Hey Guys,

I figured since I am going to be rebuilding my engine, my outdrive, redoing my bilge and doing a few other little things on my Pantera I would start a thread as many here have done.

For those of you that dont know I lost oil pressure 30 seconds into the last poker run of the season this year. Luckily I was running the boat with my father who caught the gauge as it 'plummeted' and I came off it right away. We checked the oil and there was milkshake so we brought her in and put her on the trailer. I won the 'hard luck' award at the poker run though!!!

I havent really touched the boat with the exception of draining the oil and doing a few other small things. Theories have been laid out as to what happened but obviously we will not know what went on until we do the autopsy.

I am now in the process of deciding where to bring the engine and I have narrowed it down to 2 shops. 1 local shop that Airpacker recommended which has an impeccable reputation and also the original builder of the engine, Tony Bischoff at BES Racing Engines. Tony is a good guy and I have met him in person and actually had him perform the pre purchase leakdown/compression tests on the boat with me and my father in the bilge with him helping him do it. The engine he built for the boat ran so well for the 2 years I used it in the boat that it seems like a logical step to take it to the original builder but when Airpacker recommends something I try and listen because that guy has forgotten more about this chit than I will ever hope to know. The Canadian dollar being so strong right now is also another reason to take this engine to the USA where I could likely save some cash to divert into another area of the boat.

Decisions......

I am also going to go through the drive and make it fresh. There is an excellent shop close by that I intend to take the drive to.

Lastly, I plan on painting the engine to look cool and redoing the bilge to hopefully resemble something similar to Mike's white F1. My bilge is pretty dirty, being a raceboat and all, and I wouldnt mind it being at the very least 'cleaner'.

This whole excercise is going to begin very soon but mostly after deer season

We are also talking about more power but thats a secret for now.

I know I will be asking you guys some questions and also needing some support through what will likely be a major project.