Work Work Work

I've been working so much that I haven't been able to do a thing on the car.

The Block is Decked and Lifter Bushings Installed

The 351 Cleveland block came back from the CNC machine shop today.  I had lifter bore bushings installed and aligned them with the camshaft centerline by a Rottler F79A CNC machine. The machinist asked for lifters, so I bought what I liked, which were the Crane Cams hydraulic roller lifters. 

The Crane Cams lifters pictured above are nicely made with precision bodies and plungers. 

Here's the block, decked with lifter bore bushings installed.

Here are the lifter bore bushings, honed to 0.001" clearance.  There are 0.060" oiling holes in the lifters clocked to the oil galleries.

The block deck was squared to the crank centerline.  Apparently the block deck was up to 0.006" out of square!  The machinist also milled the top of the block walls for me, which was not requested but provided.  I like that kind of service a lot.

Just working

I haven't had a lot of time to work on the Pantera lately.  I have started to finalize the engine parts list and will start to buy parts.  I already purchased a set of Crane hydraulic roller lifters for the engine and the block is at a shop being CNC machined for lifter bore bushings as well as being decked and measured.  I plan to pick up the engine and purchase the rotating assembly, leaving only honing and a few misc. items to do at a machine shop. 

I'm definitely planning to go with electronic fuel injection right from the start.  I'm not scared by it, especially given the great new technology out there. 

The Mendeola was fit, mounts created, and is being sent back to Mendeola for evaluation of the necessary changes.  If Mendeola decides to make the necessary changes and cast a bellhousing, there should be a good alternative to the ZF available soon.

Fitting the Mendeola Transaxle

Here's an interesting idea I've pursued lately.  I'm looking into putting a Mendeola SDR5 into the Pantera.  It's a transaxle developed specifically for the kit car world, and it is similar in size to the ZF but slightly longer.  It weighs 14 lbs more than the ZF in full dress at 168 lbs with bellhousing, but that includes slave cylinder, etc. In all, it might be 10 lbs heavier.

http://www.mendeolapowertrain.com/transaxles.html

September 2014 Utah Pantera Meet at Station Park Cruise-in

We had four Panteras at the Cruise-in Night, September 11, 2014.   Panteras pictured below, from left to right belong to Rex Marshall, Doug Reynolds, Rich Papworth, and Ron Mitchell.

Rebuilding Clutch Slave/Master Cylinders

I've been working on rebuilding the clutch and slave cylinder.  Most people don't bother rebuilding for a number of reasons:
1.  Rebuild kit availability isn't great.  There used to be a greater supply of seals but not lately.
2.  Pitting in the bores from corrosion is a major cause of seal destruction.  The cylinders are cast iron and rust easily when brake fluid is left for a long time and moisture is present.  It doesn't help that the master cylinder is vented to the atmosphere, allowing moisture to get into the fluid.
3.  There are cheap replica master cylinders and slave cylinders on the market.  I wouldn't call the master cylinders reproduction since the "Benditalia" raised lettering is replaced with "DeTomaso" and the pistons differ significantly.  Unfortunately, these units are notorious for failing prematurely.
4.  Actual replacement master cylinders are available from Italy, at a price that isn't too bad.
5.  Stainless steel versions of the slave cylinder are available but are expensive.