DeTomaso Mailing List: January 98, Message #125
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Don't plan on driving your Pantera all over town...... most insurance policies are VERY restrictive...... i.e., club-sponsored events, service work, and a limited yearly mileage....... The liability portion you can get from just about any source, but the comp/collision is the one that will limit you to just a few specialty insurance carriers...... like J.C. Taylor, etc........ If you want to drive it and take that chance that the insurance company will deny your claim because you drove it to the store or to work, then that's your gamble.......... Just beware and forewarned.......... Karen Coffel PSHBTTN P.S. Even if your car is hit by another while parked, you may still have a hassle with a claim -- just ask Larry Stock !!!!!! Start your research about insurance carriers now....... ------------------( Forwarded letter 1 follows )-------------------- Date: Mon Jan 05 13:04:00 1998 To: detomaso@realbig.com From: asajay@concentric.net Subject: The cost of success (Re: 1971 Pantera for $2,800?) At 12:46 01/05/98 +0000, Shane F. Ingate wrote: >Mike Drew wrote: > > What YOU want is a turn-key car with all the bits intact, and a nice clean > > paper trail, for $20K or so. Those cars are out there, not all that > > uncommon. Keep looking, and don't be suckered into buying a project car! > >Absolutely! $20-25K will buy you a driver, which is IMHO the best >enty-level into Panteras. If you are into show, then it will be a few extra >bucks. I wanted a driver (I am already maxed-out retoring my Le Mans >and TR6) and so paid $22K. In 2 years, I have spent another $3K (mostly >in 10" Campys) and driven 14K fun-filled miles. My advice is buy the car and >start enjoying it the same day. If restoration and bloody knuckles is your >thing, buy a fixer for a song. If spit and polish for show turns your crank, >spend the big-buck required. But if burnouts and donuts in your parents >street brings a smile, buy the driver. Know what you want before you buy it. > > Shane Ingate in San Diego > hooo hoooo, I put my foot in my mouth didn't I. Testimony time. I purchased my first Mach I in about 1983. Well, it really wasn't a Mach I, it was a sport roof. But by golly I had me a Mustang closely resembling a Mach I. Okay, its got the full guage package, the deluxe interior (in bad shape) the 351C engine. Now then, all I need to do is get a Mach I hood, a couple of spoilers, fix up the interior and do body and paint. Uh, oh, gotta rebuild that engine. Luckily I'm going through automotive Tech at my local community college. All machine work is free and done by ME, not some flunky at a local shop. Total cost to rebuild: about $450 in parts, labor was free, woohoo!! (note: I can't do this again, so the labor of course will cost me, and the production will be out of my control in regards to the machine work.) Whoops, looks like the brakes need work, hmm, new slaves all the way around, pads, shoes, drums, uh oh, looks like the bearing are out too, might as well do them while I'm in here. Several hundred dollars later, I can stop on a dime, but cornering is kinda sloppy. wooooooo. looks like the front tie-rod ends are bad, hmmm, that idler looks pretty loose, about half-inch of play, better replace it while I'm down here. Another few hundred, a weekend under the front and an alignment at Goodyear, I'm on the road. By golly this thing is really driving well now. Haha! I'm happy. Alllllllrighty then... might as well do the body and paint before I start the interior. Let's visit a couple of body shops. After being removed from intensive care, I again looked at my estimates. I was being quoted about $5K to fix it all. Hmmm I didn't think the rust was that bad, I mean, just because you can see daylight through the bottom of the trunk, . that can be fixed can't it? So I just happen to see a '71 Mach I in the paper for $1,700. Body is straight, no rust, (or very little), nice. BTW, my first was a '73. So I buy it and think, hmm, let's just change the paint real quick. The engine had been built to almost race only specs, totally undriveable on the street, idled at about 2500 RPM. Sell the engine, don't even bother with it. But this C-6 tranny is kinda nice, I like it better than my FMX. I strip the car of everything, engine, tranny, interior, exterior, remove all major body panels and deliver it to a recommended body shop. Okay boys, you have 6 months, complete color change, give me that 1986 Ford Deep Metallic Blue. 5 months later, they still haven't started on my car. 7 months later it's done, drips, runs, single coats, primer bleeding through, I guess they get it back. 1 month later, better shape but still has too many flaws, I stop payment on the check, make my compaints, they never collect and simply ask me never to come back, DUH!!!! (note: I don't believe they are still in business anymore.) So now I have a completely new and shiny car, except I need to put it all together with the pieces of the '73. For the next month, I work on painting the interior, dying the seats myself, changing the color of the door panels, all the plastic panels, installing new carpet, a new headliner, installing all the dash, guages, pads, consoles etc. I tow the '71 to the hobby shop at Fairchild and drive the '73, in eight hours, I'm driving out the '71 and towing home the '73. Wow, what a day, I took the whole thing out (engine,tranny, headers and all) and dropped it back in in one day. A few tweaks, a few days, and I've completed my project. 3 years and several thousand dollars. And I have enjoyed that car for over 10 years now. So now I want a Pantera. What shape? Well, I purchased a '72 convertible in pretty good shape a couple years ago with the same intent as the Mach I. So far, I've put an exhuast system on and changed the carb simply to pass emissions. That's about it. Go to my web site for the gory details. The answer is.... I want to buy a Pantera and start blowing Corvettes away on my first day as owner. I want to drive it to work, I want to drive it to church, I want to drive it to the grocery store, (wait, strike that, sounds impractical, after all, where would Shelley and put groceries?), I want to drive it to my Mustang Club meetings, I want to drive it to Seattle, I want to..... well, you get the idea. A little chip or stress cracks in the paint? no big deal. Carpet and interior okay, maybe replace in a year or so, okay. Guages work, lights work, Mike says okay, Jack says okay, Dave says okay, Mad Dog says get a life, and Nancy says, check your spelling. It's the car for me. I really hope to find it this year, maybe at the POCA event in Vegas. Asa Jay Asa Jay Laughton 71-4 Pantera, I'm working towards purchase by Vegas '98. 71 Mustang Mach I - Broke don't work, oil pump? FOR SALE - 72 Mustang Convertible - FOR SALE go to: http://www.concentric.net/~Asajay/welcome.htm "Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup."