingly beautiful work!

Isn't it illegal to run an air cleaner on Webers! Well maybe immoral, the horns look way too cool. LOL The sound they give is amazing. You can run a screen to keep the big pieces from going in the engine or a screen and a foam dust catcher. I've seen full blown air cleaners run on Webers but that kills the look. I ran the foam dust catcher type and it was pretty good protection, maybe not for dirt roads but I don't think they'll be driving much of that.

What size chokes are you running? Is it dialed in? I remember it was an experience dialing it in.

Thanks Chris. I am leaning towards a Vintage Air unit as well. They are just up the road in San Antonio. I like how the unit is basically self-contained and they have options for style of control panel,vents and knobs etc.
Mike

Car is looking better everytime I see it. Love the details. The pinstriping on the edges of the carbon really helps too.

FOAM air cleaners are dangerous on Webers regardless of tune, but paper ones are fine. K & Ns are maybe OK. What happens in IR intake manifolds is, very strong air pulses go back and forth from carb tip to intake valve, and carburetors are dumb devices: they will meter gas in either direction. So at resonant rpms, you get a small cloud of gas hanging above the carb ram tubes (sometimes called 'reversion'). The cloud soaks foam air cleaners; now all you need is a small backfire on starting and the whole thing bursts into flame. ALWAYS carry a fire extinguisher when running Webers! I've had 2 Weber-fires and my a... was saved the first time by a passing trucker with an extinguisher; the second time I had my own... The nice foam cleaners wound up in a ditch.
Next thing that happens if you don't get the fire out pronto is, the 8 small aux venturis that are in the middle of each carb throat are made of pot-metal, which melts at low temp in the fire and runs down the short intakes to the cylinder. If an intake valve happens to be open, molten metal runs into that cylinder and hardens on the piston. Guess what happens when you try to restart the motor? Time for a couple of new pistons!
FWIW, EFI does not meter fuel in reverse so this doesn't happen; just another little-known advantage of EFI.