Dashboard L Model

Single pod or dual pod?  Both are L dash boards.

Here is a good dual pod.

https://www.pantera-electronics.com/panteraparts.htm

Is it a single pod, or a dual pod dash?  

(P-Doug beat me to it!)

The L model cut-in was (IIRC) 4260, but MarkIV4280 had a dual pod dash….

Unfortunately, I don’t have any leads, but all the serious shops (like those that advertise at the top of this forum) probably have one or two, or have ideas about them!

Rocky

Our minds apparently work the same way. That is a very scary thought I know.

Single pod please

@FWJ posted:

Single pod please

There are two types of those. Type 1 is the US '74 version which is injected plastic. It has the reputation for being thin and splitting easily.

Type 2 is the European version which is thick fiberglass. It requires being covered in an upholstery like leather or vinyl.

Your best bet for either is to make the rounds of the Pantera aftermarket dealers.

I got one from Bob Byers at Precision Proformance, around 10 years ago. He made it for me since he was the owner of the molds for it.

Bob passed in 2019 and PP is now closed as a result. Apparently he was the source of them to most of the other Pantera shops.

Given a choice, you want the fiberglass version v. the injection plastic version.

Around the same time, Hall Pantera had them listed as available. Currently they are not listed by them.

I would prefer Typ2 fiberglass but would take what I receive since it will be leathered anyway

Try to contact Jan Einar Krakevik on Facebook. He and his company manufactures them and does first class upholstery as well.

Cheers I did

It may be worth calling or emailing Tara at Hall Pantera.  Sometimes they have used items not listed on the website.

HALL PANTERA, Inc.
15337 Garfield Ave.
Paramount, CA 90723
(562) 531-2629
hallpantera@sbcglobal.net
Hours: Tuesday-Friday 10am-4pm

I did that today as well. Thanks

Also Wilkinson

Keep in mind, a single pod dash won’t just bolt into a Pantera that came with a two pod dash. It also won’t work with the two pod heater/AC unit. Mods are required. I’m not sure if the early console will work with a late dash, so you’ll need to look into that as well.

@davidnunn posted:

Keep in mind, a single pod dash won’t just bolt into a Pantera that came with a two pod dash. It also won’t work with the two pod heater/AC unit. Mods are required. I’m not sure if the early console will work with a late dash, so you’ll need to look into that as well.

I did the switch, the changes are simple but it isn't like changing your socks.

In addition to changing the dash you will also need to change the center console.

Larry

Thanks Larry for that information.
@panteradoug: You have changed to a single pod. Did you change the center console as well or did you find a different way?

@FWJ posted:

Thanks Larry for that information.
@panteradoug: You have changed to a single pod. Did you change the center console as well or did you find a different way?

I did not change the console.  It does not need to be. What happens is that it just attaches to the new dash a little differently. The single pod dimension of the face is shorter then the dual pod on the passenger side by around one inch and the corner of the Ac/heater exchanger box is exposed.

What is different is under the dash. The ducting hoses and the a/c vents need to be cut into the front of the sheet metal and a new defroster hose needs to be run to the drivers side.

What I did discover is that you need to drop the steering column down in order to  run the left ducting and connect the dash to the mounting brackets.

One of those is only accessible through the hole for the speedometer. So the speedometer is the last to install, once the dash is bolted in. Everything else can be installed into the dash before you bolt it in place.

After the dash is in place, then the speedometer installed and the retaining bracket accessed from reaching underneath through the space where the steering column will be mounted. Then you put the steering column back in.

The only additional components that I needed to buy were the defroster ducts and a 20" piece of defroster hose.

I reused the original dual dash A/C blower outlets. The square sheet metal registers that attach the grills to the dash needed to have the edges trimmed.

The later Euro GT5's use a different register for the AC outlets. You can get those now from Wilkinson.

I covered mine with leather sleeves and rolled the edges to give them a finished appearance.

The top edge of the gauge panel in the console fits into a groove molded into the bottom of the dash. You reuse all of that.

I didn't like all of the black, Darth Vadar look of the interior and inlaid oak veneer into the dash.

That thinking continued and I just made a new instrument panel with a new gauge arrangement, and relocated the switches, but that part isn't really necessary. You can reuse the entire gauge panel as is.

I did this with the fiberglass dash that Bob Byers at Procession Proformance made for me so I can't speak to any complications you would have using the '74 molded plastic dash.

I would say that switching to the fiberglass single pod dash, is likely beyond what any novice should attempt? It is more then just a "bolt in" and it is likely you may get hung up on certain details, unless of course you have done one before?

Of course in my case, one solution often suggests going further with another. I made the new gauge panel out of a solid piece of clear tiger grained oak and while the steering column was out, decided a quick steering wheel release would aid working under the dash.

Since it was easier then to work under the dash and the steering column was out, it became hauntingly suggestive that it was time for an EPS system?

Others probably are not as impulsively motivated by the seemingly obvious?

It gets pretty cold here in the winter and staying warm in my shop helps the winter pass faster.

great thanks a lot

On my #4366 (early two-pod dash), I had to take out the glove box to get to the right side retaining screw. Which was a WOOD SCREW! There were also plastic  spacers between the dash and the cowl of the car, which fall down on the floor during disassembly and are difficult to balance up there while reassembling the dash. The second time I pulled the dash, I glued the two spaces to their brackets.

I have 4460. I didn't have to put my dual pod back in BUT the single pod fit exactly like it should with NO jockying the mounts at all. EVERYTHING fit perfectly.

Looks like I am going to have to post pictures? OH NO!

Pics are always nice Doug to see and understand…
by the way I am not yet very successful with the shops so far.

@FWJ posted:

Pics are always nice Doug to see and understand…
by the way I am not yet very successful with the shops so far.

I'm not surprised that a single pod is difficult to find. Bob Byers WAS the one with the molds for the dash and the demand for these is so low that he had to dig his out of storage to make me one and wait a week before he could ship it so the resin was cured enough to ship it.

That was about eight years ago. Maybe even ten? Time marches on.

The single pod in plastic is on the '74 US cars. The '75 and later cars are all Euro market cars and the production of those is very small by comparison. So ultimately the single pod is the "rare" one, in either plastic or fiberglass.

That is a part that would rarely be "serviced" for wear and tear?

I just don't see these come up for sale at all. Hall had them listed as available but considering that Byers was a former employee of Gary and his shop was "just down the road", I think Byers was just the source, on special order?

Try:

https://www.facebook.com/share...H9v/?mibextid=wwXIfr

https://www.facebook.com/share...EQ5/?mibextid=wwXIfr

on Facebook. I’d also try Larry Stock and Mike Mayberry.

Thanks David. I am contact with Larry and Jan in Lithauen

And I could reach Steve at Wilkinson now and it looks promising as well. He is checking for a fibreglass