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Last Updated 03/30/08 |
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Adventures
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March 27, 2008PCNC Meeting and the Tesla Roadster
My brother Todd, who works for Tesla Motors,
brought a Tesla Roadster to the Pantera Club meeting tonight. One word...
AWESOME!!!
November 3, 2007Visit from a new Pantera-friend from Sweden Henrik Svensson from Sweden recently posted to the DeTomaso Mail List that he was looking for someone to inspect a Pantera in Hollister, CA for him. I was unavailable in the timeframe needed, but Jason Eaton stepped up and inspected the car for Henrik. The car is a black 71 that was once owned by Junior Wilson and raced in the Silver State Challenge.
Anyway, Henrik came by for lunch on Saturday. He shared the tale of finding the car and his purchase, and showed me photos on his digital camera. We spent some time in my messy garage looking at the Banzai Runner, and generally had a great time getting to know one another. Ironically, Henrik's family is from (or has a Summer home) the same region in Sweden where my wife's family hails from. One of the great things about Pantera ownership is all the friends I have all over the world now, whether or not we've met yet.
August 17, 2007Concorso Italiano Another great year at Concorso Italiano, but not without it's challenges. Every year my brother and I leave San Jose early on Friday morning for the drive down to Concorso, then we spend the weekend camping at Laguna Seca for the Monterey Historic Races. That particular morning I was following my brother who was towing his vintage Airstream trailer. We were cruising down Highway 101 through Morgan Hill when a line of Ferrari's and a Turbo Porsche raced past. I called him on his cell phone to let him know I was going to go play for a bit and I'd wait for him up ahead, and I took off. I promptly caught the F-cars and the Pantera received several enthusiastic "thumbs-up" from them. But, not more than 5 minutes later as we were slicing through traffic I got a call from my brother - he had a blow-out on one of the trailer tires. So, I went back and stopped by the side of the road to assist. Unfortunately neither his lug wrench or my lug wrench fit the bolts on his trailer's wheels (always make sure your lug wrench fits ALL your vehicles, or buy one of those "star" wrenches that have 4 different sizes). So, we jumped into the Pantera and took off in search of an open auto parts store at 7:00am to buy a lug wrench. Unfortunately, there were none that morning. We went to Camper World just a few miles down the freeway, but they weren't going to be open for another hour or so. And the local Target (or Walmart) did not have any universal lug wrenches in their automotive section. We headed back to the trailer on the side of the freeway and made a call to AAA. Within 5 minutes a CA Roadside Assistance tow-truck showed up (these guys just drive up and down the highways looking for anyone who needs assistance) and he had the correct lug wrench. We removed the wheel and then found that the spare tire was severely cracked and unsafe. Hmmm! Have you ever checked the spare before? Something else to add to the checklist for future trips. At this point, it was time to part company. I had a show to get to, and my brother had to chase around town to find new tires for his trailer.
Concorso was great as usual, with an interesting variety of Italian machinery. I met up with fellow club members from near and far and had a great time visiting and admiring all the car. I also met up with my police officer friend who I had met just a few weeks earlier (see July 26, 2007 entry below). It was a great show indeed.
More pictures can be seen at my Photbucket album.
Unfortunately the short trip from Concorso to my campsite at Laguna Seca was not uneventful. It was over an hour of grueling stop and go traffic. My clutch was already at the end of it's life, but this did it in. By the time I arrived at the track, my clutch and throw-out bearing were screaming in agony with metal scraping and shearing sounds every time I stepped on the clutch. And now the throw-out bearing was making significant noise even when it wasn't engaged. Things were not looking good. And, my alternator decided to die as well.
And, just to cap off an eventful weekend, my car developed a serious rod knock on the drive home Sunday night and will no longer run at idle due to internal friction some-where in the engine. Now I have to get my Mustang off the jack stands and mobile again before I tear apart the Pantera. No shortage of projects.
July 31, 2007Paso Robles BBQ My two older children are off at camp this week, and my wife and youngest daughter went to San Diego to visit a friend so I decided it was the perfect time to get together with an old friend in Paso Robles who I had not seen for six years. He used to own a 71 pushbutton Pantera years ago and was anxious to see my car, so I decided to drive #4033 down for the visit.
