DeTomaso Mailing List: February 00, Message #180

Does Shane or David know specifically what idle jets, idle jet holders (air
correctors), and choke sizes were ultimately used in the set up?  Please,
Please Please?

----- Original Message -----
From: Shane Ingate <madmax_xx@hotmail.com>
To: Multiple recipients of list <detomaso@realbig.com>
Sent: Sunday, February 06, 2000 3:05 PM
Subject: Of Corvette seats and Webers [was: DeTomaso Jet-setting continues]


> Mike Drew wrote:
> > [snip]
> > David (Pratt)...has WEBERS
> > [snip]
> > and features late-model Corvette seats
> > which I now think are probably the BEST seats
> > you can fit in a Pantera
>
> Let me fill you in on David Pratt's car: a real GTS, black, but with
> GT5 flares, and of course, the above mentioned additions.  He bought
> it in Vegas a couple of years agi for the princely sum of $20K
> (gasp!).  There is not a speclk of rust in this car, and all that
> David has done to it has been to redo the cockpit, and go through the
> motor fo an additional $6k.  Now that is a bargain!
>
> Getting into the car for the first time I noticed the seats, and
> was informed that they came from a C5 Corvette, and hed been reupholstered
> with cloth trim and leather bolsters.  Theye were extraordinarly
> comfortable, but may not be so for people with a big bum, as they are
quite
> narrow.  The seats were very easy to get into and out of (unlike
> Recaros/Sparcos/Scheel/etc), and "looked" like they
> came with the car, and were not an after-market addition.  David had
> installed the flat firewall, which moved the passenger seat back a few
> inches.  Now I'm 6', and sitting in a normal Pantera passenger seat
> is really horrible, because my forehead is less than 2" from the top of
the
> window.  In Dave's car, it was like sitting in an ordinary car, and I did
> not feel claustrophibic at all.
>
> The seats held me very well as we sampled a few freeway
> on-ramps (the only way to sample non-linear roads in Florida).
>
> Dave tells me that fitting the 'Vette seats is quite easy, requiring
> only a small tab to be welded to the rails, because the 'Vette rails
> are just slightly different to the Pantera rails!  He bought both
> seats for $150, and spent some money on the upholsetry.  He even
> retained the air bladder for custom fitting the seat to its
> occupant.
>
> Overall, I've never sat in a Pantera that was as comfortable
> as these.
>
> I consider this a must-do option for people looking for an after-market
> seat.  Many folk know that I have been looking for decent seats for the
> Kitty for a few years; now I am convinced I have found the seat for me.
> Damned shape it has GM stamped in the frame.
>
> The Webers and Inglese manifold came fully polished.  David had absolutely
> no experience with Webers, but wanted to learn.  Picking
> up Inglese' own 15-page "How to Tune Webers", and a few phone calls
> to Ingelese, he had them sorted out in about 2 days.  Apparently
> the BIG MUST HAVE for Weber owners is a long-duration cam with short
> lift; Webers font have much vacume associated with them, and the
> long-duration cam goes a long way to satisfying the vacume requirements.
>
> On the road, they were awesome.  It was pretty chilly (45F) when David
> started the car from cold, and the motor lit up with less than a second on
> the started-motor.  The throttle had to be treated gently until warm, as
> David told me thatthe Webers had a tendancy to cough until warm.  He must
> have been pretty good with juggling the thottle, becausr they coughed only
> once while I was in the car.
>
> Once underway, the Webers performed flawlessly, chugging from near-idle in
> top with very minor stumbling.  Davids car was very quiet
> (compared with mine), and we could hold a genteel conversation at
> all revs, no doubt due to Dave's extensive use of space-age insulating
> material in the cockpit.  The Webers contributed to the most sound, a
> rapid staccato that sounded like very-rapid machine-gun fire.  I could
> hardly hear the exhaust!
>
> David's only complaint is that the Webers give abysmal gas milage;
> about 12mpg on tour, which isn't too bad in my book.  He has not touched
> them in a couple of years and very regular use.
>
> Shane Ingate in FlatLand...errr....Florida
>
>
>
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