Pantera

[belgiumbarry]

from garage-queen to cafe-racer

inspection and.....wrenching :

- tires are "new" but from 2000... so 11 year old rubber ( Yokohama ) which i don't trust to be driving with some spirit
so i bought new ones : Michelin TB15 ( semi slicks racing , street legal )

- 3 of the 4 coilover shocks are "gone"....matching numbers ! from '85.... ...was a search , Koni doesn't make the originals anymore , so looking for custom made : here we have KW and Intrax, both making coilovers and shocks for race cars and streetcars upgrades....KW has Pantera applications but delivery time 5 weeks ! that's waiting half our summer .... Intrax ( the most expensive ofcourse ) can build them in a week.... so hope to get the car back on wheels end this week. The schoks have no less then 40 steps regulating damping in & rebound... even a thermostat to keep things equal cold and warm....

- those installed, on the scales for weight check and a alignement

- new plugs Autolite 25 ... must check timing this week and play a little with the carb screws ....

- new gas shocks on the hood ... now there's a aluminium tube to keep it open...

-had the alternator rebuild and new batterie ( acid free as those are eating carpet in the front trunk )

- new fog lights , Carello , the originals .... with the white covers

- changed handbrake lever as this was by almost 1/2 a inch the determing factor ground clearence ! Belgian inspection demands 9 cm....

- Europe style "bumperettes" instead of the HUGE US rear bumper... and cut/turned /welded the exhausts to be pointing again upwards as Panteras do... now the tips were horizontal , think to match better with the big bumper... ( the even bigger rubber nose bumper was already replaced Euro style by the Belgian collector)

that will do it for the moment ... next plan for winter is the gas factory : now there's a Edelbrock carb which i found to "blinky" on that Cleveland
Toughts are either 4 Webers IDA48's , which i already have new from a Porsche 928 build ... but redone to FI...or... as my friend Silverback suggested : 8 stack FI....easyer to tune and performing the best ???? trouble free ??? i want it to be a real driver , not a garage queen .....

greetz
Barry

[Historybuff]

I remember back when Shelby was at Chrysler hearing something
about importing five Panteras at least three of which were fitted with Chrysler V8s, but I guess they didn't have the desired performance for Chrysler to start importing Panteras. Or maybe Lee Iacocca wanted Lamborghini more.