A quick stop for gas before getting on the highway was rather funny when a guy with a clapped out VW truck was admiring the Pantera. I was impressed that he knew what it was. He began to tell me about his friend's turbo charged Jetta that produced 450 hp, then lost all credibility when he started telling me about his truck that has a Scirocco engine and how he's going for 650 hp with it - again, this is the clapped out VW truck (front half is a Rabbit) that barley runs.
Anyway, all I can say is that I don't take enough road trips in the Pantera. The car is an absolute pleasure to drive and just hits its stride at 70 mph and above. And, the steady stream of "thumbs up" from other enthusiastic motorists is always appreciated.
July 26, 2007Pulled over on the way home Went to the monthly Pantera Club of Northern California (PCNC) meeting tonight and had a great time as usual. I met Dan, a died in the wool gear head who's searching for a Pantera, and took him for a short ride in the Banzai Runner. That got him excited about a Pantera and will hopefully help him to become a Pantera owner.
I finally left the meeting at about midnight, and on my way home got pulled over. I knew I wasn't speeding! And I was certain that left turn I just made was legal too. So, I greeted the officer with a sincere "What's the matter officer?" His response was what any Pantera owner would love to hear when getting pulled over - "Nothing! I'm just a gear head and wanted to see your Pantera, if you don't mind." We opened things up so he could get a good look, talked about his Ferrari Dino 246 and 308QV, and made plans to meet at Concorso. When we exchanged names we discovered that we're old family friends through a cousin of mine, and that his folks live almost directly behind my folks - small world! Anyway, it was a great ending to my evening, even if it took me 2 hours to get home!
June 27, 2007New Tires I finally got my new tires mounted. I'm still looking for another 8" Campy for the front, but I finished restoring the 8" Campys on the rear. The best tires I could find for the stock 15" Campys were Toyo Proxes. The tires up front are 225/50VR15 Toyo Proxes 4, and in the rear are 295/50HR15 Toyo Proxes S/T tires. This is the only H rated (130 mph) tire I could find with a comparable tire for the front. The tread patterns between the 4's and the S/T's are pretty similar, and the appearance of the treadblocks on the sidewall of the tire are identical.
May 5, 2007New 8" Campy Wheels I'm getting new tires for my Pantera - they've already been ordered and are sitting in a corner at my local Wheel Works store waiting for the Pantera - but I wanted to restore my Campy wheels before mounting the new rubber. I purchased an extra set of wheels to use the 8's on the front and discovered one of them was cracked when I stripped off the old paint. Another club member generously donated an extra 8" wheel for me to use on the front of my Pantera, but I don't think I will be able to use it. When I had the old tire removed, I found the inside of the wheel to be VERY CORRODED. Actually, I've never seen magnesium corrosion this badly before. The first picture is before the wheel was annealed and bead blasted. The subsequent photos show the degree of pitting once the wheels were bead blasted.
April 5, 2007New Armando Racing Oil Pan This isn't a driving adventure, but important none the less. My new 10-quart baffled Armando Racing Oil Pan arrived today, and it's a thing of beauty! This is the second pan that needed to be delivered because the first one was stolen from my front porch after UPS dropped it off. Now UPS won't leave anything without a signature.
The pan was very well packed and well protected for shipping.
April 3, 2007Roadside stop to see Scott's "new" Pantera My friend Scott has been searching for a rust-free mostly original Pantera for about 9 months, and finally found his car. It was advertised in the March PCNC newsletter, and Scott promptly called the seller to express his interest. He was #2 on the seller's list behind another buyer who beat him to respond to the ad, but buyer #1 decided to pass because he wants a car that has already been fixed up. Anyway, Scott and his wife drove up to Petaluma yesterday with cashier's check in hand to look at the car and bought it.
I met Scott this morning at a Starbucks just off the 880 freeway in San Jose to take a look at the car. Scott's car is a solid rust-free 72 pre-L (#4010) with original paint. The car is mostly original and the paint shows crazing, like my car (#4033). The car has a Fluidyne lay-down radiator with twin sucker fans, reupholstered seats, and a rebuilt engine that sounds wonderful. I think Scott got a very good deal on this car.
