DeTomaso Mailing List: June 2000, Message #71

Landis wrote:

>Can anyone suggest alternate year seat with adjustable 
seatback rake or an aftermarket seat that fits.  I went to the recaro store 
and tried a lot of different seats.  The only one close to fitting was a 
non-adjustable racing seat.  Not my idea of pratical.  The promary issue 
with the recaro seats was the thickenss of the seat cushion.  My head smacks 
the roof sitting in them.  I'm not that tall.  Pleas help.

>>>Well, recently there was a thread regarding late-model Corvette seats and 
how wonderful they are in a Pantera.  Just yesterday I was checking out a 
friend's '93 Corvette and noted again how perfect the seats are.  They can be 
had at swap meets for about $300 a pair; if you're lucky you'll find some 
that are already black leather so you don't have to re-upholster.  I've also 
spoken to people who managed to retain the full-auto electrics, so they are 
fully adjustable and do everything but drive the car for you.

Nice thing is, they ALMOST perfectly line up with the stock bolt holes.  Only 
minor modifications are required.

Another option is to have a Pantera vendor recondition your stock seats.  I 
recently saw a set of PI Motorsports seats which looked very different from 
those reconditioned by some of the other vendors.  I'd want to perform a 
"tush test" before spending any money though...

>Third is the gas filler.  Since my car is a pre-l 72, I have the extra 
dangerous filling method.  Pour gas onto the header while trying to get 
nozzle in the tank.  I bought an extension from Marino.  By the time I got 
around to installing it I had lost the receipt.  It doesn't fit.  There is 
interference black cover the engine screen mounts to.  

>>>Hold on a second.  Let me tell a story.  My July '72 car had a '71 gas 
tank retrofitted ('cause the original tank was rusted to the point of 
transparency, much like the rest of the car!)  When attempting to install the 
gooseneck filler, the "clocking" was all wrong; it is supposed to face 
straight back, but instead wound up twisted to one side to the point where it 
lightly kissed the inside of the decklid.

I went through great pains to fill the existing holes in the gooseneck and 
machine new holes.  When I went to install it again, THEN I discovered that 
there are actually EIGHT mounting holes in the top of the tank!!!  Four of 
the holes are filled with flush-mount studs with a screwdriver slot cut into 
the end.  Simply unscrewing these suckers (careful not to drop one into the 
tank!) and re-installing them in the other four holes would have allowed the 
gooseneck to line up perfectly without modification.

So are you facing that dilemma?

If, in fact when you attempt to install the gooseneck, it results in slight 
interference with the sheet-metal gas tank cover, I'd simply do whatever 
hacking is required to the cover to resolve the problem.  The gooseneck is by 
far the easiest and safest alternative to the stock setup.  Converting an 
early (inside fill) car to a later-style (outside fill) setup is a very 
involved and expensive process.  It can be done, but the result is either a 
bloody hack job or a tremendous amount of work.

>He won't take it back 
without a receipt so I'm stuck with it.  

>>>That doesn't sound right--I'd expect that you could at least get a credit 
for it, if not cash.

>So if anyone wants it, just pay 
postage and I'll send it off to you.  

>>>I think you shouldn't give up on it--it represents the best solution IMHO.

>What I would like to know is has 
anyone adpated the L style gill gas cap to a pre-L.  Can I some aquire the 
pieces neccessary to do the swap?

>>>The side-fill cars used a completely different quarter panel (!) and 
inside chassis pieces to support the side-fill, not to mention different 
gills, etc.  Not a job for the faint of heart (or wallet!)

Mike