[DeTomaso] Fuel injection system and brakes question

Kirby Schrader kirbyschrader at mac.com
Wed Nov 4 21:17:42 EST 2015


Konrad,

I have NOT used nor have I had any personal experience with this setup, but I keep hearing good noises about it.
http://www.fuelairspark.com/fas/efi-systems/throttle-body-efi

It will fit on your existing 4 bbl intake and you can get rid of your distributor.
Errr… well, you’d better keep it if you want oil pressure, but you know what I mean, right!
???
:-)
Replace ALL your fuel lines, please!

For brakes, it seems to me that a set of front Wilwoods would do wonders for you.
Just keep the rear brakes and get some Porterfield pads for them. That way you still have your parking brake and your $$$ will be minimal.

My son has stock brakes on his car with the Porterfield pads and he likes them.
No track day yet, so we will see…
As I’ve said, I’m a Wilwood proponent with three cars having darned near the same system.

I would HIGHLY recommend that you replace all the brake lines and put braided lines running to the calipers.
Pantera Performance Center can supply all that.
Brake lines, hard and braided, were just quoted to me.
Set of 8 hard SS brake lines $235.00
Braided flex brake lines set of 4 $120.00

Mine are vintage 1985 and when I was adding a proportioning valve last week, the rear brake line was so corroded, it just broke off.
Nice that I found it in the garage….
If you want to borrow my Eastwood flaring tool kit, you’re welcome to do so.

FWIW,
Kirby



> On Nov 3, 2015, at 20:49, Konrad Szwab <kszwab at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>   Thank you Kirby, good to hear from you again.
>   My expectations are really low, like usual. I would like to be able to
>   use my Pantera once in a while for something else than a nice flat
>   surface for my cats to sleep on. I would like to be able to drive it to
>   work once a week as I used to without it not starting, dying or
>   overheating.
>   I do not plan to race anyone in a 42 year old car. I lost confidence in
>   cars many years ago after having 18 cars that always have issues. I
>   believe that confidence will be restored once cars switch to electric
>   so there are things I can easily understand. A Tesla is out of my price
>   range at this time. Working on the car with my son will be an added
>   bonus as I used to work on it with my late father that loved the
>   temperamental thing.
>   I would like to spend 2-3K$ for the injection system and around 1K for
>   the brakes, parts, not including labor. Of course, as we start on it
>   probably costs will grow, but that will not be unexpected. The shop
>   where the resurrection will be made is Mayco Performance, the owner is
>   a friend of mine and we can work on it together.
>   Once all of that will be done the transaxle safety wiring will be done,
>   I will need help/advice with that. With my luck, after the fixes
>   probably the transaxle will fail. It has been sitting in the garage for
>   a number of years...
>   Of course, potential pesky software after my latest nuisances with the
>   H2 gives me pause, but I would rather deal with pesky software than
>   with potential engine fires.
> 
>   On Tue, Nov 3, 2015 at 6:27 PM, Kirby Schrader
>   <[1]kirbyschrader at mac.com> wrote:
> 
>     Konrad,
>     Getting into this late, but for brakes, Iam happy with three cars
>     with Wilwoods.
>     When EFI comes up, I have lots of scars.
>     I started out with an old Haltech F9A on my Pantera in 2000.
>     It was an all throttle position system, sometimes called aAlpha Na,
>     and still used a distributor.
>     The best part was the Weber manifold with the throttle bodies.
>     Individual runners help a lot and thatas where the smoothing of the
>     idle and extra midrange come from. I was learning and it took me
>     awhile, but I got it set up very nicely and it ran great. My lumpy
>     cam idle that I had with the 4bbl went awaya|
>     But I didnat miss it.
>     The next system I did was for my GT40. Itas an IR system, too.
>     Mike Trusty recommended an Electromotive TEC3r. This is a system
>     like Michael was talking about.
>     Crankshaft triggered and uses coils for each plug. Long story here
>     with a defective wiring harness that had me thrashing for three
>     months to find, but the system is running great. I can let the car
>     sit for literally months and switch the key on, hit the start button
>     and it starts. I donat even have to get in the car an do anything to
>     the throttle. On this setup, I donat use the big GM style coils. I
>     use an MSD DIS4 and fire, believe it or not, Suzuki motorcycles
>     coils on each plug. This system is running with each injector fired
>     individually. What they call staged injection.
>     I helped Don Franck install a similar system on his car and after
>     something learning, he got it going just fine.
>     Then my Haltech bit the dust on the Pantera and I ended up putting
>     an Electromotive TECGT system. Itas cheaper than the TEC3r, which is
>     their current high end system, and wonat run a V8 using staged
>     injection. I call it batch fire. It injects all injectors at the
>     same time. No big deal, honestly.
>     Iave switched back and forth on the GT40 and I canat tell the
>     differencea|
>     I really like both systems. They are expensive, especially when you
>     consider the throttle bodies and manifold.
>     If you go with a 4bbl type EFI, you will get some advantages for
>     starting. You wonat have to rejet or rebuild your carburetor.
>     Depending on the intake manifold, it will idle the same.
>     Yes, as the Space City guys know, Iave had issues that had me really
>     pissed off, but once I got around some bad wiring, some bad coils
>     (they were used off eBay, me trying to be cheap, and some tuning
>     understanding, I love the systems and wouldnat go back to a
>     carburetor, much as Tom Upton razzes me about it.
>     Yes, the race car doesnat have EFI. Itas a vintage racer. But itas
>     got the closest, next best thing! Webers!
>     So what do you want EFI to achieve for you?
>     What do you think it will do for you?
>     How much you willing to spend?
>     That will help you get better advice.
>     By the way, lots of people like the FAST systems. The software is
>     easy to use and is supposedly aself learninga.
>     On a stock motor, that would be a definite maybe with a wide band
>     closed loop.
>     If itas got a decent cam and heads, Iall bet you money that the FAST
>     will quickly tell you it canat get there from here.
>     Just experiencea|.
>     FWIW,
>     Kirby
>> On Nov 3, 2015, at 09:48, Konrad Szwab <[2]kszwab at gmail.com>
>     wrote:
>> 
>> A  A Now that I have a bit of time to try to resurrect my poor '73A
>     Pantera,
>> A  A I would like to ask for recommendations/sources for the
>     following:
>> A  A 1. Fuel injection system for a '73 Cleveland. Recommended
>     model and
>> A  A sources, pitfalls in installation. Is there a write up
>     anywhere from
>> A  A someone who did the conversion ?
>> A  A 2. Brake rebuild kit. Sources, pitfalls ?
>> A  A Thanks,
>> A  A Konrad
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> References
> 
>   1. mailto:kirbyschrader at mac.com
>   2. mailto:kszwab at gmail.com
>   3. mailto:DeTomaso at poca.com
>   4. http://poca.com/mailman/listinfo/detomaso_poca.com
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