August 2002 Archives

I have started thinking about the interior lately and what to do with my stock 71 dash. At first I was going to upgrade it to a later style dash and accent it with the carbon fiber inserts that you can get from the vendors. Then I thought about covering my stock dash in leather. I found some shops that would recover my dash with real leather for $2000. The fiberglass replacement dashes of the later style dash will cost you about $350 from the vendors. That price does not include upholstery. I then talked to Pantera by Wilkinson who quoted me about $650 for the later style dash in carbon fiber, or $1300 for a fiberglass dash with leather upholstery. And if you add up the cost difference between re-upholstering your entire console and dash or buying carbon fiber, it's an easy decision. One week later I received my carbon fiber dash and the upper console which joins it to the floorboard, the look absolutely top notch. Wilkinson has the best quality on these pieces.

I also included a picture of the Sparco seats I am installing in the car. This week will also see the front windshield installed in the car.

I got the front wheels on the car today. In addition I rebuilt my steering rack and undercoated the area where the steering rack mounts. There is a problem with my sunken battery box, It is about an inch too far to the passenger side so it interferes with the steering rack mount. Since the box is welded in there is no moving it. I'm going to have to cut a small window in the box to allow the rack mount to clear. Sigh. Other then that things went well. Here are some pictures of the finished front suspension including the new camber lock kit.

Yesterday I went to the Concorso Italiano as most of our Pantera friends. It was an amazing show worth the $60 admission. The full color magazing style program you get with the admission fee is a great picture book as well. There were a reported 53 pantera's there and more ferrari's then you can stand to look at. Worth noting was the new Ford GT40 prototype vehicle, the Chrysler prototype, and a totally custom Jaguar with a Ford big block. Tomorrow we are heading to the historic races were I will be taking more pictures, enjoy!

Progress is being made on the suspension and undercoating of the wheel well areas. I have put the rear suspension on with temporary tires to roll around the car. The front suspension will go on this weekend with the steering rack and sway bars.

A friend is still color sanding the car to get the finish as smooth as it can be. I'll start thinking about adding the glass and some of the interior in the next coming weeks. I have done some sound deadening with dynamat and undercoating.

The brakes and suspension components are from Pantera Proformance. I got the 4 piston caliper Wilwood set with new rotors and the fully adjustable shocks and GT4 springs. Axles have also been upgraded to the solid billet type. All bushings are poly bushings and we also got adjustable upper A-arms!