[DeTomaso] gas tank question

[Christopher Kimball]

Thanks--I'll take a look and see what's under my air cleaner, but I think 
I'll probably need those parts you mentioned.  I'll see if I can find an 
auto parts store that can get them for me.  The only thing I wonder is 
having a tube from the gas tank terminating at a place where sometimes 
backfires occur.  If flames shot up from the carb and that vent hose had 
fumes coming out of it from the gas tank, it seems to me that would be an 
invitation for an explosion.

By the way, last night I took a closer look at that shift problem you solved 
for me--I jacked up the car and had my son get in and run it through the 
gears (with the car turned off, of course!).  Guess what--your observation 
that the trunion was moving too much was right on--there is a tab that's 
part of the bracket attached to the frame that holds the trunion, and it was 
supposed to be spot welded to the frame.  The weld had come undone, so the 
bracket was flexing since the tab was, in essence, one of the supports that 
was supposed to keep it rigid.

Since I don't have a welder, I drilled a hole through the tab and frame and 
ran a bolt through to re-attach the tab to the frame and it worked!  Now, 
nothing rubs, nothing flexes and although I haven't driven it yet, my guess 
would be the second gear problem is probably solved.

Thanks again!

Chris


>From: "Doug1" <doug1 at gtcinternet.com>
>To: "Christopher Kimball" <chrisvkimball at msn.com>
>Subject: RE: Re: [DeTomaso] gas tank question
>Date: Mon, 3 Sep 2007 23:22:11 -0700
>
>Chris,
>
>	Almost anything Jack DeRyke tells you is going to be spot-on.  He's one of
>the most savvy guys I know when it comes to Panteras.  Routing the vent 
>hose
>to the base of the air cleaner is preferable to the fuel filter suggestion 
>I
>gave you.  The safest way to accomplish this is the way DeTomaso did it.
>Run the hose from the tank vent, forward to the rear window, then across 
>the
>car along the base of the window over to the passenger side, then approach
>the air cleaner from the passenger side of the carb because this is where
>the air cleaner fitting has the room to exit the air cleaner base.  This
>also gives you a nice long hose to separate the vapors.  Take a look at my
>car at Birch Bay or come over and you'll see what I mean.  If you have the
>stock snorkel type air cleaner you'll need what Jack described.  If you 
>have
>an open element type air cleaner you'll need these two items which may 
>still
>be available from your local Ford dealer.
>
>C8AZ-6767-B / Elbow, Plastic, PCV hose to Air Cleaner Grommet
>C8AZ-6A892-D / Grommet, PCV Hose Elbow to Air Cleaner
>
>Doug
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Christopher Kimball [mailto:chrisvkimball at msn.com]
>Sent: Sunday, September 02, 2007 6:52 PM
>To: doug1 at gtcinternet.com
>Subject: FW: Re: [DeTomaso] gas tank question
>
>
>Dear Doug,
>
>First, thank you for your help today with the various and sundry glitches 
>my
>Pantera still possesses.  I really appreciate it, since I now know I won't
>have to dig into the ZF (THAT was keeping me up at night!)
>
>Secondly,  I thought I'd forward the note below to see what you think--it
>seems like a good idea, but I want your opinion before I do anything.
>
>If I did route the hose to the bottom of the air cleaner, would that
>alleviate the need for the fuel filter you and I talked about?  It seems as
>if the air cleaner would do the same thing.
>
>Secondly, is is smart to run another hose attached to the gas tank over
>those hot headers?  I get nervous thinking about anything gas related next
>to something so hot.
>
>Again, thanks so much for your help.
>
>
>Sincerely,
>
>Chris
>
>
> >From: JDeRyke at aol.com
> >To: chrisvkimball at msn.com
> >CC: detomaso at realbig.com
> >Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] gas tank question
> >Date: Sun, 2 Sep 2007 17:36:59 EDT
> >
> >
> >In a message dated 9/02/07 8:05:10 AM, chrisvkimball at msn.com writes:
> >
> > >I'll  probably re-route it so I can position the (vent hose end) 
>pointing
> >up, as I mentioned. That should allow two-way venting.
> >
> >A possibly better way is to terminate the vent hose into the bottom of 
>your
> >air cleaner, using a little Fram vent-tube filter (stock on the OEM air
> >cleaner). That will burn any fumes, and will apply an ever-so-slight 
>vacuum
>to the
> >hose to ensure all fumes get 'used'. Our Pantera has been rigged this way 
>a
>very
> >long time- since smog-testing was required- and works just fine with zero
>gas
> >odor. Of course, you do need to cut a small hole in the filter base. 
>FWIW-
> >JDeRyke
>
>
>