351C Problems
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The Pantera is kind of a Forgoten Car. It hit the coastal areas more so than it did inland. I rarely have anyone come up and look at it who know's what it is. I don't even know of another one in my area. If you head up east, callifornia, or Texas they tend to congregate more. An interesting thing about the car is it's value is contrasted to cars such as a Mustang or other muscle/colector cars in that changes and updates only increase the value of the car. Very few are stock and there is little effort to keep them that way. There is a guy who has shoe-horned a hemi in one (although I like keeping Ford engines in a Ford car).
Transaxils arn't too bad but they are the $$$ part. I think you can buy a rebuilt one from LBT around $8500 or have one re-built for less. I think their using these in the GT-40's again.
As far as the second car, their both Pantera's. (I have a 73 TA and re-storing a 64 MGB putting in a Chevy V6) but in the photo above both the cars are Pantera's. The second one I bought as a restoration project to work on after the MGB is done. It is car 1280. They started at 1001 so it's the 280th car.
Gary
Transaxils arn't too bad but they are the $$$ part. I think you can buy a rebuilt one from LBT around $8500 or have one re-built for less. I think their using these in the GT-40's again.
As far as the second car, their both Pantera's. (I have a 73 TA and re-storing a 64 MGB putting in a Chevy V6) but in the photo above both the cars are Pantera's. The second one I bought as a restoration project to work on after the MGB is done. It is car 1280. They started at 1001 so it's the 280th car.
Gary
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From: Eustis FL
Nice! Not sure how you found both of them, but good for you! It sounds like you drive 'em, which I feel is most important...
I was looking at an MGB for sale, $1500, for my wife to drive. the owner's cat got a hold of the rag top and so it needs work there, but otherwise seems pretty good... Do you think it's worth that?
Let me know if you get that 400 into the Pantera! Will you be the first to do that?
Yes, I think ZF built the Ford GT's transaxle as well..
Mark
I was looking at an MGB for sale, $1500, for my wife to drive. the owner's cat got a hold of the rag top and so it needs work there, but otherwise seems pretty good... Do you think it's worth that?
Let me know if you get that 400 into the Pantera! Will you be the first to do that?
Yes, I think ZF built the Ford GT's transaxle as well..
Mark
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Look on Ebay at the prices the MGB's are fetching. There are several sold through there daily and it gives you a real good idea of what they are going for. I think $1500 is pretty cheap. How wrong can you go with that. MGB's are great cars for tinkering but resist the urge to sink money into them. I have sank a lot into mine and it will never be worth what I am putting in it. I am not planning on selling the car but there are many who put 15-20K in an MGB and sell it for $8. There is still so many they are not overly expensive yet. Great car to have fun with though. My 4-banger used to fowl plugs so you may want to do a compression check to see if any heavy work will be due soon. If I kept the 4 banger I would have at least done one of the carb upgrades.
I have heard of a few others putting in the 400 but very few. There's not much information about them. The issues are the bell housing, exhaust, and pully set ups. Some have put the 460's in but they had to move the transaxil back and I don't want to do that. The 400 is the same length as the 351c. The 400 just has such a bad reputation as a pastard truck engine. I am looking forward to putting the pastard truck engine in my car...Stroked....With Chi Heads...A good Cam...etc.
I have heard of a few others putting in the 400 but very few. There's not much information about them. The issues are the bell housing, exhaust, and pully set ups. Some have put the 460's in but they had to move the transaxil back and I don't want to do that. The 400 is the same length as the 351c. The 400 just has such a bad reputation as a pastard truck engine. I am looking forward to putting the pastard truck engine in my car...Stroked....With Chi Heads...A good Cam...etc.
Last edited by gow589; Jun 23, 2005 at 03:57 PM. Reason: spelling
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From: Eustis FL
I would probably put money into the MGB, but not to sell anyway... To enjoy!
I think the 400 will be nice for you, since you will get the cubes out of it. The height of the deck will be your only problem that I can see. BUT... A 4 bolt Cleveland, when running right, will have that cool factor... I mean, not many could tell the diff between the two, and you will get the extra cubes, but won't the extra work involved outweigh the 351 work needed to fix your problem? OK, you probably know by now I am a big 351C fan, but with the aftermarket the way it is, how about a 351W in a stroker package? The bolt-up should be the same... I know that unless you do the 'Clevor' head swap, the exhaust will be tricky... Maybe that's the way to go?
I'm not trying to dissuade you from the 400, just offering you some options... Maybe you could save a 400 for another project?
Mark
I think the 400 will be nice for you, since you will get the cubes out of it. The height of the deck will be your only problem that I can see. BUT... A 4 bolt Cleveland, when running right, will have that cool factor... I mean, not many could tell the diff between the two, and you will get the extra cubes, but won't the extra work involved outweigh the 351 work needed to fix your problem? OK, you probably know by now I am a big 351C fan, but with the aftermarket the way it is, how about a 351W in a stroker package? The bolt-up should be the same... I know that unless you do the 'Clevor' head swap, the exhaust will be tricky... Maybe that's the way to go?
I'm not trying to dissuade you from the 400, just offering you some options... Maybe you could save a 400 for another project?
Mark
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Well, you know how hobbies are. Some times you want to do something and you couldn't possibly justify it completely, you just want to do it. I know there is a lot of good stuff for the Winsor. I think the 400 is an under rated engine that could use a lot more attention in by the car guys. I know this is a truck forum but I would just like to see more done with this engine. I have always said it has a lot of potential. People always seemed to laugh. I felt it was time to put my money and time where my mouth was so to speak. Besides, the Cleveland will make a good backup engine. If I ever get this thing to a track, I may be doing the engine swap thing from time to time.
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As far as the exhaust, I can mig and tig. We'll just see how good I can Mig and tig 
As far as the deck heigth, it may be a little tight on one exhaust manifold bolt, but nothing else really major. It's even quite possible I may be able to use/modify the headers on there now.
As far as the deck heigth, it may be a little tight on one exhaust manifold bolt, but nothing else really major. It's even quite possible I may be able to use/modify the headers on there now.
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From: Eustis FL
Cool, I like that determination!
Since my first experience with a stock 400 (1974 Mercury Montego MX Brougham), I have always seemed to know about their potential.
It is simple to do the mods needed to turn the 400 into a performer, resting mostly in heads and intake, flat top 1971 pistons.
No point in mentioning timing chain, valve train, cam, etc, as these are things most everyone buys for a rebuild anyway!
You may end up with a killer 400 that everyone will want to duplicate! And if so, I wanna be the first to know your recipe!
Mark
Since my first experience with a stock 400 (1974 Mercury Montego MX Brougham), I have always seemed to know about their potential.
It is simple to do the mods needed to turn the 400 into a performer, resting mostly in heads and intake, flat top 1971 pistons.
No point in mentioning timing chain, valve train, cam, etc, as these are things most everyone buys for a rebuild anyway!
You may end up with a killer 400 that everyone will want to duplicate! And if so, I wanna be the first to know your recipe!
Mark
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