[DeTomaso] Pandora update

Christopher Kimball chrisvkimball at msn.com
Tue Aug 4 14:53:19 EDT 2015


The motor always leaked oil, and burned some, too.  One of the things discovered was a torn gasket that was letting oil get sucked into one of the cylinders (the engine builder tried to fix it with silicone rubber).  That meant one of the valves may not have seated correctly, so I now have new rings and one other item has been fixed so the engine won't leak oil anymore.  Denny said "Pandora has finally grown up because she doesn't need the diaper you put on her anymore..."  I had installed a belly-pan to catch the oil drips.
Chris

> From: Larry at ohiotimecorp.com
> To: chrisvkimball at msn.com; detomaso at poca.com
> Subject: RE: [DeTomaso] Pandora update
> Date: Tue, 4 Aug 2015 09:12:44 -0400
> 
> Chris,
> 
> 
> I always feel better about my project problems after reading your update
> posts. But is has been a wile that things have been quiet in your
> world...maybe not a good sign!?!
> 
> Other then the motor problem they do not seem to keep coming back. What's up
> with the motor now?
> 
> Keep the faith Brother.
> 
> 
> Larry (I liked the fans) - Cleveland
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: DeTomaso [mailto:detomaso-bounces at poca.com] On Behalf Of Christopher
> Kimball
> Sent: Tuesday, August 04, 2015 12:12 AM
> To: Pantera list serve
> Subject: [DeTomaso] Pandora update
> 
> Some of my friends have been asking the status of my '72 Pre-L which has
> been in the shop for quite some time.
> I just had a long talk with Denny Finn, he is the one who has taken on the
> what-is-turning-out-to-be-a-huge project that started out as a routine
> repair to my clutch, A/C unit, and; oh, by the way, a little rust.  (Finn's
> Auto Repair http://www.finnsautorestoration.com/index.html)
> Denny's shop is in Oregon, which although in my neighborhood--the Pacific
> Northwest--is still a half-day's drive away.  I've know Denny for quite a
> number of years now, and he is a fellow Panera owner.  Indeed; together we
> drove our cars to Reno for one of the Fun Rallies.  I've been to Denny's
> shop a number of times, and the last time I was there he and his crew were
> working on at least two Panteras so he he is definitely familiar with the
> breed.
> I've visited several Pantera specialty shops over the years, and Denny's
> work is nothing short of amazing.  I was excited to have Denny fix the
> problems I was having with Pandora, and while he was at it, spruce up the
> engine compartment; removing the stock undercoating and giving it a fresh,
> new look.
> My car is named Pandora for a reason, however.  No sooner had Denny begun
> removing the undercoating than he discovered what is probably the reason my
> car has always gotten such good gas mileage.  In many places there was no
> metal remaining beneath the undercoating!  I guess massive rusting is one
> way of reducing weight...
> Not only that, he had recommended that while the engine was out of the car I
> have it checked by an engine builder he knows.  In keeping with the
> "Pandora's Box" theme, there were several things wrong with the motor, too
> (disappointing, since 25,000 miles ago I had the motor built for a cost of
> almost $10,000 by a local engine builder).
> Poor Denny; when I gave him the car (he actually came and picked it up in
> his covered trailer for fee that was well below what one would usually pay)
> I gave him a budget which I was naively convinced would cover everything
> that needed to be fixed.  I figured with all the money we'd have left over,
> he could even do a few extra updates, such as a complete paint job,
> solid-gold door handles, and pearl inlays in a custom, teakwood dash...
> Actually, I wasn't quite that ridiculous, but even I had forgotten how much
> Pandora likes to surprise me.
> As Denny dug deeper, he began to find more and more rust--in places that the
> owner from whom I bought the car had claimed were "replaced." 
> In defense of the previous owner, it may be he didn't see the rust behind
> the new rocker panels, or notice some of the other later-discovered problems
> (anyone ever see the movie "Christine?"  Those guys didn't know what was in
> store for them with that car, either!)
> Nevertheless, over the last six months or so Denny has been extremely good
> at gradually breaking bad news to me, and helping me to come to grips with
> what actually needs to be done to not only make the car look good, but
> actually be safe to drive!
> To give you an idea of his skill in psychology, he has actually convinced me
> to allow him to change a few "Kimballisms" the car currently possesses.  The
> only other person who ever accomplished that was Mike Drew--he shamed me
> into taking off two large, chrome pipes I had sticking out of the engine
> compartment which I was using to ostensibly vent hot air from the motor.
> For those of you who never saw my car in that state, here is a rough
> approximation of what it looked like:
> http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7100/1333/1600/22-2.jpg
> After talking things over with my wife, we've decided to increase the
> restoration budget somewhat so Denny won't be left with a
> partially-completed project (on the other hand, are any Panteras ever
> actually finished??)
> I won't go into detail about all the problems Denny has discovered--such as
> rocker-panel rust, floor rust, B-pillar rust, engine-bay rust, frame rust
> (he had to fabricate an entire section above the left-rear wheel), the
> engine problems, etc. etc. etc.
> The good new?  Based on what I've seen coming out of Denny's shop, it won't
> be too long until Pandora is back home, looking and running better than
> ever.
> Then I can resume winning all those cool trophies which make it worth it to
> sit in a little lawn chair in 95-degree weather in a parking lot next to a
> 1977 Pacer listening to an 84-year-old curmudgeon drone on and on about how
> his Uncle used to own a Pantera in the '60's and how odd it was that an
> Italian kit-car like that would have a GM motor and be designed by John
> DeLorean...
> Seriously, a big shout-out to Denny for his perfectionism and patience when
> dealing with a "duct-tape and silicone-rubber" mechanic like me!
> Sincerely,
> Chris
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>  
> 
>  		 	   		  
> 
 		 	   		  
