This Sunday evening (April 22, 2001) just before sunset Zonkey went on his first drive in 2 years, 11 months. Mike Cox came over to lend a hand and put on a few of the details (like the driver's door!) to at least get it on the road. As you can see, a few details (like the glass and the interior) are still not in place. A glass man was supposed to come over Thurs. or Fri. to glue in the front windshield. Didn't happen. So, my goal of driving it to 'Vegas (did I say over my dead body?) ain't gona happen :(.
Click here for a couple of more shots in my first drive album.
On March 25, 2001 Zonkey (finally) landed back on his paws after almost 3 years of suspended animation. A week ago Sunday, Grant Stockwell came over to help put the Hall Pantera suspension and brakes on. I thought we had a chance to finish in one day. Ha! But we did get a lot done. I spent the past week finishing up. There were (of course) a few glitches along the way. I got to do some parts of the job 3 times :). So now all I have left to do is.... Anyway, I'm still shooting for 'Vegas. Hope to be drivable in the next two weeks.
Click here for more suspension details and higher resolution images in my Ofoto.com photo albumIn the presence of a small group of So. Bay Pantera fan(atic)s [Bill Taylor, Mike Cox, and Grant Stockwell to be exact] I turned on the key and cranked 'er up. I must admit, my heart sank a bit as it cranked but didn't fire. But did I hear a sputter? Crank it again. It's trying to start! One more time. OK! I guess it took a while for the fuel to get to the injectors.
A special thanks goes out to Mike Wesley for his AutoLogic chip (and Byron Reynolds to programmed it: http://www.racesystems.com). Without this chip, which plugs into the Ford EEC to reprogram it and turn off the anti-theft, there is no way the engine could have started.
With a little help (actually a lot of help) from my friends, a few phone calls to Panteras by Wilkinson, and a wailing and gnashing of teeth, we dropped my new '99 Cobra into Zonkey!! WE (at various times throughout the day) included Mike Cox, Grant Stockwell, John Sattler, Bill Taylor, and my (non - Pantera owning) neighbor Walt. All (except Walt) are So. Bay Pantera members. This is just a test fitting.
We started at 1:00 and finished about 7:30. Needless to say there were a few problems along the away. But we prevailed! This is actually only a "test fitting" so I can figure out the wiring, cooling, etc. routing. But definaitely a big step forward. Here are a few pictures.
The engine came back out to finish the detailing of the engine compartment (Stainless Firewall, mods to the gas tank, and polishing of the paint). It was almost a year (Nov 2000) before it was back in.
Here I am resting and thinking about what the next step is. If I look a little beat, it's because I was coming down with the Flu, which I found out the next morning.
This is Mike. He got "sick" just so he could come over and help! Pantera people are the BEST. A bad day working on a Pantera is better than a good day at work. His grin indicates this was a good day!
Pretty much fills the engine bay! Shoehorning it in is a bit trickier than getting a Cleveland in. But while it is wider and longer in the back (you can just see the heads overlapping the wheel wells) it is much shorter overall which allows for a flat firewall.
Make no mistake about it, this is a modern engine
