Front trunk

What's below the grey box

What's in the grey box

I keep a bag with tools, flat fix items, spare fuses, gloves, flashlight and detail cloth. Found a nice tool roll on E-bay.

Nicely organized, Mikael. And if you're going to carry things up there with the stock battery, the key is to keep stuff in bags. One CA owner hit a big bump and his loose wiper arms bounced up, landed across the exposed battery terminals, shorted and nearly caused a serious fire....

quote:

his loose wiper arms

?... Ah, yeah, California, why put the wipers on the windscreen?

Good point though. I'll add covers to the terminals for sure. BTW I wish I had invented that cutoff switch with the green wheel, everybody has one.

I only carry a big fire extinguisher... Oh yes, and a high vis vest, as it is mandatory to carry one in Belgium.

Should think about some kind of little toolbag though...

Btw, I have an "AFFF" extinguisher, which is less harmful for our babies than the most commonly used powder extinguisher:
http://www.fire-riskassessment...re-extinguisher.html

quote:

Originally posted by Kid:
I only carry a big fire extinguisher... Oh yes, and a high vis vest, as it is mandatory to carry one in Belgium.

Should think about some kind of little toolbag though...

Btw, I have an "AFFF" extinguisher, which is less harmful for our babies than the most commonly used powder extinguisher:
http://www.fire-riskassessment...re-extinguisher.html

I hope you don't carry your Fire Extinguisher in the front trunk???

I say this because about a year ago I had a fuel leak then BOOM big ass fire right behind my head by the fuel tank! My Fire extinguisher was mounted along side the drivers seat. I was able to get the car stopped and get the fire out, but not before it got in to cabin! This took about 15-20 sec.! What I'm saying is, if you need the extinguisher, you need it NOW! Please find another location, another 5-10 sec. could make a BIG difference!

So, I thought I was the only one with the smart idea placing the wipers in the front trunk. But they have no place bouncing around because the gastank is in the trunk, so tools are out of the question again , and 180 headers no boot, yes I know . In case of flat tire, in bike shops they have these small high pressure cannisters one can use with the plugs, for sure a lot in case of 345 rear

Front trunk contents of Pantera 4384
Big 710 CCA Battery.
Duel diaphragm 8” stainless brake booster with 1 1/8” Wilwood master cylinder.
Under the master cylinder is a Tilton lever type brake proportioning valve, (hidden under a cover so the cops don’t see it).
Brake vacuum bottle.
Alloy tank in the front left corner is the windscreen washer bottle.
Fuse/relay panel to the right rear is directly fed from the battery for the 14” thermo sucker fans, (fans switch on via an 85 degree C temp switch in the hot side of the radiator hose).
Air bleed port on the top radiator hose.
Port on the top left of the radiator is a screw in zinc anode.
Toolbox full of spanners, screwdrivers, sockets etc as well as spare nuts & bolts, fuses in top compartment.
2 ton, (2000 kg) lifting strap used as a tow rope, (you never know when you may need it).
Socket, extension & breaker bar for wheel nuts.
Aerosol can of tyre inflator goo.
Second fire extinguisher bottle, (first & larger one is behind the drivers seat).

Regards,
Tony

Don't quite remember where I got this one, but you have to say it is very unique!

Damn I like that, real classy.

regards,
Tony.

With the new engine, we don't have to bring any tools or anything. The only thing we have in the trunk that's not stock is an amp.

It's nice not ever having to bring tools with us!

Alpine amp to system I never listen to.....
Big blue bottle......
There's just enough room to stuff a car cover in if you are creative....

I really like the clean look of the Trunk that Dennis C. posted.

However, you do loose some little nooks and crannies boxing in everything like that.

I was just looking at some Pantera photos for ideas and saw this front trunk pic.

I took this picture in Castle Rock last spring. It was a Pantera that Quella was working on. They had moved the battery to the engine compartment to gain more room up front for storage, etc. Very clean.

Yep, really tidy, uncluttered.
I wonder why they fit a residual valve in the brake line.
Normally you only install those if the master cylinder is lower than the calipers, to stop the fluid flowing back to the master cylinder.
Strange.

regards,
Tony.

quote:

They had moved the battery to the engine compartment to gain more room up front for storage

In the original design, the pantera had the battery sitting in the passager side rear wheel well.
In a few of the early euro cars that position was retained - like in mine. Although it may free up a little space up front and help balance the car a little, battery service on the road must be a nightmare - I may find out soon enough.


Kristian

quote:

I wonder why they fit a residual valve in the brake line.
Normally you only install those if the master cylinder is lower than the calipers, to stop the fluid flowing back to the master cylinder.

The brake kit I'm currently installing from Pantera Performance has the same blue wilwood valves. I've wondered the same, but both the vendor and Mike Drew tells me to install them. It should avoid piston moving in on long hauls, so the first time you use the brake after a long freeway trip, you avoid a pedal that goes further down than normal if these are installed.

Interesting info. I had not heard about those valves. I can't say I've even noticed my brakes being soft after a long run, but then even on a long trip I'm using my brakes every time I come up on slow traffic.

