GT5-S crash rebuild

The car ran cats instead of mufflers and the modifications were made using the original Pantera muffler pipes. The chrome on the tips was also cooked. Here's a shot of the pipes as they were removed.

I pulled down my old muffler making fixture from the 80s and made him some new 2.5" pipes that matched the GTS headers and welded them to his catalytic converters.

Made some new slip stainless tips for the cats.

Here's a shot of the cat installed. I had forgotten to fabricate the muffler mount for the right side---here it is freshly fabbed and test mounted before blasting, painting and being permanently installed a bit later.

This shot shows one of the items we installed on all of the AmeriSport assembled GT5-S cars to help protect the rubber motor mounts from radiant header heat. It's a simple piece of bent aluminum but was quite effective is saving the rubber from the excessive header heat.

Looking forward to any questions---I will go through the engine details later on.

always wondered how you tackled the cat issue. Simple and effective.

This guy is getting virtually a new car back from you. he's gotta' be a very happy camper.

The car is going to be better now than it ever was new.

Kirk,

A few questions:

1. Are there differences between the GT5-S bodied chassis and the Ford-era chassis? Can you use the same jig for both in other words?
2. Do you paint your motor mounts with a high temp paint?
3. Does the catalytic converter/muffler restrict the exhaust appreciably and/or does it quiet the car down at all?

I'm loving this thread!! Thanks for sharing Kirk.

Great Job Kirk!
I love that you saved the car from a total.

Hello Kirk,
I am highly impressed with your skills and attention to detail. Thanks for sharing.

Shah

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Slightlycrispy:
Kirk,

A few questions:

1. Are there differences between the GT5-S bodied chassis and the Ford-era chassis? Can you use the same jig for both in other words?

Yes there are many differences. The late model cars 9000 vin and up I think were hand built in a similar fashion to very early 71 cars. Frankly the full production version is stronger and stiffer. Reasons for this range from sheet metal that has been stressed stamped into a shape over hand broke flat stock to integrated internal structures to stiffen and spread load over off the shelf materials like tubing to build bolt sleeves into the frame for the rear A-arm mounts. The late model cars are fantastic for how they were built---just apples and oranges to use a cliché. I look at it this way---if you own a Pantera no mater what year, enjoy it---nothing else matters.

2. Do you paint your motor mounts with a high temp paint?

No need---never have had a problem with paint blistering from heat on the mounts---just the rubber decaying for heat.

3. Does the catalytic converter/muffler restrict the exhaust appreciably and/or does it quiet the car down at all?

I tested my original cat mufflers we made in-house and used on the GT5-S cars against all of the mufflers that were available at that time----6 or 7 years ago and the cats made the best HP out of every muffler. The back pressure at full throttle was just over 1 pound and sounded great. BUT can you use this type of muffler on a 750 Holley carbed 393 stroker with a massive roller cam, Parker funnel web--so-so-so NO! You will cook them quite fast. They work quite well when you keeping the air fuel ratio close to 14.7 or at least in the 14 range.

Off to see Lone Survivor

Engine was OK from the crash---well built from a builder on the east coast. During the engine clean-up, re-paint, assembly before testing, I discovered one of the 5/16 bolts on the intake was stripped so I had to do a cylinder head-on repair. Got-ta hate when that happens.

Tapped before the tread replacement insert.

Next minor hurdle was he plug wire looms. The right one was damaged in the crash and this particular style of loom is no longer available plus the wires were in poor condition ta boot.

The replacement looms were smaller, tighter ,and much better looking. Changed the wires too.

Here is the engine and transaxle right after the install. We re-plate the hardware in yellow for contrast or replace it with stainless. Kept the assembly basic and clean.

Built a remote munt for the swirl tank to keep it off the wheel well. This allows for an easer install of the engine/trans assembly and better access to the right side of the head if needed.

A better shot of the tank bracket.

A better view of the bracket installed. It's mounted with stainless rivits

A different view of the bracket. Also shown are 2 of the hidden wiring caps used to hold the AC hoses and wiring along the upper rail without positive loop hold downs---make's the hoses/wiring faster to install and/or remove later on.