[DeTomaso] Pandora update
Christopher Kimball
ChrisVKimball at msn.com
Thu Nov 30 17:36:40 EST 2017
Some of you have asked how Pandora is doing. As you might remember, a few years ago I sent her off to Oregon to Finn's Auto Restoration http://www.finnsautorestoration.com/. Denny owns a Pantera and has worked on more than a few over the years. He does great work, and as he began to examine my '72 pre-L (we named her Pandora), he began to find all the demons described in the famous "Pandora's Box" story from so long ago. There was rust deep inside the car; far worse than anyone imagined. We decided to begin to fix the problems.
Finns Auto Restoration - Home<http://www.finnsautorestoration.com/>
www.finnsautorestoration.com
Welcome to Finn's Restoration & Custom! This website is brand new, but we've been in the auto restoration and customizing business for over 25 years.
Little by little I've been sending checks, and when I asked about an update on what has been done recently, I received an email with the information below. It's a pretty impressive list of what Denny and his team have done--but there is still a long way to go. I hope that in the not-too-distant future Pandora will be back on the road. When she is, I can tell by what's being done she'll be better than new!
Sincerely,
Chris
Take a look at this:
finish drilling, cutting and grinding away the left floor,
front inner rocker, A pillar bottom, and left front floor
inner brace. Strip and remove rust & undercoat from
the floor areas to be welded. Put the wheels on. Remove
from stands. Clean up the area. DAN(2.25hr)
strip the paint from the exterior of the left removed
1/4 panel. Strip paint and undercoat from back side of
the 1/4 panel in the location of where the new patch panel
will be spliced and TIG welded. Hammer and dolly flanges
around edge of 1/4 panel / inner apron panels. (still
weled together at this point). MOISES(4.5hr)
SHOP SUPPLIES: shop supplies used 1/1 thru 1/31
sandblast engine pieces. Timing cover, misc pieces.
JACOB(.4hr)
cleaned water pump, cleaned dist, cleaned harmonic
balencer, alternator, intake manifold, cleaned carb.
media blasted pulleys, mounting bracketry, dip stick tube,
timing cover plate, timing indicator. Cleaned lower idler
pulley mount. Installed timing cover. Installed intake
manifold. Masking for paint. Installed oil pan temp.
DAN M(9.5hr)
blow off engine parts. Wipe down. hang up and spray with
epoxy primer. Tape off area where the front seal would go.
clean oil pan w/ thinner & red scuff pad in prep for primer.
spray oil pan. Clean gun. MICHAEL(1hr)
MATERIALS PRIMER: Epoxy, hardener,reducer
installed oil pump w/ gasket. Torqued to spec. installed
oil pump drive shaft. Installed oil pan with gaskets.
DAN M.5hr)
Begin wheeling out the new left rocker panel. DAN(2hr)
Continue to english wheel the rocker. Layout the lower
tip line & tip. Brake over the upper outside line. Shrink
& stretch the rocker along the brake lines to get the
correct shape. DAN(5hr)
layout the top & bottom brake lines for the weld flanges.
pullmax the step into the top jamb area. Brake over the
weld flanges. Tip and stretch over the ends, then
straighten. Layout & cut away the jamb area for the pillar
& areas below the fender & 1/4 panel. DAN(4.5hr)
Make a profile of the bottom horizontal plane of the rocker
with drain locations. Continue to press, cut and weld the
drains into the new rockers. DAN (2.5 hrs)
Finish planishing the drian areas to bring the bottom weld
flange back into arrangement. DAN (1. hr)
Set pillar recess into the top of the rocker. Cut the ends
and "B" pillar area into the rocker tops. Begin to planish
the drian areas. DAN (1 hr)
SHOP SUPPLIES: shop supplies used 2/1 thru 2/29
Clean engine with wax & grease remover. Sandblast
pulleys and brackets. Scuff oil pan. Spray all parts and engine
with epoxy primer. Mix blue paint and spray engine. Mix
semi gloss black and spray pulleys, water neck.
