[DeTomaso] Today... in Asa Jay's Garage

[MikeLDrew at aol.com]

In a message dated 8/2/08 21 19 26, asajay at asajay.com writes:


> The ring gear bolts have NOT been
> safety wired.  They were all in place, intact and appeared to be tight. 
> I've been advised by others that if nothing is loose, don't bother
> wiring it (but don't put a wrench to them to see). 
> 
>>>Who said that?

>  I know from
> experience with ring gears that the bolt heads are serrated and should
> stay in place just fine. 
> 
>>>SHOULD being the operative word.

>  I imagine this ZF has not been services
> before, but I could be wrong (I'd have to check the receipt history). 
> If it's gone this long without losing a ring gear bolt, I think I'm
> probably okay.
> 
> I'd like some opinions on that.
> 
>>>Everybody who has ever had their gearbox blown up by bad ring gear bolts 
thought the same way.   And they were right.   At some point, it had gone that 
far without losing a ring gear bolt, so they were okay.

And then, later, they weren't. :<(

You've already done all the hard work; removing and replacing and 
safety-wiring the ring gear bolts is child's play compared to what you've gone through 
already.   For peace of mind, spend the $100 or whatever for the proper ARP 
bolts, and do it up right.

Some vendors sell a Brand X bolt kit that is cheaper.   I have never heard 
anything bad about any of those kits.   But for my money, I'd do ARP.

I spoke with somebody else who bought a bolt kit from a Pantera vendor 
without asking the price; the guy dinged him something like $300!   So do NOT do 
that!

ARP does NOT list 'our' bolts in the Ring Gear Bolt section of their catalog. 
  You'll probably have to call them to find out what Lloyd Butfoy buys from 
them--but he buys a lot of bolts from them!   So they should be able to tell 
you.

The Jan '96 and July '02 POCA newsletters have articles on doing this job.
> 
> The slave cylinder is fed at the end by the old red clear tube.  I think
> I'd like to replace this.  I remember the very first PCNC tech session I
> attended, the first Pantera of the day, the gentleman replaced that line
> with what I think was a stainless overbraided line.  Come to think of
> it, I can probably source one locally, though it may be simpler to get
> it from a Pantera vendor.  I'm not sure if the old lines get brittle and
> break, but I know the one on my car is not very flexible at the moment,
> but -is- holding fluid.
> 
>>>Some vendors sell a stainless hard line.   Dennis Quella sells the braided 
stainless flex line, which I prefer.   The cost is reasonable--you wouldn't 
save much (if any) money by screwing around and buying all the materials and 
building it yourself.

Mike


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