[DeTomaso] Why you should always DRIVE your Pantera somewhere!
Christopher Kimball
chrisvkimball at msn.com
Tue May 20 20:45:13 EDT 2014
Good grief, I can't believe anyone can have so much bad luck in such a short period of time! I'm in Santa Barbara for the night on the way to the fun rally; my son and I have driven 1200 miles so far (my continuing reports will be forthcoming in the days ahead), and reading your post is a little terrifying!
Of course I have always liked adventures...
Sincerely,
Chris
Sent from my Windows Phone
________________________________
From: Boyd Casey<mailto:boyd411 at gmail.com>
Sent: 5/20/2014 2:00 PM
To: Kirby Schrader<mailto:kirby.schrader at gmail.com>
Cc: Panteras<mailto:detomaso at poca.com>; Jerry Knotts<mailto:knottsj at galstar.com>
Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] Why you should always DRIVE your Pantera somewhere!
I was planning on joining our small Long Island Poca group on a trip to
Saratoga this past weekend. According to Google maps it's 3 1/2 hours one
way. I was concerned because my car had been stored since the fall and
although I started it a few times over the winter and had a trickle charger
on all winter, I never feel comfortable taking a long trip after just
coming out of storage. I took the car out a few weeks earlier and
immediately noticed a problem with the clutch. I thought it was the slave
cylinder and promptly replaced it. After a week of deteriorating
performance I realized I needed a new clutch master. I decided to upgrade
to a CNC with SS sleeve ( which also matched my dual CNC brake masters with
balance bar so it looked nice and was a mechanical improvement. An
anodized slave cylinder with a SS sleeve and a long throw set up I finally
had a clutch that felt 100% and was tickled pink, that is until I realized
that there was a noise coming from the front of the motor. This coincided
with a low voltage reading ion the voltmeter and I had been having charging
issues since upgrading the AC last spring to a new system with dual
condenser fans so it seemed like an opportune time to upgrade to a higher
output alternator. I installed a new 90 amp alternator. Just when it
seemed like I would be ready for the trip we realized that the "mystery
noise " coming from the front of the engine hadn't subsided . This is when
an astute observer noticed that the harmonic balancer was coming apart. So
add a new balancer and the car was good to go. I felt fairly confident
that the prospect of completing a 400 mile round trip without a major
incident wasn't an unreasonable expectation. So as I drove home from the
shop after the latest 2 week visit at the local Pantera rest and rehab
facility , I was really enjoying driving my cat. In fact I was enjoying it
more then I have ever remembered in the six years since I bought the car.
My local Pantera mechanic who is also a member of our local Pantera club
has a his shop around 40 miles from my home. I had driven around 36 miles
enjoying every mile when as they say at NASA I experienced a catastrophic
failure. It appears either a rod or wrist pin let go and m trip home came
to a sudden stop. The moral of my story is no matter how well prepared you
think you are Murphy raises his ugly head and his law brings your best laid
plans and dashes them into small pieces like cheap carnival glass. If I
had left on the trip to Saratoga I could have had a trip ending event if
only one the four events previously mentioned events had taken place. I
have a friend who owns a crew cab pick up truck and a 24 foot enclosed
trailer. He was willing to act as an escort or emergency rescue vehicle in
return for the club covering his gas and hotel room. Unfortunately we
didn't have enough Pantera participants to cover this cost. To my thinking
having some one following the caravan of pant eras with a trailer large
enough to hold two cars as well as tools, spare parts ,a compressor , etc.
It would allow everyone to enjoy driving their cars on a nice trip as well
as having the peace of mind of knowing that in the event of a unforeseen
event you would not be faced with the prospect of leaving your baby on the
side of the road or with some back woods mechanic. We couldn't work out the
logistics of having our escort on this trip but had I been able to take the
trip with the escort and had m car experienced any one of the breakdowns
that it has had in the past four weeks but instead of at home somewhere on
the road between NyC and Saratoga it would have taken a situation that
would have been a disaster and ruined a great weekend and turned it into a
minor inconvenience . So I would highly recommend that future Pantera
groups planning on long distance road trips to explore the possibility of
arranging for this type of Guardian angel to accompany them on their trip.
Statistically the chances of several Panteras breaking down is not a
statistical impossibility but is far less likely the the prospect of one
breaking down and the added benefit of spare parts , tools , and an
entourage of people accustomed to working on Panteras, I would suggest that
the entire trip including the days leading up to the departure would be a
lot less stressful and the trip would be much more enjoyable. My current
situation doesn't have me jumping for joy but my situation would be a lot
worse had my break down occurred 200 miles from home. So I will chalk up
my situation as one of the many high and low points that come along with
owning an exotic car like a Pantera. The low point I am currently
experiencing just make the high points that much more enjoyable ( when they
finally reappear).
