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I have finally got around to mounting the new group 4 wheels on John Braithwaites beautiful Mangusta. The tyres are BFG 275/60 rear and 225/60 front. The wheels are 10" rear and 8" front. After looking at Marks comparison pictures I feel the 215/60 front tyre looks slightly too narrow on these 8" wheels.

I am very happy with the visual balance of the car and like the fact that the front wheels dont fill the arches as this keeps it looking old rather than an old car trying to look new. The rear wheel arch is now filled to perfection just as Giugiaro intended on the prototype. No more unsightly gap. Shame we had to wait 47 years!

Johnny

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Warning to anyone installing the new 8" wide group 4 front wheels!
Due to the fact that the extra 1" is added to the inside it is possible for stick on wheel weights (when centre balanced) to make contact the brake pipe. This will only happen if there are stick on weights on the inside edge of the wheel. This was the case for me so I repositioned the brake pipe out of the way so there is now lots of clearance. The pipe I am referring to is the one that joins the two half's of the calliper. This was an easy job on this car because the original steel pipes had already been replaced with copper so I has able to reposition it without having to remove it. Had it been steel I would probably remove the pipe and reshaped it on the bench or make a new one. Even if you dont have wheel weights on the inside edge I suggest you reposition the pipe anyway to make sure this can never happen.

Adding the extra 1" to the inside of the front wheel has improved the scrub radius by 1/2". This is a good thing and will help to reduce the grabbing and pulling on the steering under braking on bumpy roads. Much of this scrub radius problem is masked by the low geared steering. If the extra 1" had been added to the outside of the wheel it would steer like a 27 T bucket with a Hemi!

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As mentioned by Mark, one of the differences between these wheels and the original wheels is the lug bores are much deeper on the group 4 wheels. This means the original nuts are completely out of sight down inside the bore. Also, the bore in not quite big enough for a 22mm socket so you would have to grind one down to get it to fit. I came up with another solution however, I bought some M12x1.5 - 60 degree taper open nuts that are only 16mm tall. These have a 19mm head size so no need to grind a socket. These nuts will hold the wheels on and the original nuts can go right over the top as there is plenty of thread sticking out of the top of the open nut. I did no torque the De Tomaso nuts though as they are now only for show, just tight enough to stop them coming off. Now the nuts stick out of the bore just right and look perfect. The rechromed nuts in the picture are not the original brass De Tomaso nuts. Mr Braithwaite changed these years ago because his original wheels are the later forged type not sand cast and are slightly thinner centre that means the stud goes too far into the nut and pops the De Tomaso logo off the end of the nut. This cant be reattached without soldering and rechroming! This would not have been a problem now of course as they are only held on by approx 8mm of thread.


Johnny

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Thanks Doug.

I wish I had a Mangusta too. I get to play with them every day so it's not too so bad!
I spent a long time aligning this car and getting the rear wheels to sit just right in the arches. It's got adjustable spring seats so I was able to get the ride height right. The front could come down another 1/2". It's got a strong sump guard that extends past the bell housing. Essential on any Goose unless you jack it up like a 4x4.

JW
quote:
Originally posted by Johnny Woods:
Thanks Doug.

I wish I had a Mangusta too. I get to play with them every day so it's not too so bad!
I spent a long time aligning this car and getting the rear wheels to sit just right in the arches. It's got adjustable spring seats so I was able to get the ride height right. The front could come down another 1/2". It's got a strong sump guard that extends past the bell housing. Essential on any Goose unless you jack it up like a 4x4.

JW


As I said, I remember talk of the car being so low it would wreck the bell housing.

I suppose the ZF upside down is a center of gravity trick, centering it more?

The spacing over the tires you got here looks just right and I understand why it is difficult to get the front to look right.

There is such a difference in the projection of the front and rear of the front fender.



I hope you can get paid for all of the time you put in?



Personally I think the BFG's are fine for all of these cars.

MY SHO came stock with Goodyear GT+4 v rated tires. That's just a waste of money.

Even for track events the S rated T/A's hold up well. I think 140 is about their limit.

People don't realize the speed ratings are for SUSTANINED speeds. That just isn't going to happen.

People that need W ratings now are just the 12 year olds that had to have LED lights in their sneakers back then and are now adults? Roll Eyes
Last edited by panteradoug
Johnny,

BEAUTIFUL countryside view from your new shop???

I'll need to send you my car, so you can check the front wheel weight interference on a car with the "more common" two pot front calipers! John's car looks to have the 3-pot version that a few of the Panteras got....GT5-Group5????? (I have one rebuild seal kit for those brakes left. Not commonly found on US Geese!)

WHile you have the car, if you can get John's up on a lift, please take some shots of the sump guard!!! Interested in what these were fitted with......to go with another discussion elsewhere on the board!

Ciao!
Steve
Very nice fitment of those wheels Johnny. I guess I need some adjustable coil-overs because I can't see how I can lower mine, and it DOES need to be lowered.