Here's my front trunk. I considered relocating the battery in a drop box but decided to keep it as-was. I did remove the washer pump/bottle to free up some space. I typically carry a small but tightly packed tool box, 2 cans of tire inflate, some detailing spray, rags, a single-use coverall suit and my repair manual when doing longer trips. My fire extinguisher is mounted to a bracket that hangs from the upper seat belt anchor bolt so I can reach it if (hopefully never) I need it.

Mark

Mark, it looks a bit like mine, except you have a nice carpet, I have had someone throw in a few leftover bits of mouse skin. Some day...

Residual pressure valves are built into many aftermarket brake master cylinders, and adding an aftermarket valve on top of that will cause many more problems than you need. Be sure what your system already has before throwing the weekly magic-gimmick at it.
I prefer to remove them as they do keep the pistons and pads closer to the rotors for instant action but in doing so, they wear the pads against the discs faster. The rotors also remain hot from the constant friction and this takes away a little mileage and power. IMHO if you're not racing for money and have average reflexes, you don't need them; for street guys they're sort of a personal preference thing- like lite beer compared to dark.
On rear mounting the battery: in a car where over 60% of the wt is on the rear wheels, nothing good will come of ADDING weight back there. Nevertheless, I put mine back there for a few months and sure enough- on a run with the Pantera club, it turned damp and rainy, and the ground cable clamp came loose on the battery. After a nice dinner we came out to a completely dead Pantera. Do you realize you cannot reach the battery clamps when rear-mounted, from above OR below? And the stock jack doesn't work well in dirt parking lots in the rain, trying to remove the wheel & splash shield so as to tighten up the clamp? An hour later and much filthiness on my body, the car ran fine and the battery returned to the front an hour after we got home. A year later I dropped it into the late factory position below the frt trunk floor.YMMV....

See your point on the residuals. Going to keep them in, and some day raise the front wheels, and if there's any resistance, throw the residual valves out.

See your point on battery as well, I would never move it back. Moving a battery back is done on nose heavy musclecars.

The front trunk on mine has been compromised. First ducting all the air out of the hood itself with no air going under the car from the front air dam.

Since I put the electric power steering pump bellow, the battery position will not be changed. A from scratch electrical system with fuse and relays being in the front trunk instead of in the cabin.

Jeah - I'm keeping it back there mostly for historic reasons - I didn't wan't to cut up the original trunk floor to make room for it.

By balance I actually meant side-to side balance not front to rear. Either way, I guess it doesn't make much difference especially when using a lightwight dry-cell battery.

Just have to remember to re-tighten the battery clamps and use quick-release fasteners on the splashshield !

Kristian

I found it interesting that some Pre-L cars actually had their batteries in the engine compartment from the factory. Here is a photo of the same car that Quella was moving the battery to the engine compartment.

I toyed with moving my battery to the engine compartment after seeing the front trunk and the added room. However, after weighing the pros and cons I decided not to. The potential inconvenience of having to potential jump start my car with the battery in the engine compartment just is not worth it to me.

I still am thinking about putting in a dropped battery box in the front compartment though.

Side to side balance is another issue. Does anybody know why the fuel tank wasn't put on the right, it seems like the sensible thing to do. When I drive my Longchamp I always empty my left tank first...

Just a thought.
If you have a rear battery, just make up some extension leads connected to the battery which feed to a more accessible area.
On the ends of these leads fit some quick disconnect plugs.
We fitted this type of installation on a racing buggy that had a battery that was difficult to get to.
The connecters we used on the ends of the leads were simply welding cable bulkhead sockets.
We then made up some fly leads that plugged into these sockets for charging the battery.
These fly leads were kept with the vehicle & when the battery needed charging or jump starting just plug in the special leads.

And in regards to the fuel tank it baffles me why they fitted the tank on the drivers side, (left) on the Pantera.
I have pre-loaded my left rear shock more than the right to compensate the fuel weight, its very noticable when full.
Regards,
Tony.

Good idea on the leads Tony. Now that you say that, I have seen some newer cars that have remotely located posts in case you have to jump them due to battery locations.

Also if memory serves me correct, I remember reading somewhere that some Factory Group 4 cars came with twin fuel tanks – one on each side. I don’t know their sizes but this would seem to address some of the weight issues caused by a full fuel tank and just a driver.

Further to Tony's comments; many newer vehicles have batteries located in some very "difficult to service" locations. Years ago, I owned an Audi that had the battery located under the back seat. Naturally, these cars have remote battery terminals, so jump starting or charging isn't a problem. You only really need a remote positive terminal (like all newer BMW's have) but it doesn't hurt to have both. Summit and Jegs sell remote terminal kits but it would be easy to adapt an OEM remote battery terminal set-up too.

I added a remote battery terminal to my GT5. I think I copied the idea from one of Quella's restorations. Here is a photo of how it is wired from the battery, which I had relocated to the rear.

Here is the location of the terminal with a red cover in the engine bay - upper right of pic.