[DeTomaso] [detomaso]Pantera weight savings ideas

[JDeRyke at aol.com]

Over 30 years I've made about 80 changes to our '72 L, mostly for weight 
savings and handling. We're down to 2790 lbs ready to run with 1/2 tank of 
gas, still with L bumpers front & rear, heater & AC. soundproofing plus a 
stereo and a CB. Our Pantera looks stock, is driveable & currently licensed. Ron 
Wade in WA state has gone further- his GT5-S is down to about 2500 lbs with 
(reportedly) more to come; he has changed literally everything. It's a 
fascinating 15-year project to date but the car literally has never been 
registered or on the road. Too bad no one has time to do a feature article for POCA 
on Ron's Pantera......

Looking at what you've done already, 2500 lbs ready to go is possible. The 
only big chunks left are an alloy block which will shave off around 40 lbs, 
delending on which one you use and what crank you use. An aluminum flywheel 
is good for 15-18 lbs. Commercial aluminum rear uprights are 18 lbs 
lighter/pair with stock axles. An average fiberglas hood & deck won't remove that 
much- my 'glas hood is 2 lbs lighter than a stock steel hood. A 'glas decklid 
can remove up to maybe 30 lbs if you also do something about the hinges and 
deck-shocks. Real carbon-fiber body panels have the potential to remove much 
more weight than fiberglas, but finding a trustworthy fabrication shop is a 
problem. Several owners have sent money and got nothing from a few 
disappearing "carbon experts'. Most commercial 'carbon' panels are a thin carbon 
outer layer with fiberglas underneath.

All the rest is a thousand little pieces. In your Dec POCA News I detail my 
efforts in fabricating aluminum parts of the halfshaft assemblies, which 
collectively removes about 7 lbs. A dozen years back, another 10 lbs came off 
our ZF transaxle itself: alloy pieces replace the cast iron sides & back 
end. If you're really set on digging into this further, e-mail   me off-line 
and I can detail virtually everything in the car, the costs and some pitfalls 
to avoid. Cheers- J Deryke <jderyke at aol.com>