[DeTomaso] On the importance of chassis drain holes....

[MikeLDrew at aol.com]

Hi guys,

I've spent today working on #3535, the very original one-family-from-new blue 
'72 Pre-L that sold for a bargain price on E-bay last week.   The seller was 
somewhat near to me, the buyer is down in Orange County, and I have to go down 
there routinely anyway, so I volunteered to serve as delivery agent.

My original plan was to drive it down there yesterday with Claude Dubois.   
But with the entire state getting hammered by an extremely powerful storm, and 
with this car being a relative unknown to me, except that I knew both the 
heater and A/C systems were inoperative, I decided discretion was the better part 
of valor, and so I stayed home with the Pantera and Claude rented a car and 
made his way down there (more on that in a second, separate post).

With an unexpected day off today, I decided to fiddle with the car and try to 
tackle some small problems.   An inoperative passenger window was initially 
diagnosed and fixed by replacing the obviously blown fuse (!), but then it 
would only go down, not up, due to a typically defective factory switch.   I have 
some good factory switches in my stockpile, so I got that sorted temporarily, 
although I've ordered a proper Bosch replacement (the driver's side was 
already changed, so now they will match).

I also removed the redundant shifter centering spring, which is done as a 
matter of course.   That did improve shifting, although it's still pretty crappy, 
as the original stock trunnion bearing has never once been lubricated.   I'll 
attend to that shortly.

I put the car in the air to inspect for rust, and found it to be among the 
most very rock-solid cars I've ever been near.   However, it didn't have the 
chassis drain holes that the factory failed to provide, but all knowing owners 
create themselves.   So I got out my drill and went to work, and got soaked in 
the process!   The car had been brought here in the rain, and the chassis tubes 
were filled with water.

This just goes to show the importance of these holes; had I not drilled them, 
the water would have just sat there until it evaporated, which might have 
taken a long time; all the while, the bare metal would be rusting away.

If each of you don't have these holes in your car, you are wrong!   Get it in 
the air, get out your drill, and get to work!

Here's a photo of the affected area (the inner wheelhouses, in between the 
mounts for the lower rear control arms), with residual water still dripping from 
the holes!

http://www.poca.com/index.php/gallery/?g2_itemId=4043

Mike


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