New owner of 7087 in SoCal... apologize head of time for future dumb questions!

That's a beautiful looking stock example from the outside. You can keep these cars stock with a minimal amount of upgrades, and reliable, so before going crazy on upgrades, ask.

Thanks. Yeah, it's pretty stock except for a few things on the engine -- air filter, carb, manifold, valve covers, etc. It has an 80s tape deck which I'll replace as I have a new one leftover from the 67 GTO I just sold... since I do like listening to music while I drive.

One of my college professors on the first day of class said they were no stupid questions, as long as they were honest questions. Trust me, long-term owners are accustomed to hearing the same questions from new owners and will gladly share our accumulated wisdom.

as you have found, this forum does have very good search capabilities, especially if you open up the “advanced” search options.

we were all once new owners like yourself. You are amongst friends.

Larry 

Riley is a neighbor and friend, and I've seen the car and the two of us took a ride together to a car meet and greet, yesterday, both of our red Panteras gleaming in the sun amongst the Ferraris, Lamborhinis, and McLarens. The car is gorgeous, and it's hard to believe how good a condition everything is including the paint, the interior, everything!  It's spectacular!!  Later, when I get home I'll load some photos of yesterday's meeting.

Welcome to the family Riley! 

Here's a list of the Best Fixes for under $20...

Best Fixes for under $20

(by Larry Finch, posted to the DeTomaso Forum on June 17, 2003)

The following maintenance should also be the first order of business for any new Pantera owner...

1. Add an emergency front hood release cable.
2. Make sure your engine oil dipstick is the correct length. Early cars showed "Full" but were actually a quart low.
3. Add Zerk grease fittings to your ball joints.
4. Replace stock ceramic/aluminum-strip fuses with GBC glass fuses and clean all fuse holders.
5. Make sure throttle linkage has two return springs.
6. Make sure water temp sender is moved from surge tank to engine block.
7. Change ZF gear oil.
8. Change brake fluid.
9. Change clutch fluid.
10. Make sure distributor gear shear pin is upgraded to stock pin with a second smaller pin inside for added strength.
11. Drill drain holes in rust prone areas, if not already done on your car.
12. Remove stock spring spacers if they are still there after thirty years.
13. Make sure cooling system has all air bubbles removed.
14. Re-route overflow tank vent hose to exit behind rear wheel.
15. Add two heater hose shut-off valves to assist the A/C in actually cooling the cabin.
16. Buy a fire extinguisher

This is a great, thanks. I know the PO did some of these already for sure, and maybe more, but I just don't know what they are...

1. Add an emergency front hood release cable. DON'T KNOW IF HE DID, WILL SEARCH FOR INSTRUCTIONS.
2. Make sure your engine oil dipstick is the correct length. Early cars showed "Full" but were actually a quart low. WHAT IS THE CORRECT LENGTH?
3. Add Zerk grease fittings to your ball joints. PO DID THIS ALREADY.
4. Replace stock ceramic/aluminum-strip fuses with GBC glass fuses and clean all fuse holders. I WILL CHECK WHAT'S IN THERE.
5. Make sure throttle linkage has two return springs. OK, I'LL CHECK.
6. Make sure water temp sender is moved from surge tank to engine block. JUST REPLACED IT YESTERDAY, WAS MOVED TO THE BLOCK ALREADY BUT WASN'T WORKING.
7. Change ZF gear oil. YES, JUST ORDERED OIL.
8. Change brake fluid. YES, NEED TO DO THIS, BRAKES ARE SPONGY. WAS LOOKING AT BUYING A POWER BLEEDER?
9. Change clutch fluid. ON MY LIST TOO.
10. Make sure distributor gear shear pin is upgraded to stock pin with a second smaller pin inside for added strength. DON'T KNOW WHAT THIS IS BUT CAR DOES HAVE BRAND NEW DISTRIBUTOR.
11. Drill drain holes in rust prone areas, if not already done on your car. WILL CHECK.
12. Remove stock spring spacers if they are still there after thirty years. JUST DID THIS WITH NEW 17" WHEELS INSTALLED, SPACERS WERE PRACTICALLY CEMENTED ON.
13. Make sure cooling system has all air bubbles removed. WILL LOOK UP HOW TO DO THIS.
14. Re-route overflow tank vent hose to exit behind rear wheel. WILL CHECK.
15. Add two heater hose shut-off valves to assist the A/C in actually cooling the cabin. AC WAS REMOVED, NEED TO UPGRADE/FIX/INSTALL.
16. Buy a fire extinguisher CAR CAME WITH ONE.

