[DeTomaso] Seam welding and windshield fillers

[JDeRyke at aol.com]

Strip the whole car. Welding 'chicken-foot' doublers around the lower ends of 
the windshield posts will force the removal of the windshield, and while it's 
out, clean out the gasket groove just in front of the dash. Any rust holes or 
deep pits should be welded or brazed up, so the dash will need to come out. 
I've seen a few cars where the upper windshield posts were also cracked or 
badly rusted, forcing at least partial removal of the headliner. So I'd strip the 
interior. 
In back, the leading edge of the inner rear fenders continue clear up into 
the water-drain groove and are suspiciously close to the point where major paint 
cracking often occurs in unbraced cars. If I was seam-welding a Pantera, I 
would completely seam- or edge-weld this inner fender panel (both sides) clear 
down to the lower subframe extensions, as well as completely around the 
'horse-shoe' panel that mounts the upper rear a-arms, and across the bottom of the 
subframe below the halfshaft holes. IMHO, it would take a true pro-welder to 
effectively do this with the engine and gas tank in the car. In our car, I also 
found numerous popped or never-completed spot welds holding the rear 
crossmember below the engine. This made cutting it out easier (for a removeable 
crossmember), but probably contributed to a loose rear suspension when stock. 
This is really a massive job but the  reward when properly completed will be 
a Pantera that feels as stiff as a pro-built race car and will likely never 
need a heavy chassis stiffening system, only a good upper bay-brace. Good luck- 
J DeRyke<BR><BR><BR>**************************************<BR> See what's free 
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