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There was some discussion on the e-mail forum. I had posed a question about the turbo setup with the carb on top as I didn't see how that pressurized, but I had it explained to me and apparently that system would be fairly low boost levels.
Looks to be draw through, which was one of the things that piqued my interest. There are definitely limitations to draw through (or even blow through). Properly mapping A/F ratio to boosted signal in a carb is no small feat. Get it wrong, and you’ll be sweeping up the mess. It’s old school approach and with the advent of ECUs, most don’t go this route these days.
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Someone said it was a race car that a previous owner had said would be very difficult to put back on the road, so not sure what that meant. I loved the look of the car and do think the low stance with 19" rear wheels was what made the flares look unusual.
With that body work, paint job, interior, and boost set up, doesn’t look like a race car to me. More street/show car. May have been difficult but I’d say mission accomplished for putting it back on the road…..but the auction doesn’t say anything about how it runs.
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Kelly, isn't it a rule of thumb you can boost inlet pressure by about 1/2 atmosphere without an inter-cooler?
Completely dependent upon the initial compression ratio of the engine of course, but if it was purpose built for pump gas and ½ an atm boost, 8:1 seems a fairly common static/initial CR. In crude terms at full boost you can think of it as 12:1 at full fan. Of course, how and when it comes on the boost can be a whole other matter.
I’ve toyed with the idea of a boosted engine for my car but from my perspective, I wouldn’t consider adding all the weight, overhead, and just general complexity and unless it was at least 1-ATM boost capable. When 600-650HP is in reach from a normally aspirated all alloy mill that approaches 400lbs, what’s a ½ ATM going to get you? In theory, 50% more power but from what starting point? –Not 650HP. However, if you were willing to run an alternate fuel or meth/H20 injection, higher boost/power could be possible from that set up. If all you wanted to do was just occasionally tap that power to put a grin on your face, that’d probably be fine, but from my view, for all around street car it would need to be intercooled and depending upon boost level, maybe even a meth squirter for high boost.
It’s really a non-trivial task to select the turbos and manage oil pressure, boost control, detonation control, heat, etc. Done right it can be quite a thrill. -Horses for courses.
If you’ve ever driven a boosted street car that’s North of 1000HP, it’s a whole new world. You can get yourself in trouble in a hurry and you really can’t use the power in the lower gears and speeds but you cant keep street tires stuck to the ground below 100mph and your drive train is cryin’ for mama!.....which is a whole other issue in a Pantera.
Let’s hope the owner chimes in. I’d like to learn more about the car. It still looks like a heckuva buy at $62k to me but sort of depends on how thoughtfully put together and sorted that engine is.
Best,
K