MOISES(3.1hr)
MATERIALS PAINT: epoxy primer, blue paint, semi
gloss black.
install harmonic balancer, install water pump, 2 groove
crank pulley, 1 groove water pump pulley, A/C pump
bracket, upper idler pulley, lower idler pulley, oil PSI
sender, carb return spring plate. Move to TDC & install
dist & clamp. (need spark plugs & oil filter). Install water
pump belt, join A/C pump & alternator. Install A/c
& alternator belt, valve covers, thermostat, water neck.
cover exhaust ports. Install fuel pump. DAN M(6hr)
PARTS: Left A pillar / floor section from Larry's car.
drill apart & cut the left front A pillar, floor, rocker section
out of the donor front car section of Larry Finch. Prep
for install into the car. Jack up the front of the car.
remove the front left wheel. Begin to mock & trim for the
new A pillar loor chunk. Begin to remove seam sealer
& undercoat from donor part in prep for blasting. DAN
(7.5hr)
finish stripping off the undercoat & seam sealer from
the remove parts floor left A pillar chunk. Finish triming
off extra extra material. Weld & grind rust holes on the
parts piece. DAN(4.25hr)
SHOP SUPPLIES: shop supplies used 3/1 thru 3/31
PARTS: floor / rocker clip from Larry Finch.
Begin to fit & trim the new floor left A pillar bottom, rocker
inner assembly & floor braces. Shrink dents out of the
middle of the floor patch left. DAN(1.5hr)
Weld , grind & prime pinholes on the mid rocker
inside the bottom of the A pillar reinforcment. Fabricate
a patch for the A pillar bttom, then weld in, grind &
prime. Grind the remains of the old floor brace & welds
from the left floor. Fit & screw the new floor in place.
begin to trim A pillar area to fit. DAN(7hr)
finish fitting & trimming the left cowl / corner floor piece.
then weld in, grind & straighten. Begin to fabricate, fit,
& tack weld the inner rocker lf patch in place. DAN(12)
finish welding in, grinding & straightening the left inner
rocker patch. Fabricate a left floor patch outer mid area
to fill in between the orginal floor and the newly installed
front left floor section (used from Larry F). Then weld in
& grind & straighten. Fabricate the missing section of
the left inner floor brace. Epoxy prime the inside & the
area of the flooe that it covers. Fit, weld in & grind the
floor brace patch. DAN(11.5hr)
prep & apply epoxy primer to B pillar, rocker & 1/4
patch panels that Dan had fabricated. MOISES(1.75)
Fabricate a patch for the frnt left mid rocker section
under the A pillar. Then fit, weld in & grind. Trim, fit, weld
in & grind the left under floor brace patch to connect
the newly installed cowl floor brace. Fabricate a new
end for the under floor left cross brace floor support
that over laps the one the runs from the A pillar back
along the rocker. Then begin to fit & weld in place.
DAN(11.5hr)
Finsih trimming, fitting, welding in & grinding the new end
for the floor left crossbrace. Remove the left belly drip
pan mount. Then weld & grind 7 holes. Weld & grind
pin holes on the left floor. Clean up. Put the wheels
back on & take the car off the jack stands. DAN(3.5hr)
mask & prep for sandblasting of inside of left rocker and
other inner structure areas on the left side. GLEN(1hr)
SHOP SUPPLIES: shop supplies used 4/1 thru 4/30
Push car outside, sand blast as required, blow off car,
mask for epoxy primer. Mix up primer, spray blasted
areas as needed. GLEN (5.5 hrs)
SHOP SUPPLIES: shop supplies used 5/1 thru 5/31
Mask for fire protection. Begin to fabricate an end for
the rear left engine compartment upright. DAN (3.25 hrs)
Finish fabricating the end for the rear left engine
compartment upright end (3 pieces). Then fit, weld and
grind. Clean up inside then spray with epoxy primer. Fit
and weld on the front and rear mid rockers, then grind
and prime. DAN (9.5 hrs)
Begin to fit and trim the left "B" pillar sections, rocker
and door. DAN (8 hrs)
PARTS: hardware.
SHOP SUPPLIES: shop supplies used 6/1 thru 6/31
pattern & fabricate the left 1/4 window channel inner &
outer panels. Fit & weld in to the left 1/4 panel patch.
Then straighten. Begin to fit & move the roof up & the
1/4 & jamb panel. DAN(9 hrs)
Continue to fit the door, rocker, and 1/4 panel. Fit & trim
the 1/4 patch. Clean the undercoat from the weld zone.
then fully weld & planish the 1/4 patch panel into the
original 1/4 panel. DAN(10hr)
Finish straighten the front 1/4 left outer skin patch. Begin
to layout the patch for the inner 1/4 engine left panel.
