Panther Kallista

[Pantherboy]

Hello everyone! This is my first post here, i've been admiring the pics of your cars. My father purchased an '86 Panther Kallista a year or two back, mainly to drive himself (and his clubs) to the golf course. I'm wondering if anyone has any info on them. It's the 2.3l, "upgraded" (haha) to an automatic transmission. A friend and I are going down to Florida this weekend to fix it up a bit; coolant leak, new hoses and belts, some new wiring, etc. I'm having a hard time finding basic info such as the wheel bolt pattern, where to get replacement parts, (dash, door handles, convert top, weather stripping, etc.) fluid quantities, etc. mainly for future reference as i'm going to try to do a full restore of the car over the next few years. I'm trying to avoid making custom parts if possible. If anyone has any info on the history of the Kallista, or sources of info which I may use, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks alot!

 

[DART]

Welcome to the forum! Sorry, can't help with the Kallista. Where in MD are you? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/driving.gif

 

[Pantherboy]

Thanks. I just moved from Federal Hill downtown, up to Havere de Grace. The Panther is in Florida, i'd like for my father to let me take it up here to work on it. Of course I don't mind that he flies my friends and I down there to work on it, lol.

 

[DART]

Good luck with getting the car up north. Hope you aren't doing the commute on 95 every day.

 

[Pantherboy]

I used to, but I actually moved closer to work. I work at APG in Edgewood. I've slowly made my way up here; Catonsville, Towson, Federal Hill, Havre de Grace. I love it here though, finally some peace and quiet. And I can put the catamaran up here too!

Yeah, something tells me he probably won't let me move the car up here. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[mikeyr]

Why do you need to know things like wheel bolt patterns ? The car has wheels already and they fit.

Since this was a low production car, it is highly likely that most parts were taken from existing cars of some type so it should not be that hard to find the stuff, but it is also a new car so the parts should not be missing already.

 

[Banjo]

I don't really know much about these cars. I do recognize the doors and windscreen as being form a MKIII Sprite/MKII Midget (same car) so it's quite possible for it to have other "Spridget" parts. Maybe try a post in the Spridget forum and see what happens.
Best of luck, glad to have you on board.
Have your dad send me a plane ticket or two, I'll go down and work on it /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/jester.gif

 

[ChrisS]

I don't know much about them but you might try Bruno Eismark, from what I understand he is an ex Panther car company employee and now a Panther spares specialist
https://web3.internetters.co.uk/www.pantherclub.co.uk/Georges/bruno/bruno.htm
Good Luck

 

[Pantherboy]

[ QUOTE ]
I don't know much about them but you might try Bruno Eismark, from what I understand he is an ex Panther car company employee and now a Panther spares specialist
https://web3.internetters.co.uk/www.pantherclub.co.uk/Georges/bruno/bruno.htm
Good Luck

[/ QUOTE ]
That looks promising, thanks. The previous owner didn't take very good care of the car. Most of the parts are still intact, but there's a few things that need to be replaced due to wear and weathering. The wheels are ok, but i'm planning on putting on a slightly larger/wider wheel/tire combo. The suspension is pretty stiff, which is a good sign. The engine is the 2.3l Ford out of the Mustang LX riding on worn mounts. It had some work done to it to bump it from ~88hp to ~150. That combined with a 2300lb car makes it a blast to drive. I'm told the 5.0l V8 would fit and bolt up in the same places. Hmmmm...
And Banjo, i'm sure you wouldn't mind that at all haha.

I'm going to take some pics and post them up soon.

 

[Steve]

I thought that the 2.3 in the Panther was out of a Vauxhall.......all of the parts are from other British cars that were current at the time, but not from any particular manufacturer. Running gear was, I believe, Vauxhall, but door handles and such like are out of the British Leyland parts bin. A little research along those lines might pay dividends.

 

[Pantherboy]

That's good info to know. I took a couple quick pics...





My favorite angle



Here's the Ford logo on the engine...


Here's where the heater hose is leaking coolant...


And an example of some of the other things I have to take care of...


Just noticed the windshield washer reservoir is held in by a belt. Yes, the kind that holds your pants up. The previous owner obviously couldn't find the parts he needed to keep it maintained, or the patience.

 

[Keoke]

Just noticed the windshield washer bottle is held in by a belt. So are all those contained in the Jaguar MK1 and MK11 saloons. May be original Pantherboy.---Keoke