Steel Front Spoiler and Full Floors

right side

3/4 left

I think it looks great!
Blends with the body well.
Looks like a ton of work. Good Job!

Very nice, looks like it will sit low to the ground.

Thanks Guys .... actually it appears that way in the photo .. but its actually level with the bottom of the rocker panel. In my thinking maybe that is a little high ?

Ron

Looks Great !!

Level with the bottom of the rocker panel makes it look "in place" like it belongs.

B.G.

Wow Ron. Looks amazing and SOLID. You'll be able to jack the car from the front chin!

When you're done, I have a few projects for ya...

Great work!

Mark

nice and interesting new beam lights arrangement

It looks awesome, Ron. Great work.

Michael

Thanks Mike ! I have to swap the trans on 9138 you around in 2 weeks on the weekend ?

Ron

quote:

Originally posted by accobra:
Thanks Mike ! I have to swap the trans on 9138 you around in 2 weeks on the weekend ?

Ron

Absolutely. The weekend of the 22nd I'm going camping with the family, so anytime before or after that will work. I can even come over one afternoon/night on a weekday if you get away from work early.

Michael

I;m going to put all new seals and gaskets and ring bolts and wire in the ZF this weekend ..so if your around I have that planned for saturday .. the refrige is full of beer ..if your up for I ride over I could use a hand. If it goes reall smooth I will have my 2 helpers there maybe we can do the swap also instead of waiting 2weeks
Ron

Ron

I'm in. I'll call you early Saturday morning when I'm rolling.

Michael

Great job on the spoiler Ron.

Looks amazing. Can't wait to see the headlights in and the wheels in place.

I like it very much. Such an aggressive front end treatment should have some brake ducting in my opinion - but that is nitpicking. I am interested to see it finished - looks great so far.

David, Turbo, Red thanks and yes the ducts / lights are the next step .. I'm trying to incorporate brake duct and marker light in one. I;m looking for a bullet style marker light to put inside the brake duct .. I have to move on to the floors then I will be back to complete the lights.

Ron

I was at Ron's house this past Saturday and the front spoiler looks even better in person. Ron does truly great work. That Pantera is going to look awesome when it's done!

Michael

Thanks Michael,

I moved on the the floors ..now thats a challenge .

Ron

That spoiler looks great.
What kind of headlights are you going to install?
Did you use steel pipes as a frame for your headlights?
Im thinking on going the same way.
Thanks
Robert #5172

Thanks ...the spolier still needs some hammer and dolly work then a little body filler but its rough at this stage ... The headlights will be 90mm Halogens by sasqahana and yes they are installed in 4" steel phuematic tubing. There still a little work to do with them .. need to tack on the brackets and adjusters from the back.

Ron

Moved on to the floors .. here they are cut out ... I;m dropping them 2" over the entire floors and adding the support system like my 1979 Embo Chassis on 9138 ...already started and progressing but did take pics yet.

Ron

WOW! Is the metal work ever done?

Do you have an shots framining up the air dam? The individual sheets that make it up?

Ron,

Did you buy that Pantera from Fred Flintstone?

Michael

Damn, dam and more damn...you gots more patience than I will ever live to have. Nice work and documentation, I bet it is exciting, and what a thrill when you get it all done just to stand there and look at it. I go to my home town in upstate NY to visit my step mom in Nov, if you are around that area I would love to see your work.

Thanks ... I used to do this when I was younger I worked for a Old Guy who only did Rolls Royce. I learned metal work ... as I do it I'm getting the feel back ..hopefully it comes to me before I finish ..LOL

Your always welcome to come by. Contact me and I;ll be sure to be home .. always welcome fellow Pantera lovers.

Where was your home town ?


Ron

Hey Ron, hometown is Ithaca. I miss all the trees, lakes, changing seasons & such. CA is nice, but I no longer see all the thongs I used to at the beach.

Ron I was wondering if you measured the ground clearance:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFn87xxnOjw&feature=related

Kind of ..its level with the bottom of the rockers ... its kind of looks different in person. the pics make it look lower and squarer ..
Ron

quote:

Originally posted by accobra:
Kind of ..its level with the bottom of the rockers ... its kind of looks different in person. the pics make it look lower and squarer ..
Ron

Oh I just needed a reason to post that video. I thought it went good with your project.

Yes sorry the video was great ..especially the middle aged women with her shoping bags getting out of a LAMBO ..

Ron

quote:

the middle aged women with her shoping bags getting out of a LAMBO ..

