Rear Brakes: One Step Forward...Two Steps Back

When I discovered that the brakes were frozen, I decided that I would go ahead and buy some new/used calipers instead of rebuilding the old ones. Since used sets from Pantera Performance were only $600+ I thought I would save myself some time. I figured just replacing calipers would be an easy job and I would be on the road in no time. And while I was at it; I was going to add some steel braided brake lines from the hard lines for better pedal feel. Let's just say my expectations were much higher than reality. Before I cover this post, I want to thank all the guys on the DeTomas Internet Community for all the help they gave me this week. Tons of great knowlege!
Let's start from the beginning. My first step was to organize and buy supplies. As I mentioned, I bought a full set of calipers from Pantera Performance. I also read my records and bought the same synthetic brake fluid as the previous owner as I figured I would basically flush the entire system while I was at it! I gathered all my parts for inventory and printed out some technical information to assist with the job:

Next was removing the old caliper on the driver side. The caliper was completely frozen; it was almost like it was packed with mud??? I took some preemptive steps and used a lot of penetrating oil on different bolts, etc.

As you can see in the above picture, there is a lot of gunk that packed the brake pad in. I had to hit it with WD 40 just to get it loose!

The e-brake cable was tough to get off. I couldn't get enough slack in the cable to pull the cable out of the old caliper.

The only way I could get enough slack was to go underneath to where the e-brake handle interfaces with the pulley system that actuates both parking brakes on the rear calipers and remove it from it's mounting stud.

This allowed me to finally remove the caliper from the car!




I then turned my attention to the "new/old" caliper. First thing I did was attach the new steel braided brake hose






When I was about to fit the caliper to the car, I noticed something peculiar about the brake pad retaining pin....it was really bent!



At this point, I checked out my old caliper and noticed that my brake pad retaining pins were great and that I would just swap them. Here are comparison pics: First is the one from the part from Pantera Performance and the other one is off my car:






As you can see, the "new" set up wouldn't have worked at all. At least I can combine the two but for $600+ for calipers, I was expecting something in better shape (there are some other issues I haven't written about yet).

Anyway, I moved forward and mounted the "new" caliper with my retrofitted parts onto my car. I got the ebrake cable connected and now was time to fit the brake pads. As I tried to get the inner brake pad in, I noticed that the piston was too far out. I couldn't push the piston in but I found out that you have to rotate it 45* and then it will go in but that you have to then rotate the piston back to center when done.


I rotated the piston 45* from center using a screw driver and being careful not to scar the rotor. Once I did this, the piston went in! In fact, a little puff of dust came out of the bleed screw that I had opened.



But as I went to go and rotate the piston back to it's correct orientation, my screwdriver slipped and tore a hole in the outer brake seal :(



So what now? At first, I was swearing to high heaven! I just bought these brakes and they weren't really in that great of shape...maybe I should have just have bought a rebuild kit for mine! But no...I was in a hurry and I could just go ahead and buy some "new ones" and be moving on. Well first big lesson I am learning with the pantera that was different than building a kit car with new parts is that old is old....even if the parts are new to you. Also, you can't assume that the parts are good either. So...I ordered up a lot of manuals and I am going to go ahead and order that rebuild kit and I am going to go through all the calipers and rebuild them; inspecting them against the drawings and for any issues. What this means is that the cat will be in the cat house for a lot longer than I had thought. But at least I will learn a lot of stuff along the way!

Fuel Issue: Solved!
Mike had a great suggestion for me: put an in-line fuel filter in between the fuel tank and fuel pump. I put one in and guess what...the fuel supply has been supplied. Some gunk fell out when I removed the fuel line and I can already see gunk going into the fuel filter. Mike suggested that I replace the fuel filter in 500 miles and keep a spare in the car. As a result, I utilize worm drive clamps with thumb/wing nut style tighteners. Here it is in-line:




Next project is replacing all the brake calipers and bleeding the brake system...so I can get this cat on the road!

Fuel Issue: Tank to Pump

Mike Dailey came to my aid again with some great tips about chasing down the fuel problem. One area he said was inside the tank where there is a mesh sock that surrounds the pick-up. He said that this sock can get nasty and clog the pick up. You can test this by seeing if any fuel comes out of the line that leads from the tank to the fuel pump.

So first, I put the car high in the air:

I then proceeded to remove the fuel supply line hose from the pump:

Luckily, I planned ahead and wore face hugging googles... Why you asked? As soon as the line was off, I got a face full of gasoline! But hey....at least I know I don't have an issue inside the tank which would have sucked as you have to remove the motor to get the tank out :[

So now the problem is either the fuel pump, the fuel filter or one of Mike's other suggestions, a filter inside the carb. More to come

Pantera Project Launch! On with the fun!
I have finished my cobra kit car project finally and I am ready to sink my teeth into the Pantera (hopefully it won't bite back). The first project I was going to tackle was the frozen brake calipers. I wanted the car on the lift so that I could work comfortably and use the new hyrdaulic lift jack that I bought (works awesome BTW). I ran into a little problem. The car wouldn't start. The engine was turning over and I was getting spark so that must mean I have a fuel delivery problem. Oh joy! Just to make sure, I poured a little gas in the carb to make sure and she started right up. So now I just have to chase down the issue. I figured I would start from the top down. First thing I figured is that I had a stuck needle. So I used some carb cleaner, got out my soft mallet and banged on top of the carb float bowls. Very scientific! I then poured some gas into my "Hawt Sawce" bottle (just a BBQ/Catsup squirter) so that I could easily pour gas down the vent tube of the carb to fill the bowls.

