The motivation for this re-build started with acquiring a Pantera ZF transaxle
From the moment I saw a magazine article about how a shop in California had installed a Pantera ZF 5 speed transaxle in a Manta kit car, I was obsessed with doing the same swap on my Valkyrie.
I don’t remember exactly how I found out Ford was selling off its supply of Pantera spare parts, but I do remember going to a Lincoln -Mercury dealer that had previously sold Panteras, and asking about the availability of the ZF 5 spd transaxle. They quoted me a price of $750, which in 1985 was a lot of money to me. Replacing the Corvair transaxle with the ZF unit was not going to be a simple weekend swap. At least not how I was planning to do it. This was going to require designing extensive modifications to the chassis, and the whole rear suspension also needed to be replaced. And because the engine was being relocated towards the back, the seating could now be improved, and a new fuel tank would be required. As if that wasn’t enough, new wider wheels and tires required modifying the fenders. With all of these upgrades taking place at the rear of the car, I decided the front of the chassis should also get some attention in the form of disc brakes and replacing the Corvair steering box with a rack-and-pinion system. And since the body was now off the frame, it seemed like the perfect time to cut the nose off of the main body unit so I could have a tilt-nose for easier access to the front mounted chassis components.
The first step was get the body back off, the engine out, and strip the chassis down to the frame rails.
Next: Designing the required frame and suspension modifications (with paper and pencil)
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