[DeTomaso] Downgrading a Cleveland and header flanges fornon-pantera

[Julian Kift]

As a guy who has a 74 Pantera in his garage that has been undergoing a transformation to a track/race car for almost 3 years (and is still a bare chassis) I would support the previous comments by John and Mike.
 
A lot will depend on what sanctioning boday and class you intend to run, you can get into some Production classes with minimal safety upgrades, some not even requiring a full roll cage, question is would you feel safe doing that? I know of a couple people that run SCCA Vintage class with street registered Panteras. Another question is what dictates 'stock' for your engine, showroom stock or something like FIA homologated GP4, very different.
 
Good luck,
Julian

 
> From: jtaphorn at kingwoodcable.com
> To: MikeLDrew at aol.com; kdb at kbyrnes.com; detomaso at realbig.com
> Date: Thu, 30 Dec 2010 07:19:16 -0600
> Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] Downgrading a Cleveland and header flanges fornon-pantera
> 
> I agree with Mike. Racing is a slippery slope where you try to step in 
> lightly and realize you need to commit. You start by modifying so as that 
> it could be converted to stock; yet, before long you realize to be 
> competitive it requires more tweaking.
> 
> Engine cheating used to be rampant in many historic venues. I sincerely 
> doubt that your competitors are running stock engines; although, they are 
> probably dressed up to look that way.
> 
> JT
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: <MikeLDrew at aol.com>
> To: <kdb at kbyrnes.com>; <detomaso at realbig.com>
> Sent: Thursday, December 30, 2010 1:02 AM
> Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] Downgrading a Cleveland and header flanges 
> fornon-pantera
> 
> 
> 
> In a message dated 12/29/10 18 53 9, kdb at kbyrnes.com writes:
> 
> 
> > The question is, do I try to downgrade my current
> > engine, buy another engine to prepare, keep mine, sell mine, or put on
> > big boy pants and run the current engine in the "unlimited" class? I
> > can probably run for a year as is but after that, I'd need to do the
> > engine, fuel cell, roll cage, and 15" wheels too. Comments? Suggestions?
> >
> >
> 
> Don't spend money turning a great engine into a less-great engine. Also,
> if you are going to go vintage racing, kiss this Pantera goodbye as a road
> car. Do you really want to be without a Pantera for the street?
> 
> What I'd really suggest is buying a second Pantera, a clapped-out beater
> with a standard 351C, then race-prepping and running that. There are 
> plenty
> of them out there. I just saw an ad for a red Pre-L in Virginia (I think)
> with a $22K asking price, could probably be had for much less. It's one of
> these 'ran when parked' cars that could probably be running again with just
> a bit of tinkering. Gut it, sell all the bits you don't need on E-bay,
> and go racing!
> 
> Mike
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