I'm pretty sure there was some sneaky film editing in there.

How would she EVER fit those two bags and still fit her legs into the car?

Larry

A little update on my progress ..slow but steady ..

Ron

another

right side floor

rear cross member .

front cross member

Heck of a job, Ron, heck of a job. Congrats for turning a blind eye to the dumb, repetitive headlines and continuing with your passion.

Keep us posted.

Looks good, Ron. Remember to call me if you need an extra set of hands (or just some company).

Michael

Adams ... always one eye on the wheel and one eye on personal ... but I;m in the correction mode at this time ... I;m busy but see it ending after the 1st of the year .. cutting crew size and open and willing to suggestion ? As always.

Michael ... thanks .... but I try to sneak in a few hours when ever I can ... but as always I have you in mind ? Call me what are you up to ? I;m in Westchester tommorrow .. lunch at DANTES on central ave ..the best Italian deli in NY ... wanna meet ! I should be there around 12.

Ron

Ron that looks awesome,
Jeff

Floors look great!
That I'm sure, was a lot of work. I like the diamond plate on the Jack pad. Good idea.
You should change the title of your thread to "Steel Front Spoiler and Full Floors" so people can find the awesome work you are doing on them.
Good Job.

Thanks Guys,

I put her back up on the rotissere today ... so I could complete the welding under ... I have to make some repairs in the front and install some reinforcing in the front ... also I need to chaneg to rerouting of the cooling tubes .. way too much hose and hose clamps on these cars. and the motor is almost done .. but my builder sold his dyno .. I;m kinda pissed at this .. so now I have to take it elsewhere to dyno it.

Ron

Brooke not sure how to change the THREAD NAME .. but heres some progress ..

Ron

and another ..

Great job.

Please continue with the post !!

What type of welding are you doing, MIG or TIG?
and What type of equipment is it?

Thanks

I use a Miller 120 volt MIG it has become my favorite machine ..I have used it with a trigas and done Ss and aluminum ..it works very nice and easy.

Ron

What ga of steel are the floors and braces?

In the pics there are no visible waves in the bottom. That is tough to do over that span.
Good Job.

I made mine, which are much smaller, out of
16ga and had to bead roll them.

I like how you did the braces on the inside that cleans it up nice.
IIRC the later cars with the drop pans still have the braces underneath?

How will these pans affect your heel to pedal distance?

Keep up the good work.

Brooke,

Its 18ga ..very hard to bend .. its only 22" wide .. I added 2 cross members front and rear because some strength is lost with flat bottom pans .. have not mounted the pedals yet .. but there was a short section below the pedal area that had to be left in place because it was a structural member that I didnt remove.

My other car 9138 has minumal cross braces. I kind of used that car as my guide making these pans. 9138 has factory dropped pans the entire floor also. 7" from the door sill.

Ron

Ron

those welds look great.

I just stumbled across this thread, WOW! That is some impressive work!

Art

Ron, the car is going to be two hundred pounds heavier with all that weld! Incidentally I reinforced the flat floor pans with 3/4w x 3/8"h channel iron on the bottom of the pans. Actually you only need to deal with that where the seats attach. My pans aren't full though only 1/2 just to lower the seats.

If you lower the entire floor pan on the drivers side, don't you need to lower the pedals an equal amount in order to reach them? Hum? I need to think about that one too.

How did you solve the roll cage through the rear window? I forget what you did there?

Great work. I'm sure you are glad you don't have to pay yourself? What are you at 500hrs?

Doug ... 18 ga wieghs 1.950 per sq ft x 20 sqft = 39 lbs total .. what I took off had to be heavier then that ? whats was factory 20ga ?

What was in the picture ..for the seats I;m rethinking that .. your idea of channel iron is better .. I need some thing to fasten seats to and the sheetmetal isnt gong to cut it .. I was also thinking some unistrut and insert nuts ?

Yes the pedals as Brooke mentioned .. I havent dealt with either .. because I really need the room up front for the fuel cell and the booster is in the way .. I researched smaller boosters, Hydrauilc boosters, and NO BOOSTER ... using a WILWOOD pedal set up with 3 little masters ? Any ideas Point me in the right direction.

Roll Cage thru the rear window will work nice. take a look .. I made plates and will add a gasket.

Hours ... I learned long ago .. STOP COUNTING ... LOL

Ron

I don't count the hours, my wife does. Like Forest Gump said, "and that's all I'm gonna' say 'bout that!"

There is a lot of room for pedals in there especially if you drop the floor 2". Yikes there is alot BUT if this is a race car you want to have access, easy access to them at the track.

