[DeTomaso] ROAD TEST - NASCAR RAD & CARBON FIBER HOOD

[Mad Dog Antenucci]

I met Dick Drenske at 6am at his shop this morning for road test #2 where we  caravaned out to a empty but fast road here in SoCal....and then drove the car after it was warmed up in traffic.....Here's the results;
   
  1.  CARBON FIBER HOOD WITH GURNEY FLAP;
  The Gurney flap definately works the way several people said it would at 
  "SPEED"...... The amount of air pushing through the rad and out the Gurney flap at speed is HUGE.  Last week I also had the paint shop a couple doors down from Dick Drenske's shop also clear coat and buff out the carbon fiber hood and the finish turned out great.  I ran the Pantera 'without' the modified air dam to see what if any affect it would have on reducing front end lift.  
   
  It sure  wasn't any scientific test but the noticable benefit of the Gurney Flap is the reduction of lift at high speed...that reduction in lift  is HUGE...I am not even sure at this point I will even need the air dam.
   
  At no time during the test did I ever feel the front end get light. At higher (175+) speeds it may still need the air dam but the bottom line here is the modified hood made a discernable improvement in reducing lift at high speed. 
   
  2.   RON DAVIS NASCAR RADIATOR;
  It worked beyound our expectations.....I'm sure the hood with the Gurney Flap certainly helped.   I'm sure Dick Dresnke (who did the work) and Ken (who I bought the NASCAR radiator from) are relieved....both told me from the get-go as we stripped out my perfectly operating Fluidyne radiator and all the water tubes, hoses and bottles that it might NOT work in traffic but I ignored their concerns and pushed Dick ahead with the mods. ;-] 
   
  To be honest with you right from the beginning we never knew this would work for a mainly street driven Pantera....We (including Ron Davis) expected this to work at high speed but we did not know if it would also work in traffic as the race radiator has core fins much closer together then a street radiator it is also a huge radiator as you could probably tell from the photos I posted. We never even needed the cooling fan.
   
  To be certain and I will say this one more time for anyone who missed what I wrote  before, there is NOTHING wrong with the Fluidyne radiator that the vendors are selling....specifically the Fluidyne radiator Wilkinson sold and installed in my Pantera in '04 worked great for the street and slower open road race speeds the last two years but wouldn't get the job done at speeds above 130-140 in higher triple digit ambiant temps in Nevada and as I found in July and August at the Pony Express and Gamblers Twin 50 ORR.s.......After doing a little research which I should have done in the first place (my bad) I found out that THAT particular 2-pass Fluidyne radiator was never designed for racing which is why Dennis Quella and others went to a single-pass unit that Dave Bell, JT and others have on their Pantera's or they used a similar brass radiator like the one Hall sold.
   
  Next week we will pull the hood and add a little more vertical reinforcement under the bonnet to reduce flex otherwise the only thing left to do on the Pantera is sort out the front shocks and springs.
   
  I appreciate the feedback I got from Dick, Dave, Jim and MikeTrusty among others during the last two months. 
   
  Many thanks to all but a big fat wet kisses for Dick Dresnke and Ken Greene. ;-]
   
  Mad Dawg Antenucci
  Team Pantera Racing
  The 1st & still the only vintage automobile  to ever start & finish 6 ORR's in one season.
  "Some people said it couldn't be done...what they really meant was they hadn't done it yet."