DAN(2hr)
SHOP SUPPLIES: shop supplies used 7/1 thru 7/31
fit inner rail. Adjust support braces to fit frame rail.
welded frame rail together. Installed 1/4 panel. Fit 1/4
to original location. Made patch for inner 1/4 / wheel
house. Removed 1/4. TIG welded patch into place.
JOHN(6.3hr)
made patches for inner wheel well left. Fit, tacked,
welded patches in place. Ground & planish welds.
started making patch near tail light. Cleaned up welds
on 1/4 patch. Planish out weld. JOHN(10hr)
finished patch for inner wheel well near tail light. Fit,
tacked, welded patch. Ground & planish welds. Installed
1/4 panel & deck lid. Remove & re-install deck lid after
elongating holes on hinge to slide deck lid back. Adjusted
deck lid. JOHN(6hr)
Adjusted door to get weather strip to seal by shutting a piece of paper between the door and the body. found weatherstrip was out of shape. Remove original mis-shapen weatherstrip, then test fit the new weatherstrip from Dennis car. checked seal on door jam, now it seals properly . (JOHN 2.75 hrs)
Went around door opening edge and shaped flange to make seal to drivers door. removed quarter, rocker panel, "b" pillar jam cover, "b" pillar cover interior and main support. Worked edge of main support to get rocker to move up at "b" pillar. installed "b" pillar main support. Test fit rocker and checked door to rocker gap. Installed "b" pillar cover interior, "b" pillar jam cover and door striker. Made adjustments to striker and tested seal to door jam. JOHN (5 Hrs)
Installed drivers quarter panel structure, made it fit to door as best as possible. Removed quarter panel structure trimmed inner edge to move quarter in at rocker. Installed quarter panel structure checked fitment to rocker. Marked area to be removed on inner quarter panel structure. Removed quarter panel structure and trimmed edge. Trimmed edge on interior of engine compartment. Installed quarter panel structure then started tack welding inner structure into place. (JOHN 4.84 Hrs)
Tacked together more of inner quarter panel patch. (drivers side) (John .6 Hrs)
SHOP SUPPLIES:shop supplies used
Fit and welded inner wheel well. Cleaned up weld on inner wheel well. Made patch panel for rear part of inner wheel well. Trimmed to fit. Checked alignment to panel with straight edge. Cleaned up mess from working on car. JOHN (4 Hrs.)
-------------- next part --------------
Some of you have asked how Pandora is doing. As you might remember, a
few years ago I sent her off to Oregon to Finn's Auto
Restoration [1]http://www.finnsautorestoration.com/. Denny owns a
Pantera and has worked on more than a few over the years. He does
great work, and as he began to examine my '72 pre-L (we named her
Pandora), he began to find all the demons described in the famous
"Pandora's Box" story from so long ago. There was rust deep inside the
car; far worse than anyone imagined. We decided to begin to fix the
problems.
[2]Finns Auto Restoration - Home
www.finnsautorestoration.com
Welcome to Finn's Restoration & Custom! This website is brand new, but
we've been in the auto restoration and customizing business for over 25
years.
Little by little I've been sending checks, and when I asked about an
update on what has been done recently, I received an email with the
information below. It's a pretty impressive list of what Denny and his
team have done--but there is still a long way to go. I hope that in
the not-too-distant future Pandora will be back on the road. When she
is, I can tell by what's being done she'll be better than new!
Sincerely,
Chris
Take a look at this:
finish drilling, cutting and grinding away the left floor,
front inner rocker, A pillar bottom, and left front floor
inner brace. Strip and remove rust & undercoat from
the floor areas to be welded. Put the wheels on. Remove
from stands. Clean up the area. DAN(2.25hr)
strip the paint from the exterior of the left removed
1/4 panel. Strip paint and undercoat from back side of
the 1/4 panel in the location of where the new patch panel
will be spliced and TIG welded. Hammer and dolly flanges
around edge of 1/4 panel / inner apron panels. (still
weled together at this point). MOISES(4.5hr)
SHOP SUPPLIES: shop supplies used 1/1 thru 1/31
sandblast engine pieces. Timing cover, misc pieces.
JACOB(.4hr)
cleaned water pump, cleaned dist, cleaned harmonic
balencer, alternator, intake manifold, cleaned carb.
media blasted pulleys, mounting bracketry, dip stick tube,
timing cover plate, timing indicator. Cleaned lower idler
pulley mount. Installed timing cover. Installed intake
manifold. Masking for paint. Installed oil pan temp.
