DeTomaso Mailing List: December 2000, Message #16

At 8:51 -0500 1/12/00, Bruce Nardoci wrote:
>P.P.S to Kirby Schrader: I'd appreciate any advice you may have from
>your experience of using the Pantera as a "daily driver", since that's
>how I plan to use mine too (I do have a "back up" car for times when the
>Pantera is broke, or isn't appropriate to use like parking at the
>airport or driving in snow etc.).

Hmmm... Interesting question. Since I also run the car on the track 
pretty regularly, I spend a lot of time on maintenance items that 
I've learned to watch for and probably wouldn't need that much 
attention if you didn't race the car.

1) Front wheel bearings... Could be my big tires, track driving, whatever...
    But I've found that I have to check them regularly and tweak them to make
    sure they stay correctly adjusted. I replace them about every two years even
    if they look OK.

2) If you like a lot of RPM, watch out for your A/C compressor. It seems the
    rotaries that we've all converted to don't like rpms over 5000 very much.
    I fixed that in my case by hooking up one of my EFI auxiliary outputs to
    shut the compressor off at 4500rpm. All the new cars do this also.

    I was going through compressors way too often until three different people
    all informed me about the limitation of the compressor... duh....

3) You'll find the Pantera has a pretty lousy ventilation system... On humid,
    Houston rainy days, I've found that you MUST have an A/C that works.
    Otherwise, the only way you'll see through your windshield is by holding
    the steering wheel in one hand and a rag in the other to wipe off the fog
    on the inside of the windshield.

    The same is true on a cold morning, if you have the car sitting outside
    overnight. It'll take awhile to get the car to the point where the defroster
    keeps the windshield clear. If kept in the garage, this isn't a problem.

    My '71 does have the fresh air inlet which helps a little and I've added the
    3 speed fan from PPC, but I'm going to have to try some other mods to see if
    I can gain further improvement.

    Has anyone tried Hall's new door ventilation kits? If so, do they work or
    not?

    I also had to fiddle with the tray and drain hose for the A/C... it kept
    dripping water on the passenger side floor. Seems OK now, but I didn't do
    anything special other than make sure the box was sealed and the hose wasn't
    plugged and it was laying 'downhill'.

4) Rear wheel bearings... I've had my car converted to the PPC tapered bearings
    which are guaranteed for life. I've seen too many people sidelined 
during the
    tech inspections because their rear wheel bearings are loose. I wanted
    something more reliable.

    I've never had a problem with them other than when some person (who shall
    remain nameless) tried to take them apart and see how they were 
made and then
    screwed up the seals when putting them back. Had to send them back to Dennis
    to be fixed after they started leaking grease. Don't spray a pressure washer
    at them either... No personal experience there, but Dennis has told me of
    other incidents.

5) Make sure the infamous rust areas have been covered and treated correctly.
    Holes drilled in the wheelhouse uprights to drain water out... things like
    that. There's plenty in the archives, Ford TISB's, POCA and PI 
articles, etc.
    to inform you about this.

6) Don't put a lot of chrome and shiny stuff that needs to be polished in the
    engine compartment. You won't believe how dirty it gets back there after
    driving in the rain for awhile...

    Well, heck... Sure you can put pretty stuff back there, but be prepared to
    spend a lot of time keeping it clean!  :-))))))

7) Keep the suspension maintained. Grease the A-arms and halfshafts regularly.
    Otherwise, they'll get rusty and corroded. A good mod that I like is the
    replacement rear lower A-arm pin with the grease nipples on each end. Seen
    a bunch of stock ones that are so rusted up they can't hardly move... and
    were darned near impossible to take apart and repair.

8) Let's see... other things I did to improve reliability were stainless steel
    brake lines, brass replacement window and headlight gears, relay conversion
    for the headlights (after going through 4 headlight switches at $70 apiece),
    new wiper motor...

Can't think of much else. Depends on how you drive the car. The rear 
wheel bearings are overkill if you don't race the car for example.

Otherwise, it's just another car that needs regular oil changes and the like.

Hope that helps!

Kirby

PS   I _have_ taken my Pantera to the airport and parked it there for a couple
      of days!
      And I've never driven my car in the snow. Don't think I want to try...
      Not that I'd get much of a chance here in Houston! ;-)