[DeTomaso] Houston, we have ignition!

[MikeLDrew at aol.com]

Hi guys,

I'm happy to report that the installation of my 408C stroker today was 
(ultimately) a complete success!

Many question the wisdom of holding a party like this on a weekday, but for 
many people who don't have to bother with the nuisance of work, but do have 
to answer to familes, the weekends are a busy time and weekdays are better. 
  As it turned out, I think there were nine or ten people that showed up at 
various times to help out or hang out.

I had hoped to have everything ready to go, but I was just so busy the past 
few days that I hadn't finished the little details like attaching the 
pulleys and brackets to the front of the engine, changing the hoses in the engine 
bay etc.   So the first hour or so was spent screwing around with that.   
The serious work of installing the engine took just over an hour, and it was 
in the car by noon, when the pizza arrived.

The initial startup attempts were dismal due to improper timing (we'd 
pulled the distributor and evidently failed to reinstall it in the same place) 
and zero fuel pressure.   Forest Goodhart was once again The Man, and he 
attacked the problems with a vengeance.   It took a few hours to get everything 
dialed in.   Turns out the fuel pump had dried out after just a few weeks of 
being out of the car, and wasn't pumping.   Also, coincidentally, one of the 
water pump bolts was far too long and extended far enough into the motor to 
apparently foul the lever on the fuel pump.

After taking the pump apart and priming it and getting it going again, and 
spinning the distributor to put some timing into it, the motor finally 
started up, and ran just about perfectly!   The new carburetor needs a little 
dialing in, but nothing too major I don't think.

I took the car for a quick drive around the block.   WOW!   It is 
completely and utterly transformed.   Cruising at low rpm in 2nd gear, I punched it, 
and after bucking once (due to the aforementioned carb issues), it just lit 
up the tires, no clutch required.   Just ZING!   Even when the tires hooked 
up, the aluminum flywheel let it rev like crazy right up to redline.

This thing is crazy, crazy fast compared to how it ran before.   After 
owning this car for 21 years, I finally have the car I was supposed to have all 
along!

Thanks to everybody who came from far and wide to help out.   The 
long-distance award went to John Christian (JC) who, no kidding, drove his '73 
Pantera from *Detroit* to come help with this project!   Over 3000 miles!!!   This 
morning he was crossing the Sierra Nevada mountains in the middle of a 
blizzard; his wipers conked out due to ice buildup but he still made it here 
before the engine went into the car!   But besides JC, the other people who 
came drove a minimum of 45 minutes to get here, and in Forest's case, almost 
three hours.

What a great, great group of friends!   I can't thank them enough.

And of course, the guy who deserves the lion's share of the thanks is Dan 
Jones, who completely designed the engine from top to bottom (well, I was 
reusing my intake and oil pan, so technically he designed everything in between 
those two pieces) and is responsible for this thing being as awesome as it 
apparently is.

There are some minor clearance issues to address (I installed new rubber 
engine mounts which apparently raised my engine just enough to cause the cast 
aluminum "Pantera" air cleaner lid to really foul the decklid, so I will 
have to get a thinner lid), and some minor tuning issues to contend with, but I 
expect to have the car completely buttoned up and road-ready by the end of 
the weekend.

Reno, here I come!

Thanks again everybody! :>)

Mike