I am working on a Pantera Si chassis and could not help but notice the increased diameter of the front sway bar on the car. The stock front sway bar on most of our cars are 7/8". I got out a micrometer and measured the diameter on the SI at 1.2". It looks like DeTomaso was getting serious about suspension on what turned out be one of his final models. The control arms on the Si are significantly longer and much improved as well.
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Steve, although the Si control arms are approx. 4” longer, I believe the spring and shock mounts are in the same location as previous control arms.
You’re working on an Si !!!! ??? Tell us more. Photos ???
The car is a GT5 mounted on a Si chassis. The GT5 was severely rusted and Wilkinson had a couple of complete Si frames so he used one of the chassis to resuscitate the GT5. Wilkinson and I are trading services. He is selling my 72 Pantera on consignment at his shop and I am finishing his GT5 Is for him. Here is a link to its photo album.
Photos:
If that is the same GT5 that Wilkinson had for sale awhile ago that was my friend Wally Baldyga’s car.
I don't know. The car's VIN is 9107 and it is not in the Provamo.com registry.
Wilkinson purchased a lot of OEM parts as well as a few cars from Wally if I remember correctly. He had a white GT5 that was in need of restoration which Wilkinson was restoring and was for sale on EBay a few years ago. I think it might have been one of the early GT5’s. Dennis Collins purchased Wally’s Grp IV race car and is on Youtube as World’s Fastest Pantera.
#9107 is in Peter Havlik's late model registry as a GTS, came from Germany to Wally Baldyga to Wilkinson and converted to GT5. Bit of a shame an Si chassis ended up under a GT5, I guess I shouldn't inquire too much as it sounds a little dubious if it retains VIN# 9107.....
Did I mention that the car was severely rusted? It was essentially a throwaway chassis. It would have cost more than the car would be worth to fabricate and install new structural parts and weld it back together. He has photos of the rotted condition.
If you have a couple of factory Si chassis gathering dust then this seems like a reasonable use of one. On the upside a Pantera that was destined for parts is now essentially a brand new high performance car.
Also, the GT5 body kit is from the DeTomaso factory. The car is very sturdy, has a 408 cubic inch hydraulic roller engine, a beautiful leather interior, and Pantera Electronics. The engine is original to the car.
What else can you do with a factory Si chassis? Maybe wait for someone to crash their Si and sell it to them for repairs. Remember, you have store to these things.
To my my knowledge it is difficult (and probably illegal) to change a car's VIN. The Si chassis that Wilkinson has were new and not stamped with a VIN yet.
Fantastic job
It looks like only the rear and simplest section with floors are used from a Si chassis ? for me the A arms and steeering box are also not original Si ?
Simon
The lower front A arms are Si as you can see below. The front upper A arms look like Pantera but I am not sure yet. The steering rack is Pantera but notice the coupling nuts needed to lengthen the tie rods. I think there is something different about the spindles but not sure yet.
original Si steering rack dont use the extensions, the upper front A arms are different than early Pantera, the lower front Si Arms dont fit the former Pantera mounting chassis points , the shock mount points are also different .
also the rear swaybar mountings are different.
Please understand , I dont want to brake down this modification job, only try to explain that ca conversion from a GT5 (S) ( 9000 series) to Si specifications is not a bolt on job .
lot of modificaties are needed , an Si is not an upgraded Pantera , it's a total different car.
dont ask how I know this.
Simon
But when you want to know I can explain.
Simon
Dear Simon,
I am very interested to accept your kind offer of an explanation. Do tell the story.
Warmest regards, Chuck Engles
Steve - what a beautiful car. Curious, looks like dual fuel tanks?
Yes, dual fuel tanks. They are connected. You can fill the tanks from either side.
@cengles posted:Dear Simon,
I am very interested to accept your kind offer of an explanation. Do tell the story.
Warmest regards, Chuck Engles
Hi Chuck,
A few years ago I was planned to restore a GT5-S Targa, but because into the past I have owned a few from those GT5-S targa's and always was hunting for a Si Targa I decide to build a Si Targa clone .
For this job I use #9471 , was a original white Pantera Targa and repainted red.
whit a red/black interior . And because I also still owns another white GT5-S Targa #9464 I decide to make a Si clone from the #9471.
I bought from Roland Jackel a complete set of original Si wheels, F+R A arms, uprights, drive axles , brake calipers aso.
The GT5-S body and doors are modified so far as possible for a Si look a like.
pictures are into the Provamo registry.
as I write before , the only part of the body which are the same on a Si and early Pantera is the roof.
Doors are different , 1" wider , top of the door is rounded, tail is wider , rockerpanels are wider ( steel) front is different .
B Doorpost is wider.
technical and electrical an Si is total different , only ZF is interchangeable
A arms are 2" longer..
I reconstruct the original A arms that they will fitt the oldstyle shocks and the GT5-S chassis., also the shock mounting points on the body is different.
Pictures from both cars are into the Provamo registry .
The white converted Si clone is now silver.
Simon
@stevebuchanan posted:Yes, dual fuel tanks. They are connected. You can fill the tanks from either side.
Steve, how are the two tanks connected? I assume they use metal tubing with fuel resistant flexible tubing on either end. Approximately what size is the metal tubing and how is it routed?
Thanks!
This photo is the passenger side. It looks like 5/8" OD.
Steve: do they just connect to a "T" and feed the fuel pump?
The fuel pump pulls from the driver's side tank just like a regular Pantera. I think it supports the low fuel warning light on the fuel gauge. The open bung on the left below is for venting to evaporative emissions. The passenger side tank has the same.
Here is the connection of the two tanks on the driver side.
Here is a photo of the side of the tank installed in the car.
Thank You, Simon. I always wondered what happened to the suspension parts from the Si crash-test car Roland bought from DeTomaso. He only told me someone bought them for installation on an earlier Pantera. Which he didn't think was possible. Congratulations!
Here is a rough photo of the Si chassis that was used for the project.
Here is what started the project started with. It looks like the original GTS had already become a GT5.
Here is some new metal being stitched into the rear fender.
What a mess of a car that started this project. Amazing compared to what it looks like today. I guess no Pantera is too BAD to be fixed. Just time and money. Larry
I think it would have been impractical to bring this car back to life without the bare Si chassis. I have seen photos of a Pantera with similar rust issues where they welded angle iron all over the bottom of chassis, sprayed thick black undercoat all over the mess, and called it a good car. Photos of the same car on the ground looked nice.
Early 9000 series have tin steel floors and a bad chassis construction
a guy from The Netherlands build 2 new floor and chassis #9047 and 9050, pictures into the registry.
Think for using a bare Si chassis on this project it also need a lot of modifications
Simon
Wow, that's a lot of metal fabrication on 9047 and 9050. It is very impressive work. I think Wilkinson got off easy by having an Si tub on hand. He had to do plenty of modifications to fit the Si chassis and 9107 together but he did not have to build a tub from scratch.
Here is a video taken yesterday of the car moving under its own power for the first time in decades.
Awesome Steve!!. Looks Great!! Is that a new space age window shield? Thanks for sharing.
No windshield yet. The seat is just sitting on the floor pan. Most of the interior has yet to be installed but the dash in place. There is still plenty to do on the car.
Looks great, but I am partial to a white GT5.... Going to look even better when finished and the build roller wheels get replaced with Campis..... 
That is a great car. The wheels and offset bring a nice update. Thanks for posting.
