New Owner

welcome aboard. Sorry to hear about your dad.
You should find most of what you need by searching the archives. The Pantera is not a terribly difficult car to work on, it's just different. The engine is straight forward Ford. The rest is strange electrical logic or relatively simple mechanics. We are all here to help and remember...anything you need to ask is something one or more of us has had to ask. So don't hold back, there are no dumb questions.
Glenn

Nick,

I'm sorry to hear about your dad. Glad to learn of another Pantera in the area that I didn't previously know about. The Pantera Club of Northern California (PCNC Chapter of POCA) meets this Thursday at Coco's in Sunnyvale.
http://www.panteraclubnorcal.com/events/monthly_meeting.htm

One of our members who comes regularly also lives in the Danville area. Contact me off list and I'll send you his contact info. Maybe the two of you can come to this week's meeting together.

There's nothing to be intimidated about when it comes to working on a Pantera. Turning wrenches on a Pantera is like turning wrences on a vintage Mustang, albiet some things are just a little more difficult to reach. We have excellent vendor support and club support, and this BB as well as the DeTomaso Mail List are excellent resources where everyone willingly shares tips, tricks and experience.

PCNC also holds regular tech sessions where we gather at a club members house and wrench on our cars together. It's great to have a bunch of folks who are experienced at wrenching on a Pantera present when you attempt a fix/upgrade yourself for the first time.

Regarding your window does the motor make noise, but the glass doesn't move? If so, it's most likely your window gear - the factory gears were plastic and get brittle and break over the years. All the vendors carry brass replacement gears that will last the life of the car. If there is no window motor noise, your switch may be shot. This is also common. See this link for inexpensive replacement switches
http://pantera.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/9350045562...960064844#5960064844

If you need a replacement switch, be sure to order 2 since the Bosche replacement switches are not an exact match to the original. You will want to replace them together.


Anyway, I look forward to meeting you soon.

Cheers!
Garth

Welcome Nick, and sorry to hear that you acquisition was the outcome of a sad event. You are fortunate to have something that he cherished to remember him by and I'm sure he'd be pleased to see you working on, and enjoying the car. The good news is that a Pantera is (mostly) a very easy car to work on.

I used to work on cars a lot in high school and university, but as I grew my business I found no time and put my hobby aside. I now have a bit more time and decided to enjoy a few things before it was too late. As the Pantera was my first automotive love, it seemed like a good choice. After seeing what a wealth of information and resources that exist for them, along with some great parts vendors and repair shops (many who are close to you) I was certain I’d made the right choice. The Pantera community is a great one and you’re never far from someone who will be willing to help, should you need it.

Good luck with the window fix!

You can get technical info manuals and a parts book from the vendors or from the POCA Store.

Welcome to the community.

Sorry to hear about your fathers death. Its good that he left the Pantera in the family. I'm sure that he'd be happy that you chose to keep it and maybe pass it on to your children. Welcome to your new Pantera family!

Hello Nick, and welcome to the family of DeTomaso enthusiasts and owners. I would like to offer my deepest sympathies to you and your family for the loss of your father.

Regarding the technical assistance & literature you need, this forum is provided by Pantera International Car Club. Its free for everyone to use, even chapter Presidents of that "other" club! Ha, ha, ha ....

quote:

Originally posted by jeff6559:
...You can get technical info manuals and a parts book from the vendors or from the POCA Store...

I'm a POCA member too, and the President of POCA is a member of Pantera International.

In the spirit of equal billing and friendly competition, I'd like to mention that Pantera Interntional also has a club store, and we offer the tech literature too. I hope you'll consider joining Pantera International and start receiving our quarterly journal, discounts on parts from PI Motorsports and on items from our club store. A phone call to Justin at (805) 524-5248 will get you started. We have a membership offer going that is too good to pass up. You'll get 8 of our most requested back issues for free with your membership, thats a $120 value. Just remeber to mention the 8 free back issues when you contact us.

The folks at Nor Cal Panteras (PCNC) are a good bunch, you couldn't ask for a better bunch of enthusiasts to hook up with. If club activity like that is what you're looking for, they have my full recomendation.

I promise you this, owning and driving a Pantera is a blast, you'll get out of it what you put into it. There are a bunch of enthusiasts and owners from around the world right here willing to help you any way they are capable.

Regarding your window problem: remeber these four things with all Pantera electrical problems; (1) the fuses make lousy contact in their clips, (2) the switches will go bad, (3) electrical connectors get loose or their contacts get dirty, (4) the grounds also go bad. On top of that, there are 3 low power motors in the car, 2 for the electric windows and 1 to raise the headlights. These motors have a tendency to strip their plastic gears, bronze replacements are available. However, the grease in the motors can simply become gummy to the point that the motors don't have enough torque left to operate the windows or headlights. The first thing to do is to find fuse #13 and give it a wiggle in its clips.

A heart felt welcome!

Wow, thanks for all the warm responses. I think my Dad knows his car will be well-cared for. He was a great guy and I miss him, but I often feel when I'm driving the Pantera that he's along for the ride.

The motor on the driver's window spins to no effect. What's worse, the hand crank won't budge, as if something's jammed. I'll have to take the door apart to see what's going on. I've heard about motor/gearbox replacements from alternate vehicles, so maybe that's the way to go.

I'll certainly plan to attend Nor Cal Pantera club meetings and look forward to participating in Pantera events. Thanks again for your generous welcome.

Sounds like the plastic gear is broken. You can get a brass one from any of the vendors. Each door window and the headlight has one. The first gear you replace plan on 2-3 hours. Then when you know what you're doing it'll only take 30-45 minutes! My 3 gears all broke 1 year apart.