March 24, 2007Santana Row Car Show
Every Saturday morning when the sun is shining in
San Jose, there's an informal car show at Santana Row. It's not uncommon to find
an entire row of Lotus', Lamborghini's, Corvettes, Porsches, and the like. It's
always a good time, and this Saturday was no exception.
My event gallery:
http://timzpix.com/EuroSundays/SantanaRow_2007-03-24/index.html http://eurosunday.net/images.htm
October 19, 2006Unofficial Tour of Tesla Motors It was a beautiful day today. I drove the Pantera to work like I do most days, but today I had to go to our facility in Redwood City which is just two exits down the freeway from my brother's office. Did I mention my brother works for Tesla Motors, the company that builds the killer new high-end electric sports car that will do 0-60 in 4 seconds!
When I finished my day at work I headed over to the Tesla Motors facility for a private tour. All that I can say is that Tesla Motors rocks! This is a very cool car. It's beautiful and much better looking than a Lotus Elise. The Tesla Roadster differs from conventional electric and hybrid vehicles by its use of lithium ion laptop battery technology rather than typical automotive lead acid batteries. That and the fact that most electric vehicles are just plain boring, being designed under the assumption that driving is merely a necessary evil to get someplace you can’t reach on foot or bike.
Driving is exhilarating! The goal for this project was to demonstrate that an electric vehicle can deliver exhilarating performance which glorifies driving. They wanted their initial car to be a car that gearhead car guys would love to own and drive. 0-60 in 4 seconds; 130+ mph top speed; 250 mile range; complete recharge in 3.5 hours. This one's not intended to be a mass-market vehicle. I believe they are planning a more mainstream model such as a sedan in the future. Granted, there's no throaty exhaust rumble at idle or staccato at full throttle, but the car is not silent as you might think. It does make noise; it's just a different kind of noise. Backing up or driving slowly sounds very much like a golf cart. But nail the throttle (rheostat? whatever they call it) and the sound is akin to the whine of a turbine, albeit not as loud. No, I did not get to ride in the car, but I did watch and listen as one of the execs left in it for the evening. Anyway, they've achieved their goal!
The Tesla Roadster is a great car, and regardless
of your position on the environmental spectrum, this would be a great place to
work! I wish I could afford a Tesla Roadster. FWIW, the first 100 (Signature
Edition) cars planned for production are already sold out. They are taking
reservations for the second run of 100 cars to be built, and I believe
they're already half sold out.
October 5, 2006Sticking Caliper When I tried to leave work for home at the end of the day last night, I found that the Pantera didn't want to roll. I released the parking brake, backed out of my parking space, and found that the brakes were still engaged. I tried setting and releasing the parking brake a number of times to no avail. This was frustrating. Especially since I wanted to be home in time for dinner with my family before I had another meeting that night.
I drove around the parking lot and made a couple of hard stabs at the brakes hopeful that the sticking brake would free itself, but it didn't. The moment I put the clutch in, the car would quickly slow to a stop. I grabbed my IR Temperature gun, which was still in the car from my Thermostat repair and ran around the car checking caliper and rotor temperatures at each wheel. Front left - 67 degrees; rear left: 73 degrees; rear right 135 degrees; front right 65 degrees. The rear right caliper was sticking.
Forgetting that I had a tool bag in the front trunk (I've never needed it before), I grabbed my fire extinguisher and used the bottle to bang the caliper to try and get it to release. No luck! I figured my best bet would be to nurse it down the road to the local Midas, which is only 3-4 miles from my office. During the first mile I could definitely smell burning brake pad. Then all of a sudden, no more smell, and the car wasn't pulling to a stop if I put the clutch in. Things seemed to be working again. Although, I'm not sure if it actually released or merely burned off enough pad material to allow the car to roll freely. I'm heading out of town for the weekend, so when I return on Sunday night I'll take the wheel off and examine the caliper for correct operation.
