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Thank you for all of the kind words.
The Pantera ownership experience. The car definitely has the looks and is easier to work on than a Corvette, as everything seems to be much more accessible and it is low tech. Driving a Pantera is much different from driving a Corvette. They are not easy cars to drive, as a Corvette is. I am 5'8" tall and if I sit up straight my head is against the headliner. The footwell is very narrow on the driver's side. If you have large feet or wide shoes on it can be very difficult to work any of the 3 pedals without hitting the adjacent one. The shifter, with its long shifting rods, can be very difficult to adjust properly, and does not allow for quick gearshifts. The driving position is a little awkward, as the driver does not sit facing forward, but is slightly rotated toward the center of the car. Interior space is very limited. Visibility forward and to the sides is excellent. To the rear it is somewhat limited. Of course, with the cars good acceleration you do not care too much about what is behind you. As fast as the Pantera looks, my 1992 automatic Corvette will run away from it from a stop or on a twisty road. With a 0 to 60 time of roughly 6.5 seconds the car is not now considered fast, but it is still more than adequate. When it was new it was one of the fastest production street cars made, but that was 40 years ago. Suspensions, tires, engines and transmissions have improved greatly since then. With no power steering the car is easy to turn and is quite responsive to turning of the steering wheel.
Overall, I would say a Pantera is a better car to look at than to drive.
These pictures were taken after driving the car home to the Seattle area from Twin Falls, Idaho.
Installing the Procharger P600B requires the removal of the long hood prop as when the hood closes the hood prop sits right where the Procharger sits. The hood is very heavy. I will be installing the 1985-90 front hood struts to help raise the hood. The passenger side intercooler sits where the coolant recovery tank normally lives, which requires installing a new recovery tank. The driver side intercooler sits where the air pump normally sits so that is all removed.
This car has a custom true dual exhaust on it, coming from the factory manifolds. There is no room in there for cats so it has none. It did pass the emissions test here in Washington State with no air pump or cats. If it passes the tailpipe sniffer test there is no visual inspection.
Procharger and intake.
Intercooler, passenger side.
Intercooler, driver side.
Coolant recovery tank. Since the air intake is totally different the coolant recovery tank can sit where the old air filter used to be.
The alternator needs to be moved to install the Procharger.
There is not a very good wrap of the alternator pulley by the belt.
Acceleration on the street seems about the same as my slightly modified 2002 Z06. The Z06 makes more torque and horsepower overall, but at RPMs up to about 4500 the 1991 makes more HP and torque. They both go nicely.
Acceleration on the street seems about the same as my slightly modified 2002 Z06. The Z06 makes more torque and horsepower overall, but at RPMs up to about 4500 the 1991 makes more HP and torque. They both go nicely.
Yes, the drivetrain is stock except for the supercharger setup with the twin intercoolers and the custom dual exhaust. Boost is set at a low 6 pounds to preserve the bottom end of the engine. Therefore I only get 320 HP and 390 pounds of torque at the rear wheels with the present tune, which isn't too bad considering the stock rating is 245 HP at the crank. 320 at the rear wheels is something like 375 at the crank.
Last edited by Kmcoldcars; 07-22-2014 at 12:01 PM.
Thank you for all of the kind words.
The Pantera ownership experience. The car definitely has the looks and is easier to work on than a Corvette, as everything seems to be much more accessible and it is low tech. Driving a Pantera is much different from driving a Corvette. They are not easy cars to drive, as a Corvette is. I am 5'8" tall and if I sit up straight my head is against the headliner. The footwell is very narrow on the driver's side. If you have large feet or wide shoes on it can be very difficult to work any of the 3 pedals without hitting the adjacent one. The shifter, with its long shifting rods, can be very difficult to adjust properly, and does not allow for quick gearshifts. The driving position is a little awkward, as the driver does not sit facing forward, but is slightly rotated toward the center of the car. Interior space is very limited. Visibility forward and to the sides is excellent. To the rear it is somewhat limited. Of course, with the cars good acceleration you do not care too much about what is behind you. As fast as the Pantera looks, my 1992 automatic Corvette will run away from it from a stop or on a twisty road. With a 0 to 60 time of roughly 6.5 seconds the car is not now considered fast, but it is still more than adequate. When it was new it was one of the fastest production street cars made, but that was 40 years ago. Suspensions, tires, engines and transmissions have improved greatly since then. With no power steering the car is easy to turn and is quite responsive to turning of the steering wheel.
Overall, I would say a Pantera is a better car to look at than to drive.
Thanks for the excellent write up of the Pantera. I've always loved those cars...but wondered about the actual driving experience. That was a great way that you put it all into perspective. Thanks!
07-18-2014, 09:11 PM