Once full, I could hear that gas was being squirted when I acctuated the accelerator linkage on the side of the carb. As a result, I figured that their was an issue farther down the line.

I took pictures of the fuel filter (think there is only one) and it looks dry!

I am going to change the fuel filter but if that is OK, then I either have a bad fuel pump (which is weird as it looks new) OR I have a plugged line somewhere....which could be a fun (read not so fun) project...but let's not get ahead of ourselves!

At this point I figured I could fill up the float bowls and drive the car up onto the lift so that I could lcomplete the diagnosis....filling the fuel bowls up when/if I ran out of gas. Worked like a charm. Now the snake (aka the cobra) has traded places with the Panther (aka pantera) on the lift:

I am not sure if I will tackly my list serially or jump on other projects as I get stumped. I'll probably jump around while the grey matter works on particular problems or I wait for parts. Either way, I'll be making updates here. If you read my cobra blog, I'll most likely follow a similar M.O.

Reviewing the records: What work was done over the years?

After Mike's great inspection of the car, I went through the records that where handed down to me to see what has been done to this car. I wanted to memorialize a summary here:

February 1, 1992:
-Rewire electric choke
-Reroute brake vacuum line
-replace PCV hose
-Plugged PCV opening to air cleaner
-Recharge A/C
-Replace clutch master cylinder assembly
-Replace mallory ignition system with Ford Duraspark (1985 H.O. Mustang)
---1 DY-184-C Ignition Module
---1 DG-314 Coil
---1 D7zz12060-A Wiring Assembly
------1 m-12127-A301 Distributor
---1 M-12106-A302 Distributor Cap Kit
-Install remote timing mark on flywheel
-Repair right rear side market wiring and bulb connector
-Set of polyurethane bushing kit
-4 koni shock absorbers
-1 flo kooler water pump

March 30th, 1993:
Rebuild two rear upright assemblies
-four rear wheel bearings
-Four lower support shaft bushings
-Two lower support shaft kits (greasable)

Rebuild suspension system
-Remove/replace original bushings-install grease zerks
---grea zerks
---replace two u-joints in half shafts
---clean and paint half shafts and a-arms
---replace four shock absorbers
-wheel alignment front and rear

Rebuild and modified cooling system
-replaced radiator (used)
-replaced 2 fan motors with 7 blade fans (used)
-replace cooking system hoses and clamps
-install 12v relay for fan motors
-plugged internal bypass in engine block and installed modified 180 degree thermostat
-installed two coolant drain petcocks in block

Replaced cam shaft timing chain, gears and water pump
-Timing chain with gears (erson dual roller)
-Water pump (flo kooler)

Rebuild holley carburetor
-Power valve
-leaned primary from jet #72 to #68
-Modified intake for full throttle clearance

Repair of two market lights sockets and connections (left front and left rear)

Repair right rear brake caliper (rebuild)

Replace defective hazard switch

Replace Starter

Install Air Dam

April 1st, 1994:
Install clutch master cylinder
Install brake master cylinder
Install rear deck lid opening trim
Install holley 650 CFM Carburetor Model 4776

October 25th, 1994:
Carburetor-Holley Mod. 4776

Date Unknown:
Driver Door Window: Replaced broken window operating gear from fiber to brass gear.

The Pantera Doctor's Review: Mike Dailey

If you want to know everything about a pantera, go visit Mike Dailey's site Pantera Place. If you want an expert to look at your car, it is nice to find out that Mike lives in the same city as you! Mike is such a great guy. Doesn't know me from squat and offers to come over and give the car a good look over. I was nervous as to what he might find since this car was from Omaha (rust belt) and sitting for a good number of years. All in all his prognosis was that the car is in fine shape with just a few projects to combat the impacts of time. Here is his list:
Engine Compartment:
- Tighten engine compartment brace on passenger side
- Get a new plastic inspection cover for bell housing
- Use some Lubraplate inside of the shift linkage boot
- On the ZF transmission, put a little RTV sealant on each bolt being careful to torque correctly (bolts are nitorious for leaking oil through the threads).
- General cleaning...filthy in there
- remove the leaves by the back window
- Check for header leak or crack on left bank of motor
- have rear exhaust jet hot coated since they are in good shape!

Suspension:
- Remove US spec spacer on coilovers to lower the car to Euro spec height...no more 4X4 stance!
- Trim suspension mount points with cut off wheel where rubbing against shock body in rear

Hoses:
-Replace vacuum line for brakes

Brakes:
As I stated before, the brakes are frozen on 3 of 4 wheels.
- Remove and dismantle brake caliper for inspection for candidacy for a rebuild
- If good, rebuild caliper with rebuild kit

Body:
- Most dents can be removed by good dent company
- Drain Rails-take screw driver and scrape out BOTH sides of holes
- Window-clips on driver side cat whisker are loose
- Rubber seal for driver side door.

Steering
- Some play in steering rack; check out and tighten tie rod ends
- Leaking boots, clean it up and put 90W lube

Preferred Part Suppliers:
1. Pantera Performance in Colorado
2. Pantera East
3. PIM

Here is a picture of Mike after the inspection-

The Arrival in Georgia

It took some time to get the car back from Omaha due to some logistical errors in shipping. But she did get here and here she is:



Now my son is already asking about driving the car.....

For next time...I live in the same town as Mike Dailey who is the world renowned Pantera authority and author of the website panteraplace.com. Mike has graciously offered to spend an afternoon with me and the pantera on my lift and give me his assessment with a trained eye. I will document that as well.