Boyd
On Tue, May 20, 2014 at 3:49 PM, Kirby Schrader <kirby.schrader at gmail.com>wrote:
> Jerry,
> Trip to hell and back, indeed. Pretty lousy weekend!
> Trying to follow your trip....
> 12 miles directly north of Tomball is REAL close to where I live!
> The local Pantera gang would have been more than happy to have helped.
> I'm curious why you ended up in Madisonville with the truck when it
> died in Tomball?
> That's a long way to go without an alternator?
> And don't you mean you took I10 to I45? I35 is over in San Antonio and
> Austin...
> And Centerville, Madisonville and Fairfield are all on I45.
> Just being pedantic....
> Glad you made it back in one piece!
> Regards,
> Kirby
> On Tue, May 20, 2014 at 1:48 PM, Jerry Knotts <[1]knottsj at galstar.com>
> wrote:
>
> Michael,
> I certainly have to agree with you. A Two weeks ago I made the trip
> to hell and back to pick up a car. A I traveled from Nowata Oklahoma
> to Houston Texas to pic up a car. A I blew the alternator on the
> truck Friday at 4pm 12 miles north of Tomball. A The trailer was
> left in Tomball and the truck was left in Madisonville to get a new
> alternator on Saturday. A My daughter and grandson drove from Katy
> to pick me up (100 miles). A The next morning she drove me to
> Friendswood to pick up the car and drive it back to Katy (120 round
> trip). A Then she drove me to Madisonville to pick up the finished
> truck so I could go to Tomball and wait for over an hour for them to
> open the storage lot to get the trailer and drive back to Katy to
> load the car(230 round trip). A Sunday I took I10 to I35 so as not
> to have to wait at the many toll gate lines. A I got to 610 loop and
> it took over an hour to get to Tidwell. A I then blew a trailer tire
> on the other side of Centerville. A The wrecker was dispatched
> thinking it was a truck tire. A We had to dismount the car for me to
> drive and start the pickup in neutral so he could tow the truck with
> the trailer with the blown tire 25 miles to Fairfield. A Arrived
> about 4 Sunday afternoon and had a new tire and was back on the road
> with the car reloaded by 6. A Sunday I left Dallas and got within 15
> miles of the house and blew another trailer tire on the other side .
> A I drove it in on the flat.
> I was A specific on Texas places for our Texas bretheren.
> Driven lots of miles hauling a trailer without problems. A The only
> saving grace is I didn't have a cattle trailer full.
> I go with a trailer every time.
> jerry knotts
> On 5/19/2014 8:07 AM, [2]michael at michaelshortt.com wrote:
>
> A A I couldn't agree more, while I love driving the Pantera, had I
> a
> A A trailer to hitch onto the Excursion, I would have towed as
> well.
> A A Why,A
> A A 1) in the event that one or more of us had issues, a remedy
> would have
> A A been available.
> A A 2) I also needed to be back on time
> A A 3) The Excursion is far more comfortable and gets the same MPG
> A A 4) Less wear and tear on the car
> A A 5) If something did happen, I could bring it home to a trusted
> repair
> A A person, not stay with it or leave it with some Goober.
> A A I am quietly looking for deals on a trailer, my problem is
> storage, I
> A A already have way too many trailers, cars, RV taking upA
> A A very limited space.
> A A Michael Shortt
> A A On Mon, May 19, 2014 at 8:37 AM, Rob Dumoulin
> <[1][3]rob at dumoulins.net>
> A A wrote:
>
> _______________________________________________
> Detomaso Forum Managed by POCA
> DeTomaso mailing list
> [4]DeTomaso at poca.com
> [5]http://poca.com/mailman/listinfo/detomaso_poca.com
>
> References
>
> 1. mailto:knottsj at galstar.com
> 2. mailto:michael at michaelshortt.com
> 3. mailto:rob at dumoulins.net
> 4. mailto:DeTomaso at poca.com
> 5. http://poca.com/mailman/listinfo/detomaso_poca.com
>
> _______________________________________________
>
> Detomaso Forum Managed by POCA
>
> DeTomaso mailing list
> DeTomaso at poca.com
> http://poca.com/mailman/listinfo/detomaso_poca.com
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
Good grief, I can't believe anyone can have so much bad luck in such a
short period of time! I'm in Santa Barbara for the night on the way to
the fun rally; my son and I have driven 1200 miles so far (my
continuing reports will be forthcoming in the days ahead), and reading
your post is a little terrifying!
