how much work do you think this would be?

You would be money ahead to buy a driver. You would really be a lot of money ahead if you buy your dream pantera already built.

I think you know the answer to that question. I think the question you need to ask is all that work worth the price.

While Mark is right and you always save money by buyiing the best example you can afford but I must be weird becuase for me its not always about the destination. Sure you could buy a completed car and have someone else's idea of the perfect Pantera that you just drive and enjoy. I did this with a '96 Bronco. All lifted, painted, really nice stereo, 38" BFG Mud T/A's etc etc. Very cool truck that got a lot of looks but it never really felt like it was mine. People would ask me "How you do this?" "How'd you do that?" and I would have to say the previous owner did it. Sure I could have lied but for what?

My son and I are working on building a "68 Mustang coupe. I'm into it for way more than its worth (and its not yet done) but the fun I alone have had not to mention my son AND daughter is priceless. I would never have that if I just wrote the check.

So to answer your question: if you want to drive and enjoy now buy a complete car. If you want to take a journey with the Pantera offer them $10K......

Meet up with a trailer with 10 grand in hand!! And $500 in your pocket just in case. Cash is king!

I don't know if you are like me, but if you are, you would not feel right about the car if you not can make it yours with your improvements. And part of ownership of a hobby-car is the work to get there. So for me it was not to save a buck on geting someone others ready machine. I want MINE, done my way, so if someone wants to know: I did it!

Problem I see with this car is you need a front clip to start with.
Then you have to pay the asking price. Remember a good hood is $2,500 how much would fenders be? Then it's not a bolt on item must pay labor to install. I'll guess just parts and the front body work alone would be close to $20,000.00 then you have to deal with all the other 35 year old car problems and paint.

Something to think about.

Call Kirk Evans for estimates on putting the front of that car back together right, he is the expert in that.

I wouldn't buy it to restore......Maybe to strip and re-sell the parts.

There are a lot of Pantera bargains out there right now. Spend a little more and get a more solid/complete car. There will be plenty of upgrades and mods you can do to make it your own.

Just my .02

Good race/track car.

In my opinion, money aspect only, there are two ways to look at this car/project.

1) For the parts: buy it to part out - might be worth 10-12K. Transaxle alone will get you 4-5K. Is there another 6K in it PLUS money for the time you take to sell it all off?
2) To restore: In this case, not a really good idea. Always better to buy a car as close to what you want as possible. Particularly in the current economic environment.

I agree with the above replies. All good things to think about.

For me, a large part of the enjoyment of my car comes from putting all the work into it.

My car was in better shape body wise but did not run or drive. I also paid much more than this cars asking price for it.

I intentionally looked for a project car that I could do a GT5 conversion on so my car fit me well.

I think Larry Stock has a complete shell minus everything else that might be able to be combined with this car to make a car.

I applaud you for wanting to do a GT5S conversion. They are beautiful cars.
If you are only interested in the body aspect of the build then buy a nice running driving car and send buckets of cash to the body shop. Then all thats left after body mods and paint is drive and enjoy it.

If you are thinking of taking one down to the level of Comp2 or accobra where you have a bare shell to start then that should also dictate your decision.

Either way only you know what your pain and pocketbook threshold is. I wish you the best of luck. Keep us posted on your decision.

Yeh to what they said. You can buy a car for less then it will cost you to fix it.

I would say it is worth $7 or $8 thousand in parts.

As much as I do not recommened buying project cars. I sure have a lot of projects cars around.

It saysstored inside but from the looks of it I would be concerned about hidden rust. The pantreas monocouqe construction makes a body chassis combination that will always be structually compromised if there is rust in areas of structual significance. I recently saw a complete "shell" that was being built as a race car with no drive train for an asking price of $15K the paint and body looked perfect. In my opinion that would be a much better prospect to start with. It might still be out there try a google serach.

Boyd 73L # 5783

Here is a complete running car for $19K asking price.
http://www.cannillomotorsports.com/inventory/71pantera/71pantera.html

Boyd 73 L # 5783

Way to much $$$

quote:

Here is a complete running car for $19K asking price.

I can smell the rust from California.