DAN M(9.5hr)
blow off engine parts. Wipe down. hang up and spray with
epoxy primer. Tape off area where the front seal would go.
clean oil pan w/ thinner & red scuff pad in prep for primer.
spray oil pan. Clean gun. MICHAEL(1hr)
MATERIALS PRIMER: Epoxy, hardener,reducer
installed oil pump w/ gasket. Torqued to spec. installed
oil pump drive shaft. Installed oil pan with gaskets.
DAN M.5hr)
Begin wheeling out the new left rocker panel. DAN(2hr)
Continue to english wheel the rocker. Layout the lower
tip line & tip. Brake over the upper outside line. Shrink
& stretch the rocker along the brake lines to get the
correct shape. DAN(5hr)
layout the top & bottom brake lines for the weld flanges.
pullmax the step into the top jamb area. Brake over the
weld flanges. Tip and stretch over the ends, then
straighten. Layout & cut away the jamb area for the pillar
& areas below the fender & 1/4 panel. DAN(4.5hr)
Make a profile of the bottom horizontal plane of the rocker
with drain locations. Continue to press, cut and weld the
drains into the new rockers. DAN (2.5 hrs)
Finish planishing the drian areas to bring the bottom weld
flange back into arrangement. DAN (1. hr)
Set pillar recess into the top of the rocker. Cut the ends
and "B" pillar area into the rocker tops. Begin to planish
the drian areas. DAN (1 hr)
SHOP SUPPLIES: shop supplies used 2/1 thru 2/29
Clean engine with wax & grease remover. Sandblast
pulleys and brackets. Scuff oil pan. Spray all parts and engine
with epoxy primer. Mix blue paint and spray engine. Mix
semi gloss black and spray pulleys, water neck.
MOISES(3.1hr)
MATERIALS PAINT: epoxy primer, blue paint, semi
gloss black.
install harmonic balancer, install water pump, 2 groove
crank pulley, 1 groove water pump pulley, A/C pump
bracket, upper idler pulley, lower idler pulley, oil PSI
sender, carb return spring plate. Move to TDC & install
dist & clamp. (need spark plugs & oil filter). Install water
pump belt, join A/C pump & alternator. Install A/c
& alternator belt, valve covers, thermostat, water neck.
cover exhaust ports. Install fuel pump. DAN M(6hr)
PARTS: Left A pillar / floor section from Larry's car.
drill apart & cut the left front A pillar, floor, rocker section
out of the donor front car section of Larry Finch. Prep
for install into the car. Jack up the front of the car.
remove the front left wheel. Begin to mock & trim for the
new A pillar loor chunk. Begin to remove seam sealer
& undercoat from donor part in prep for blasting. DAN
(7.5hr)
finish stripping off the undercoat & seam sealer from
the remove parts floor left A pillar chunk. Finish triming
off extra extra material. Weld & grind rust holes on the
parts piece. DAN(4.25hr)
SHOP SUPPLIES: shop supplies used 3/1 thru 3/31
PARTS: floor / rocker clip from Larry Finch.
Begin to fit & trim the new floor left A pillar bottom, rocker
inner assembly & floor braces. Shrink dents out of the
middle of the floor patch left. DAN(1.5hr)
Weld , grind & prime pinholes on the mid rocker
inside the bottom of the A pillar reinforcment. Fabricate
a patch for the A pillar bttom, then weld in, grind &
prime. Grind the remains of the old floor brace & welds
from the left floor. Fit & screw the new floor in place.
begin to trim A pillar area to fit. DAN(7hr)
finish fitting & trimming the left cowl / corner floor piece.
then weld in, grind & straighten. Begin to fabricate, fit,
& tack weld the inner rocker lf patch in place. DAN(12)
finish welding in, grinding & straightening the left inner
rocker patch. Fabricate a left floor patch outer mid area
to fill in between the orginal floor and the newly installed
front left floor section (used from Larry F). Then weld in
& grind & straighten. Fabricate the missing section of
the left inner floor brace. Epoxy prime the inside & the
area of the flooe that it covers. Fit, weld in & grind the
floor brace patch. DAN(11.5hr)
prep & apply epoxy primer to B pillar, rocker & 1/4
patch panels that Dan had fabricated. MOISES(1.75)
Fabricate a patch for the frnt left mid rocker section
under the A pillar. Then fit, weld in & grind. Trim, fit, weld
in & grind the left under floor brace patch to connect
the newly installed cowl floor brace. Fabricate a new
end for the under floor left cross brace floor support
that over laps the one the runs from the A pillar back
along the rocker. Then begin to fit & weld in place.
