Anyone got a good photo or two to share of what the correct Pantera spare tire hold down should look like ?
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Does your car have a hole for a bolt to go through the trunk bucket? Not all did. If so, the factory simply used a special long bolt with a wing nut welded to the top, then uses a large concave washer to hold down the rim tightly. We stock them, they are not expensive but again, be sure your bucket has the hole and the nut already. Many have been carpeted over, many other cars that have come through here over the years don't even have the hole!
Pantera Miami
Mine doesn't have the hole. #4460
Here is a NOS one on ebay
Doug, my '72 L trunk insert doesn't have a hole either, but the steel nut is visible with a strong light inside the fiberglas. Careful drilling should expose the threaded nut. I never drilled it because for better balance in our car, I put the folding sidewall spare up front as it was in the prototypes, but with a hold-down system up there that IMHO it should have had from the beginning.
I mounted the spare upside-down in the trunk (with a tire cover) so I can carry some stuff inside the wheel's backside. Thus it takes a much shorter than stock hold-down bolt & the welding of a nut & washer to the underside of the front trunk floor. But doing that really requires a dropped battery as in the post-Ford-built cars. Always something....
@bosswrench posted:Doug, my '72 L trunk insert doesn't have a hole either, but the steel nut is visible with a strong light inside the fiberglas. Careful drilling should expose the threaded nut. I never drilled it because for better balance in our car, I put the folding sidewall spare up front as it was in the prototypes, but with a hold-down system up there that IMHO it should have had from the beginning.
I mounted the spare upside-down in the trunk (with a tire cover) so I can carry some stuff inside the wheel's backside. Thus it takes a much shorter than stock hold-down bolt & the welding of a nut & washer to the underside of the front trunk floor. But doing that really requires a dropped battery as in the post-Ford-built cars. Always something....
My trunk liner is still here but no longer in the stock configuration because of the 180 headers. It was shortened and has two muffler humps in it. As such even a collapsible spare will not fit.
On the subject of a spare in the front trunk, what fits in there? A full spare or a collapsible?
My battery is already "down in the well now" and it probably would be a good idea to run with a spare at some point?
For a project, I welded up a forged aluminum Thunderbird (4 bolt, 18") high-pressure mini-spare and redrilled the wheel to 5 bolt. With a dropped battery and some rearranging, it fit up front in my car while inflated. Never heard from the guy who bought it so maybe it fit OK in his car, or maybe not. I posted this a few years ago. Somewhere in the PI Archives is a follow-on post by Mangusta-Steve Liebenow on other such high pressure spares that will fit without changing bolt patterns.
Well I actually have a couple of those aluminum spares here. I suppose those may be the "universal" Ford solution as of "recent". Mine are out of Contour SVT's.
Isn't the size of the spare an issue with the Pantera in the back because of the way the limited slip unit works? Both OD's of the tires have to be the same?
So a spare size would be critical to the rear, serious but not fatal to the front?
I've got quite a size disparity on front to rear with 295-50-15 in the rear and 225-50-15 in the front.
I'm even wondering now, that you brought this up, I brought this up, somebody brought this up, if a spare keyed to the rear, if used in the front, if that would screw up the LS also?
Of all things on this car, emergency spares is something I have no experience with.
As for a rear tire size differential wearing out the LSD clutches, that's exactly what happens. I have yet to find ANY spare that even comes close to the OD of a 285 or 295-50 x 15" tire. And if the worst happens and you get a flat rear (mine was a suddenly porous Campy rear wheel- so an inflator can w/sealant was useless), transfer a front tire & wheel to the back, put the spare on the front and observe the 50 mph@50 miles distance limits for spares. Or try a cell phone, relax & hope for the best.
If you have a high pressure spare, maybe carry a tire inflator- either a can, or if that doesn't pump it up to the 55-60 psi you need, use a simple hose & gauge that plugs onto an adapter in one spark plug hole with the engine idling. Your ZF clutches WILL wear during the drive but maybe not as bad as they would with whatever spare you carry. And the front tire will better carry the 58% weight back there.
In Tech Service Bulletin 10, Article 85, Ford says Pantera rear tires should be matched in circumference as a pair to within 5mm (0.2") in order to equalize LSD clutch wear in your ZF. They're speaking specifically of Goodyear and their careful sizing of the rear Arrivas back in 1974, but I expect it applies equally to any rear tires on any Pantera- even the now-popular 17-20" rears. Shops used to sell a stagger-tape for pavement or dirt track racers to do this. Tire molding may be more preciser now, but anyone ever checked this on your $$$$ giant rears?
The spare tire discussion should be in a separate thread. No one will ever find it otherwise?
BW, is that within 5mm in CIRCUMFERENCE or diameter?
As I said above, in circumference within 5mm (or 0.2 inch)
Yes Professor Wrench. I was just verifying. I was paying attention. My dog did not eat my homework...this time.