-------------- next part --------------
   The motor always leaked oil, and burned some, too.  One of the things
   discovered was a torn gasket that was letting oil get sucked into one
   of the cylinders (the engine builder tried to fix it with silicone
   rubber).  That meant one of the valves may not have seated correctly,
   so I now have new rings and one other item has been fixed so the engine
   won't leak oil anymore.  Denny said "Pandora has finally grown up
   because she doesn't need the diaper you put on her anymore..."  I had
   installed a belly-pan to catch the oil drips.
   Chris
   > From: Larry at ohiotimecorp.com
   > To: chrisvkimball at msn.com; detomaso at poca.com
   > Subject: RE: [DeTomaso] Pandora update
   > Date: Tue, 4 Aug 2015 09:12:44 -0400
   >
   > Chris,
   >
   >
   > I always feel better about my project problems after reading your
   update
   > posts. But is has been a wile that things have been quiet in your
   > world...maybe not a good sign!?!
   >
   > Other then the motor problem they do not seem to keep coming back.
   What's up
   > with the motor now?
   >
   > Keep the faith Brother.
   >
   >
   > Larry (I liked the fans) - Cleveland
   >
   >
   >
   >
   > -----Original Message-----
   > From: DeTomaso [mailto:detomaso-bounces at poca.com] On Behalf Of
   Christopher
   > Kimball
   > Sent: Tuesday, August 04, 2015 12:12 AM
   > To: Pantera list serve
   > Subject: [DeTomaso] Pandora update
   >
   > Some of my friends have been asking the status of my '72 Pre-L which
   has
   > been in the shop for quite some time.
   > I just had a long talk with Denny Finn, he is the one who has taken
   on the
   > what-is-turning-out-to-be-a-huge project that started out as a
   routine
   > repair to my clutch, A/C unit, and; oh, by the way, a little rust.
   (Finn's
   > Auto Repair http://www.finnsautorestoration.com/index.html)
   > Denny's shop is in Oregon, which although in my neighborhood--the
   Pacific
   > Northwest--is still a half-day's drive away. I've know Denny for
   quite a
   > number of years now, and he is a fellow Panera owner. Indeed;
   together we
   > drove our cars to Reno for one of the Fun Rallies. I've been to
   Denny's
   > shop a number of times, and the last time I was there he and his crew
   were
   > working on at least two Panteras so he he is definitely familiar with
   the
   > breed.
   > I've visited several Pantera specialty shops over the years, and
   Denny's
   > work is nothing short of amazing. I was excited to have Denny fix the
   > problems I was having with Pandora, and while he was at it, spruce up
   the
   > engine compartment; removing the stock undercoating and giving it a
   fresh,
   > new look.
   > My car is named Pandora for a reason, however. No sooner had Denny
   begun
   > removing the undercoating than he discovered what is probably the
   reason my
   > car has always gotten such good gas mileage. In many places there was
   no
   > metal remaining beneath the undercoating! I guess massive rusting is
   one
   > way of reducing weight...
   > Not only that, he had recommended that while the engine was out of
   the car I
   > have it checked by an engine builder he knows. In keeping with the
   > "Pandora's Box" theme, there were several things wrong with the
   motor, too
   > (disappointing, since 25,000 miles ago I had the motor built for a
