1979 Pantera Fly By - Low 80's :)
 

We had a beautiful 60 degree day on Lake Norman yesterday.

My buddy Steve in his 21' Trick Cat got a nice vid of the ol' 79 Pantera . . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZk88ZPtRwY

Time to winterize and wait for spring :(

sweet. thanks

:coolcowboy:
Power?

496 ci chevy (originally 454 w/ the taller deck of 10.2)
Custom grind comp cam, alum. Heads, team g high rise intake, gil offshore dry exhaust (water jacketed pipes- dump tubes at the tips) Holley double pumper was 850 but has been worked to flow about 900, msd, h beam rods, roller rockers,
Alum. Pistons, about 600 hp.

Fun boat!

Did you put a Bravo back on it , I take it there was no damage to the motor ?

Sounds great, looks like it runs great too. Any pics of it?

Whew! No motor damage at all!
Also engine coupler stayed together as well. Sweet!

The only thing that survived was the lower unit.
It has a nose cone on it but it is not low water pick up.
Will either sell it or keep for spare.

Ended up with a newer style bravo 1 upper with Brand New gear set. And an even newer style lower with larger main shaft than before and low water pick-up.
Prop is same as before . . . 27P Mirage 3 blade.
Getting more lift with the new lower and about 3 mph faster.

Sorry I missed you guys on your Lake Norman visit.
Maybe next year.

Thanks!

I have lots of pics but this forum won't let me upload from my computer :(

Here is the pic from Pantera's owners gallery section . . .

http://www.panteraboats.com/ownersgallerypg2_12.html

Love it!!

Man, those dry pipes sound loud!

Great flyby.. looks really good.

Thanks!

Not loud :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNOc0xyBFMg

Had reversion problems and had no choice.
"Courtholl" is a member here and hooked me up with the
exhaust, older but in great condition.

Sounds good and looks good. That is some smooth water.

Thanks!

Yeah, only a few boats out, it was nice.

Lake Norman is anything but smooth during the summer months. Busy!

Sometimes it even looks like this . . .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRLm8NkFAmc

Forabeer, I was out that same day in my 28 Pantera and Lake Wylie was also getting Hammered... I was at the Sandbar with Gary Wriston when it hit us - Got in my boat just in the nick of time and rode it out in the back of Island Point Cove... Lots of boats at the Sandbar that day ended up on top of each other... It was Crazy out their!!!

A real sleeper eh??:drink::drink:

Very cool boat, btw.

Very nice 24...from NY?

Yes sir. Since new according to previous owners.
Spent the last of its years in NY on Lake George.
Had a big blower motor then.

Who did your motor work?

The gentleman I bought the boat from.

He is retired, from NY, & drag raced for years.
He now has an American Offshore with BIG cu. inch motor
that he built himself.

I would like to get 600hp out of my 454's.

I think the slightly longer stroke helps since my block is 10.2" deck vs. the more common 9.8" deck height. Could be wrong on that.

Have never dyno'd the motor. Builders quote was "around" 600hp.
It can't be too far off, it takes about that much to push a 24 Pantera 82 with two 200lb dudes in it.

The pass at the beginning of this post was on fumes, just me, and even faster than that :)

My buddies old yellow Pantera ran high 70's with a MESA 585hp.

What size motor and speeds did the previous owner see

Here is the boat on Lake George. It's a 79, not 78.

http://www.panteraboats.com/ownersga...tID=124&page=0

Was told the boat went 92 with 850hp blower motor.

Doe's your boat have the pad on the bottom

Yeah, and Dana 30" tabs that were installed for the big power.
Tabs are too long in my opinion for the current set up but gonna leave it as is.

Do the dana plates interchange with k-planes?

I doubt it but not 100% sure.

Here is a link to the tabs that are on it . . .

http://www.danamarineproducts.com/Pr...9&CFTOKEN=2990

I'll bet that yellow doesn't go well with your red paint ! lol

Not sure on my 24s top end yet, but I can agree on the engine. Ours are similar. Mine is a tall deck 496 also. Got the same Team G modified by Wilson with a spacer and a holley dominator. Also got Brodix heads and Stellings headers. Mine was originally supposded to be around 575 hp...but not sure. This engine runs like nothing I've ever been in.

I have my cam-card handy if you want to compare.
Its a fairly aggressive set-up. (I think)
The x-dimension has been raised and I think that contributes to the 80 plus speeds.

I had 575hp on my old set up with a TRS buried so deep I would leave skeg marks on flounders . I did 85 gps then I put my tabs back on and dropped to 81 .

That makes me want to cut my tabs in half :)
They do retract up and out of the way though which is pretty cool. And on a busy Lake Norman weekend just cruising around, the 30" tabs almost makes it a Pantera 26!

What kind of power is in that yellow beast now?

No more yellow , and don't tell anyone but it has a plastic replica motor in it rite now . My OCD got the best of me and someone else made a comment about them having the nicest 24 and well, I'm a little competitive so I'm making sure the bar is set so high that no one will ever touch the look or the speed of my Pantera .
I'll bring it to LKN in the spring and spend a weekend with you and steve

Wow, are you going all "Lip-Ship 20' Cigarette" on us???
I bet it will be awesome regardless.
Can't wait to see the finished boat!

Mine needs attention in several places but like I've said before . . . I am performance boating on a budget!!!

Are you talking about a particular boat or the whole Lip Ship over the top craze ?

Wanna trade for a nice set of 280s? :)

My x is real high also, but running a trs (it was raised years ago). Supposedly the guy really experimented w/ this boat, just haven't had the time to really play with it. My prop is pretty odd also...running a LH sport cleaver 23P. It takes alot to break over on plane, but when it does, it comes alive. I don't have any idea about my internals. Hoping to have a rebuild within a year.

Every 20' Cigarette that I have seen them restore, 3 or so,
looks like a brand new boat fresh from the factory.
They can make a mid 80's boat look like 2012. Awesome.

Are the 280's 28" ??? If they are probably not for a 2" difference.

But who knows? Can you post some pics?