[DeTomaso] but that's another story

[MikeLDrew at aol.com]

In a message dated 7/28/13 15 18 49, adin at frontier.net writes:


> Pantera, take it out and play with it!
> 

PCNC did just that this weekend.   Michael and Roxanne Fertitta (Roxanne is 
Jack and Judy DeRyke's daughter) brought their local Mini club over the 
Sierras from Nevada and invited PCNC to join the fun.   We spent two days 
driving the back roads of the Sierras, to include DIRT roads, and escaped the 95 
degree heat by exploring cave formations where things were nice and cool.

Lori and I drove my Pantera 300+ miles without a hitch.   In fact NO 
Panteras broke down (CHPIE members take note!) or even misbehaved slightly.

I found that my #2 radiator fan would cycle on and off with the conditions, 
with temps staying rock steady in the 190 degree range.   On the drive 
home, it was right at 180 on long uninterrupted runs.

No freeways the whole weekend--two-lane from door to door!   Now the car is 
filthy, and happy!

Noted during a postflight inspection today that my secondary throttle 
return spring snapped, which just demonstrates why it's such a good idea to have 
a compression spring in the throttle cable.   Fortunately I had an extra 
secondary spring and fixed it right away.

Took it for a celebratory drive in the hills behind my house today after 
filling the tank (19.5 gallons for 305 miles, you can do the math but it works 
out to about 16 mpg), where a squirrel zigged when he should have zagged 
and I centerpunched him, or so it seemed.   There was a fiberglass-sounding 
THWACK and I was afraid my spoiler had bit the dust, but when I got home, 
there was no damage at all.   Must have just grazed him....

Mike