[DeTomaso] Houston, we have ignition!

[Julian Kift]

Mike,

 

Great to hear it all went reasonably smoothly, I had kept some time free the weekend, just in case......

 

Winter hasn't quite given up it's hold in the Sierra's yet, today it is raining heavy in the valley and snow chain requirements on the Sierra passes. The 10 day forecast though is to hit the 70's over the weekend and to be 80/81 and sunny all through the Fun Rally.

 

Julian 
 
> From: MikeLDrew at aol.com
> Date: Thu, 27 May 2010 01:59:22 -0400
> To: detomaso at realbig.com
> Subject: [DeTomaso] Houston, we have ignition!
> 
> 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
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