New (to me) Pantera

Welcome!!

At that price, you've got a bargain even if there are some problems.

We'll be here to help out.

And, sorry for the loss of your friend.

Larry

My condolences.

Keeping that car around would be a great way to remember your friend. Hope that's practical for you.

The car arrived on Friday. It is in worse shape than I had hoped - but hey, it's free. Clearly, the mice have spent more time in the car than anyone else. Everything is dirty, and smelly. I had heard a story of the car rolling down an incline into the garage but wasn't sure if the damage had been fixed - it hasn't. So the big thing is that the hood and front clip are dented (beyond repair) and the right front quarter panel is squished beyond repar and will need to be replaced. The front frame might be just a bit tweaked based on the front hood not fitting anymore. The battery is dead. The belts are off and there is no antifreeze in the car (which I knew) so I tried to start it (kidding). There is a nice mouse nest in the glove box and evidence of one in the air filter housing - outside the filter thank goodness - and also in the leftmost muffler opening. I vacuumed and cleaned the interior tonight along with the glass (which is pristine). I will try to post photos soon. Oh yeah 23,000 miles - so the inside of the engine and tranny should be ok right?

The fiberglass rear tray is in great shape - the felt is mouse eaten as is the felt in the front trunk. There is evidence of some corrosion around the battery box. The engine and transmission mounts along with the suspension mount points are blissfully rust free.

Question time. Where should I get body panels - who should I order them from? I need a shift gate (rusted) and a new steering wheel (plastic is broken - OEM is ugly anyway) - who makes MOMO/Sparco adapters for these cars? Where can I get 15 x 10 campys for the rears and how much should I expect to pay? What is the bolt diameter/backspacing or offset for these wheels anyway? Sadly, I am just warming up.

Time to roll up the sleeves HUH??? Good luck with the project...you can always make it a racecar if push came to shove.

Body Panels: Depends if you want new or used. Johnny Woods, in the UK, makes some excellent panels. Vendors e.g. PI have some used panels available. You can always post your needs here and on the DeTomaso BB.
Shift gate: PI sells new ones and I believe one is on e-bay now.
Steering wheel: Talk to the various vendors and see who has what you need. I image the manufacturers' websites may have adapter info.
Wheels: The 15x10s are hard to come by. They are a rare commodity. I've seen a few for sale but don't know what the selling price was.
Bolt pattern & offset: The wheels use a standard Ford bolt pattern. Are you looking for the Campy offset for the 15x10s?

"Sadly I'm just warming up"?? This is a project you should look forward to!! Anyway, you're in Minnesota, in November, I doubt there's any warmth to be found!

Thanks guys. I ordered a shift gate and shift knob from PI and a MOMO prototipo wheel and hub adapter so the car will look cool when I sit in it and make go fast noises.

DeTomasos - I have a Porsche 944 Turbo with race seats/harnesses/roll bar for that purpose so I am going for a GT car with this one. Thanks for your response.

Husker - what is a standard Ford bolt pattern (is it the same as for a modern Mustang?) And yes I guess the offset for the 10inchers would be helpful if anyone knows. I am looking forward to the project, I was hoping it would start up and have no body damage, then I could ask questions like "what is the best high rise intake manifold and carb for the stock block and heads"

I bought a new battery today and installed it - turned the key, absolutely no signs of life, lights/fans/nothing. At least the oil pan wasn't drained and left empty.

How do you guys jack up your cars?

By the way, what is the best high rise intake manifold and carb for the stock block and heads?

Rear jacking point: frame crossmember that runs under the trans- cut a piece of 2x4 to fit up in there and put the jack under that.

Front jacking points: holes in frame rails approx. underneath the leading edges of the doors.

DO NOT yield to the temptation to put the jack under the control arms (front or rear)- you'll bend them.

You might look through some other owner websites, such as Mike Dailey's, for technical and maintenance tips that might help you:

http://www.panteraplace.com/Page9.htm

-William

Do you put jack stands in the locations that you mentioned ackpht? I will read the articles at Pantera place. Thanks guys.

It's alive!! Electrically anyway, I still haven't replaced the belts or put antifreeze in so I haven't tried to start it. All the electrical stuff works, the lights don't pop up because of the damage on the right front. All sorts of mouse eaten paper bits flew out of the vents when I turned on the fan. I also recieved an original 1973 "pantera technical information" manual. The quality of the technical writing and illustration puts my Porsche shop manual to shame - I am very surprised and impressed.

Anyone know the best place or way (siphon?) to drain gas from the tank? I have learned the car hasn't been started in about 2 years.

My fuel tank has a drain plug on the bottom.

quote:

Originally posted by duz185:
My fuel tank has a drain plug on the bottom.

I've heard that if the tank is very rusted, you can spin the whole bung that the drain plug screws into right out of the tank! So basically, if the plug is seized and the area around it is weakened by rust, you'll be ripping a hole in your gas tank! The engine needs to be removed to remove the gas tank. So be very careful, and soak the bejesus out of the drain plug with rust penetrant. Unfortunately, your tank may look good from the outside, but you can't see the inside.

I have no experience with this, so others may want to chime in with the best way to go about it.

Michael

quote:

Originally posted by Cyboman:
I've heard that if the tank is very rusted, you can spin the whole bung that the drain plug screws into right out of the tank!

So if that happened, would it be considered a "bung hole"? (That didn't sound right....)

72red,how to remove the fuel tank plug was discussed at a tech session at POCA's Las Vegas event last April. Spray WD40 on the threads of the plug several times, if possible and wait a day. DO NOT USE A BRAKER BAR WITH THE SOCKET TO REMOVE THE PLUG. Too much torque and you will tear the tank. Instead use an air impact wrench. Start with 20 lbs air pressure with a max of 40 lbs air pressure to remove the plug. Use short bursts to loosen the plug. Chuck

I am going out to the garage to WD40 the heck out of it right now (along with the rust lump that used to be the slave cylinder). Thanks for the great advice.

quote:

Originally posted by duz185:

quote:

Originally posted by Cyboman:
I've heard that if the tank is very rusted, you can spin the whole bung that the drain plug screws into right out of the tank!

So if that happened, would it be considered a "bung hole"? (That didn't sound right....)

LOL. That reminded me of the 'Beavis and Butthead Movie', when Beavis had his shirt pulled up over his head. He said that he was Cornholio and needed TP for his bunghole!

For those of you who didn't see the movie, you didn't miss anything.

Michael

Bled the clutch master and slave cylinders tonight, The bleeder valve on the slave is rusted - I can only drain by removing the screw - I now have a puddle of brake fluid beneath the car. I removed the seats and firewall trim and vacuumed up more mouse nests - at least two for a grand total of four in the car, there really isn't anywhere else left to look for them - there was one under the passenger seat and one behind the firewall trim on the driver's side. I vacuumed acorns and peanut shells out of the frame with the shop vac. Look up the Hantavirus, I'm the next victim.

Anyway, I finally posted my initial photos on the photo album forum.

Anyone know how far the slave piston should move with full disengagement of the clutch, my clutch pedal goes a long way before the master cylinder moves and I am not sure I am going to be able to fully disengage the clutch.