[DeTomaso] Best Brakes Recommendation

[JDeRyke at aol.com]

Chris, first you have to decide what you expect from your Pantera, and how 
you plan on driving it. If you're going to show the car and only drive it 
occasionally, tuning up the stock brakes with a rebuild kit will likely do fine.
If you decide you're going to drive it a little more 'vigorously' maybe with 
some open track events with friends, then you can add Porterfield brake pads 
in the 4 stock stock calipers, delete the stock non-adjustable proprtioning 
valve and the trouble-prone shuttle valve, and add ventillated rotors front and 
back. Your Campys will still fit all this. 
The next stage after this is big-everything: bigger rotors, bigger calipers, 
wider wheels and tires to fit around the big rotors and calipers, an 
aftermarket e-brake assembly (the stock rear parking brake won't fit wide rotors) and a 
manuslly-adjudstable proportioning valve to balance the car. Figure on $5000 
or so at this point. 
At each stage, do a panic stop with friends watching: if the brakes can lock 
the tires, you need bigger tires. If however you cannot lock any tire on the 
car in a true max-effort panic stop, you need bigger or better brakes. If the 
fronts lock first, fine. That's what should happen for stability. If the rears 
lock first and you've deleted the stock proportioning valve and thus restored 
full power to the front brakes, the front calipers need serious attention- or 
replacement.
I suggest you mull this over a while, then call any (or all) of the major 
Pantera parts vendors, tell them what you plan to do with the car and ask for 
advice from the experts- with prices. Piecing together some of this and some of 
that to save a few bucks will not be simple, cheap nor safe unless you've been 
in this game for a while. It's easy to exceed your skill level with 
aftermarket parts and wind up under a truck somewhere... its happened! Good luck and let 
us know what you decide- J Deryke


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