The stock location is actually not bad for that at all. You can stand up and service them in the front trunk the way they are now.

If you move them to the floor assembly, which can be done, you could come up with some type of a trap door assembly BUT you most likely will be on your back, under the car to work on them.

Look at the Cobra setup. Maybe you could adapt that and have it swing down to service it, using -3 aeroquip 8807 teflon lined hoses instead of tube so it could be flexable?

Ron, A remote booster (hot rod style, See TCI's setup) could save that under hood room. And-Or maybe move the whole pedal assembly back about 1.5 to 2 inches might create room and even make driving position easier. No?
Denis

The later Panteras with factory drop flor pans have a virtually flat floor, no bracing other than a front to rear strengthening brace between the seat bolt holes.

The pedals are the same ones in later cars with dropped floors, so why would it be an issue here?

I take it this is a race car, for which I assume you'll install upgraded brakes? So why do you even need a brake booster?

I don't have boosters on either the Ultima or the GT40. The Ultima has excellent braking (AP Racing), the GT40 being C4 Corvette brakes does take some pedal stomping to stop in a hurry, but that is partly due to the pedal position at present as it currently has hanging pedals which I'm going to change to a Tilton floor mount this winter, plus switch to Wilwood calipers. Both cars have dual brake masters with adjustable bias.

Denis,
Yes that is the alternative is moving the pedals back and is very well possible because depending on hich can Is use the motor may not produce enouh vacumn for the booster.

Joules your right ..I tried to duplicate this carwith my other car 9138 and yes the later years have flat floors and the pedals work fine .. the problem is not the floors or pedals ..but te booster and masters ..conflict with a fuel cell up front. Which leads into the pedals ..then te floor issues .. floor mounted pedals are agreat idea ..except I think as Doug mtioned ..then access to the masters are a little diffuclt. And a Race Car well I scrapped that idea a while ago ..but it will be very capable with Wilwood brakes.. andthansk for the advise on Booster or n Booster .. please elabrate further on what your using versue o booster and if it woks OK.

Ron

WOW!!! Looks great!!!

Ok so finally an update ..the motor is done and heres my latest.

Ron

OH YEA!

Those valve covers are huge.

Are you smuggling contraband over the border?

Larry

A little detail .. a nice durable road race motor .. some circle track parts, some nascar parts .. hydraulic roller cam. Now this will motivate me to button up this project. All well within budget ..not breaking the edge of technology .. not the test platform for new parts .. tried and true.

R

No just a little titanium, stainless steel and some alumimum .. LOL

Re the stud girdle shown: Ridgeway's 3-bar street/track girdles will fit under 'Detomaso' or Ford-HO cast valve covers with no alterations, except removing the tin splash baffles from the covers. Things are very tight but stock twist-in breather caps & PCV valves fit and one can add oil as-stock. Mine have been in place since 1991 with zero trouble. NASCAR-grade girdles are bigger and stiffer for the 9000+ rpms they turn, so they need bigger valve covers. I recommend a stud girdle on Panteras as insurance: if a rocker stud breaks, the engine will run normally at lower rpms to get you home without a tow truck.

That's too pretty to get dirty Ron. Did you get dyno numbers on it?

Boss ... you maybe right I havent tried the other covers .. and I have an assortment of them. These look bigger in the picture then they really are.

Doug .. just the man I was looking for ... no OLSEN sold his DYNO 1/2 way thru my engine .. siad its not profitable ... so who's around to dyno this for me ?

Ron

Load it into the truck and take it up to Joe LaPine in Danbury (Danbury Competition). I don't see why he wouldn't still have the dyno.

Call him first. I've got the number around here somewhere but you can get it from information.

It was $250 to run it but that was then and now is now. Dyno headers could be the issue.

Give him a shout. It can't hurt.

Beautiful motor, Ron! Time to finish that beast.

Ron, how about some engine details?
Looks sweet!
Will

Thanks David / Will ... details ... I dont know I gave him a pile of used parts and he put it together ? LOL

9.2 deck SVO block, 3.75 scat crank 6.12 h beams, JE 11 to 1 pistons, Comp Cams hydraulic roller cam and SS rockers, C302b heads titanium valves and retainers, Edelbrock intake, moroso distr .. all ARP bolts .. now I have to search for a local guy with a dyno and some 180's.

Ron

Nice Ron! Let me know when you need help swinging it.

Michael

Will do Michael ... getting into the blasting stage soon.

Ron