   cost of
   > almost $10,000 by a local engine builder).
   > Poor Denny; when I gave him the car (he actually came and picked it
   up in
   > his covered trailer for fee that was well below what one would
   usually pay)
   > I gave him a budget which I was naively convinced would cover
   everything
   > that needed to be fixed. I figured with all the money we'd have left
   over,
   > he could even do a few extra updates, such as a complete paint job,
   > solid-gold door handles, and pearl inlays in a custom, teakwood
   dash...
   > Actually, I wasn't quite that ridiculous, but even I had forgotten
   how much
   > Pandora likes to surprise me.
   > As Denny dug deeper, he began to find more and more rust--in places
   that the
   > owner from whom I bought the car had claimed were "replaced."
   > In defense of the previous owner, it may be he didn't see the rust
   behind
   > the new rocker panels, or notice some of the other later-discovered
   problems
   > (anyone ever see the movie "Christine?" Those guys didn't know what
   was in
   > store for them with that car, either!)
   > Nevertheless, over the last six months or so Denny has been extremely
   good
   > at gradually breaking bad news to me, and helping me to come to grips
   with
   > what actually needs to be done to not only make the car look good,
   but
   > actually be safe to drive!
   > To give you an idea of his skill in psychology, he has actually
   convinced me
   > to allow him to change a few "Kimballisms" the car currently
   possesses. The
   > only other person who ever accomplished that was Mike Drew--he shamed
   me
   > into taking off two large, chrome pipes I had sticking out of the
   engine
   > compartment which I was using to ostensibly vent hot air from the
   motor.
   > For those of you who never saw my car in that state, here is a rough
   > approximation of what it looked like:
   > http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7100/1333/1600/22-2.jpg
   > After talking things over with my wife, we've decided to increase the
   > restoration budget somewhat so Denny won't be left with a
   > partially-completed project (on the other hand, are any Panteras ever
   > actually finished??)
   > I won't go into detail about all the problems Denny has
   discovered--such as
   > rocker-panel rust, floor rust, B-pillar rust, engine-bay rust, frame
   rust
   > (he had to fabricate an entire section above the left-rear wheel),
   the
   > engine problems, etc. etc. etc.
   > The good new? Based on what I've seen coming out of Denny's shop, it
   won't
   > be too long until Pandora is back home, looking and running better
   than
   > ever.
   > Then I can resume winning all those cool trophies which make it worth
   it to
   > sit in a little lawn chair in 95-degree weather in a parking lot next
   to a
   > 1977 Pacer listening to an 84-year-old curmudgeon drone on and on
   about how
   > his Uncle used to own a Pantera in the '60's and how odd it was that
   an
   > Italian kit-car like that would have a GM motor and be designed by
   John
   > DeLorean...
   > Seriously, a big shout-out to Denny for his perfectionism and
   patience when
   > dealing with a "duct-tape and silicone-rubber" mechanic like me!
   > Sincerely,
   > Chris
   >
   >
   >
   >
   >
   >
   >
   >
   >
   >


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