[Roger McCormick]

Picked this up a few months ago and have been driving it and working out the issues that a 50 year old car would have. 1972 DeTomaso Pantera 50K miles Mostly original with a 5 speed ZF Gearbox, Ford 351 Cleveland for the power plant, analog as can be without a single computer in it. Makes the Lamborghini feel like riding in a spaceship and I'm loving it. Not my first old car project as I've had late 60's 911's, Old Corvette's, etc. so finding all the creative ways to fix things less than correct done by the previous owners is always a challenge. Luckily for such a low production number car there's a lot of support for it and "most" parts can be found, also a lot of improved parts that make the car more drivable are available. To date I've redone the ancient fuse panel, pulled out about 8 miles of home made wiring harness, changed most of the bulbs to LED (Nothing crazy just better bulbs that look the part) Changed out all the fluids, New Plugs and Wires. Still on the list is to fix a leaky seal on one of the stub axles coming out of the trans, go through all the suspension bushings, and fix one of the parking brakes on the rear caliper that is bound up and wont release if engaged. Just thought I'd share for anyone interested.

All that extra wiring to run two cooling fans on the radiator, and it still didn't work right when I got it....

Why you don't buy a generic spark plug wire set that's too long and lays up on the headers...

Measure twice, cut once....

Somebody sure liked butt connectors, I bet there were at least 50 of them in all the wiring I pulled out....

 

[AngelOfMurci]

That’s awesome!
The cool thing about wrenching on classic muscle cars, is it can all be done with a wrench set and a big mallet... very big mallet... and a sawzall 😀

FYI ,this weekend I did the front suspension on my 71 Mach 1 Mustang. Upper control arms, shocks, coils, calipers, rotors and brake lines. It also has a 351 Cleveland. FYI, sawzall was used to cut the coils to height and to cut the frozen ball joint 😀

all that in 2 days. Not bad for a rookie 😀

keep us updated on the Pantera project. That car is really seeing a massive upswing in pricing.

out with the old, in with the new

 

[Roger McCormick]

That’s awesome!
The cool thing about wrenching on classic muscle cars, is it can all be done with a wrench set and a big mallet... very big mallet... and a sawzall 😀

FYI ,this weekend I did the front suspension on my 71 Mach 1 Mustang. Upper control arms, shocks, coils, calipers, rotors and brake lines. It also has a 351 Cleveland. FYI, sawzall was used to cut the coils to height and to cut the frozen ball joint 😀

all that in 2 days. Not bad for a rookie 😀

keep us updated on the Pantera project. That car is really seeing a massive upswing in pricing.

out with the old, in with the new

Pretty sure it was the same engine, the 351 Cobra Jet. DeTomaso got the same engines Ford was using in the Mustangs at the time. Luckily I haven't needed the mallet "Yet" but theres a little deformed metal action going on at the crossmember below the trans where someone jacked it up without taking care not to damage anything. Hoping I can eventually beat it back into the correct shape.

 

[Kenny94945]

Just awesome.
I am envious of you choice of project car.
What a great choice.

 

[mia-toro]

Man this is awesome... that Pantera is lucky to have you as a new owner... I remember falling in love with this car as a 11 yr old going to the Auto Show in Madison Square Garden... I restored an old '73 Lotus Europa back in the mid-80's... loved that car, and eventually sold it to a collector in Japan! Good luck!!

 

[Roger McCormick]

Man this is awesome... that Pantera is lucky to have you as a new owner... I remember falling in love with this car as a 11 yr old going to the Auto Show in Madison Square Garden... I restored an old '73 Lotus Europa back in the mid-80's... loved that car, and eventually sold it to a collector in Japan! Good luck!!

It's certainly a different kind of car, it's cramped inside, it's not even remotely fast by 2021 standards, the seating position kinda sucks, it's noisy as all hell inside, you put the fuel in inside the engine compartment right next to the headers it gets absolutely horrid gas mileage, and you pray you never get into an accident in it because it wouldn't be pretty. But I really enjoy driving it because it's so analog, the smell of gas fumes, the big goofy tires on it. Makes you realize how far exotics have come in 50 years.

 

[eaks]

It's certainly a different kind of car, it's cramped inside, it's not even remotely fast by 2021 standards, the seating position kinda sucks, it's noisy as all hell inside, you put the fuel in inside the engine compartment right next to the headers it gets absolutely horrid gas mileage, and you pray you never get into an accident in it because it wouldn't be pretty. But I really enjoy driving it because it's so analog, the smell of gas fumes, the big goofy tires on it. Makes you realize how far exotics have come in 50 years.

I have been playing around with my Cobra replica this spring as well. Havent even driven the Lambo since I got this car. Its only got a built ford 302 but I just finished replacing the ignition and installing nitrous and running a 150 shot at the time (have actually only ran it twice as I need to change plugs and a few more things before I really use it. Just wanted to make sure the systems were working). There is nothing at all to these cars but they sure are a blast to drive. The Lambo is insanely fast in comparison to the Cobra and the lambo is slow in comparison to todays cars. I also ran into so many issues with wiring and but connectors. I have also needed to add a couple to get my ignition in. Want to make sure I get it sorted before I completely go through it all. There will always be something to do and this is my first time playing with a carb engine.

 

[Cliff.1620]

Dude awesome! I love Panteras….