Engine upgrades

For pulling the engine see: http://www.geocities.com/pantera_tech/EngineRnR_1

Chuck

Regardless of what cam, pistons, intake etc you use, the very first thing you should do is build a solid foundation for the power. First, a 10-qt oil pan with baffles & custom oil pump pickup for your stock pump ($500) and a removeable rear crossmember to access the pan (Can do this at home or buy a kit).
Second, pull the lower cover on your ZF and safety-wire the ring-gear bolts ($35/kit).
Third, add a Milodon or SVO oil pump driveshaft between the pump & distributor ($20). While you're at it, add a second small roll pin inside the original one to stiffen it up & prevent breakage on the road ($0.12)
Forth, add a late factory water temp gauge (they're sometimes available used) and new sender ($6.95) for more accurate readings, and a cheap mechanical oil temp gauge ($18.95) on a tee fitting at the back of the block. The cheap oil pressure gauge will show real pressure while the stock one can be used as a type of 'idiot-light' as its always low. Last, add GTS headers and either GTS or other larger dia muffler set; the stockers are a little restrictive for big power. Now you'll be ready for that ground-pounder engine!

My recommendation would be to spend the $30 or so for a copy of "Desktop Dyno" or equivalent. They are supposed to be able to calculate within 3% the output of the engine based on the options you select. It'll tell you exactly how many ponies you are looking at, and can help justify in raw hp whether the option is worth it or not. Ask 50 people, you'll get 50 opinions as to the "best" combination. Most of those people haven't done back-to-back testing to know if there is a combination that would be more effective, they just know that their combination gives decent power.

What would be the effect of boosting compression by a half-point? Of single-plane vs. dual plane intake? Holley 600 vs 650 vs 700? Look at the numbers and eliminate some bias...

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Charlie McCall
1972 DeTomaso Pantera #3847 (for sale)
1985 DeTomaso Pantera GT5-S #9375
"Raising Pantera Awareness across Europe"
http://briefcase.yahoo.com/gt5s_1985

Jack, thank you for your advise on prepairing the engine for "ground-pounder engine". From reading your past advise to other Pantera owners, I respect your knowledge on the Pantera engine. If you would share some of that knowledge with me so I can upgrade my engine I certainly would appreciate it. Please feel free to e-mail me at rmarconi@abhengineers.com, thanks.

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Originally posted by jack deryke:
Regardless of what cam, pistons, intake etc you use, the very first thing you should do is build a solid foundation for the power. First, a 10-qt oil pan with baffles & custom oil pump pickup for your stock pump ($500) and a removeable rear crossmember to access the pan (Can do this at home or buy a kit).
Second, pull the lower cover on your ZF and safety-wire the ring-gear bolts ($35/kit).
Third, add a Milodon or SVO oil pump driveshaft between the pump & distributor ($20). While you're at it, add a second small roll pin inside the original one to stiffen it up & prevent breakage on the road ($0.12)
Forth, add a late factory water temp gauge (they're sometimes available used) and new sender ($6.95) for more accurate readings, and a cheap mechanical oil temp gauge ($18.95) on a tee fitting at the back of the block. The cheap oil pressure gauge will show real pressure while the stock one can be used as a type of 'idiot-light' as its always low. Last, add GTS headers and either GTS or other larger dia muffler set; the stockers are a little restrictive for big power. Now you'll be ready for that ground-pounder engine!

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