[DeTomaso] chassis stiffeners - opinions

[JDeRyke at aol.com]

Lynn, a chassis brace will change in a positive way how your car feels 
while driving- no doubt about it. Larry Stock once got "big air" at an open road 
race (hump-backed bridge seen too late at 150 mph.....) and there were lots 
of sparks and concrete scraping on landing some 120 ft away. But he 
finished the event & drove home 200 more miles. A few days later, he noticed an odd 
feelling in the steering, & up on a lift he found the entire lower front 
subframes were broken clear off the tub! THese of course support the front 
suspension.... But his lower chassis brace had held things together nearly as 
rigid as stock. And the shocks lived thru it. Yes- the kits DO work.   

Depending on the condition of your Pantera, an option done by a few road 
racers is seam-welding the entire body/chassis to replace the flexible 
spot-welds- which are often broken on stock Panteras. If done, no kit is needed and 
the effect is the same or better. But you'll need a paint job afterwards.   

   
Byars also sells a stiffening kit. But they're too new (all introduced 
within the last 15 yrs or so) to definitely say one is better than another. 
THere are a few home-crafted rigs, too. As Kirby described the complex Hall kit, 
it works, but as an opinion with that kit, I'm not convinced the upper 
front-trunk bar is doing anything. It would be valuable if the front edge of the 
front trunk were cut away for a Gurney hood vent, though as the stiffness 
of the front trunk assembly depends on the front lip.   And due to the 
magnitude of the stresses involved, all kits muct be welded in place; bolting in 
will not be good enough to see the benefits. 

Finally, unless you drive hard and/or run giant tires, a stiffening kit may 
not be vital, but indications are they also may save us from the paint 
cracking we all will get eventually in the 4 major locations. Even if you don't 
hit bumps at 2X the speed limit. FWIW- J Deryke