[DeTomaso] GT5S fender replacements...comments?

[Mark A. Nygaard]

Cal,

This is a big undertaking.  I am wrapping up a conversion from a
converted '73 GT5 to a GT5-S.  I am very happy with the results, but it
is not a cheap undertaking.  The sheet metal that is out there does not
even come close to fitting and if you look at many of the GT5-S
conversions the body lines are different than an original GT5-S.  Pat
Mical used an original GT5-S as a template to build my car and had to do
a ton of reshaping.  I have a web site up that partially describes my
experience with doing this project.  If you are interested, the URL is
http://www.nyga.net/pantera.

In another response to your question Mike Drew stated that he thought a
budget of $50K was in order.  I think that guestimation is quite
accurate, if not a little low. That is of course assuming the new
interior, tires, shocks, etc. 

As I said earlier I am very happy with the results of my car and I have
no regrets about doing this project.  Just make sure you know what you
are getting into and you find someone who knows what they are doing when
installing the sheet metal.

If you would like more information, please feel free to contact me.

Best regards,

Mark

-----Original Message-----
From: detomaso-bounces at realbig.com [mailto:detomaso-bounces at realbig.com]
On Behalf Of JDeRyke at aol.com
Sent: Saturday, July 21, 2007 1:36 PM
To: markushgroup at yahoo.com; detomaso at realbig.com
Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] GT5S fender replacements...comments?

In a message dated 7/20/07 7:14:14 PM, markushgroup at yahoo.com writes:

<< Been taking a good clooooose hard look at my forlorn 74. Since I have
a 
mildly modified 72, been thinking about wide bodying the current project
I have. 
I've been looking at some of the partial GT5S fender skin replacements. 
Anyone have experiences with these? How good are they?  Or, what about
the Hall 
version? >>

Cal, I suggest you not do this. I have a converted all-steel
GT5-S-on-a-'72 
Pantera (for sale) in my Nevada garage right now, built by Mike Cook in
the 
mid-'90s when he worked for Hall. The reproduction steel GT5-S fenders
are welded 
on at the fender break-points where they drop down from the horizontal;
the 4 
stock fenders & valence must be cut off, but could be resold to reclaim
some 
money- and you'll need to. There's roughly 20 FEET of high-quality
TIG-welding 
needed to attach the four fenders, and another 5-6 feet of weld for the 
extended steel nose and airdam. Running boards are extra and if steel,
wouldl add 
another 10 feet of welding. Once all this stuff is welded on, you'll
need a 
really good bodyman to dress the welds down without damage, bump out any

heat-induced dents, reweld any thin spots and apply filler of choice to
the inevitable 
thousands of weld pits, then prime and paint. Hall used to sell the
steel 
GT5-S fender & airdam kit, FOB Los Angeles, for $18,000 but occasionally
they 
were on sale for a few thousands less. This is a very big-dollar
project- this 
example car's bodywork likely cost over $30,000 to have converted as a
turn-key 
effort 10 years ago. There are very few bodyshops that would even
attempt this 
today. 

As for fiberglas fenders, there's such a large area of steel that must
be cut 
away to fit them, I suspect the structural integrity of the monococque
would 
be weakened, and at least you'd need to brew up a good chassis bracing
system, 
or fiberglas crack-repairs would likely become a way of life for you, if
you 
actually attempt to drive the thing on the street.

Finally, once you do this, stock wheels and tires look ridiculous in
those 
cavernous fender openings; figure another $3000-5000 for wide wheels &
modern 
tires to fill things out, likely in 17 or 18" size. Oh, and stock brakes
look 
really tiny and drab with 17" wheels.... more big $$$$. Don't want to
discourage 
you, but drive over to our home in Minden and take a good look at this
beast 
(while its still here!) before you do anything drastic to your project.
I have 
some suggestions. 
FWIW- J DeRyke<BR><BR><BR>**************************************<BR> Get
a 
sneak peek of the all-new AOL at
http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour
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