[DeTomaso] To Drop or Not to Drop

[Charles Engles]

Dear Mike,

              Ah, an opinion question.

             I am 6'4" and have just enough head room in both Panteras with
modifications that do not include lowering the floor pan. Decades ago, I got
to sit in a GT5.  I remarked to the owner that it was so much roomier than
standard Panteras and he pointed out the factory dropped floor pans.   I was
impressed by the improvement.  I would say that it will give you more room
and comfort.  Should you ever want to take to the track, the extra room for
the helmet is a plus. You'll have more choices of seats.  Finally, there is
no better time to do it than while the car is on the rotisserie.  

                               Warmest regards, Chuck Engles
 

-----Original Message-----
From: DeTomaso [mailto:detomaso-bounces at server.detomasolist.com] On Behalf
Of Mike & Elizabeth
Sent: Wednesday, April 28, 2021 12:23 PM
To: detomaso at server.detomasolist.com
Subject: [DeTomaso] To Drop or Not to Drop

OK, the forum has been pretty quiet lately so I'll throw this one out there.

 

Doug Braun and I are both having our cars restored at the same time by the
same guy.  Doug has done a dropped floor pan for more clearance when he has
a helmet on but so far I'm not planning to do a drop.  Since my car is in
bare metal right now and about to go on the rotisserie for all of the other
metal work, I'm wondering if I should reconsider while I have the
opportunity.  Headroom for me has always been just 'adequate' and I do have
the seat springs removed from the bottom cushion of my C4 seats so I'm
basically sitting on the floor.  I don't plan to track or autocross the car
so don't need helmet clearance but it would be nice to be able to consider a
seat upgrade sometime in the future if the C4's get old.

 

Thoughts . . .

 

Thanks, Mike Thomas

Panteras Northwest