DeTomaso Mailing List: February 2001, Message #147

back to life!! At about 3:45 this PM on a beautiful So. Cal. day (about
75 deg and crystal clear in the basin). ZONKEY's new 4.6L '99 Cobra DOHC
engine ROARED to life. 

In the presence of a small group of So. Bay Pantera fan(atic)s [SOB,
Mike Cox, and Grant Stockwell to be exact] I turned on the key and
cranked 'er up. I must admit, my heart sank a bit as it cranked but
didn't fire. But did I hear a sputter? Crank it again. It's trying to
start! One more time. OK! I guess it took a while for the fuel to get to
the injectors.

For those of you new to the list or who haven't been following my
project (http://home.earhtlink.net/~rbarkley/Pantera), for the last 2
1/2+ years I've been restoring old #1549. It started out as a quick
summer project: I'd remove the engine and prep the engine compartment,
Steve Wilkinson (Pantera's by Wilkinson) would install the new Cobra
engine. 

Well...., one thing let to another, and next thing you know it's a
ground up restoration in my garage. Somewhere along the line, I decided
to do the engine electronics my self. When Wilkinson first started doing
the conversions, using the Ford electronics (the ECU) was not a
realistic alternative: there was now way to retune it for the Pantera
installation. Now there is. Custom chips can be burned to turn of or
modify any of the computer's functions. Chipmaster is the system and
Mike Wesley is the man. Wilkinson had his doubts, all I had was faith.
The biggest hurdle was defeating the built-in anti theft. Without that
I'd be dead in the water.

BOY I'm GLAD to be ALIVE!

That's all for now. I'll be updating the web site with some new pics in
the next day or so.

See you in VEGAS!!

Richard
-- 
Sincerely,
Richard Barkley

To Ski or not to Ski, that is the question!

Richard Barkley
(310) 373-6695 (home), 813-2432 (work)
E-mail: richard.barkley@trw.com (work), rbarkley@earthlink.net (home)
Mammoth Condo 2BR+loft/3Bath - Horizons 4 #186 (760) 934-6758
Condo web address: http://home.earthlink.net/~rbarkley