[DeTomaso] 4 bolt ZF's?

[michael@michaelshortt.com]

Thanks , as always there is more to the story.

Michael Shortt
On May 7, 2011 8:00 PM, <MikeLDrew at aol.com> wrote:
>
> In a message dated 5/7/11 16 29 8, michaelsavga at gmail.com writes:
>
>
>> i have to ask the obvious ...
>>
>> If the dash 1 was so great....
>> why was there a dash 2 and why were so many dash 2 units retrofitted to
>> cars
>> originally equipped with dash 1 units?
>>
>>
>
>>>>The Dash-2 represented an improvement over the Dash-1; don't let anybody

> else convince you otherwise. However, the improvement wasn't great enough
> to justify changing just for the sake of changing.
>
> Some early Panteras were delivered with misadjusted clutches, and all of
> them had a rather high clutch effort. This caused some owners to fail to
> release the clutch fully when shifting gears, leading to premature synchro
wear
> and gearbox noise.
>
> Ford acknowledged that some small number of gearboxes were getting noisy
> and/or becoming difficult to shift (this was also caused by the fact that
> early gearboxes were filled with the wrong gearbox oil!) Dealers were
issued a
> service bulletin in which it was stated that customers presenting with
such
> complaints should be offered a new, improved Dash-2 gearbox at no cost;
> Ford would provide the parts and reimburse the dealer for the hours of
labor
> required to do the job.
>
> This was akin to writing a blank check to unscrupulous dealers. Anybody
> who drove into the service bay for something as simple as an oil change,
> would be offered a FREE, NEW, IMPROVED gearbox. Who's going to say no to
that?
>
> So as a result of this scam, many perfectly good gearboxes were removed
and
> replaced, and the dealers racked up the profits at Ford's expense. Major
> Pantera dealerships wound up with big piles of Dash-1 gearboxes, which
Ford
> had no interest in. Eventually, most of them were hauled away for scrap!
>
> I published an interview in the PCNC newsletter about 15 years ago, with a

> former Lincoln-Mercury technician from one of LA's largest dealerships,
and
> that is where much of this information came from. Some of it is buried
> within the Ford TSBs, and some lies within hundreds of pages of internal
Ford
> memos I have in my collection.
>
> Mike