Thanks Steve. Your plate looks good as well, Bryan.

Dreamin Ta's
 

Thanks guys gives me a direction
to go. Just need to finish up a few
More things on the Pantera first

Bob

Dreamin Ta's
 

So Firebird is still on the back burner
Been working on the Pantera to get ready for Texas
Just received a memo and they are doing a final
party at Texas World Speedway Sat May 16th after
the track goes cold to celebrate the 20 years running
It is going to be torn down after this event.. very sad
Everyone is welcome... going to walk the track, dinner etc
and a few special things

Pantera has a new oil cooler lines, fresh front pads, ran the valves,
new valve cover gaskets (they were a leaking), plugs, oil, trans fluid,
took off the BS 200 Rated tires and put some real Dot road race tires

Need to mount the 4" exhaust that now has 3" ends for back pressure
and make one new bracket as they keep breaking

Long pull to TEXAS starting Tuesday.. now if the rain would stop there???

Bob

Wow I love that car. I've always thought these were really gorgeous cars!

Not sure if I can make it up next weekend or not, but I will try to come up for a day if I can and see it in person. 2 hour drive each way isn't too bad. :)

Safe travels!

Dreamin Ta's
 

Bryan
If you can come up and can stay for
the dinner let me know and i will
make sure I get one as we need to
Commit Saturday morning so they have
Enough. We are running the track both days

Would be great to meet you

Bob

Just went thru this whole thread, great looking bird thats poncho powered. One thing that would earn you cool points and sound is trying to get 180 degree headers on there. Keep us updated.

Dreamin Ta's
 

Would love to put 180 headers on the bird but
Not sure how to get any clearance. Headers are already
too low The Pantera has a very unique sound Wondering
How the new pipes will sound and work
Will find ou tomorrow

Bob

I'll let you know as soon as I can. I wouldn't drive TOW up, as I'm about to do a little work on her right. But I would love to see TWS before it closes and meet you and the Pantera. :)

Dreamin Ta's
 

Bryan don't need to know until
late Friday so I can order the dinner sat morning
Text or call my cell. I hope they have coverage there
408 209-7677. Will be doing our annual Pantera
car show Friday night at La Toretta lodge

Had to stack things up yesterday so I could
load up the trailer with parts

Bob

What kind of muffler are you running? I was going to use my old 40 series flowmasters but since I don't care about the noise I've decided to use the outlaw series 3" mufflers it will be loud but I've heard it works well and it will look real simple and clean and that's the look I'm going for.by the way I love your pantera,I sold my 930 Porsche to build my TA.

Dreamin Ta's
 

I need to look again
It is 3" single chamber fairly short
Will check again tomorrow when I am
at the shop

It is a pain sometimes having two cars
The Pantera is sorted so the Firebird is more
Interest to me right now. Plus I am more
attached to the bird since I have a lot of history
way back with that car

Love your bird. Will slowly get mine in that direction

Bob

Yea I'm the same way,,I've had my Trans Am for 26 years now and it's my first car that's why I sold my other car to get the bird the way I wanted it,,,It should be a ton of fun to cruise around in.

It's alive,,,you can see it at METALWORKS CLASSICS.ON FACEBOOK OR BUTLER PERFORMANCE ON FACEBOOK

Dreamin Ta's
 

Finally making progress on the Bird again
Radiator is in place.... just need to drill a few
holes up top, make a bracket below to hold it
in and wire it.. I have two switches on the Pantera
for the fans and will do the same here.. never run
any fans on the track... I also have an electric pump
so I can leave it and the fans running in between runs
at an autocross since things are heating up

Need to get the gears changed next and waiting
on my new Forgelines so I can upgrade the rubber sizes



Bob

What a nice pair of cars!

Looking forward to your assessment of the mufflers - sounds like we're after the same thing.

Pantera,

What size wheel and tires you going with?

Dreamin Ta's
 

My existing wheels are Simmons racing
wheels 10" in front and 11" out back 17"
Both have 4 3/4" back sets
My back fenders are slighty flaired and fronts are pulled

New wheels are 18x10 out front same back set but going up
From the 275s to 285 295 or 315

Rears are going to be 11 1/2 x18 with a 5 1/4 back set
Should be able to get 335s out back now

Will be selling the Simmons wheels next

Bob

Looking good, Bob. Sorry to hear you're selling the Simmons wheels. I think they are a timeless looking wheel. I'm sure the new wheels will be great, too.

This isn't a great picture (I wasn't nearly as good with a camera 15 years ago), but here's a shot of my previous Camaro with the Simmons. I really liked them:

https://lateral-g.net/cope/cope07.jpg

Dreamin Ta's
 

Brain,
you have my wheels:).. Simmons are timeless
but time to move on as the rubber to race is
needed... I remember when I changed from 16"
wheels and 255's to the 275/315 combo my Mustang
buddy cried because we were really close in running
times crossing. Then after the change I picked up well
over 1/2 second and never looked back... car won
everthing back in the day.. now need to sort this
baby out cause we ain't winning anything right now

Bob

Dreamin Ta's
 

Finally finished up the Radiator
and wiring of the fan switches yesterday
Only about 80 degrees out during the test
drive for about and hour on the freeway
stop and go traffic etc.. no higher than 180
when it used to hit 210 plus... on the freeway
it was 170 going 85 mph.. it used to just climb
if I was over 65... so all is good

