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Hello everyone.  This is my first post to introduce myself as the current owner of chassis 3820.  I purchase this Pantera about a year ago from a friend of mine who purchased it from the estate of a long time owner who passed away in 2019.  The long time owner was Ed Renkey of Richland, WA and later Kellogg, ID.  Anyone here know him?  Looking through all the paperwork that came with the car, Ed bought this car in August of 1981 from Pete Rudie.  Ed owned the car for 38 years until he passed away after a battle with cancer in 2019.

Ed seemed to take very good care of the car based on the thousands of dollars in receipts that came with it.  Unfortunately, Ed was attempting to convert it to fuel injection when he passed and wasn't having much luck.  This is where my main questions for the board come in.  If this isn't the appropriate place to ask tech questions, please inform me of that and I'll start another thread in the correct location.

Ed installed an EFI system from Mass-Flo and was never able to get the car started.  There are correspondences between him and Mass-Flo among the paperwork that came with the car, but Ed was diagnosed with cancer before he had a chance to get the system trouble shot and the car started.

Mass-Flo has since been bought out by Pro-M Racing who offers a somewhat similar kit to what Ed purchased and installed.

I've included several photos of the car as well as the EFI system installed.

In talking to other car guys I know, I've been given two suggestions:  the  first is to pull all the EFI stuff off and simply go back to a carburetor.  The second is to contact Pro-M Racing to see if they have the ability to help with this older system.

At this point I'm leaning toward pulling it all off and go back to a carb.  I do know that the engine in this car was rebuilt and upgraded in 1992.  The dyno results that came with the car along with all of the receipts show around 400 horsepower as well as 400 foot pounds of torque.  So, if I go back to a carburetor, I will need to take into account the engine enhancements.

I am a long time classic Mustang and Early Bronco owner, but this is my first Pantera and 351C engine.  I'm hoping to learn as much as I can here on the board and get involved with any local Pantera groups.  At the moment I'm based in Northern CA near Sacramento and understand there's a Northern CA group out of San Jose.  Anyone here a member?  If so, when is the next meeting?

Thanks in advance for any advice or input.

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No info in ProvaMo (registry) about your 3820 car.

Your car looks good, but me personally, I’d pull all that stuff off the top of the engine, and run it with a carb for a while, especially it you have the carb the PO ran before he embarked on this fuel injection effort.

Drive the car, make sure all the bugs are worked out, then decide if you want to pursue this FI project….  It looks pretty complicated at this point.

There is a Pantera Shop in Carson City that can provide “tuned” carbs for the car, and there’s a lot of experience up there in NorCal.

Good luck with your project!

Rocky

Unfortunately none of the original carburetor items were included with the car, so that's not a possibility.  I have briefly spoken to the shop in Carson City that you mention.  They gave me the name of a mechanic in Sacramento who works on a lot of Panteras.  That mechanic was a big proponent of pulling all the EFI stuff off and going back to a carb.

Really seems like that's the most common suggestion and is the direction I'm leaning at the moment.

I'd move this down to the "Engine" category. I would definitely go back to a carb. Not that I'm against FI but this looks like an uphill battle trying to get an outdated FI system to work . You're not even starting with a system that has ever worked. I'd question how much help you'll get from the manufacturer. Even modern systems have hit and miss tech support.

Simplicity is key in this case.

Unless you are very familiar with EFI systems, I would pull it all off.  I would investigate what the PO did with the fuel tank to get a high pressure EFI pump installed and return it to just the single fuel line with the stock pickup.  I would also remove that fuel filter hanging over the left header, etc.   All that stuff looks really sketchy and kind of dangerous.  Buy yourself a QuickFuel carb and get the car running as it sits once you refresh all the fluids in the motor (oil and water and ZF oil) and find out how the cars runs, drives and stops.  Bleed and brake and clutch fluids.  Go from there.  The car looks very nice.  Best of luck.  Any competent mechanic can work on this as it is just a ford.

I met Ed Renkey a few times, at the Northwest Pantera’s Birch Bay picnic. He probably chose the EFI system he did because one of the Northwest Panteras members has had good results with it. Before you undo all of the modifications needed for EFI, I’d talk with Dave at Autotrend EFI in Diamond Springs, not too far from you. He’s the most knowledgeable EFI guy I’ve ever met. I was in a similar situation to where you are. I had an EFI system that I couldn’t get to run, that I had struggled with for years. Dave immediately found the problem, fixed it and had my EFI system running perfectly in no time. My problem was simple and took Dave all of 15 minutes to fix but I would never have found it.
www.autotrendefi.com

thumbnail [8)...You already know what to do. I concur with all the above suggestions to:

Pull EVERYTHING of the EFI, Out of the Engine Bay...sell the Headache to someone who loves solving puzzles.

Buy the Best 'Holley' Carburetor, any amount of Money can Buy!

You already have one of the Best 'High-Rise' Manifolds...tune for it, and Drive!! After Checking on the 'Fluids'.

Put the Smile and Pride of Pantera Ownership back on Your Face!

I'am down in Manteca...drive by sometime...we'll Talk.

Good Luck...All the Best. Now the Fun can Begin!

Marlin

P.S. Your Car looks well cared for, Welcome! To the Club!

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Last edited by marlinjack

At the moment I'm based in Northern CA near Sacramento and understand there's a Northern CA group out of San Jose.  Anyone here a member?  If so, when is the next meeting?

The next PCNC (Pantera Club of Northern California) meeting is on Thursday, October 26, from 7:30-9:00 at Denny's (1001 E. Capitol, San Jose, CA).  Folks usually start showing up around 7:00 for dinner and visiting before the meeting starts.  Hope to see you there!

https://thepcnc.weebly.com/events.html

We also have our Holiday Party coming up on Saturday, December 9.

@davidnunn posted:

Before you undo all of the modifications needed for EFI, I’d talk with Dave at Autotrend EFI in Diamond Springs, not too far from you. He’s the most knowledgeable EFI guy I’ve ever met.

Thank you for this referral.  In taking to Dave for all of five minutes, he pointed out that the Mass Flo system is pretty basic and not something he'd recommend or even be interested in helping troubleshoot.  Like most of the other posters here in this thread (as well as car guys I've talked to in person) Dave's suggestion was to pull it all off and go back to a carburetor.

I'm about 90/95% sure that's what I'm going to do.  Once I get the car running with the carb, I'll decide if a more modern and higher end EFI system is something I'd be interested in doing.

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