I agree that the 225 tires look better. Too bad they are not available in 225-50/15, but the slightly larger height tucked under the fender works nicely.

Are those skid plates steel or aluminum? Not terribly pretty, but much more so than a Dash-1 repair invoice!

Thanks for posting those photos. I must say the surrounding countryside to your shop looks quite peaceful. I can just imagine piloting a Goose on roads around there must be quite fun.

Mark
http://i61.photobucket.com/alb...eshow/DanaHansen.jpg

This one looks lower in the front. I like the look but does it need a full body skid plate?

I think you just need to eliminate the knotch created by the bell housing?

Isn't that what the factory just did back there?

If you look at the "trans-am" Mustang 10 quart Bud Moore oil pan, a skid plate was added to that pan.

I'd consider a special "boat type" oil pan for the Mangusta, like the Aviaid Pantera pan, with a skid plate added to the pan as an alternative to the plate shown here.

You could design in an extension that continues to the back of the bell.

I think that is all that you need?

I have 225-50-15 P7's on the front of my Pantera. The tire is 24" tall. It lowers the front of the car about and inch.

That makes the lower radiator support more vulnerable on the Pantera.

Most of the unrestored Panteras I have seen all have bottomed in the front and most show sheet metal damage there as a result.

I haven't seen any bent lower radiator supports yet though?
This is the Bud Moore T/A Mustang pan with the skid plate built into it.

You could have Aviaid do that on their Mangusta pan?

You definitely can sit the engine on these pans. I suspect they are stiff enough to jack the car up with.

Interesting item that I came across is that Aviad made two different depth pans for Shelby and the 289 engines. One for the Cobra roadster at the normal 7.5 inches depth and one at 6.5 inches for the Daytona Coupe.

The engine was set one inch lower in the Daytona Coupe necessitating a one inch shallower pan.

The shallower pan would be a very good idea for the Mangusta in my mind?

For the Magustas, you could do the long Pantera racing type sump, with the shallower depth, with the built in skid plate and have the pan made with exterior studs on the side of the pan to continue with a bolt on skid plate/bridge over the bell, bent with tabs/flanges to wrap around under the bell and bolt to the lower two bolts on the bell to eliminate the gap between the two and make one long skid?

That would look designed in to me?

So far my 'goose will have that pan set up, the new 8/10" wheels, the 2x4 Holley T/A intake.

Now I just need the car.

In the mean time I can have my legs surgically altered to fit into the cabin? Eeker

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Last edited by panteradoug
For the new guys, a Mangusta skid plate is essential! I once repaired a Mangusta bellhousing and diff case for a CA member. The story was, the bellhousing snagged a manhole cover at speed and ripped the whole bottom out of the bellhousing including clutch & flywheel, and cracked the ZF diff case so bad, you could see gears inside by leaning over the fender. Someone tried to weld the scrap together poorly- the weld beads were an inch wide but had zero penetration.
I ground all the buttery welds off and redid the parts. The heat distorted the case and bellhousing into a potato chip which then required remachining. Not fun, not cheap- the owner abandoned the parts & found the last new caes available, to put the OEM gears in. I still have the diff case for sale.
Apparently the BFG 215/60 tyre is available. Mike Drew says this:

BFG sold their Radial T/A tire molds to Coker Tire (which is sort of like Longstone in the UK, I think).

These tires are readily available in the appropriate sizes (215/60 front, 275/60 rear) for standard Mangusta wheels. They can also be had in 295/50 for the new 10-inch wheels. And still cheap as chips:


http://www.cokertire.com/bf-goodrich-t-a-radials.html

Johnny
Width is not the problem with the 295s. Height is.

The rolling diameter of the 275-60-15 tires is 28". The 295/50-15s are 1.3" shorter at 26.7" dia. With a Mangusta, you need as much rear tire height as you can get so the wheel well is filled nicely, and the ZF isn't dragging on the ground (or the skid-pates, if you have).

The perfect tire would be the no-longer available 305/50-15 Euro T/As.

Mark
[/QUOTE]

Keep looking, there's still a set left.[/QUOTE]

I suppose a homeless one will need to show up on my doorstep?

I don't know if my wife will let me keep it though. We are filled to the brim now? They are all so needy?

There have been a couple local unkonwn that met their demise that I couldn't help. Sad.

I suppose I could become 'Father 'goose'? Roll Eyes
quote:
Originally posted by PanteraDoug:


Keep looking, there's still a set left.[/QUOTE]

I suppose a homeless one will need to show up on my doorstep?

I don't know if my wife will let me keep it though. We are filled to the brim now? They are all so needy?

There have been a couple local unkonwn that met their demise that I couldn't help. Sad.

I suppose I could become 'Father 'goose'? Roll Eyes[/QUOTE]


Do not fight your destiny, you must be strong.
Last edited by group4wheels

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