Pantera Restomod Project

Part of why I like to write about cars is so far I am living my car passion/hobby through my family's and friend's cars, not my own. Writing about other people’s cars is my only real option. One of those friends is in the middle of restoring/modifying his 1971 De Tomaso Pantera!!!  So cool! The average Joe's super car.  The bonus (if you already own one) is the values have been rising steadily the past few years.  Panteras could eventually surpass highly sought after cars like the air cooled Porsche 911 because comparatively so few Panteras were ever sold.

Restomod Pantera Photoshop with Forgestar F14 wheels

So far I have been able to be a very small part (I mean like really small) of this project.  Car guys have a knack for finding each other. In this case, my friend and I met through the local Church we attend.  Cars always come up in casual conversation and that's how I found out about my buddy’s Pantera. I've helped load the body on and off a trailer and helped provide subjective feedback on ideas for the wheels and different parts he has contemplated for the project.  I was wingman during a cutting operation to clearance the firewall for the Coyote 5.0L engine swap too. I like to tell car buddies that I'm pretty skilled at holding a drop light. I also like to take pictures of cars and I like to dig into the details.  I consider this a pretty rare opportunity to be around a Pantera projects.  I'll be annoying as possible to make sure I'm involved as much as my friend will tolerate.  haha

Pantera body after being media blasted

Right now the body is getting metal repairs completed at "Finn's Auto Restoration" in Woodburn, Oregon.  While the body is away in Oregon, my buddy is collecting various components. I really like the direction he's going with the car. The Pantera was purchased as a project in pieces, the body itself being a combination of two cars put together to make one "good" car.  Good being in air quotes because there is a significant amount of metal work needed to get it straightened out and ready for paint. There was a good chunk of body filler applied by a previous owner that is being corrected.  The overall look will be "restomod". Classic exterior with some modern parts to freshen up the performance and look.

Posing next to the Pantera project with the Coyote 5.0L during a very cold test fit

 Utah winter car projects, brrrrr....

Coyote 5.0L mated to factory refreshed ZF transaxle during test fit 

 My buddy actually has an original 351 Cleveland engine that Pantera's came with from the factory. But, the price and work to get the 351C up to running condition is not cheap.  Plus, even once its running, its a heavy engine and carbureted. Going with a modern EFI 5.0L Coyote engine is the perfect choice in my opinion. It will be able to make power cheaper because of huge Mustang 5.0L aftermarket and the drivability and reliability will be so much better than the 351C.  The gas mileage will be better too. Hey, I know this is a sports car, but the ability to take this thing on long drives to see the beautiful National Parks near by will be more enjoyable in a modern engine setup like this.

Coyote 5.0L and ZF transaxle in place

This particular Ford 5.0L DOHC Coyote engine is from a 2011-2012 era F150 work truck that had issues (burnt valves I believe). I was picked up for a reasonable price too since they're so plentiful used. This engine is being upgraded to Mustang GT specs as well, which include the intake camshaft, intake manifold, Boss 302 valve springs and tensioners, oil filter relocation kit, etc.. You can see that the intake manifold is flipped 180 degrees from the factory setup to fit the Pantera's mid-engine layout. Pretty cool that this is even possible. I would have assumed it would have been asymetrical. Maybe there was some other reason to make it symtretical because putting the engine in mid engine projects like the Pantera.  The nice part is, this is not the first Coyote swapped Pantera, so the lessons should be learned already by others in the Pantera community. Ford makes an off the shelf harness that works with the Coyote in the Pantera.  Pretty cool!

Now on to some of the supporting pieces to this Pantera puzzle.  Wheels are always a key ingredient to the overall look of any car. My buddy has some original 15" factory magnesium wheels, but they're not the most aggressive size and its hard to find a good tire in the right sizes for 15". After weighing the options, he went with the Forgestar F14 as seen here.  I also posted a photoshop of a friends Pantera with these wheels at the beginning of this post to get a glimpse of how it will look. They're a good looking wheel for sure and are in the right size and fitment and are a strong, high quality piece.

I've never owned a car with an aftermarket steering wheel. I'm racking my brain, trying to remember if I've driven a car with one.  The only memorable steering wheel in a car I've driven that comes to mind was the factory alcantara wheel in a friends 2013 Camaro SS 1LE. Loved it!  Seeing so many cool steering wheels in car magazines over the years, I REALLY want a cool steering wheel on my car one day. My buddy is going to go with a Momo Retro model. I snagged this image off of americanmuscle.com website.  It will look perfect in the Pantera's 70's interior.

The other very important piece to the interior are the seats.  He's going with these black cloth Recaro seats that he bought from a Pantera dude who had already modified them to fit the Pantera.  I wish I knew what they came out (if they're a factory seat) or what model they are. Great score for the project! In my opinion, these seats have a 70's, 80's feel with the boxy/squared off design of the cushions.  I think these will work great with the overall look of the car.

Black cloth Recaro bucket seats

A more modern coilover is going in to make the handling firm and sporty.  These are Ridetech coilvers with hyperco 300lbs/in front and 450lbs/in rear spring rates. Ride height and dampening adjustability make these perfect to dial in the ride height and handling.  Two thumbs up!

Ridetech Ride height and dampening adjustable coilovers 

Stainless steel quad tip muffler set up 

Every Pantera needs that quad tip exhaust look and that's the plan for this project tool.

If you made it this far, this is just a brief highlight of the years of patient preparation my friend has put in.  Hop over to the "Project Pantera #1998" blog (link below) for more photos and details of the build so far.  I can't wait to see the body come back from Oregon and really get this project progressing toward the finish line.  I will say, I admire my friend's attitude about the build.  His mentality is to try and enjoy the journey of building the car.  Don't rush things, do them right, enjoy the process itself, its half the fun.

http://pantera1998.blogspot.com/

Blog post for 2017 Bimmer mini-update

Ok, so I am slacking big time here.  I just read my "2016 blog post" and it started out just how this one could start off.  That is, by saying, its winter in Utah, it's too cold outside, I'm feeling couped up, I feel like writing. The kids are not busy with any sports and I'm on the tail-end of a long Christmas/New Years vacation from work.

So, Hello 2017...and Good bye 2017.  Hello 2018!!! LOL!!!

I am never not a car guy. I might be in some kind of hibernation, but its because life has it's higher priorities.  I am about a week away from my 40th birthday, so I'm smack dab in the middle of my life. Any funds that might go to a 2nd car, a project car, or to my daily driver "fun" car (yes, its currently still the 2001 BMW 330ci) are going towards the family, the mortgage (only 9 years left until its paid off, hmm, seems close, yet so far away), food to feed 4 boys, competitive sports for those 4 hosers, etc. etc. I just read some inspiring car guy blogs recently (lots of down time during this Holiday vacation) that talk about how car guys are always car guys, they might just take some time off, but that you can and will always come back. I'm trying to stick to the "Rich dad, poor dad" mantra of "live like no one else now, so you can live like no one else later". Meaning, be wise with your money now, so you'll have some later in life when you can enjoy retirement, enjoy your grandkids, etc. Ok, so didn't mean for this to become a financial advise blog but the point is, my car writing is almost non-existent, but I'm still that car guy at heart. I still spend way too much time watching youtube car videos, surfing my usual car related websites, etc.

I do have some minor updates to share though, so here goes...

The bimmer daily now has 129,000 miles.  Here's the quic....err long update on where the car is at today. During the summer, I took the car in for the annual safety inspection and smog test.  I was pretty confident it was all good, which means of course, I was set up for failure.  LOL The smog passed no problem, but my rear Michelin Pilot Super Sports were showing chords on the inside due to -2 degrees of camber and the front control arm bushings were toast, err... I mean marshmallows.  The quote for parts and labor from the local tire/mechanic shop was right around $1000. Being 100% honest with you, I drove home thinking to myself, "$1000?  Ah crap!  Welp, I wonder how much I can get for the bimmer? Maybe $5000, $4500?" I was seriously mentally done with the car.  I was doing calculations like "$1000 bucks?  That's like a quarter of the value of the entire car?  For front control arms/bushings and labor?  Ahhh nahhh!"

After texting my dad, bro, cousin, and the local neighborhood car buddies, I calmed down enough to start youtub'ing the removal and replacement for e46 front control arms, as well as how to remove ball joints.  It looked doable with hand tools. Then started shopping for polyurethane front control arm bushings. My other thought was "well shoot, if I have to get new tires, I might as well get some new wheels right?"  Isn't that how car guys think?  How can I switch things up?  How can I upgrade this part or that part?

I ordered new control arms ($90 per side, not bad) and a ball joint removal fork tool off of "Amazon Speed Shop". Found the best price on some poly front control arm bushings from one of the tried-and-true aftermarket bimmer parts shops online.  For new wheel ideas, I remember watching the "Speed Academy" YouTube channel, the episodes where they built Peter Tarach's brother's daily driver Civic into a track car and used the new Konig Hypergram flow formed aluminum wheels.  They talked about how they were strong, light, and affordable. I had previously bought aftermarket wheels off eBay 3 other times.  My '95 Civic got 16x7" silver Nippon 5 spoke wheels (looks like a Rota Slipstream), my '98 Civic got 16x7 bronze Rota Grids and my '02 WRX got 17x9 white Rota Grids.  I'm all about buying quality parts (can't you tell from my previous wheel purchases? :\), especially if they're affordable. The current wheels were black VMR 18x8.5 +35mm for the front and 18x9.5 +45mm for the rears. Konig made the same front size and fitment and for the rear the same size but with +35mm offset in a nice gunmetal grey color.  I paid $840 shipped I think.  Really nice price I think! For tires, my history has shown that I have gone on the cheaper side. Shocker!  I went with Acellera PHI in 245/35/18 front, 265/35/18 rear.  Had to go wider didn't I!  I figured the Michelin's run wider than a cheaper brand.  I did some rudimentary measuring of the current set up and figured if I had to I could roll the rear fenders.  After busting out the install of the front control arms and bushings and getting a new alignment on the new wheel and tire setup, the first drive to work that morning proved that, although not horrible rubbing in the rear, I would need to roll the rear fender lips.  I ordered the best cheap fender roller and heat gun I could find ("Amazon Speed Shop" baby!!!) and took about 5 hours one weekend night.  The job would have been much easier if BMW hadn't put that rubber seal inside the fender lip in the rear.  Thanks German engineering!  I had to use a box knife to cut up the seal so the fender would move.  That was the hardest part.  I did have to watch a youtube video on fender rolling to figure out how to configure the roller.  The heat gun worked well to keep the 16 year old paint from cracking!  I've gone about 10k miles on this setup and it only rubs on the big freeway bumps!  Those dad taxi runs to baseball practice with 3 teenagers in the back with all their baseball gear in the trunk does make it rub on the big street bumps too but hey, dad car guy life wasn't gonna be easy!!! Here's a pic of the new setup!

Konig Hypergram 5x120 BMW E46 Fitment (18x8.5 +35mm front, 18x9.5 +35mm rear)

I really like the look of the car with the Konig's compared to the old VMR (CSL/M3 style). The fronts could have handled 18x9.5 with 255/35/18 I think. I think I could have gone with a square setup.  This car cleans up nicely though eh?!  Black is a love/hate.  I should have bought an actual legit all-season tire.  The ebay add said these Acellera PHI's were "all season" but I think it was a lie.  So, the week after Thanksgiving, I put the stock 17x7 wheels with Kumho all-seasons on again.  Sighhhhh...:(

I thought I'd feel more difference with the poly bushings up front, but the difference was very minimal. Could be that the difference between Michelin tires/worn out bushing vs Acellera tires/poly bushing is very small.  If I had a high quality tire with the poly bushings maybe it'd be more noticable?  Who knows. I had the car aligned at the same shop and it ended up -2 rear camber, -1 front camber with the toe put to stock specs. Drives nice and straight and very little wear on the tires after 10k miles.  The tread wear on these Acelleras is 320, so kind of a middle of the road number for a performance tire. I'm happy with the setup for a daily driver. I paid like $430 for the set. Not bad for wide 18's eh. I sold the VMR wheels for $460 to a local Utah 1 series owner.

Acellera PHI 265/35/18 compared to stock sized 205/50/17 Kumho

Let's see, the other thing I did in the summer was replace the cooling fan. I was in the local In-N-Out drive through on a 90 degree day and I just happened to see the water temp guage past normal. I ordered up a new, well reviewed, fan from "Amazon Speed Shop" for like $200. I youtube'd the install videos and it was the easiest repair I think I've ever done.  It took like 5 minutes to slide the fan in and connect up the electrical connection.

I think that's about it for the bimmus. It's knocking down 28mpg on the daily commute.  It's on the 20k/year plan.  It's also recently become a new driver training vehicle.  LOL  My oldest son just turned 15 and passed the Utah Drivers Permit exam 2 days after his birthday.  Pretty cool actually. Growing up in California in the 90's, I had to be 15 and a half to get my permit. So, the day after Christmas, on the way back from the Sporting Goods store, we dropped in at the Church parking lot and did some stick shift driving practice in the bimmer.  I think its actually a good car for a new driver to learn on.  It's not a Honda, so the clutch is not feather light.  It's actually pretty resilient to teenage new driver inputs.  haha  The torquey 3.0L engine helps it lug around at low rpms and not do the bucking bronco motions.  It's also made driving the family minivan (2007 Honda Oydssey) feel way easier. So, the next generation Hechtspeed'er is now on its way to driving. Time will tell if the car passion hits any of them.