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It may have been a Mangusta, hard to tell with it in pieces. I did the magnet test on the chassis, and it did not stick is what I could tell. If it was a kit it was a darn good one.

If it's a Mangusta you have found a goldmine, try to buy it!

About 400 Mangusta's were ever made and the US imported over 5000 Pantera's alone besides the rest of the world.

Unlike a lot of Supercars, Pantera's are pressed steel unitary construction (common to most mass production road cars) and as with most '70's Italian cars if you sit in one in the quiet you can hear the rust eating them away ..... Google Pantera and rust or similar.

Doubtful he would sell. But cannot hurt to ask. In any case, studying it proved very useful. The neat thing I saw was the bulkheads for the drive tunnel, which added strength it seems.

Ok, got the story on the car. The body is a Pantera but the frame is a custom job made for this one vehicle. They used a wrecked Mangusta for part of the frame, apparently a racing wreck from Florida.

With all respect that just doesn't sit right. Pantera is a unibody (no frame or chassis just pressed panels welded together) as I mentioned and no one is going to scrap a "one of only 400 made" rare Mangusta ....

This is what a Mangusta chassis looks like, a big backbone with some minor supporting frame work, how does it compare ..?

No, that's not the chassis I saw. This was tubular, looked closer to a TVR or an odd hybrid Lotus chassis.

Pity I'm back out west now or I'd try and get a better look. The guy has a garage of oddball cars.

.... and my Mates at the aluminium extrusion factory have contacted me to say that the 3" (76mm) tube extrusion dies that I cancelled are ready, they can offer me the tube anytime I want it and they have some 1.65" (40mm) box and tube lengths laying around so I think I may as well make one after all and see how it shapes up ..

I gotta stop eating chickens and all those hormones, indecisive as a female lately ... but my boobs look great!

I can't even count the ways this is wrong!

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mobilito ergo sum
I drive therefore I am

I can explain it to you,
but I can't understand it for you.

+1

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JD, father of Quinn, Son of a... Build Log
Quinn the Slotus:Ford 302 Powered, Mallock-Inspired, Tube Frame, Hillclimb Special
"Gonzo and friends: Last night must have been quite a night. Camelot moments, mechanical marvels, Rustoleum launches, flying squirrels, fru-fru tea cuppers, V8 envy, Ensure catch cans -- and it wasn't even a full moon." -- SeattleTom

What? THe car or shoes!?!?!?

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McSorely 442 / SBF - track day, autocross, street licensed toy. Build in process.

No, the matching handbag.

_________________
mobilito ergo sum
I drive therefore I am

I can explain it to you,
but I can't understand it for you.

Ok, been suckered into working on this again. This time to test aluminum epoxies and various adhesives. Just had some surprising results using fiberglass as a joining sleeve and rivets to hold in place. So far getting impressive results from a marine adhesive, 5200.

You'll be surprised alright as fibreglass only bonds for a short time and one day soon will simply and suddenly release. I learnt this as a teenager when I made something, probably one of my skateboards and learned later that that's just the way it is. Apparently the different thermal expansions of the 2 materials causes shear of the surfaces.

I got to say my info is a few years old, maybe there's a modern bonder you could use, 3M probably the people to ask.

Cheapracer,

The other approach to a splice is to make a two part doubler by slicing a length of the extrusion lengthwise and then inserting it inside the two butted pieces of extrusion. The joint can be riveted, welded or glued (with recognition oer the earlier concerns over adhesives). A friend made two aluminum masts out of salvaged broken ones that way. The first had a rivetted internal sleeve, whereas the second simply had a friction fit internal sleeve with the two pieces of tube simply butt-welded together over the sleeve. Both joints faired well in a highly-loaded environment.

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Warren
Isuzu Pickup/SR20DE, +401 COLD frame
Build Log: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=11601

Sorry Warren, I am lost - what are you talking about?

I was refering to fibreglass bonding (or not) to aluminium...