Looks great, Steve! Super clean restoration. Stay at it.
Nice! I didn't know this was going on, or maybe I forgot with extended senior moment. You sure have the skills & patience. I can barely muster up enough effort to change oil & brake fluid. Any color in mind, stock or other?
Hi All,
Thanks for the encouragement.
Peter, regarding dual bearings in the rear, I will be continuing with the stock configuration based on feedback from one of our vendors.
Jan, the car will probably be painted in Rosso Corsa. The body will be stock with chrome bumpers and shiny stainless trim. Wheels will be Campy clones painted to look stock. The interior will also be stock. The engine bay will depart from stock and be finished in car color with a polished ZF, polished intake manifold, and some other polished components, similar to the engine bay on my 1971 Pantera.
The picture below shows the roof finished and ready for paint.
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The metal near the bottom of the rear crossmember was bent in several places from jacking up the car. The metal was straightened and the crossmember was smoothed. Also added a jack plate to prevent bending the metal again. The jack plate is 1/2" x 2/12" billet aluminum and fits well under the cross member, and is slightly thicker than the lip on the crossmember that is prone to damage.
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Coolant tubes being mocked up on the bottom of the car.
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quote:Originally posted by JTpantera:
Steve
Your lower roof line seems a bit skewed to the north on the decklid end starting in the middle of the rear side glass. Not to late to perfect. The line should fade away about flush with the end of the trim. Here is a pic
Good eye John!
Ron
Thanks John. Like you said it is easy to fix now. I have struggled a little with that area.
Steve, you may know this so sorry if I am appearing pedantic. Let me share something Kirk Evans taught me to get perfect lines. Use green 3M tape and mask along either the top or bottom side of the line you wish to create. Then block sand to the tape. Prior to removing the tape, place another strip of tape kissing the first on the other side of the line. May or may not take multiple recoats of high build primer to get it where you want. You can lightly sand the top for a more muted effect or leave them like razors, which I did. Actually, the layer of paint and clear dulls them anyway.
Anyway, you probably want them to be consistent with the crispness of other lines on the car.
I had no idea that these lines were so easy to shift. I thought it necessary to work the metal underneath. Not so at all, the primer has enough thickness to shift them.
Make sure to put your decklid in place. Same technique will marry the line from the roof to the decklid perfectly.
Anyway, you probably want them to be consistent with the crispness of other lines on the car.
I had no idea that these lines were so easy to shift. I thought it necessary to work the metal underneath. Not so at all, the primer has enough thickness to shift them.
Make sure to put your decklid in place. Same technique will marry the line from the roof to the decklid perfectly.
Hi John,
Excellent suggestions. When finishing a Pantera body there are many lines to trace and some are easier than others. I have already gravitated to some of your suggestions and have produced sharp edges that will be rounded later. I will study your recommendations and try to follow along. I am about half way through my second gallon of primer and it looks like there is a third on the horizon.
Thanks, Steve
Excellent suggestions. When finishing a Pantera body there are many lines to trace and some are easier than others. I have already gravitated to some of your suggestions and have produced sharp edges that will be rounded later. I will study your recommendations and try to follow along. I am about half way through my second gallon of primer and it looks like there is a third on the horizon.
Thanks, Steve
WOW Steve... fantastic looking chassis. Great project and progress. Need to keep an eye on this build thread.. 
This effort was interrupted by two other Pantera projects. It has regained momentum and the car is now on a rotisserie at Panteras By Wilkinson. The color is Guards Red.
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good to see progressing. please continue the Post
Beautiful! 
As a Porsche guy as well, I give the Guards Red two thumbs up!
Thats a fantastic choice for the pantera.
I really like the grey suspension components as well.
Please keep us posted
Looks great!
Thank you for your responses. The car is moving forward and here are some pictures from today. They have to wait for the paint to cure before sanding and buffing. It may be hard to see in the pictures but orange peel is forming as the clear coat cures. When the time has come the orange peel will be sanded flat and then polished.
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Images (4)