Of course I have always liked adventures...
Sincerely,
Chris
Sent from my Windows Phone
__________________________________________________________________
From: [1]Boyd Casey
Sent: 5/20/2014 2:00 PM
To: [2]Kirby Schrader
Cc: [3]Panteras; [4]Jerry Knotts
Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] Why you should always DRIVE your Pantera
somewhere!
I was planning on joining our small Long Island Poca group on a trip to
Saratoga this past weekend. According to Google maps it's 3 1/2 hours
one
way. I was concerned because my car had been stored since the fall and
although I started it a few times over the winter and had a trickle
charger
on all winter, I never feel comfortable taking a long trip after just
coming out of storage. I took the car out a few weeks earlier and
immediately noticed a problem with the clutch. I thought it was the
slave
cylinder and promptly replaced it. After a week of deteriorating
performance I realized I needed a new clutch master. I decided to
upgrade
to a CNC with SS sleeve ( which also matched my dual CNC brake masters
with
balance bar so it looked nice and was a mechanical improvement. An
anodized slave cylinder with a SS sleeve and a long throw set up I
finally
had a clutch that felt 100% and was tickled pink, that is until I
realized
that there was a noise coming from the front of the motor. This
coincided
with a low voltage reading ion the voltmeter and I had been having
charging
issues since upgrading the AC last spring to a new system with dual
condenser fans so it seemed like an opportune time to upgrade to a
higher
output alternator. I installed a new 90 amp alternator. Just when it
seemed like I would be ready for the trip we realized that the "mystery
noise " coming from the front of the engine hadn't subsided . This is
when
an astute observer noticed that the harmonic balancer was coming apart.
So
add a new balancer and the car was good to go. I felt fairly confident
that the prospect of completing a 400 mile round trip without a major
incident wasn't an unreasonable expectation. So as I drove home from
the
shop after the latest 2 week visit at the local Pantera rest and rehab
facility , I was really enjoying driving my cat. In fact I was enjoying
it
more then I have ever remembered in the six years since I bought the
car.
My local Pantera mechanic who is also a member of our local Pantera
club
has a his shop around 40 miles from my home. I had driven around 36
miles
enjoying every mile when as they say at NASA I experienced a
catastrophic
failure. It appears either a rod or wrist pin let go and m trip home
came
to a sudden stop. The moral of my story is no matter how well prepared
you
think you are Murphy raises his ugly head and his law brings your best
laid
plans and dashes them into small pieces like cheap carnival glass. If
I
had left on the trip to Saratoga I could have had a trip ending event
if
only one the four events previously mentioned events had taken
place. I
have a friend who owns a crew cab pick up truck and a 24 foot enclosed
trailer. He was willing to act as an escort or emergency rescue
vehicle in
return for the club covering his gas and hotel room. Unfortunately we
didn't have enough Pantera participants to cover this cost. To my
thinking
having some one following the caravan of pant eras with a trailer large
enough to hold two cars as well as tools, spare parts ,a compressor ,
etc.
It would allow everyone to enjoy driving their cars on a nice trip as
well
as having the peace of mind of knowing that in the event of a
unforeseen
event you would not be faced with the prospect of leaving your baby on
the
side of the road or with some back woods mechanic. We couldn't work out
the
logistics of having our escort on this trip but had I been able to take
the
trip with the escort and had m car experienced any one of the
breakdowns
that it has had in the past four weeks but instead of at home somewhere
on
the road between NyC and Saratoga it would have taken a situation that
would have been a disaster and ruined a great weekend and turned it
into a
minor inconvenience . So I would highly recommend that future Pantera
groups planning on long distance road trips to explore the possibility
of
arranging for this type of Guardian angel to accompany them on their
trip.
Statistically the chances of several Panteras breaking down is not a
statistical impossibility but is far less likely the the prospect of
one
breaking down and the added benefit of spare parts , tools , and an
entourage of people accustomed to working on Panteras, I would suggest
that
the entire trip including the days leading up to the departure would be
a
lot less stressful and the trip would be much more enjoyable. My
current
situation doesn't have me jumping for joy but my situation would be a
lot
worse had my break down occurred 200 miles from home. So I will chalk
up
my situation as one of the many high and low points that come along
with
owning an exotic car like a Pantera. The low point I am currently
experiencing just make the high points that much more enjoyable ( when
they
finally reappear).
Boyd
On Tue, May 20, 2014 at 3:49 PM, Kirby Schrader
<kirby.schrader at gmail.com>wrote:
> Jerry,
> Trip to hell and back, indeed. Pretty lousy weekend!
