Cooling

f) Verifying that your water pipes are properly routed

The upper water pipe from the radiator (carrying cool water) should be routed to the water pump inlet on the left-hand side of the car near the gearshift rod. The water line leaving the engine and carrying hot water should be routed to the bottom of the radiator. The system is designed to work as a 'cascade' where the hot water supplied to the radiator comes in the bottom and gradually fills the unit, overflowing cooled water which then returns to the engine. It is common to find cars in which the flows through the radiator are reversed. While this may not make much difference in your Pantera, a host of such "little things" can add up to a cooling failure.

g) Replacing the molded water pump hose

In the Pantera's original design, the water pump has a 2" inlet and the water transfer pipes are 1-3/8", so the connecting hose was molded with two distinctly different sizes. But the problem is, the molded hose coils around the gearshift rod, touching it. In time it has been found that the act of shifting the transmission will cause the gearshift rod to "saw through" the hose at the contact point. And being a convoluted molded hose with two different sized ends, this part is extremely difficult to find in the event of a failure on the road. We still see low-mileage Panteras with this difficult-to-find hose mounted. Years ago, Gary Hall developed a convoluted steel pipe to replace this molded hose that wraps around the gearshift rod, requiring only short straight sections of hose to connect it to the system. A very worthwhile addition to any Pantera, and now available in corrosion-proof stainless steel as well.

h) Change the hose clamps

The original radiator hoses and heater hoses were coupled together with three-piece worm-screw hose clamps made in Italy. These clamps resemble aircraft-quality stainless worm-screw hose clamps, but they are only galvanized steel and are far from reliable. OEM clamps are prone to strilling and actual breakage in use; all hose clamps in your Pantera should be replaced with US-made aircraft stainless steel worm-drive clamps. Many owners, because this is such a miserable job and they don't wish to repeat it ever again, add a second clamp on each side at each and every joint as insurance.

i) Replace those hoses

Since the Pantera's water system was designed to accept multiple short sections of straight hose to couple the cooling and heater systems together, some owners forget that, like everything else, hoses do not last forever. Because re-hosing a Pantera is such a labor-intensive job, many have tried to develop a hose that WILL 'last forever', the most notable being those made of silicone rubber. Silicone is utterly impervious to hot water and normal coolant additives, but it has two fatal flaws: it is extremely notch-sensitive, and it is very soft. Notch-sensitivity is the property of a surface defect almost instantly becoming a tear. So when a standard worm-screw hose clamp is added and tightened, if the tightening is done too vigorously, some of the silicone hose extrudes up through the exposed worm-drive slots in the clamp, and the edge of the clamp may actually be sunk into the soft hose material. This weakens the hose and creates a defect that, if left uncorrected, may cause the "impervious" hose to tear under heat and pressure cycling. Silicone hoses require special worm-drive clamps in which there is a protective smooth strip of stainless between the worm-drive and the hose for its entire circumference.

j) The Coolant

There are other coolant additives that may increase the thermal transfer. One product that I have personally tested is Water Wetter, a Redline product. After I installed a new water pump in my 1967 Firebird I ran only water. I drove it for a few days, monitoring the running temperature. I then added the product, after the engine was heat soaked one warm day, and continued to drive the same route. The system ran about 10 degrees cooler. �Your Mileage May Vary.�

Go to Page 9

The thermal transfer rate of water is actually better than a typical 50/50 mix of antifreeze.
Antifreeze will raise the boiling point, but the rate of thermal transfer (cooling) and the boil over point are different things. The higher boiling point allows the system to run hotter before overheating, where better transfer (cooling) helps the system run cooler.
Antifreeze is just that, and is meant for all weather use. Cars that only see moderate (40-50 degree Fahrenheit) temperatures or greater don�t need antifreeze. Racers don�t use antifreeze. Typical antifreeze also contains rust inhibitors, which should be added if no antifreeze is used. Some of the common types of antifreeze contain Silicates. These silicates act basically like fine particles of sand, and can degrade rubber seals and aluminum.