As promised, some pictures of Riley's and my Pantera at the Malibu Autobahn gathering in Westlake Village, CA

Welcome Riley,  great cars and a great community as well!  Encourage you to be active with your local group of enthusiasts and share what you learn.  

Dennis

@Riley posted:

Just wanted to say how happy and excited to finally be a member of this special community. Last week I fulfilled a long dream of owning one of these great cars, and was very fortunate to find one less than 2 hours away in wonderful condition taken care of by an owner (see For Sale forum) who clearly loved his car. I have been lurking on a here a lot the last year, and it has already proven a great resource. Extremely impressed with the robust vendor/aftermarket options for such a limited car.

I have owned an assortment of different cars over the years, old and new, and I have some mechanical know-how... but not a ton. I always try and search before I post any question, but in case I ask something that's already been answered 50 times before, I apologize in advance. Just excited to become more educated on the car. My goal is to keep it looking as stock as possible but also as reliable as possible so that I can drive it whenever and wherever I want, and not have to worry about it. Need to get the AC working as one of my first things for sure! But like I said, I'm very fortunate that Doug took such great care of the car during his ownership.

Here it is on its way to me, and then safely in the garage... notice the Pantera flag in the corner ready to go up with the others!

Nice GTR (I think)! I almost bought one a couple of years ago. It would have made a nice garage mate for my Pantera

Thanks. It's a very different car, really big compared to the Pantera... but still handles like it's on rails. It's very quick as you know, and an automatic, so kind of a perfect companion as a daily driver that I don't have to look down to see if I'm shifting into the right gear, haha. They can quite easily be modified up to 700-800 hp running on e85, but it's more than adequate in stock form for me. I only wanted one in that metallic blue pearl, which is one of the coolest factory colors of any car I've seen.

@sjdennis posted:

Welcome Riley,  great cars and a great community as well!  Encourage you to be active with your local group of enthusiasts and share what you learn.  

Dennis

 

Thanks Dennis! Even just in the short time I've had it, I've had great interaction with owners already who seem just as passionate about their cars no matter how long they've had it. Can't wait to meet more of you all.

@Riley posted:

This is a great, thanks. I know the PO did some of these already for sure, and maybe more, but I just don't know what they are...

1. Add an emergency front hood release cable. DON'T KNOW IF HE DID, WILL SEARCH FOR INSTRUCTIONS.

 Emergency front hood release cable - TSB09-64.  I attached a PDF to this post from when I did this on #4033.

Oh man, this is so great. Talked to Larry yesterday too. What a great community. Thanks again. 

Hey Riley, I too am a new member having just purchased a 1974L. Live in Orange County Cali but soon to relocate to France. I totally agree with you that the members on this clubs forum are great. Soooo much information for everyone. I have collected and built all types of cars, from Alfas to Minis to Jags, Chevys,Ferraris, RX7s and on and on. I am sure I will ask more than my fair share of questions, but am so glad for the resource here. I to will formally apologize ahead of time. So thanks to all!!!

Congrats on your purchase! Too bad you’re leaving SoCal, won’t see your car on a meetup. 

Of all the suggestions, all are valid but possibly the most important- if you decide to actually drive the car- is upgrading the distributor drive gear roll pin. This affects 100% of 351-C distributors including ones right out of the box from Ford, MSD, Accel and many others. Matters not how many $$$ the assembly cost or what electronic whiz-bang it delivers. The last failure I'm aware of was in a friend's rebuilt engine- with an aftermarket electronic distributor- 2 years ago on the way to the POCA Fun Rally in Phoenix. 100 mile tow truck rides are so depressing.

The stock roll pin that holds the drive gear on the distributor shaft is two sizes smaller than in a comparable Chevy 350 distributor assembly. When (not if) it shears, your car stops running RIGHT-DAMN-NOW. And it will not restart until its fixed & the ignition is retimed. This problem first showed up in 1972 Panteras but Ford, knowing the Cleveland engine was to be discontinued soon, did nothing about it. There are many ways to update this 25 cent weak spot locally- and in fact it may already have been done. But it bears checking by a qualified eye. Good luck.

@Spoo posted:

Hey Riley, I too am a new member having just purchased a 1974L. Live in Orange County Cali but soon to relocate to France. I totally agree with you that the members on this clubs forum are great. Soooo much information for everyone. I have collected and built all types of cars, from Alfas to Minis to Jags, Chevys,Ferraris, RX7s and on and on. I am sure I will ask more than my fair share of questions, but am so glad for the resource here. I to will formally apologize ahead of time. So thanks to all!!!

Which region of France are you going to move into?