[DeTomaso] Rookie needs help...

[MikeLDrew at aol.com]

In a message dated 8/23/10 19 59 30, boyd411 at gmail.com writes:


> The Pantera fuse box has sucked since the day it came out.
> 
>>>Says who?   Upon what huge wealth of experience are you basing this 
statement?

> > Mike is right though if you have one in working order they are fine, 
> the only problem is you will never find one in Good working order.
> 
>>>Come on over.   The one in my car is absolutely perfect.   Admittedly 
I've performed the "Moseley relay kit modification" and have moved the fan 
power sources to their own aux fusebox.   But the stock fusebox is otherwise 
perfectly good and has been working fine for years.   In fact, it's only when 
people start hacking and whacking the electrical system, adding additional 
high-draw accessories (like third radiator fans etc.) that the fusebox 
becomes overwhelmed.   But that's not down to a design flaw in the fusebox, that's 
down to owner buffoonary.

There are over a hundred Panteras in PCNC.   Only a handful are running on 
anything other than the stock fusebox, and none of them have any systemic 
electrical problems.   So your statement is patently false.


> > I never said investing in some 21st century technology would solve your 
> present problem  but it will or would make your Pantera allot more 
> reliable and help save your sanity. 
> 
>>>If there's nothing wrong with your stock components, switching to new 
ones will have zero effect on relability.

> Ask how many people on the list use John Hass's products (Those that 
> actually drive their cars). 
> 
>>>Like I said before, there is absolutely no question that John makes some 
spectacularly good products.   I am filled with admiration for the 
engineering excellence contained therein.   It's not necessary by any stretch of the 
imagination, but that doesn't mean that it's not excellent just the same.   
It's just excellence for its own sake, rather than excellence in the 
pursuit of a genuine improvement.

Now, if your car has suffered some electrical insult at your own hands or 
the hands of a previous owner, then it's possible that your stock fusebox has 
been sizzled.   I have seen a few toasted fuseboxes, normally with fuse 
holders 11/12 overheated and burned, again, because people added multiple fans 
to the circuits and seriously overloaded the stock wiring, which wasn't 
built to take the additional draw.   Owner buffoonary, in other words.

*IF* that is the case, then it makes perfect sense to replace it with one 
of John's wonders.   Chances are it costs the same or less than a replacement 
factory fusebox, and it has a number of advantages.   This simply can't be 
denied.


> >Some people believe you should leave your 40 year old Pantera exactly 
> they way it was when it first came out. 
> 
>>>I'm sure not one of them--my car is extensively modified in virtually 
every system, although I took great pains to keep it stock-looking.

> >That's fine if you just want a car for your collection. These are the 
> same people who believe fixing the space shuttle when it blew up was a 
> mistake because the new  improved model wasn't stock. If you want a car that will 
> get you stuck half the time you drive it leave it exactly the way it came 
> from the factory. 
> 
>>>Particularly with the later cars, if the owners leave them alone, they 
are perfectly reliable as they came from the factory.   Normally it's the 
owner modifications that introduce electrical faults--install super-duper 
Halogen headlights, sizzle the headlight switch.   Install monster radiator fans, 
sizzle the fusebox.   If you're going to modify your car electrically, be 
sure to do it right.   And if you don't do it right, don't blame the car when 
it sputters to a stop or bursts into flame.

(I should add as an aside that when I bought my car, the previous owner was 
a real putz, and he had totally hacked the hell out of my electrical 
system, performing all of the above sins, and more.   My car therefore had all 
sorts of electrical problems, including multiple no-kidding electrical fires, 
until I replaced the entire wiring harness with a STOCK 1974 harness, and the 
fusebox with a STOCK 1974 fusebox, and then wired up everything as it had 
been wired from the factory.   Subsequent to this, I upgraded the fan and 
headlight circuits to accomodate my higher-power lights and fans, and in 15 
years since I have never suffered even a hint of an electrical problem).


> Don't even change the oil "It wouldn't be original!"
> 
>>>You can never go wrong switching to John's stuff.   But if your car is 
broken right now, odds are that the switch to his stuff won't fix it--it will 
just lighten your wallet and complicate the repair procedure even further.

Fix what you've got, and once it's working perfectly, then switch to the 
megabuck blinkylight stuff if you want to.   You won't hurt anything by doing 
so, other than your bank balance. :>)

Mike