Winter Projects

Finished polish. My wife is going to detail the "DeMon" in black and yellow.

Next on my list was the Exhaust. Tired of looking at missing paint.

I started to prep them using a 3M pad for paint and rust. Found the pipes to be in really great shape! I have 2 questions, does anyone run these with out any coating? I'm thinking I can get them polished up pretty well.

Last question is, I notices that the tips are chrome under the black paint. Any thoughts on stripping that paint off and having more showing? If I do coat them, it will be powdercoating. I've got a local guy for that.

Thanks
George

George, whatever coatings you use on the mufflers & tips, be aware the exhaust system runs at around 500 degrees F- enough to melt lead solder! And the gasses coming out are even hotter. At least one Pantera with angled exhaust tips melted his tail light lenses during a full throttle open road blast of around 30 minutes...

George, I wouldn't leave those muffs and pipes bare metal. Like Jack says, they get so hot, they will rust up quickly. I bought a stainless steel exhaust set years ago, and even that will rust eventually. As for the chrome tips, you should be able to use chemical paint stripper get the black off back to where you want it. Part of the reason the paint is there, though, is to cover the transition from plated to unplated metal. If rust gets started on the unplated metal, it will work it's way under the plating and peel it off.

PS: nice job on the carb!

Guys,
Thanks for the helpful tips and complement on the carb. I knew the amount of heat these cars product out of the tips. Burnt my legs on them a couple of times after long hard drives. I'm refinishing them because most of the paint on the mufflers was already gone went I got the car a few years ago. My friend owns a Power Coating business here in town an he did some work for me before with my Shelby. He has some High Temp coating he used on the Shelby's headers which came out great. I guess it's time to warn him that I have parts from my Pantera coming his way .

I'll try to keep you all posted on my project.

George

George, There was an article (on the now down MangustaInternational, if am I not mistaken on exhaust tip restoration. You can also see great pic by OzGT5. Note red stripe. ANSA stickers available at our favorite suppliers

Here's an update of my new "Laundry List"

Larry W. has some wiring upgrades we're going to do now that my wife saw a picture of what he wants to do. More to come on that when we get going.

Here's a shot of my car at Larrys shop.

Engine bay less carb and valve covers.

Passenger side rear panel removed...before we start working on it.

Driver's side rear panel removed.

Valve covers at home for polishing.

planning on some paint details like the carb for the lettering and fins here.

Going to upgrade the breathers and PVC system also.

More to follow.

George

Any other suggestions or input is always appreciated.

It's beena while since my last post, so here is an update on mine an Larry's latest findings and addition to my Winter/Spring to do list.

I pulled the interior and motor cover to make the wiring upgrades easier for Larry.

Found out that my belt for my AC pump was loose enough that it didn't grab either pully well. I'm going to clean up the front of the motor as well. (Why???..just me I guess)

Larry was on his creeper underneath the car checking thing out when he looked at the A/C pump he noticed the large type fitting. I'll have to check the paperwork, but he guesses it's be upgraded. So 2 things more to do.

As Larry continued on his inspection of my car he said something with the right rear suspension "doesn't quite look right". I'm thinking lateral damage from my U-jint failure last fall. What do you guys think?

I'm guessing this is where the outer half shaft hit the shock and caused the damage.

I am so lucky to have found this group and meeting Larry. Guess what he had in his workshop downstairs?

He told me what he wanted for them and it didn't take me long to decide on this purchace. (Wife even agreed with me on this on after she saw the pictures)

I thought I'd set one in place to show her what they'll look like.

Lastly on this visit, I wanted to get the ZF prepped for cleaning. I took the spreader bar out to bring home for powder coating and removed the clutch slave to clean that up also. Now it looks like I have more to order.

I'm also going to upgrade the fluid line going to the slave and the vent tube for the ZF. Ordered a "Spare" U-joint, new half shaft bolts, new fluids for clutch and brakes.

And hopefully Larry doesn't add too much more to my "Short" to do like.

George

It won't be long now!

Just out of curiosity what is that big silver bolt looking thingy on your shift linkage?

Looks like a Zerk.

Looks like the pinch bolt for the shifter shaft u-joint. Bolt appears to be too long, with a stack of washers under the nut.

John

JB,
That is correct and also on my short list of things to correct.

Thanks guys for reminding me.

George

Welcome to April Fools day in Southern NH>

April 2nd. Going to Larry's to check on the progress and take out my defective Kenwood CD player. Here is Frosty the next morning.

Ii show up at the shop and Larry's not around due to a meeting to help plan this years N.E Exotic Car show. Working on a class that won't put Panteras against sub 100 mile Lambos.

This is what I found waiting for me when I arrived!

I think I'll keep them. (The original is on the left in case you couldn't tell)

Larry has been busy working the wiring issues out in the engine bay. He told me he thought this would be easier. He thought wrong.

Engine bay.

Larry did a nice job at cleaning up the fire wall area.

Before....

After clean up/out.

Here is the mounting panel that he's working up. I thniks it'll be good to have everything in one place and with relays.

State of the interior before I took out the Kenwood. (Going to work on that at home)

Larry noticed that i was missing the front "Wings" to deflect air in to the radiator. So he convinced me to get a set at a deal!
Side with deflector missing.

Other side with deflector installed.

He also found some Racing fluid for the brakes and clutch. (Not sure where?)

Made some progress on parts at home for re-finishing.

One muffler stripped...one to go.

Spreader bar before.....

Spreader bar after rough stripping...more to follow with this piece...

Got the tires from Larry mounted today and test fit them.

What do you think for a "Narrow Yellow" car?

Side View.

rear View

Fronts VS. rear.

What Size are the rears I have 295 50 15 Toyo's I did not have to roll the fenders but I did anyway before I painted the car. Nice keep the pictures coming.

I believe they're 305/50/15s. and are still available.

Thanks for the comment on the picture.

More to come soon. Got to get her back together soon!

George

Latest update! We've been busy, because we're so close to "Driving Time" we're finding more stuff to do. Go figure.

Larry set in a pair of his valve covers to cover the heads while cleaning things up a bit. I think he did a great job. I did the black paint last wekend, but the battery in my camera died. More pics to follow.

Larry re-engineered all the ignition wiring and added relays. Shoulf make the starts on "Cool' NH mornings alot better! Plus easier to troubleshoot problems if I have any.

New shocks are mounted.

Rear.

Front.

one of the "New" issues we found was the radiator was leaking. Took it out and trying to find a local shop to fix it for a reasonable price. Last quote was 750!!!!! If anyone has a spare kicking around, let me know.

A little overspray here and some clean up to do, but that's done now and will be on the next post.

At least Larry finished up the wiring and the dash is put back together! Except for my Kenwood CD player that I have at home to replace the ribbon cable for the faceplate.

More to come soon! Got the half shafts, exhaust, carb, valve covers and spreader bar to finish re-finishing.

George

Busy day yesterday wrapping up some small details. We're getting close to the finish, which is good because the weather is getting nicer.

My wife is almost done adding some color to the carb and valve covers.

While I've been busy sorting out a messed up Kenwood CD player.

Finished the half shafts, spreader bar and A/C fan shroud.

This works was completed last week, before the battery in my camera died.

Another from last week.

Radiator area cleaned up.

Repaired radiator. Thanks to Larry, found a place local that did all the work for less than $225.00

Most of this weekend was the detail work around the ZF and engine.

A/C shroud.

ZF and shift linkage.

Spark plug wire loom kit to be installed after my valve covers are done.

Thankfully there is only a few things left to do on the "Have to Do" list. Then I'll be out running and helping Larry on his next project.

Got a few more items off the list this weekend. Still waiting for the last parts to come back from powder coating. If everything falls in line, may have her fired up next weekend!



Radiator repaired and re-installed.

Water tubes cleaned up and hoses replaced.

New stainless vent tube for the ZF installed.

New clutch slave line against original line.

New line installed. Slave going on next weekend after re-build.

Cleaned up the starter and re-installed.

Half shafts re-built and installed.

Last one this weekend. Hope to finish up next weekend!

Powder coating is finished!

Overflow Tank.

Swirl Tank.

Exhaust done with High Temp coating.

Installed.

Other Side.

Slave cleaned up and installed. (I'll ge tto the nasty looking bolt today)

Water bottles installed.


Almost done!

When it's time to test your cooling system, I would revisit the positioning of your Meriah Fans. Check the flow through the radiator (with smoke or string) with the fans blades in your current position then with the blades an inch back. You will find, as I did, that you have a lot more air flow thru the radiator wth blades pulled back an inch. When the blades are too close, a lot of the air bounces back off the face of the radiator core that you really need flowing when cruising in town.

I appreciate the input. I moved them as far back as I could. Maybe a 1/2 an inch. wait and see how it works.

Brake and clutch fluid refreshed and tires back on.

.Spreader bar installed.

Finished painting the heads,

New wires and looms ready to go on.

Almost Done!

Good thing we have rain forcasted until the weekend.
Water tanks and hoses installed and Larry cut the main tube from the block to make it level with the swirls tank. We suspect it caused and air pocket previous because it was going "up hill"

Installed the painted carb.

Did I mention I love my wife for hand painting the carb and valve covers!

Air cleaner installed.

New filter.

Larry and I decided to re-do the fuel line.

Reversed the fuel rail,

Mounted the filter on the back of the intake with a braket from one of his motorcycles.

(That's an allen wrench sticking up)

The future fuel line routing.

(Cut in the filter with new lines.)

DONE!!!!!!

Motor's all done and new line ran. Water bottles look great and she's never run better since I've had the pleasure of ownership. Temp stays cool, no leaks, easier starts, and she looks pretty to. (My lovely wife gets credit for the carb and valve covers!)

At home in the driveway after getting inspected. (Love the new look from the rear!)