DAN(11.5hr)
Finsih trimming, fitting, welding in & grinding the new end
for the floor left crossbrace. Remove the left belly drip
pan mount. Then weld & grind 7 holes. Weld & grind
pin holes on the left floor. Clean up. Put the wheels
back on & take the car off the jack stands. DAN(3.5hr)
mask & prep for sandblasting of inside of left rocker and
other inner structure areas on the left side. GLEN(1hr)
SHOP SUPPLIES: shop supplies used 4/1 thru 4/30
Push car outside, sand blast as required, blow off car,
mask for epoxy primer. Mix up primer, spray blasted
areas as needed. GLEN (5.5 hrs)
SHOP SUPPLIES: shop supplies used 5/1 thru 5/31
Mask for fire protection. Begin to fabricate an end for
the rear left engine compartment upright. DAN (3.25 hrs)
Finish fabricating the end for the rear left engine
compartment upright end (3 pieces). Then fit, weld and
grind. Clean up inside then spray with epoxy primer. Fit
and weld on the front and rear mid rockers, then grind
and prime. DAN (9.5 hrs)
Begin to fit and trim the left "B" pillar sections, rocker
and door. DAN (8 hrs)
PARTS: hardware.
SHOP SUPPLIES: shop supplies used 6/1 thru 6/31
pattern & fabricate the left 1/4 window channel inner &
outer panels. Fit & weld in to the left 1/4 panel patch.
Then straighten. Begin to fit & move the roof up & the
1/4 & jamb panel. DAN(9 hrs)
Continue to fit the door, rocker, and 1/4 panel. Fit & trim
the 1/4 patch. Clean the undercoat from the weld zone.
then fully weld & planish the 1/4 patch panel into the
original 1/4 panel. DAN(10hr)
Finish straighten the front 1/4 left outer skin patch. Begin
to layout the patch for the inner 1/4 engine left panel.
DAN(2hr)
SHOP SUPPLIES: shop supplies used 7/1 thru 7/31
fit inner rail. Adjust support braces to fit frame rail.
welded frame rail together. Installed 1/4 panel. Fit 1/4
to original location. Made patch for inner 1/4 / wheel
house. Removed 1/4. TIG welded patch into place.
JOHN(6.3hr)
made patches for inner wheel well left. Fit, tacked,
welded patches in place. Ground & planish welds.
started making patch near tail light. Cleaned up welds
on 1/4 patch. Planish out weld. JOHN(10hr)
finished patch for inner wheel well near tail light. Fit,
tacked, welded patch. Ground & planish welds. Installed
1/4 panel & deck lid. Remove & re-install deck lid after
elongating holes on hinge to slide deck lid back. Adjusted
deck lid. JOHN(6hr)
Adjusted door to get weather strip to seal by shutting a piece of paper
between the door and the body. found weatherstrip was out of shape.
Remove original mis-shapen weatherstrip, then test fit the new
weatherstrip from Dennis car. checked seal on door jam, now it seals
properly . (JOHN 2.75 hrs)
Went around door opening edge and shaped flange to make seal to drivers
door. removed quarter, rocker panel, "b" pillar jam cover, "b" pillar
cover interior and main support. Worked edge of main support to get
rocker to move up at "b" pillar. installed "b" pillar main support.
Test fit rocker and checked door to rocker gap. Installed "b" pillar
cover interior, "b" pillar jam cover and door striker. Made adjustments
to striker and tested seal to door jam. JOHN (5 Hrs)
Installed drivers quarter panel structure, made it fit to door as best
as possible. Removed quarter panel structure trimmed inner edge to move
quarter in at rocker. Installed quarter panel structure checked fitment
to rocker. Marked area to be removed on inner quarter panel structure.
Removed quarter panel structure and trimmed edge. Trimmed edge on
interior of engine compartment. Installed quarter panel structure then
started tack welding inner structure into place. (JOHN 4.84 Hrs)
Tacked together more of inner quarter panel patch. (drivers side) (John
.6 Hrs)
SHOP SUPPLIES:shop supplies used
Fit and welded inner wheel well. Cleaned up weld on inner wheel well.
Made patch panel for rear part of inner wheel well. Trimmed to fit.
Checked alignment to panel with straight edge. Cleaned up mess from
working on car. JOHN (4 Hrs.)
References
1. http://www.finnsautorestoration.com/
2. http://www.finnsautorestoration.com/
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