Bob

Dreamin Ta's
 

Now that the Rad is in the bird
Time to do the new clutch in the Pantera
Ordered up a new Mcleod throwout bearing ($150)
never spent that much on one before but this one is right
and will not have to press in the old sleeve

Going to run the bird at the Park Memorial-Crows landing
this weekend.. figured my old Kumos are disposable since
I am going to 18" rubber when the new wheels show up

Bob

Dreamin Ta's
 

Spent the weekend out at Crows landing running the
Larry Park Memorial.. hot hot sat 104
New Radiator held up good.. driver is starting to
learn the car again.. better on Sunday... with
10 year old V710 Kumos which worked great
Crows Landing eats really soft tires

Got my "Stick you Bitch" sticker from Mary Pozzi
I had my car parked by hers for a while as she
was out taking pictures.. hoping my car could
remember how to be fast again:)

I heard it was a bit toasty out there this weekend... Hopefully the bird soaked up some of the good vibes and more importantly retains them...

I hope to get a chance to meet and race with Mary next month at the CAM Challenge East.

Dreamin Tas
 

Yes very,very hot.. cars broke with I heard thrown rod,
saw a front a-arm break.. I was real close on that turn
just before the spin and then driveshaft spitting out

Mary is a very fast driver.. I try to get somewhat
close to her times but she sets a tough number

Not sure if she is going east.. I did hear that Brian
had his two cars shipped back east for some events

Bob

Dreamin Ta's
 

My car just joined a very Elite group
The JackStand Racing team
Pulled my wheels I sold to Dale and
waiting on the forgelines to show up

No sure if I qualify for the team if it is only
down for a week or so... I guess I can do
the Clutch on the Pantera now

Bob

I'm sure Dave will tell you, you qualify for a 'temporary' membership card. Permanent takes about a year. :lol:

Can't wait for the new wheel pics Bob. :cheers:

Bob,

Are your rear wheel wells flared? They look to be in this picture. If so, how much room did you pick up? Did you do it yourself?

What about the fronts?

Hopefully your membership in this exclusive club is short lived. TOW just joined it again on Monday as well...

I'm a gold member!

Dreamin Ta's
 

Yes the status should be short lived
Need to try a 315 I have on the front
To see how it looks. If not 295's or 285's
The front fenders are pulled slightly

Yes the rear wheel wells are flaired
They were rusted out when I first bought
the car many years back. I have moved the
Offset 1" in on the temp wheels I had for a while
I believe I can run a 335 out back as long as I don't
Lower the rear too much. It was what I could get
On the flair back 25 years ago. No science here

Time will tell

Bob

Dreamin Ta's
 

So while I am waiting on wheels and tires
I decided to do the clutch in the Pantera
since I had a chatter. Pulled the wing,deck lid, mufflers,
shift rod, engine bay brace etc

My buddies were coming over tonight so we could
pull the transaxle I was going to steal the rivals for
the firebird. Pulled one side and while checking to see if the
other side was on the ground to break loose the lugs I
grabbed the wheel and noticed it moved. Checked it and thought
a wheel bearing was bad. Turned out the lower shaft was loose
Took it apart and the shaft was worn. My buddy had a spare
so will put that in and take it for a spin. I know this was the chatter
Will see for sure in a day or so

Bob

Dreamin Ta's
 

So Pantera chatter was not the lower A-arm
but good to catch that issue now...
Pulled the transaxel last night and the throwout
bearing actually was split on the side and some
ball bearings had come out.. clutch was really thin
so new stuff going in as soon as I get the flywheel
turned and the new assembly balanced

Bob

Dreaming Tas
 

Finally got a shot of the slightly used
Throw out bearing out of the Pantera

Bob

That thing disengaged the pressure plate at all? Wow...

Dreamin Tas
 

Yes just started chattering slightly

Bob

Wow... I think it was time to replace it. :lol:


This seems like something I'm learning with my car at this stage. Once I got my car mechanically sound and started using it a lot, I listen to what it is telling me and if something starts to sound or feel unusual...generally it is. Trick is to find it quick and repair it before something small turns into major carnage. Parts wear out or break...our hope is to just keep the accessory damage to a minimum when they do.

Dreamin TAs
 

Funny as this really did not make any funny noises or
act strange until I felt a little chatter and figured it was clutch time
I used to replace the throwout in my 69 Z28 when I was a kid about
once a month as we cruised the car all the time and I think the
tranny had a bad bearing.. start to squeal and in went a new one

Bob

Dreamin Tas
 

Well my new Wheels are installed.. fresh rubber out front Bridgestone re-71r's in front and threw my old Rivals on out back.. excuse time will be going away
soon.... car feels good on a little test run but an autocross will let me know
if I need to put some Rival s on the back

Wheels are Forgelines 10 1/2" in front and 11 1/2" out back
Beautiful set of wheels... paint on the back... ss hardware
nice rounded lip polished... Worked with Mark.. mostly bugged him
with all my changes etc but he put up with me and delivered the
nicest set of wheels I have ever seen.. and I have two sets of
Kinesis for the Pantera...

Thanks to Mark.. now brake upgrades and hopefully getting the
Bird faster with no excuses from the Driver:) me

Bob

Dreamin Tas
 

One more shot closer of the wheel

Bob

Such an excellent choice of wheels! 10" and 11.5" here, 275/315 tires. Wish I could stuff a 315 up front.

Which finish did you get on the centers?

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...psf8521646.jpg

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m...ps796d5353.jpg