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There's no licensing required. Whether there SHOULD be is a good question often discussed. One shop owner who contacts home mechanics every day once told me he thought people should be required to demonstrate competency with tools before Sears (or even Harbor Freight) would be allowed to sell to them.... And I've often said there are people in the Pantera world I would not trust to correctly check tire pressures.
But practically, if someone is electricaly or mechanically incompetent and is in business doing this, poor or dangerous-quality workmanship will rapidly self-limit the scope of trouble they can cause. Not so unfortunately in the private sector. "Caveat Emptor" still applies to buying used cars.

Not evey car owner starts off with a rotisserie restoration, and inspects every square inch of the car.  I was un aware of this rust repairs done previous to me. Had I not been threatened by the buyer, talks might have gone better.  When I buy a car I inspect it to my satisfaction. The rust shown does not harm it's driveability. It made two trips to Vegas and one to Az. I bought it for go, not show.  Sorry I sold it. 

Boss man,

I have been a "licensed" aircraft mechanic / inspector for almost 40 years. Licensed to me means nothing, zero, zip because a lot of the work I did was repairing repairs done by licensed mechanics who should not have been allowed to repair a golf cart. Over the years it only got worse as the FAA lowered the standards for getting and maintaing that license. A total joke.

Good and I mean good people that are truly skilled at what they do are few and most often expensive because they are so good. No matter the profession there is  a rule I call the 60 20 20 . 60% being average at best , 20% should not be doing what they are doing and 20% are the masters of their craft / profession and are proud of the work they perform. Hard to find but out there and yes, expensive because of their expertise.

No attack meant here but this thread is a classic example of a dream becoming a night mare that probably could have been avoided. "Probably".

First, buyers and owners must realize that Panteras are machines approaching fifty (50) years of service. Many being older than their owners. You seldom see fifty year old machines unless you go to the junk yard. They were not designed or intended to last fifty years so one must approach a purchased with this in mind. In that fifty years all sorts of things can happen to that machine. I always wished they could talk because the stories they would tell would make for a good read. Corrosion (rust) is everywhere at that junkyard that is full of fifty year old machines. That's because once started it can move fast and be hard to detect since it can work from the inside and progress outward. It's also expensive to repair and many owners would rather spend money on a performance gizmo. If you see signs of corrosion then you best start looking because the smart money says that there is more elsewhere. Face it, a Pantera is a fifty year old hunk of steel. Last is the human dream thing. People tend to see, hear and believe what they want when dreaming. With aircraft most buyers will pay for a pre-purchase inspection. The cost of parts and repairs can quickly turn that dream into a nightmare if you let it. It can also kill you. I can not count how many times I did a pre-purchase inspection and did everything I could to wave off a dreaming buyer that was not going to listen to me. Some were so lost in their dream that they would argue with me if I allowed it. Because of this you have to approach the purchase of your fifty year old hunk of steel as a total skeptic . Bring along a trusted friend who can approach the buy with the ability to wake you up if you are dreaming. To me 1447 looked like a big red flag hunk of fifty year old steel that had been dipped in salt water. It's what dreams can do to you if you let them. 

Despite all I feel for the guy that bought it. Being human is not at all easy.

A P.S. To this is that the 60-20-20 rule applies to a 50 year old hunk of steel so you can almost never look enough.

 

Agree with most of what you say, Punky. I spent 26 years flying across oceans in ancient military airplanes (in the Reserves), that active duty people had discarded. Our inspectors were all required to at least climb aboard and fly around the patch in any plane they signed off as fixed, so that improved our confidence a bit. We didn't carry parachutes, either....

In the case of #1447, it's bad but less awful looking than Mad Dog Antenucci's Pantera that burned to the ground during an Open Track event, was totally rebuilt and returned to run more such events at absurd speeds without difficulty. Significantly, Mad Dog hired top-o-the-line mechs to restore his smoking heap, not the lowest bidders. So #1447 could turn out well regardless of the reported sale price, and if so it will be one more DeTomaso saved from a scrapyard. Bravo! It was also not likely bought by a car-flipper due to the amount of work it needs.

You are correct . With enough time, money and skill it is possible to repair / rebuild anything if you find the right people. I have asked myself what I would do if I uncovered something like that on 9193 and every time my answer was fix it. In my forty years of repairing aircraft I have come in contact with some of the most skilled metal masters on Earth . They repaired stuff I would of trashed.   I've also met some of the worse that thought they were the best. Those being the scary ones.

I just finished repairing a totally molested wiring job done by alarm / stero installers who I am sure thought they had done a great job. While doing so I found that someone had tied knots in the throttle cable on 9193 in a attempt at rigging. Crazy ! It was ready to break and probably would have done so at the worst time and or place.

If the owner of 1447 was near me I would consider helping the guy but a lot of what is needed is way beyond my skill level.

BTW, I  have done more than a few cross Pacific flights and they are killer. Never worried about the machine. It was the crew that was my concern.

Two sides to every XXXX most coins.

I thought "Wait / What??" when I saw the post from 3/26/19.

This thread (is) was 10 years old, was resurrected by 4Pantaras, who may (or may not) be the KM guy who was referenced in the previous posts, who may (or may not) be the previous seller of 1447, and who regrets ever selling it.

If you get a chance to read the write-ups in ProvaMo - there are descriptions of rust repairs performed between 2006 to 2008 prior to the sale to the guy who started this thread.

It doesn't SEEM  like a good story - Form your own conclusions.

 

Rocky

Last edited by rocky

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