[DeTomaso] Upgrade List

[David D Fisher]

Stephen,
 
I am an owner for just under a year now and bought a pretty solid looking car, but one that the previous owner had done everything possible to not spend money on. Still,  it was relatively rust free, ok paint and the older 2 pod dash that I was after.   
 
Since then my priority is mechanical first, beauty second.  I tend to do more than I really need to to just drive it, but here's my experience:
 
Before the list scares you off,  I should say that I drove the car home for 300 miles, so it was driveable, but it was 40 years old drivable, was not reliabe, and not tight. 
 
Lastly,  all said and done,  I feel the cars are significantly undervalued.  I was comparing this to a Ferrari of the same kind of money and IMHO the Pantera is much more car. 
 
What I have done:
 
1) Replace everything rubber - hoses, belt, brake piston seals, tires door seals, etc.
2) Rebuild brakes - stock brakes aren't bad for street use once rebuilt
3) Replace e brake cable
4) Replace fuel and vacumm lines
5) Replace suspection bushing
6) Replace shocks if not done already
7) Replace clutch slave and flush out the old fluid
8) Update alternator
9) New rad if not already aluminium
10) Replace rad caps and flush system
10) New rad temp switch
11) Steering rack rebuild (not done yet on my car)
12)  2nd gear syncro - not done but needed
13) Rear suspension lower bushing up uprights seized.
14) Rear axle bearing shot - I went to billet axles, but only because I plan for more power later.  1 bearing was spun
15) I already had MSD, but the distributor advance to seized and the tach adaptor fried  
16) Door locks gummy
17) Replace deck lid shocks
18) Replace ignition lock
19) New A/C condensor core
20) Recharge A/C  (already converted to R134)
21) Repair split heater core
22) Motor rebuild 
 
Optional:
1) Upgrade front rotors to Mustang vented
2) Upgrade rear axles
3) Recover seats
4) Small headlight kit
5) Big brakes
6) etc, etc, etc
 
Hope this helps,
 
David
 
 

________________________________
 From: Rob Dumoulin <rob at dumoulins.net>
To: Stephen Nelson <steve at snclocks.com> 
Cc: pantera list <detomaso at realbig.com> 
Sent: Saturday, September 15, 2012 6:45 PM
Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] Upgrade List
  
Stephen, I posed the same topic a while ago and got a rather cold response.
It does seem that there are an abundance of Pantera information spread
around everywhere and some owners have done a great job documenting their
projects. Good as it may be, it does not provide discussions around the
pros and cons of what was done and very few lessons learned. I think a
structured Pantera Wiki site would allow this community to define some
topics and document equipment options and lessons learned in an attempt to
build the ultimate Pantera for:

   - Reliable Daily Driver
   - Show Car
   - Open Road Racer
   - SCCA Track Car
   - Bone Stock replacement
   - Restomod

For topics like flaw with and mods to:

   - Cooling System
   - Electrical (ignition, lights, charging, accessories, fuse box, dash,
   alternator)
   - Engine
   - Gauges
   - Hubs
   - Brakes
   - ZF
   - Lights
   - A/C
   - Heater


On Sat, Sep 15, 2012 at 6:19 PM, Stephen Nelson <steve at snclocks.com> wrote:

> This forum is a great way to start to learn about the finer points of
> owning
> and maintaining a Pantera.  Oh, and about upgrading or updating these
> fantastic cars.  So, wanting to learn more about what should be done to
> bring a car up to current "standards", I did a search for upgrade, update,
> and modification.  And figured out that there is a lot written about these
> cars tail lights.
>
>
>
> Is anyone aware of a previous post or string of posts that covers what
> needs
> to be done to make these cars all they can be today?  I suppose the list
> would need to start off with items that really need done to keep the car
> from having a major oops - like the issue with half shafts.  And progress
> from there to the "wanna-have" items.
>
>
>
> If there isn't such a list - perhaps some of you more knowledgeable types
> could start a listing for us wanna-have-a-Pantera-that-runs-great types.
>
>
>
> Stephen Nelson
>
>
>
> SNClocks.com <http://www.snclocks.com/>
>
> Click here for our new
> <
> http://www.snclocks.com/TheRestofourWorld/Hammered-Dulcimers/About-Steves-D
> ulcimers/19824807_4sHGgj#1558377542_LKmkrT7> Hammered Dulcimers website
>
> Click here for my <http://www.perfectoldman.com/>  new blog on finding
> happiness in retirement
>
>
>
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-- 
Rob DuMoulin
904.476.8744
rob at dumoulins.net
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