DeTomaso Mailing List: November 99, Message #9

Kevin:
You missed a great post put out by your's truly regarding the gas tank. I
have mine sitting in the garage floor. It's fully refurbished and rust
proofed beyond my wildest dreams. You too can have the same results by using
POR-15. But the drawback is you HAVE to remove the engine.

But if you decide to go that route, here is the way to do it: Remove the
tank and transfer the gas to your car and completely empty it. You should
take the tank to the nearest radiator place. They also happen to do gas
tanks. They will slosh, clean, repair, and seal the tank for you but take it
from me, the tank done in the POR manner is far superior as far as the
sealant it concerned. I just had them slosh the tank. I did the rest :^).

So, let me know if you need any help with this. Cal. 

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Kevin Centanni [SMTP:kpc@panix.com]
> Sent:	Tuesday, November 02, 1999 7:35 AM
> To:	Multiple recipients of list
> Subject:	Gas Tank Woes... and more
> 
> To those of you following the continuing saga of my 1971 Pantera - #1840 -
> here's the latest...
> 
> Last week, I replaced the faulty, original, alternator with a Hall Pantera
> 100 Amp model.  While I was at it, I decided to go with Hall Pantera's
> high-torque starter motor... so now my beast starts RIGHT up every time...
> and I'm making lots of juice while running!  I took the car out for a
> little
> while on Friday afternoon... I only had to go about 2 miles round-trip...
> in
> Friday afternoon New York City traffic.  About halfway to my destination,
> I
> noticed that my temperature gauge was moving up... and then I realized
> that
> my radiator fans were not working... and the driver's window would not go
> down.  Upon reaching my destination, I looked at the two 25A fuses and saw
> that they were both blown. (sigh)  Could this fuse blowing be related to a
> new, better alternator?  Should I just replace these 25A fuses with more
> of
> the same? Or, should I begin to look for something more?
> 
> Now... on to problem number two... when my car was up on the rack at my
> mechanic's... I had the chance to finally really inspect the underside of
> my
> car.  (I took a bunch of pictures... they'll be up on my web site soon.
> I'll let everyone know when.)  When I first got the car down in New
> Orleans,
> I stored it in my sister's garage for about two weeks while arranging for
> transport to New York City.  She complained to me about a strong gas odor
> in
> her garage.. now I know why.  It appears that my gas tank is resting on
> the
> frame of the car... and has begun to rust... and currently has a very
> slow... but noticeable.. leak.  The rust-proofing under the tank has been
> eaten away by the dripping gas too.  So.. now I need a new gas tank. (sigh
> again)  I noticed that someone had one for sale out on the net... does
> anyone else have any recommendations on what I should do?  I seem to
> remember that there's an after-market stainless steel model... how much
> more
> expensive is this?  And, is it worth it?  And, of course, I know that I'll
> have to remove the engine to install the new gas tank... so, while I'm in
> the middle of that operation... should I look for or take on any other
> restoration projects?
> 
> This gas tank situation is one that I did not anticipate.... and it's
> certainly bot in my "budget" for Pantera improvements... but, even I know
> that leaking gas is a very bad thing... and I really must get this taken
> care of ASAP.
> 
> Any thoughts/ideas would be greatly appreciated!
> 
> -kpc
> 
>