When Wilkinson helped me with shortening my screen he explained that the curvature of the screen can be adjusted to match the side engine covers. While doing such I noticed that the mesh is springy and readily changes while the mild steel channels at the sides are defining the curvature. I was able to carefully bend mine into place.
@Larry, yeah, I've kind of seen that coming. I am going to check in with a local fabricator and just see what's possible.
"Steve - are you sure your screen came from a push button, or could it have been a post push button prior to 2002??"
I cannot be certain that the aluminum screen came with the car from the factory. I do know that its initial restoration started around 1990 and the dust on the screen pictured matched all of the other parts that came with the car. Also, the screen fit perfectly into the car. Damage to the screen likely happened during storage. movement, and transport.
I have an extra original center screen with the air cleaner rasied center available for sale, PM if interested. 400 plus shipping
Brian: To respond to your earlier question about the fact your current screen is loose and banging around when you drive, a simple fix (assuming the holes line up between the screen and side panels) is to buy two small bolts and matching wing nuts at ACE hardware. Bolt comes up from below and put a washer on top and the wing nut. If they holes do not align, take the center screen off and drill a new hole on each side to align with your side panels first. Candidly, you might have to do this with what ever new center screen you find as well.
@tomcat72, can you send me pictures and exact measurements? As you can see from this thread, each Pantera, especially mine, has it's own unique fitment issues...
@pat, the holes on the "front" edge do not line up with the holes that are on the side covers, another reason for my posting. But then I'm assuming that the holes on the screen or the side covers are "standard"
If I am not mistaken, the center panel has 2 holes on each side. One about midway back from the window and then one at the back. On my car, I put a small bolt and acorn nut to fill the first hole and only secure my panel using the back hole. The fact the screen is secured in the U channel in front and bolted in back makes it totally secure. There is no banging or movement. I did this because I couldn't see removing 4 bolts to get that panel out. Using wing nuts on the back two bolts make this a 2 second removal.
You could also just put a pop rivet in the hole in center if you didnt want to see a blank hole
Thanks Tomcat, definitely too small for my fitment, plus I'm looking for no cutout if possible. I am a full 34 inches wide and I'm 19 inches front to back, which is about 1/2 inch too much. So my fitment would be 34 inches wide and 18 1/2 inches front to back. Every one seems to be slightly different. But thanks for posting...
Understood. I definitely learned a lot on this topic. I had no idea there were so many variations.
You have our head in it more than me. What year/generation is my cover from? Or do we know yet? It didn't come with my car. I got it on a trade with other parts.
@tomcat, Panterapat has been super helpful on this topic. Read all the previous posts. There's more on this thread...
My apologies George, but I don't know what your post means?
I believe he may be suggesting a method whereby your pictures will appear in large format, with no action required on the part of the reader to see them in all their glory!
Click George’s link to find out how!
Rocky
AH HA!!! Thank you very much! Learn something new every day...
I believe this is the engine cover that matches your side covers.
@tsolo, looking for something without the hump. Plus no measurements are included in the add. I'm going to message the seller anyway and ask for the measurements...thanks for the tip!
Brian, the eBay cover is the one that is designed for your car and the only one that will seamlessly install on your car.
A center cover fully made of screen will not mount to your side covers. The side covers for the all screen center cover do not have a provision for your outside fuel door.
You can ask Mike Mayberry, who is the eBay seller, for dimensions, but it is totally useless information for you.
The only way you are going to get a screen center cover is through a lot of custom work.
it’s time for all of us to stop beating on this dead horse
Larry
You lost me. How does the side cover having provisions for the outside fuel door effect the center cover? The one on e-bay would work (assuming the dimensions are correct) whether it was just screen or with the air cleaner hump. Long live the horse.
Husker, “assuming The dimensions are correct” sums up the entire problem here. No one knows what the correct dimensions are for mixing and matching early and late engine screen systems.
An outside fuel door car requires an outside fuel door left-hand side cover. None of those side covers were ever installed with a full screen. Could the full screen cover work with the late side covers, who knows!!??
The early full screen covers attached with sheet metal screws. The later hump center covers attached with Dzus fittings. That is custom fabrication task number one
I do not know if all of the screens and all of the side covers are equal width. That is to say, what is the center gap between the early side covers and the late side covers??
if they are not the same then the center covers will not dimensionally interchange. Custom fabrication task number two?? Remember, we already need to rework the mounting system
if the center gap is different then early side covers must be used with the early full screen center cover. But, the left hand side cover for the all screen center covers were for cars that had engine bay fuel filling, not the outside fuel doors. So if you have to use all three early pieces you will have to customize the left-hand piece so it can work with the outside fuel door on Brian‘s car.
of course, we also don’t know if the later fullscreen center cover would even have sufficient clearance with Brian‘s intake manifold, carburetor and air cleaner.
Anything other than that is a crapshoot sure to require an unknown amount of modification and fabrication .
additionally, he will need to actually find and purchase a full screen center. Will that be $300 or $500 if you can find one? And after spending the money and finding it will not fit,……
The only easy solution is for Brian to give up on the full screen center desire and install the center that is correct for his car.
Brian, with sufficient no-set-budget funds available, no limit on the time and effort, the necessary skill sets and fabrication abilities, welding, and who knows what else, yes, you can have a full screen center cover.
Just how much are you prepared to invest?
Larry
"The only easy solution is for Brian to give up on the full screen center desire and install the center that is correct for his car."
THIS. Like many Panteras, modifications have been made to mine to take it out of the realm of "stock", thus requiring more "creative" methods to find something that works. That said, the reverse facing shaker scoop on mine is proving to be a point of interest for folks.
I'm going to look into a few other options including new fabrication, budget isn't unlimited, but need to fully understand my options. I'll post here again when I figure it out. For now, I've emailed the seller on Ebay for exact measurements, they responded with some guess-timates, but will get back to me with exact numbers in a few days.
Thanks you all for the help, dead horses and all...