[DeTomaso] Stage 1 - Complete!

Tue Apr 1 08:57:25 EDT 2008

Erik - 
Congrats on your purchase. And even more so, congrats for driving it as far
as you did - I'd highly encourage more people to do it - you learn a lot
about the condition of your car by spending 8 hours behind the wheel, for
example. 

People have already answered most of your questions but a few comments - you
most likely have a 192F thermostat, so running just a pinch under 200F is
good. Normal and healthy temperature for your engine. 

You say the tach could be off. Are you running an electronic ignition? I
seem to remember something about certain electronic ignitions, MSD I think,
resulting in a tach that is slightly off. It could be a possible
explanation. 

As far as calibrating the tach and/or speedo, what would I do if it were my
car? I would wait a little while and decide what other things I'd like to
improve on the car. Or saying the same thing a different way, unless I had
money falling out of my pockets I wouldn't worry too much about having the
speedo a little off - checking my daily drive against the GPS shows that it
is a little off as well and it doesn't bother me. Doing a quick cost/benefit
analysis shows that I would gain little.. But that's me. 

Anyway enjoy your car, and drive it! 

Charles McCall
1985 DeTomaso Pantera GT5-S #9375
"Raising Pantera Awareness across Europe"
http://members.aol.com/PanteraGT5S1985/

-----Mensaje original-----
De: detomaso-bounces at realbig.com [mailto:detomaso-bounces at realbig.com] En
nombre de Erik Anderson
Enviado el: lunes, 31 de marzo de 2008 0:45
Para: detomaso at realbig.com
Asunto: [DeTomaso] Stage 1 - Complete!

Well, I was shitting my pants over the thought of picking up my new cat in
Phoenix - and then driving it 500-odd miles to San Diego in the middle of
95-degree mid-day desert heat (pavement temp was 105F) ... but we pulled off
the trip this past Tuesday (March 25th) without incident. Stage 1 -
Complete!

A little background: I agreed to terms on #3528 a few weeks ago and was
offered free transport (by my cousin and his partner in the car biz) to the
Alberta-Montana border ... but I had to get the car from Phoenix to San
Diego to take advantage of their generous offer. The car has been completely
restored (exclusively by Les Gray) but had only been driven a total of 2,000
miles - and never more than 100 miles in one day - over the five years it
was owned previously. So, although my inspection and test drive indicated a
totally solid car, I was still - you know - a little nervous ...

There was a certain level of stress expected on this day, which began with a
late arrival to the San Diego airport, a 90-minute flight delay and then
grew upon arrival to Phoenix as an accident on the southbound lane of the
I17 north of the 101 occurred on our way to get the car (which was stored in
Anthem). We would have to take that very southbound route if we were to hit
the I8 (via I10) to get back to SD via Yuma. Well, with the temp still
soaring as we made our departure, we decided to take AZ Highway 74 to
Highway 60 west for 120 miles where it meets up with the I10. 

I tell ya: although it took us a few hours longer to get to SD, that was a
great move. Highway 60 was barren of traffic and we kept the cat moving
briskly at 70-80 MPH the entire ride, which translated into avoiding any
possibility of over-heating stuck in 5 MPH traffic crawling on the I17. It
also gave us plenty of time to keep an eye on the gauges, which seemed to
settle in as follows: oil pressure (dead centered between 35-70), temp (just
a hair below 200F) and Tach (2500 RPM's at 80 MPH).

Rather than detail the otherwise uneventful remainder of the trip (again,
she was running so smooooth), I do have a few observations to share and
would appreciate your commentary ...

1. regarding the temp I was running ... it appears that - once warm - my cat
like to run just a sliver under 200F. I did punch it from 80 MPH to around
110 MPH on a few occasions (I couldn't help myself!) in which case the temp
would rise just a sliver OVER 200F. But, all in all, I would say the car
likes to run at 200F. I am wondering if this is a normal temp to expect?

2. RPM's ... my cousin and I both seemed to think the car was running at
higher RPM's than indicated: 2000 at 65 MPH, 2200 at 75 MPH and 2500 (dead
on) at 80 MPH. Without down-shifting, I was able to go from 80 to 100 MPH in
5th without much pressure on the accelerator - immediate responsiveness. I
am thinking of getting the Tach tested and possibly re-calibrated. Would you
agree?

3. speed ... at 90 MPH on the speedo, my hand-held GPS showed a speed of 81
MPH. I realize that the tires I am running (245/45 front and 335/35 rear on
17" wheels) are one reason for the discrepancy; however, should the speed be
off by that much?

Well, that's my trip recap in a nutshell. I am hoping to have the car home
in two weeks - so you can appreciate why I have so much time on my hands
today! Thanks, in advance, for any feedback you have re: my questions above
...

Erik

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