> Trying to follow your trip....
> 12 miles directly north of Tomball is REAL close to where I live!
> The local Pantera gang would have been more than happy to have
helped.
> I'm curious why you ended up in Madisonville with the truck when
it
> died in Tomball?
> That's a long way to go without an alternator?
> And don't you mean you took I10 to I45? I35 is over in San Antonio
and
> Austin...
> And Centerville, Madisonville and Fairfield are all on I45.
> Just being pedantic....
> Glad you made it back in one piece!
> Regards,
> Kirby
> On Tue, May 20, 2014 at 1:48 PM, Jerry Knotts
<[1]knottsj at galstar.com>
> wrote:
>
> Michael,
> I certainly have to agree with you. A Two weeks ago I made the
trip
> to hell and back to pick up a car. A I traveled from Nowata
Oklahoma
> to Houston Texas to pic up a car. A I blew the alternator on the
> truck Friday at 4pm 12 miles north of Tomball. A The trailer was
> left in Tomball and the truck was left in Madisonville to get a
new
> alternator on Saturday. A My daughter and grandson drove from
Katy
> to pick me up (100 miles). A The next morning she drove me to
> Friendswood to pick up the car and drive it back to Katy (120
round
> trip). A Then she drove me to Madisonville to pick up the
finished
> truck so I could go to Tomball and wait for over an hour for
them to
> open the storage lot to get the trailer and drive back to Katy
to
> load the car(230 round trip). A Sunday I took I10 to I35 so as
not
> to have to wait at the many toll gate lines. A I got to 610 loop
and
> it took over an hour to get to Tidwell. A I then blew a trailer
tire
> on the other side of Centerville. A The wrecker was dispatched
> thinking it was a truck tire. A We had to dismount the car for
me to
> drive and start the pickup in neutral so he could tow the truck
with
> the trailer with the blown tire 25 miles to Fairfield. A Arrived
> about 4 Sunday afternoon and had a new tire and was back on the
road
> with the car reloaded by 6. A Sunday I left Dallas and got
within 15
> miles of the house and blew another trailer tire on the other
side .
> A I drove it in on the flat.
> I was A specific on Texas places for our Texas bretheren.
> Driven lots of miles hauling a trailer without problems. A The
only
> saving grace is I didn't have a cattle trailer full.
> I go with a trailer every time.
> jerry knotts
> On 5/19/2014 8:07 AM, [2]michael at michaelshortt.com wrote:
>
> A A I couldn't agree more, while I love driving the Pantera,
had I
> a
> A A trailer to hitch onto the Excursion, I would have towed as
> well.
> A A Why,A
> A A 1) in the event that one or more of us had issues, a
remedy
> would have
> A A been available.
> A A 2) I also needed to be back on time
> A A 3) The Excursion is far more comfortable and gets the same
MPG
> A A 4) Less wear and tear on the car
> A A 5) If something did happen, I could bring it home to a
trusted
> repair
> A A person, not stay with it or leave it with some Goober.
> A A I am quietly looking for deals on a trailer, my problem is
> storage, I
> A A already have way too many trailers, cars, RV taking upA
> A A very limited space.
> A A Michael Shortt
> A A On Mon, May 19, 2014 at 8:37 AM, Rob Dumoulin
> <[1][3]rob at dumoulins.net>
> A A wrote:
>
> _______________________________________________
> Detomaso Forum Managed by POCA
> DeTomaso mailing list
> [4]DeTomaso at poca.com
> [5]http://poca.com/mailman/listinfo/detomaso_poca.com
>
> References
>
> 1. [5]mailto:knottsj at galstar.com
> 2. [6]mailto:michael at michaelshortt.com
> 3. [7]mailto:rob at dumoulins.net
> 4. [8]mailto:DeTomaso at poca.com
> 5. [9]http://poca.com/mailman/listinfo/detomaso_poca.com
>
> _______________________________________________
>
> Detomaso Forum Managed by POCA
>
> DeTomaso mailing list
> DeTomaso at poca.com
> [10]http://poca.com/mailman/listinfo/detomaso_poca.com
>
>
References
1. mailto:boyd411 at gmail.com
2. mailto:kirby.schrader at gmail.com
3. mailto:detomaso at poca.com
4. mailto:knottsj at galstar.com
5. mailto:knottsj at galstar.com
6. mailto:michael at michaelshortt.com
7. mailto:rob at dumoulins.net
8. mailto:DeTomaso at poca.com
9. http://poca.com/mailman/listinfo/detomaso_poca.com
10. http://poca.com/mailman/listinfo/detomaso_poca.com
-------------- next part --------------
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