[DeTomaso] philosophical question
Asa Jay Laughton
asajay at asajay.com
Sun Mar 7 20:54:48 EST 2010
When I first got my car, both Shelley and I worked, and we happily
carpooled as we worked near each other. On Fridays in good weather
(sometimes rain), we'd drive the Pantera and have a blast. I'd also
pick her up for lunch on Fridays making the Pantera outing even more
enjoyable.
Any mechanical work I did on the car had to take no more than one
weekend. That was the rule. If I wanted to do something to the
Pantera, I had to make sure I had everything in place and that I would
only have the car down for a weekend. This proved workable for quite
some time, until the timing gear set went south.
It was a Friday and we had just come back from lunch when I dropped
Shelley off and the car died, having been running "weird" since we
started back from our meal. I took one of her co-workers cars back to
my work and then returned it after hours and we began troublshooting. I
discovered the timing gear set was original and had shed some of it's
plastic mold over the aluminum teeth. A flat bed as called and home it
went.
I ordered new parts and it took a simple weekend to change, right from
the drivers seat. Now here is the key....
I had a targeted item to fix. I -could- have said "well, while I have
the front cover off, I could..."
- swap the cam out, but that would mean pulling the intake and valve
covers, but while I'm doing that I should...
- replace the cam bearings, probably not necessary but you know, and if
I'm that far, I should...
- just pull the heads and have them freshened up, but if I'm going that
far.....
BUT, I never did, I focused on the one job at hand I wanted to do. All
I really wanted to do was keep the car on the road to have fun.
That all changed a few years ago as we began focusing on building our
home (no literally, we were the general -and- subcontractor). The
Pantera didn't get driven as much. Eventually, after seven months in
the desert, I came home and we made a baby. Shelley eventually quit
working full time and became a stay at home and work at home mom.
Now, a few years ago, I decided I wanted to have some driving fun in the
car, ala racing. Specifically I was interested in Open Road Racing. To
that end, I wanted to make sure the car was mechanically sound. And
thus began a lengthy process of discoveries and a lot of time spent
waiting and doing things that kept the car off the road for quite some
time. Mind you, many of these items could have been tackled one weekend
at a time, but I tended to run one right into another.
It started with a brake rebuild and replacing a-arm bushings...
That led to replacing the rear upright wheel bearings and pivot shafts
(Work eventually done by Kirk Evans who did a beautiful job)...
The ZF came out to be safety wired, which led to replacing the clutch.
The Fluidyne radiator came out to have sucker fans mounted, which led to
discovering badly corroded cooling pipes.
Replacing all the rubber hoses caused me to discover the hose nipple on
the block was beyond toast (luckily not discovered while going 100 MPH).
I installed the relay kit from Rick Moseley, a new DB Electrical starter
(yes all, I -have- fixed the solenoid wiring to be correct).
I replaced the valve stem seals, rebuilt the carb, installed a Tefba filter.
And a bunch of smaller items.
Note that each of these could have been a weekend task, but at one point
alone, the ZF was out, the clutch was gone, the suspension was gone, the
brakes were gone, the interior half ripped out and I stood there one day
and said.... "you know, I'm only about 16 bolts away from a full
restoration project... I better start putting parts back on this car."
So the real key is to just pick something you can do in one weekend, if
possible and continue enjoying the car.
I'm not ready for the restoration... I want to drive it a while. It
still needs a little bodywork, but it doesn't bother me. It could use
new paint (it's still the stock original white), but that doesn't bother
me. The engine has over 100,000 miles and should be freshened up, but
that doesn't bother me, it runs fine. The ZF could use a magic session
with RBT, but it works fine for now (and it will soon have a ZF Ring
Gear Safety Wired tag on it. <nudge-nudge> <wink-wink>)
No secret, just discipline and probably more than that.... the
confidence to believe you can finish what you start, in the time frame
you've given yourself.
Beware the slippery slope, beware...... beware.....
Asa Jay
Asa Jay Laughton, MSgt, USAFR, Retired
& Shelley Marie
Spokane, WA
******************************
http://www.asajay.com *** http://www.teampanteraracing.com
On 3/7/2010 5:01 PM, Charles Engles wrote:
> Dear Rob,
>
>
> Hmm, it is basically a slippery slope. It starts very easy with a
> shallow slope and then as time progresses it gets steeper.
>
> The typical first Pantera owner has the same reluctance that you do.
> Then something happens. A headlight needs to be replaced. Battery needs
> to be changed. Easy stuff. It goes well. Confidence improves and the idea
> of letting someone else work on your Pantera begins to get less attractive.
>
> Then, perhaps, changing the suspension bushings or a new carb.
> These are manageable, but take longer than the early set of tasks. The
> extra time is not long, but well spent and then things go well (well, at
> least pretty good. I am not including Asa Jay's coolant project battle with
> the unidentified schmutz plugging the cooling tubes).
>
> The new Pantera owner begins to understand that the Pantera is a
> pretty simple car. The ambition to improve things gets stronger. The
> projects get a bit bigger and bigger and they take longer and longer. They
> often involve misadventures and unpleasant discoveries (see Asa Jay's tale
> above), but the solution to the problem can be found. The project is
> completed with a real sense of satisfaction.
>
>
> The next thing you know you've taken four years to build an
> engine or a "freshening up" of the car leads to near complete disassembly
> and a new interior and other major cosmetics. A simple set of new wheels
> leads to new brakes, new shocks, new bushings,etc. etc.
>
>
> It happens. That's why the Forum also acts as a supportive
> psychotherapy group. You can't talk about these things with the
> co-workers. They wouldn't understand. Only other Pantera owners have been
> there and done that.
>
> Just enjoy driving it. The projects will come in the fullness of
> time---they're inevitable. It is a thirty nine year Italian sports car.
>
>
> Philosophically yours, Chuck Engles
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: detomaso-bounces at realbig.com [mailto:detomaso-bounces at realbig.com] On
> Behalf Of Rob Dumoulin
> Sent: Sunday, March 07, 2010 6:28 PM
> To: pantera list
> Subject: [DeTomaso] philosophical question
>
> OK. I've only owned mine for a year and spend any time I can spare to with
> my 39 year old cat. If I were a 25 year younger, I guess I'd be driving a
> 'cougar'.
>
> This certainly is not my daily driver and I don't need to have it on the
> road, but I just can't bring myself to commit to repairs and improvements
> that will make me unable to drive the car for any length of time. How the
> heck do you guys ever get through a project that takes the car off the road
> for months at a time? I get withdrawals after a week. You are much stronger
> than I.
>
> Rob
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