Pantera #9248 - 1982 GT5 - what was the OEM engine color?

Martin, Gr-3 is a FIA international racing class and parts to allow your Pantera to comply with their competition rules are well defined. All Gr-3 parts could be purchased directly from DeTomaso Europe during about '72-'78. If the factory did the installation of the parts you bought onto your Euro-sold GTS Pantera, it would be a 'factory GTS/Gr3'. If you had the parts sent to your home or to an independent shop for installation, it may still a GTS/Gr-3 depending on what was done, just NOT factory done. And finally, you could buy only the parts you were interested in; that made it a GTS-with-some-GT3 parts. A few GTS/Gr-3s were further upgraded to legal GR-4s and competed as such.

To my knowledge, Gr-3 engines got a U.S.-made aluminum intake manifold and Holley 4bbl carb, a better set of headers (not the stamped-steel thing) and free flowing GTS exhausts. HP increased from maybe 300 to maybe 330. The Gr-3 catalogue (two versions known) has 18 pgs of parts.

For far more info, browse to www.scuderiadetomaso.se. The gr-3 site is maintained by Anders Hellburg in Sweden who owns a factory GTS/Gr3. Your serial # does not appear on Anders' factory Gr-3 List, nor on a later, expanded one.

All US made engines were 100% Ford blue. However De Tomaso's stock of US made engines was used up by 1976 or sooner. Your 1982 GT5 Panteras engine should have been sourced from Ford of Australia.

Its easy to distinguish the two engines. All the US engines had big port "4V" heads, the Australian engines had small port heads. The US engines have a "CF" symbol cast into the rear of the block in the same area as where the oil pressure sensor screws into the block. Australian engines have a "GF" symbol cast into the same area. US engines have a "4" cast into the upper corners of the cylinder heads, Australian cylinder heads have no number cast into the corner.

If the engine is Australian it would have came in one of 3 color schemes.

(1) 100% Ford blue (all engines through 1978 with one exception).
(2) Mostly Ford blue except for orange valve covers (this is the exception, 1972 - 1976 engines with 2bbl carbs).
(3) Black block & heads, silver valve covers and air filter assembly (all engines post 1978, i.e. 1979 - 1985).

Your 1982 Pantera should have had a black/silver engine. The tell-tale sign is the distributor, is it a Motorcraft distributor with breaker points, or a Bosch breakerless distributor? The distributors had different shaft diameters and they don't interchange. The black/silver engines had Bosch distributors.

My Australian friends are welcome to correct me where I'm wrong.

Martijn, how about a picture of your Pantera?