[DeTomaso] Tran Fortin 5-speed in a Pantera ?

Julian Kift julian_kift at hotmail.com
Sat Aug 26 14:28:43 EDT 2017


I believe the reason that Quaife has not offered a Pantera variant is because it's not a simple flip for the crown wheel & pinion with the inversion to run upside down. I suspect if it was "easy' they would have done it by now and yet all the folks that I know who inquired were told there were no plans to offer a Pantera variant. That said you could try and run it in the GT40 orientation with the input shaft over the output shafts, it would sit higher or provide opportunity to lower center of gravity by dropping the engine, that is assuming you can do that without modifying the frame rails or losing the oil pan on the asphalt!


There are also a number of failures reported on Quaife transaxles on GT40s.com when used hard under racing conditions, although that might have been solved with later production. Even so, I personally think the real ZF is a better option than a ZFQ and if it were me I'd have the existing ZF inspected and rebuilt with appropriate ratios for the tracks run. Of course you never get the flexibility a true racing box like a Hewland would offer in switching ratios out to specific tracks, the compromise option might be to have 2 ZF's one with ratios for long and the other short tracks. My ZF was in and out so often at one point I could do the switch on my own in under 2 hours.


Given prior discussion on homologation and meeting 1973 specs etc. I expect you would face some backlash from the sanctioing body on using a modern transaxle. That said I think the later ADA Pantera Si ran in the 80's with a Hewland, so maybe that is an alternative?

Julian
________________________________
From: Steve Lisa <stevelisa at patentit.com>
Sent: Saturday, August 26, 2017 9:18 AM
To: Julian Kift
Cc: List DeTomaso Forum; George B; The DeTomaso Registry Guy
Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] Tran Fortin 5-speed in a Pantera ?

When I bought the Quaife, RBT wasn't yet a viable option, and I bought it for the GT40....which is currently disassembled.  We are playing with the idea if setting it up to run in the Pantera because the ratios are a bit different, and the original is 45 years old.

Any idea what would be different....we have a Ford 347 small block endurance race motor in the GT40.  I would think it would be an easy project???

On Aug 26, 2017 8:07 AM, "Julian Kift" <julian_kift at hotmail.com<mailto:julian_kift at hotmail.com>> wrote:

The Quaife transaxle filled a void at a time when the GT40 replica market was booming and ZF's were hard to come by or an 18 month waiting list from RBT. I don't see it as a better alternative to a ZF which are readily available again and Quaife cost crept up from first envisaged to be comparable to a new RBT ZF.

Despite the verbiage on the Quaife site stating "We have manufactured and built over 100 of these high performance transmissions for GT40 and pantera owners...." there has never been a Pantera orientation Quaife transaxle produced.


Julian

________________________________
-------------- next part --------------
   I believe the reason that Quaife has not offered a Pantera variant is
   because it's not a simple flip for the crown wheel & pinion with the
   inversion to run upside down. I suspect if it was "easy' they would
   have done it by now and yet all the folks that I know who inquired were
   told there were no plans to offer a Pantera variant. That said you
   could try and run it in the GT40 orientation with the input shaft over
   the output shafts, it would sit higher or provide opportunity to lower
   center of gravity by dropping the engine, that is assuming you can do
   that without modifying the frame rails or losing the oil pan on the
   asphalt!

   There are also a number of failures reported on Quaife transaxles on
   GT40s.com when used hard under racing conditions, although that might
   have been solved with later production. Even so, I personally think the
   real ZF is a better option than a ZFQ and if it were me I'd have
   the existing ZF inspected and rebuilt with appropriate ratios for the
   tracks run. Of course you never get the flexibility a true racing box
   like a Hewland would offer in switching ratios out to specific tracks,
   the compromise option might be to have 2 ZF's one with ratios for long
   and the other short tracks. My ZF was in and out so often at one point
   I could do the switch on my own in under 2 hours.

   Given prior discussion on homologation and meeting 1973 specs etc. I
   expect you would face some backlash from the sanctioing body on using a
   modern transaxle. That said I think the later ADA Pantera Si ran in the
   80's with a Hewland, so maybe that is an alternative?
   Julian
     __________________________________________________________________

   From: Steve Lisa <stevelisa at patentit.com>
   Sent: Saturday, August 26, 2017 9:18 AM
   To: Julian Kift
   Cc: List DeTomaso Forum; George B; The DeTomaso Registry Guy
   Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] Tran Fortin 5-speed in a Pantera ?

   When I bought the Quaife, RBT wasn't yet a viable option, and I bought
   it for the GT40....which is currently disassembled.  We are playing
   with the idea if setting it up to run in the Pantera because the ratios
   are a bit different, and the original is 45 years old.
   Any idea what would be different....we have a Ford 347 small block
   endurance race motor in the GT40.  I would think it would be an easy
   project???
   On Aug 26, 2017 8:07 AM, "Julian Kift" <[1]julian_kift at hotmail.com>
   wrote:

   The Quaife transaxle filled a void at a time when the GT40 replica
   market was booming and ZF's were hard to come by or an 18 month waiting
   list from RBT. I don't see it as a better alternative to a ZF which are
   readily available again and Quaife cost crept up from first envisaged
   to be comparable to a new RBT ZF.

   Despite the verbiage on the Quaife site stating "We have manufactured
   and built over 100 of these high performance transmissions for GT40 and
   pantera owners...." there has never been a Pantera orientation
   Quaife transaxle produced.

   Julian
     __________________________________________________________________

References

   1. mailto:julian_kift at hotmail.com


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