[DeTomaso] Fuel Cells

[JDeRyke at aol.com]

In a message dated 5/24/07 5:39:20 AM, adin at frontier.net writes:

<< I'd never thought about that fact.  What about lowering the battery?  How 
much will that degrade stiffness? >>

Not much (as a guess), since it's a medium-sized hole centered in the floor 
panel. The same steering rack mount that cuts the available under-floor area 
also prevents the battery hole from being wider than 6-7/8"  by about 10" long. 
And the battery access hole is bound by the front firewall along one edge with 
the side-to-side rack mount across the other at the front of the hole. 
DeTomaso dropped the battery into this area on post-1980 Panteras at the factory, 
but of course by that time, most pro Pantera racing (which depends on chassis 
stiffness for good handling) had ceased. 
As I understand the problem of adding a fuel cell to the area, to gain any 
substantial volume down low, the entire floor would have to be removed, so some 
other mounting system would be required for the rack. Then a fairly complex 
L-shaped fuel cell would be needed to fit around it, above the water transfer 
tubes. With the yearly requirement of changing fuel-cell foam due to 
deterioration from gasoline, you'd need to be able to access a goodly portion of the 
cell's top. If you look at the NSX front 'trunk', they did away with any semblance 
of cargo carrying in the front- the suspension etc are accessible from the 
top! 
FWIW- J DeRyke<BR><BR><BR>**************************************<BR> See 
what's free at http://www.aol.com.</HTML>