[DeTomaso] Guara Setup in Pantera

[JDeRyke at aol.com]

In a message dated 4/13/07 2:44:12 AM, montecarlo296 at yahoo.com writes:

<< I’m looking at pretty much replicating the Guara engine/gearbox 
arrangement in my Pantera. I have a 4.0 BMW V8 engine – currently with auto flywheel. 
Audi ‘boxes are 10 a penny here. Does anyone have details of the 
flywheel/clutch/adaptor plate arrangement used on the Guara? >>

A few thoughts- the Guaras apparently used two different gearbox 
arrangements- in the bellhousing, I think. The lower powered 4-L BMW V-8 used a pair of 
spur gears between the flywheel/clutch and the gearbox, that allowed the engine 
to be lowered in the car. If you have a hot-rod background, the setup is 
similar to a Halibrand quick-change diff, and by custom-fabricating extra 
gear-pairs, a ratio change could be done without digging into the differential. You 
might also be able to fabricate stronger gear-pairs- the stock spur-gear setup 
reportedly won't handle much higher torque than a stone-stock BMW delivers, and 
the straight-cut spur gears whine loudly, at least in 1st, 2nd and 3rd. With 
the DOHC 4.6 Ford factory-installed, the spur gear setup was discarded and this 
arrangement allows power to go directly from the flywheel/clutch to the 
gearbox.
Finally, replica GT-40s and kit-Countaches running Audi gearboxes report some 
casting breakage when this gearbox is bolted to a more powerful U.S. V-8; if 
they're that cheap, I suggest getting a spare. Or a stronger box to start 
with. FWIW- J DeRyke<BR><BR><BR>**************************************<BR> See 
what's free at http://www.aol.com.</HTML>