Pantera died/won't start -- diagnosis?

Sounds like that is possible. I had one go bad about 3000 miles after I had changed the cam to a roller and it sounds like what you described. I had installed a bronze gear. I don't know if this is your problem but I would definitly start at the distributor to check for proper timing.
Good Luck !

1: spark at plug present. 2: fuel, do you see fuel from the squirters on the car. 3:ck for distributor gear attached to distributor, ck for 1 at tdc. 4: basic compression test.

I would also check the MSD if your running one.

Mine did the same thing. Turned out to be the MSD which they replaced free of charge.

The squeaking noise with turnover is what's really weird. I figure that must be telling me something, if I only knew what.

I suspicioned the electronic ignition also. I'm running a Hayes unit, but I've actually got a used MSD 6 series sent off to MSD for them to go through, make sure it's all good before I put it on the car.

One thing I ought to mention...recently I've noticed my oil pressure gauge reading 0 when at a stop. Blip the throttle, or continue on driving and it twitches/jumps right back up to normal. I've got plenty of oil. I'd just assumed the sender was going bad, but now with this, I wonder at a correlation.

Thanks guys.

Electrical short ?

In many Panteras this happens to, the simple cause is a sheared roll pin in the distributor drive gear. Pull the distributor and look through the hole where the pin is. If the pin shears, the rotor doesn't turn, or it can also partially shear so the rotor turns but is 50-100 degrees out of proper time. In another Pantera I fiddled with, the original timing chain was still in there after 30+ years, and it was so worn, the cam jumped proper time by nearly 180 degrees. A 351-C gets approx. 20,000 miles on even the best timing chain (which is NOT a stock silent-chain), due to the heavy weight of the stock valves and the potential rpm capabilities of this engine.
What ignition are you running?

I don't know how old the timing chain is that I've got in there. The car has 14K on an engine rebuild, so I'd hope that it had been changed then. This car was formerly Paul Higgs', formerly Glen Ford's of CA and AZ respectively.

I'm running a Hayes Stinger ignition, though I was thinking about putting in a MSD 6 series in. I hear nothing about the Hayes, so at least with an MSD, I figured I'd have a better knowledge base to tap--if the ignition turns out to be a problem.

Re your aftermarket igniton; the roll pin on the drive gear fails on aftermarket distributors, too, and the fix is identical: add a new stock roll pin, with a second, smaller one inside the stocker, to reinforce it.. Pull the distributor acd check it- takes 10 minutes.

I've got a Ford Duraspark distributor I believe.

I'll dig into this situation this weekend. Gotta get someone to come over and help, as I'm green in every which way on mechanics. I'll let you know what I find. Thanks!

Took the cap of the ditributor, the rotor looks kinda nasty. So I turned the key to see if it would move. I couldn't directly see through the window down into the distributor, but I did turn the key about 4 times, and not once after looking back did I see the rotor in a different position. Guess it's time to take the distributor out now.

Well, it looks like the distributor is shot. Took it out, and it is completely seized up, doesn't turn at all.

But looking at the gear, you can see where the teeth are shaved down. So now my question is, is my cam screwed up? Can I get away with just putting a new one in?

Here are pictures I took of the distributor that I took out:

pic 1, you can see where the thickness of the teech is worn: http://home.comcast.net/~matt.bradley/dist1.jpg

pic 2, look at all these metal shavings. I can hear something rattling around inside: http://home.comcast.net/~matt.bradley/dist2.jpg

well this is where it get exciting, when was the engine last gone through? you can roll the eng over slowly and ck the cam gear, if the gear looks good you can reuse it. you will also have to consider all the metal that is now in your pan and thru out the engine. my recomendation is to pull the engine and go through it or have it checked by your favorite machine shop. a litle prevention goes a long way. especialy on a motor thats a weekend project to pull. also dont be suprised if it turns into a snowball project ie:trans, half shafts, rear suspension, etc.

I find out today if the cam gear is bad. Putting a scope down in there. I've been told the distributor gear is a softer metal than the cam, so I could get lucky.

I would think the oil filter catches most of the metal shavings. Of course I would drain, and put new oil in, and check out the oil pan itself, but I think I'd be alright in that aspect. This is apparently been happening for a while, and only now the the distributor locked up am I finding a problem.

The engine itself was rebuilt 14K miles ago.

Well boys, no fun for me, cam gear is jacked. It was checked out with a scope. I'm in for it now. I was told upon inspection the drive side of the teeth is bad, that this problem has been there for several miles, and that the the oil pump should be checked when the repairs are done.

It will be interesting once in there to see what the previous engine builder did that may have caused this problem.