heavy pantera

LPB,

Road & Track tested a push button Pantera in 1971, the article is in the Brookland Series Book on the Pantera. Road & Track is normally very reliable with their published data.

I have the book at home. I'm at work now or I'd have the number for you. Perhaps somebody else can grab their book & give you the figure. If not, I can post the weight later this evening.

George

1971 Engine 330 hp 351 Cleveland
Curb weight 3123 lbs from Chuck Melton site.

Yup, that's the Road & Track figure exactly, for the push button they tested in 1971 (Sept. 1971 issue).

By the way, AK MIller was one of the first journalists to test a 351C 4V on an engine dyno. His 1970 article, appearing in Hot Rod magazine, found the stock Cleveland engine made 288 bhp at 5200 rpm, 338 lb/ft of torque at 3400 rpm. The engine was fresh out of a crate with 6 hours of break in time on it.

George

My stock early 71 (#1386) weighed 3500 lbs. with a full tank of gas, myself (175lbs) and my son (150lbs).

Thanks you all. I will be putting my car on a diet.

But one thing to remember as far as weight goes anything added to the car like wheels,wings,seats,metal bumpers and tires can add weight to the cars too ! so don't be to hard on the car..............

First place to remove weight from a car is the wheels ; select wheels that are low in weight, this improves acceleration, braking, ride quality, fuel economy, you name it. It's why the Campy's are made of magnesium. Although more expensive, the 3 piece wheels, like those sold by Kinesis, are generally the lightest & strongest.

Any rotating parts you can lighten will have a beneficial impact on the performance of the car. Then look to remove weight at the extreme ends of the car like bumpers. This improves handling.

George

George, I have put a smaller tire on the rear 265-50-15 on a 10 inch campy rear.215-60-15 on 7in. The rear tire gears me down.... and the front sticks better than the Pirlli that came off. I am street driving the BF goodrich with the T/A radials. What an I missing here? I need to fill my wells, What would be a good tire size for my app? I should have bought 8 in front rims.....I have my original single slots.

side veiw

LPB,

the side view didn't show up.

Are you wanting to stay with 15" Campy's or up grade to modern size wheels & tires?

If you're upgrading, do you want Campy clones or something else?

Talking about tires & wheels is a personal asthetics issue that generates alot of different opinions among owners.

George

side view.. I guess i will keep the 10 in campys for now. I would love to have the 17 inch Boyds that Gillisan is selling on ebay, but I like being married. What is it like to remove the spring spacers Jack was talking about,to lower the car? It looks like my rear lower arm has already dented my exaust slightly. If I lower it, what changes besides hight?

lpb,

When I had my '74, I had 7 & 10 x 15" rims with 215/60 & 295/50 15's. I went with Dunlop GT Qualifiers, but both of these sizes are available in BF Goodrich Radial T/A.

Michael

Here's another view.

I know I don't know much about a pantera but in my opinion where the exhaust runs in between the lower a-arms they are close to the frame? if so then it wouldn't affect a car if lowered,cause as the susp travels it would dent the pipe no matter how high or low the car is.

I know I have looked at several and most have been lowered without any problem to the exhaust .

pantera
someday,

The exhaust on my '86 Pantera is 'notched' (dented in) to avoid contacting the lower control arm and driveshaft. They're custom bent pipes of larger diameter than stock, and I'm pretty sure they may have contacted once or twice in spite of the notching.

Michael

Some people reverse the half-shafts to gain a little more clearance. That will increase the unsprung weight slightly. I have 2 1/2" exhaust so I only have slight rub marks from the half-shafts mounted with the big end towards the ZF.

I have a set of those Gotti wheels like you show in the picture. The 15X8s weigh 19lbs. and the 15X10.5 weigh 21lbs. In contrast, my new Kodiaks weigh 15lbs. for the 16X8 and 18lbs. for the 17X11.

My exhaut is kinked right there from contact.

If you can tell from this photo it is why the mufflers hang down on the right side:
http://www.rc-tech.net/MGB/suspension/fnt.jpg

Gary