Another Christmas has gone by and it's 2003! Could this be the year my Pantera finally sees the highway again? Things look right. I'm still waiting on the motor from Al Leist. He ran into a snag with the rods I gave him. I gave him some Eagle 6.2" chevy rods which when I was planning a Windsor stroker would have worked great. However since I couldn't find a manifold to mate my A3 heads to the Windsor block, we had to go with the Clevland block. That .25" difference in the deck height, means these connecting rods will not fit. So Al is off finding me some new connecting rods, 6". The block is prepared and the SCAT stroker crank has been balanced with my new aluminum flywheel, damper, and clutch pressure plate. So all the heavy work has been done. He already has the custom pistons in hand as well. So we are only waiting for the connecting rods and he can do the final assembly. I will be taking delivery of the long block. I will still have to add the water pump, valve covers, and probably oil pump and pan. Al is also looking for an oil pan for the motor, so I may not need to install those items. It shouldn't be too much longer now til I get the motor back.
I also have the rebuilt transmission in hand and that looks great. The only things I need to do yet; install the wiring harness, install the calipers and brake plumbing, install the chassis stiffening kit, install the steering column and gauges, and plumb the cooling system. Of course install the engine and transmission. Here are some more pictures of my progress.
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