Has anyone seen this Lambo door conversion out there for the imports and others? Has anyone seen or have a kit for their Pantera?
Original Post
Replies sorted oldest to newest
Did a google search and they look pretty cool, instuctions say you have to unbolt the front fenders though in order to mount them.
Wow i have to admit I almost went for it, nice try! I guess if it were April first it would have been too obvious.....Lambo doors Ha Ha Ha........Ha! What is next Pop up trunk mounted camper for the Pantera with deck lid that doubles as a camp table? how about a pull out 8 foot truck bed (for those Home Depot runs) Lambo doors Ha Ha Ha Ha .......Ha!
IMHO, this would be a major body change for a Pantera, remembering that the Pantera body is a welded one-piece load-carrying member as well as a body. These cars are undriveable with a fender removed. When Gary Hall cut the roof off his 'Purple Passion', GT5-S conversion, he wound up basically stripping the entire car and building a complete subframe under the dash and in the floor to carry the extra loads. He also says he will NEVER again do another of these as it was way more work than it was worth to get it right. Expect to become intimate with the stock construction of the car, as doing it wrong will allow the body to flex enough to crack paint & allow the doors to open by themselves (as some amateur Targa- Panteras do). Weather-sealing the doors will also be a major problem. I don't think Bricklin for instance ever did solve that one. I seriously doubt if a 'kit' would work unless you limited driving your 'Kustomized' Pantera to very low speeds in car shows, during dry weather. I would start with a junk Pantera for this experiment; the loss won't be as great.
I have done the research on those hinges and since they are made in Florida (I am in FL)I called the guys and they were nice enough to give me the specs and an istallation manual. First thing is that the distance between the outer fender and the door pillar is too small and the new hinges mount 90 degrees fron the Pantera hinges. The modification requires the inner fender to be cut away with a plasma cutter and then the outermost 1.75 inches of the pillar removed and replaced with a flat 0.25 inch steel plate. Also the front edge of the door will have to be reinforced to accept the hinge mount. If done properly there should be no problem with air or water leaks, because the hinge has a compound motion. It opens like a regular hinge and swings out about a foot and then you have to lift the door and swing it up. The next problem is that it only swings up to about to a 45 degree angle. If you are of a robust size you will have a tough time getting into the cockpit. After saying all that......keep in mind that we show these cars with a lot of other breeds. The Lambos are almost always present at these shows. I have chosen a Pantera and the last thing that I would want to hear at a show is that I really am a Lambo wana-be but couldn't afford it. I have the resources and the ability to do this installation, but for that reason I have chosen to pass........
THAT'S It........ off to the big city to get me a cuttin torch! HA HA HA HA HA.................HA!