Check out the rusted through hole, inside door jamb (b pillar), in the photo of the passenger side interior.
Larry

The guys are right, just get the best example you can find, unless you really enjoy working on it or you have tons of money. Especially a 5S, call a few vendors like Wilkinson and you will see the flares alone are close to $30K if you can even find them anymore, then you have the metal work, entire car rebuild, etc. But the end result is you have a car the way you want it. If I was you, and you want a modified body, just buy the best high HP stock body show car you can find, with great interior, etc, then have someone do the 5S package and repaint. You will still be over $100K, but at least you have the final look you want, rather than sky rocket price to do the whole thing. Look at that white car again and really add it all up, parts and labor. Discussions over a few thousand on purchasing that car for $12K or even $5K is a miniscule issue compared to the cost of bringing that car into a nice 5S. Buy the best you can find, then convert it.

Heartily agree- no project cars unless you're building a racer. If you're not good at bodywork (like me!), and you go to a vendor for restoration (also a smart move- they have Pantera-expertise plus they have any spare parts it needs right there), I've see two examples of running, rusty cars restored to near show-quality and the bills were over $50,000 including paint! Sure you can get it done for less, but at the cost of long delays & risk of it not being done correctly. How much is your stomach lining worth?

well I really do enjoy working on them but its always the hidden costs that get ya. Its still a little too soon for me but the nice driver to convert is basically where I think I'm leaning.

30k for the 5S body stuff? It must be original because hall and properf both have the fenders for 7k.

quote:

Originally posted by tajon:
30k for the 5S body stuff? It must be original because hall and properf both have the fenders for 7k.

That's right, aftermarket are much cheaper and very risky too. Actually I know of one guy who bought the aftermarket 5S and his metal body expert tried to work with them but said just throw them out, they are just so off that it would be less costly just to metal fabricate your own rather than trying to make them work. So now he is going with some custom carbon fiber flares made special instead from measurements off my red 5S. We will do a dual photo shoot when he is done and paints it lambo pearl orange (nice!). However, if you like, I believe he was thinking of selling the aftermarket 5s flares. He actually had two sets (one off the car he bought where he saw that the aftermarket ones on the car were just not right, and another where he bought new ones and those still didn't fit). If you want I can check with him on price for one set or both sets of those flares. May be worth a call to Wilkinson too on a price quote for the original. They were about 20K or so many years ago, and someone else told me 30K for originals now, if you can find them.

quote:

Actually I know of one guy who bought the aftermarket 5S and his metal body expert tried to work with them but said just throw them out, they are just so off that it would be less costly just to metal fabricate your own rather than trying to make them work.

I have heard of more than one and that the Hall 5S fenders are crap to put it mildly, the right rear pattern they used was off by a mile. I sent my GP4 steel flares back in digust too. Average cost of a 5S conversion is $25-30K, using the cheap flares....if you get original then double it. Either way you are much better off biting the bullet and spending the money to buy an original 5S which will appreciate in value.

quote:

So now he is going with some custom carbon fiber flares made special instead from measurements off my red 5S. We will do a dual photo shoot when he is done and paints it lambo pearl orange (nice!).

Jan, sounds like he should be buying the orange one for sale in Europe and saving some coin?

quote:

Originally posted by Joules5:
[QUOTE] Jan, sounds like he should be buying the orange one for sale in Europe and saving some coin?

Yes Julian, I let him know of the orange car for sale, but he isn't into fiberglass flares. He likes the carbon fiber now that that is started, but is making one off fiberglass flares based on my red car to do the carbon fiber mold. Fenders are light, can pick up a whole side with just one hand, no effort.

quote:

I have heard of more than one and that the Hall 5S fenders are crap to put it mildly

Factory flares, in fibre or steel, aren't much better. This is fairly obvious when you compare both sides of factory car, unless you use varying wheel offsets or spacers to hide the inaccuracies. Rare exceptions are out there due to mid-week Italian jobs.

Hall -5S steel fenders are different animals altogether. They're just awful copies of the awful originals. Stay away.

its surprising to me that these companies can produce such lousy pieces. You'd think that they would want to improve their product, if for nothing else than pride in their product.