October 1, 2006Comedy Day in the Park at Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. The Ferrari and Pantera clubs were invited to display automobiles in Golden Gate Park at the Comedy Day in the Park event held at Sharon Meadows. We were offered parking on the green, vip passes, a hosted bar all day long, and a BBQ lunch. This sounded like it was sure to be a great event. Unfortunately, the event was quite disappointing. The comedy was rude, crass, offensive and totally inappropriate for a public park family setting, and the food left much to be desired. The drinks were good though and there was plenty available at the bar.
The best part of the day was the caravan up to San Francisco with fellow club members. My wife and I left home a few minutes late but caught up with the group shortly after they got onto the freeway. Lots of stares and admiring glances from other motorists. We all stopped at the Junipero Serra rest stop to pick up another member of the caravan, then continued up to Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.
Unfortunately, Bob Lucas' red Pantera developed an ignition problem. It ran flawlessly for the drive up to San Francisco, but when he tried to start it again to move it into position with the other Panteras on the green it wouldn't start. Club members wasted no time crawling through the car to diagnose the problem. If I recall correctly, the evidence pointed at the ignition box as the primary suspect. Not having a replacement box on hand, they came up with a recipe that would get the car started so he could limp home at the end of the day. The club's unofficial motto: "No Pantera left behind."
September 29, 2006Employee Car Show & Beer Bash Last Friday we had our annual Employee Car show in conjunction with our weekly Beer Bash at work. It's now become an annual event that my buddy with the red 66 Chevelle and I started last year. He was the originator of the idea and did most of the legwork. It was a lot of fun indeed, and we had a good turn out - twice as many cars as we had last year (see below on this page for details on the inaugural event).
The Pantera generated a lot of interest and many admirers. Now I have a lot of promises to fulfill - to give rides. Oh well, someone's got to do it! The event was sponsored by the Engineering organization, but due to the level of interest and enthusiasm we expect company-wide (Sunnyvale site at least) participation next year.
http://pantera.infopop.cc/eve/forums?a=albumtopic&TOPIC_OID=6280093254&f=3350045562
Anyway, it was a great event and the Pantera generated a lot of interest.
September 5, 2006Cruising home from work today I noticed a boiling sound coming from the coolant tanks. Actually, I've noticed it over the last few days, but have never noticed it before. I suspected a possible overheating condition, but my gauge readings were still within an acceptable range, save for a few unusual swings of the needle. It turned out that my thermostat was stuck closed. Read all about my Thermostat Replacement in the Updates section of the website.
July 25, 2006San Leandro Pantera Inspection (in SF) Inspected a black 72 pre-L Pantera with a friend from SoCal looking for a Pantera. The car is an early car with all the 71 model features. It was built in 2/72 and has a flat decklid and the Bill Stoppe fresh air knob on the guage cluster. In a nutshell, the car was disappointing. It looked great in the pics, but has issues, most notably major rust in the rear driver's side chassis/suspension supports.
My inspection report can be found here: http://www.realbig.com/pipermail/detomaso/2006-July/074783.html http://www.realbig.com/pipermail/detomaso/2006-July/074828.html
The album link in the thread linked above is no longer working: Click here for the pictures from this inspection.
July 20, 2006Redwood City Pantera Inspection Inspected a yellow 73 L-model Pantera with 63,679 miles for sale in Redwood City for $25,000. VIN #5229; Body Service #51040; Engine ID #4439.
It was an interesting experience to say the least - a seller who doesn't want to let you drive the car, doesn't want you to jack it up and check it out, claimed to have done $5,000 of work to the car and supposedly had receipts to back up the claim, but no evidence of any work being done, and no receipts, etc.
My complete inspection report can be found here: http://www.realbig.com/pipermail/detomaso/2006-July/074593.html http://www.realbig.com/pipermail/detomaso/2006-July/074575.html
The album link in the thread linked above is no longer working: Click here for the pictures from this inspection.
April 29, 2006Relay Tech Session #2 at Rich Boschert's house We installed relay kits into Darryl Johnson's Pantera and another yellow Pantera whose owner was not present, but I don't remember who's car it was. Rich Taylor also rebuilt his steering rack this afternoon. Another productive tech session!
We were also treated to a demonstration of antique engines and electric generators.
