[DeTomaso] "Houston, we have a problem"

[Charles McCall]

Art - I had to do something similar, manually pulling the throttle cable.
But literally in the worst possible moment. 

It sounds too crazy to believe, but the throttle cable snapped right where
it attaches to the pedal on my old ´72 Pantera while following Stephane Poux
through Paris. It snapped just as I was entering the massive round-a-bout
thingie with the Arch-de-Triomphe in the middle. I think there are 5 or 6
lanes of suicidal French drivers, and I crossed that while pulling on the
throttle cable with one hand, steering with the other, and trying to peek
over the dashboard since you have to bend down to pull the cable. It was NOT
a good time. But there was literally no other choice. 

Stephane was a witness, as I stopped on the other side of the plaza to put
the cable back on, at least temporarily. PI Motorsports fixed it more
permanently when I sent the car to them to sell on consignment...

-----Mensaje original-----
De: detomaso-bounces at realbig.com [mailto:detomaso-bounces at realbig.com] En
nombre de Art Stephens
Enviado el: domingo, 28 de marzo de 2010 1:11
Para: Art Stephens; Charles Engles; detomaso at realbig.com
Asunto: Re: [DeTomaso] "Houston, we have a problem"

Chuck,
I forgot to add that a pair of vice grips would have come in EXTREMELY handy

when my pedal broke. They could have been clamped on to what remained of the

pedal.  I later borrowed a pair to get myself home.  Prior to that,  my 
brother steered while I manually pulled on the throttle cable and operated 
the brake and clutch,  (not recommended).  I will send you some pictures of 
my repair.

Art


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Art Stephens" <artstephens at verizon.net>
To: " Charles Engles" <cengles at cox.net>; <detomaso at realbig.com>
Sent: Saturday, March 27, 2010 4:55 PM
Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] "Houston, we have a problem"


> Chuck,
> When I broke my pedal,  I thought,  I can fix that.  So I did something
> similar to Mike's Okie repair,  except mine would probably be considered a
> Frankenstein Okie repair.  Anyway,  it works.  I think a good way to do it
> would be to find a good welder to TIG weld it for you and then I would 
> take
> some aluminum with you to beef it up and have him weld that to it.  I 
> would
> have done it that way if I knew how to TIG weld but since I didn't,  I 
> just
> used nuts,  bolts and some 1/8" strips of aluminum.
>
> Art
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: " Charles Engles" <cengles at cox.net>
> To: <detomaso at realbig.com>
> Sent: Saturday, March 27, 2010 11:55 AM
> Subject: [DeTomaso] "Houston, we have a problem"
>
>
>> Dear Forum,
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>               I pulled the BMW out of the garage this morning and was
>> greeted with blue skies and bright sunshine.  No clouds and no threat of
>> rain from horizon to horizon.  "Heck, I'll take the Pantera", I decided.
>>
>>
>>
>>               The new motor doesn't like to start cold and I think the
>> carb's electric choke is on the fritz.  Following a driveway warm-up I
>> proceeded two uneventful miles at low speeds with all systems go and all
>> gauges reading normal.   The freeway entrance appears and a touch on the
>> brakes with a downshift to second to launch a full throttle run down the
>> ramp.  The freeway is clear for entry and at the end of the ramp, I shift
>> to
>> third and apply the throttle.
>>
>>
>>
>>              Suddenly, there is no power and there is an unfamiliar
>> feeling
>> under my right foot.  The engine is running at 1000 rpms, but I have
>> either
>> broken the throttle cable or I have broken the accelerator pedal. 
>> Judging
>> the traffic and my situation, I coast to the next exit and pull off to 
>> the
>> shoulder.
>>
>>
>>
>>              Inspection shows that I have broken the aluminum accelerator
>> pedal.   Rats.
>>
>>
>>
>>             The rollback delivered me the Pantera back home in short
>> order.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>              How to proceed?   This is a known Pantera failure mode.
>> Repair by welding the two pieces?   Repair by replacing with a new pedal?
>> Replace the throttle cable at the same time??      I understand that the
>> throttle cable replacement is a PITA job.  Is the pedal removal/repair
>> equally difficult?
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>                          Warmest regards,  Chuck Engles
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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>
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