Rich's father collects these ancient mechanical marvels and has a trailer set up to display them at shows. Anyway, he fired them up for our amusement during a break and explained how each was used in its day. This was a lot of fun.
April 27, 2006Monthly PCNC Meeting in Sunnyvale, CA Another great evening visiting with friends and admiring cars. Darryl Johnson had his wild ride there too. I never tire of admiring Darryl's car. I'm not a big fan of flares, wings and all the other ungodly things people do to their Panteras, but Darryl's car is different. Although it is flared, it is very tasteful.
March 22, 2006Pittsburgh, PA Garage Tour with Curt Marsh Another Mike Drew inspired adventure. I found myself in Pittsburgh again, so I got in touch with Kurt Byrnes and Curt Marsh to see if anyone was available for a visit while I was in town. Curt Marsh answered the call and invited me over for my 2nd Pittsburgh Garage Tour. It turns out that Curt lives only 5 miles from my hotel. When I got to his house, I found that his garage houses two cats. One, of the Pantera variety, and the other of the Jaguar XK-8 variety (both Ford products mind you). Curt just received a new set of Kinesis wheels and Hoosiers for the Pantera that afternoon, so he was still opening the boxes. These are beautiful wheels. Bob Benson (PCNC) used to have the same wheels on his car. Curt's car has an impressive Weber style fuel injection system too. It's too bad it was up on jack stands awaiting the new wheels. It would have been fun to go for a ride in the monster.
Following the garage tour, we went to a local favorite, Primanti's, for dinner. Primanti's is a bit of a Pittsburgh icon. They make unique sandwiches stuffed with fries and cole slaw. This type of sandwich grew out of Primanti's beginnings in the "strip district" of Pittsburgh where they catered to the warehouse workers, shippers and truck drivers throughout the night. Legend has it that the owners forgot to order plates and silverware for their grand opening, so they stuffed everything into the sandwich that first night, and it turned out to be a hit with the truck drivers who could easily eat their meal while driving. Anyway, we had a great evening discussing Pantera upgrades, track events, the Monterey Historic Races, and Concorso Italiano. I hope to see Curt in Monterey this August for Concorso.
March 18, 2006Relay Tech Session #1 at Rich Boschert's house We installed relay kits into The Banzai Runner, Rich Taylor's Pantera, and a black Pantera, but I don't remember whose car it was. I was quite slow doing the relay panel install as I had to measure and re-measure everything before I would commit to drilling any holes for the mounting studs or wiring harness. Needless to say, I didn't leave Rich's house until after 9:00pm that night. A long but successful day.
The Boschert Relay Kit gets two enthusiastic thumbs up!! It comes complete with a laminated wiring diagram, a laminated fuse box legend, fuses, and only costs $50. And, Rich will help you install it if you go to his house. What a great guy!
March 16, 2006Raleigh, NC Garage Tour with Sean Korb I was on a business trip to train engineers in my employer's Research Triangle Park, NC, office when the topic of conversation over lunch turned automotive. I met a few gear heads there in the office and naturally Panteras were a topic of conversation. One of my colleagues mentioned that he knew someone with a Pantera and offered to email him and see if we could get together. Well, his friend turned out to be Sean Korb, with whom I'd exchanged emails with on the DeTomaso mail list at various times over the past two years.
When I got in touch with Sean, I learned that it was "Hamburger Day." If you're on the DeTomaso mail list you may remember that Sean had a heart attack in 2004. He now follows a strict diet and limits himself to that delicacy called a 'hamburger' only one day per month. So, I joined Sean for Hamburger Day.
Anyway, Sean is a died in the wool tinkerer. We started in the garage, which housed his recently repainted Pantera, a scruffy (rusty) Austin Healy which he hasn't figured out what he's going to do with yet, and a couple of motorcycles. Outside were a 69 (?) Firebird, a 67 Cougar, a 66 Suprang, a 68 Mustang, a 70's vintage van, and other various cars and/or parts. Of particular interest was the 66 Suprang. You may be wondering "what the hell is a Suprang?" A Suprang is a 66 A-code Ford Mustang coupe that was mated with a Toyota Celica Supra. Sean wanted to turn the 66 Mustang into a track car, and wanted to add an independent rear suspension and 4-wheel disc brakes. The conversion kits on the market were prohibitively expensive, but when a friend's Celica died, Sean seized the opportunity to transplant the Celica's front and rear sub-frames, complete with suspension and brakes, into the Mustang.
November 23, 2005Pre-Thanksgiving Pantera Luncheon PCNC President, Bob Benson, had invited a new owner over to learn more about Panteras and decided to call some of the local PCNC crowd to join them for lunch at his shop in Mountain View if we were available. Well, I'm not one to miss a gathering of my Pantera brethren. We had a great time visiting, eating pizza, and admiring Bob's workspace and toys - 71 Pantera, 66 Shelby GT-350R replica, and a 73 Firebird race car.
October 25, 2005Pittsburgh Garage Tour with Kurt ByrnesI had to make a business trip to Pittsburgh, so I decided to do a "Mike Drew" and see if I could find any local Pantera owners. I posted a message to the DeTomaso mail list and promptly got a reply from Kurt Byrnes. I ventured to his home where I was warmly greeted by his family. This sure breaks the monotony of a business trip. After a short visit with the family, Kurt's wife dismissed us to the garage where we spent the next several hours talking "Pantera" and all things automotive. I got a complete tour of Kurt's Pantera, as well as other projects resident in the garage. Kurt's home is on a sloped lot and the garage is located beneath the house. As a result, the garage was quite spacious, accommodating the Pantera, an MG-TD, a riding lawnmower, and a (rock) climbing wall. Adjacent to the garage is a workshop with all sorts of fun electronic projects. What a great time meeting a fellow Pantera enthusiast from across the country.
October 6, 2005Network Appliance Beer Bash & Car Show This was an event conceived by a friend and I at work. He's an avid gearhead as well, but of the Bowtie variety - he has a 66 Chevelle with a built 454. Anyway, every Friday from 4:00-5:00 we have a Beer Bash at work, which is a great opportunity to socialize, meet folks in other areas of Engineering, have impromptu meetings with folks whose calendars couldn't otherwise accommodate a meeting, and generally take a break and relax with your colleagues. We got the idea to make this particular Beer Bash a Hot Rod theme and invited everyone in the company we could find who had an interesting ride to bring it out and show it. It was a great event and helped us uncover a number of other gearheads at the office, and next year we'll have their cars at the show too.
August 25, 2005Concorso ItalianoHaving been up till 2:30am the night before getting the Pantera ready for Concorso, the shriek of my alarm at 5:00am came far too early. It had been a frantic week of working on the car and putting the cooling system back together. I had installed a new Weiand water pump, replace the radiator, rebuilt the cooling fans, repainted the radiator compartment, and added a Tefba filter to the cooling system. Needless to say, I was exhausted by the time I got to the Blackhorse Golf Course in Monterey, but adrenaline kept me going. I find the sights, sounds and smells of exotic Italian automobiles intoxicating - and especially seeing so many fine Panteras in one venue.
January 27, 2005Forecast was for rain, but the weather was nice all day. A quick glance at the sky before heading off to the PCNC meeting at Coco's in Sunnyvale gave me confidence that it wouldn't rain for at least another 3-4 hours. I was anxious to get one more drive in before parking the Banzai Runner for the storms. Well, upon arriving at the PCNC meeting, it began to rain. Actually, it poured throughout the meeting. Despite the rain, I didn't win the drive for dinner raffle. I wasn't the only one who ventured out into the elements with a DeTomaso. We also had a Longchamp and another Pantera present. True die-hards!When the meeting was adjourned, we all retired to the parking lot to visit with one another, a tradition following the monthly PCNC meetings. That's when the fun began. I started the car to let it warm up while chatting with a visitor to our meeting that evening. I was right in the middle of boasting about how my car NEVER overheats when it suddenly decided to spew steam from its overheating engine.
It turned out that my radiator developed a leak and effectively drained the engine of all coolant. After letting it cool a bit. I filled the cooling system back up and headed for home. One of my fellow club members followed me "just in case," but I made it home without incident. |
