Author Topic: 1977 Pinto- project in the works (Read 28936 times)

r4pinto · « **Reply #60 on:** May 26, 2008, 06:48:45 PM »

It's taken me a while, but here are the pics of the work I've done lately to her.

r4pinto · « **Reply #61 on:** May 26, 2008, 06:51:06 PM »

r4pinto · « **Reply #62 on:** May 26, 2008, 06:54:04 PM »

That's all for now folks... I'm working on painting the inside of the trunk black, and will get some pics of the engine compartment that I already painted.

I am going to be painting the rest of the car to match the front of the car. I am going to be painting the car red eventually, but in the mean time atleast the car will all match for the first time in a long time.

dave1987 · « **Reply #63 on:** May 27, 2008, 02:07:18 AM »

She's coming along very nicely! I especially like the MII center console.

r4pinto · « **Reply #64 on:** May 27, 2008, 06:21:57 AM »

Thanks. The insert underneath the ebrake had to be fabricated since it was missing, but I can't tell much difference between that & the actual piece. The console isn't bolted down yet, but will be soon.

75bobcatv6 · « **Reply #65 on:** May 27, 2008, 02:03:05 PM »

looks like a lot of work but isnt it worth it? i think so. nice job man. oh and i have the mustang II center console as well i love that thing .

r4pinto · « **Reply #66 on:** May 27, 2008, 02:28:14 PM »

You are right on the money. It's been a lot of work to do but is definitely worth it, especially when I look out the front door & see her looking the way she is. Dad & I talked about it & he & I think the car will look even better painted all one color, so by the end of the week the car will be all silver. It's not going to be a perfect job, just rattlecanned with duplicolor silver truck paint, but it will definitely look better than it does now.

As for the console, yeah, it is great. One mod I did to the console is I got an adjustable cupholder from Advance Auto Parts and screwed it to the bottom of the console under the lid. Works great and isn't seen.

The body is just about done, the mechanicals are near complete, all that is left is the suspension and the floor & such under the car.

Cookieboystoys · « **Reply #67 on:** May 27, 2008, 02:35:21 PM »

Quote from: r4pinto on May 27, 2008, 02:28:14 PM

so by the end of the week the car will be all silver. It's not going to be a perfect job, just rattlecanned with duplicolor silver truck paint, but it will definitely look better than it does now.

so in 2006 it was the PCCA "Most Potential" award winner

this year the "Shiney Award!!"

git-r-done, not much time left...

Go! Matt! Go! Matt! Go! Matt! Go!

keep up the good work

r4pinto · « **Reply #68 on:** May 27, 2008, 02:40:00 PM »

Thanks. Yeah, "Most potential" in 2006, and that award is sitting next to the "Booster's Choice" trophy I got from a car show a couple months later. I have been counting down the days, and at this point I'll have the car running in just enough time to take her for a quick spin, and make sure nothing is gonna fall off.

This time the car has to make the complete trip to redeem herself. I might even make a stop at the gast station that the car died at in 2006.

r4pinto · « **Reply #69 on:** May 29, 2008, 06:58:15 PM »

Got the car's back half primered so there is no original color showing. Tomorrow I get paid so I'm gonna buy the silver paint to paint the back half to match the front half. Saturday & Sunday will be spent pulling the tranny, fixing the bottom end & installing the new tranny.

I also got the shift selector shaft seal in the mail today & it looks great. Really finished off the shifter nicely.

dga57 · « **Reply #70 on:** May 30, 2008, 02:03:00 AM »

Hey Matt!
After following your recent progress, I can't wait to meet you and see Harold II up close and in person! Can't bring my Pinto this time, but am planning to make a day trip to Carlisle next Saturday. Hoping to meet all the PCCA guys and the Lincoln guys I converse with regularly online... kind of put faces with the names. See you there!
Dwayne :smile:

r4pinto · « **Reply #71 on:** June 01, 2008, 03:59:37 PM »

Looking forward to meeting you, as well as anyone else that goes to Carlisle this year. I got the car's back end painted silver to match the rest of the car. It doesn't look perfect but is better than nothing. The tranny is just about out of the car. All I have left is to remove the bolts to the rear transmission mount then the transmission will be out of the car. I had to take a break since it's wuite warm out & I have not drank much water today.

r4pinto · « **Reply #72 on:** June 01, 2008, 05:46:34 PM »

Got the tranny out of the carand it turned out to be quite easy to be honest. I removed the flexplate since I'm going to be replacing the crankshaft & bearings & found out the ring gear teeth on the flexplate are more worn than I originally thought. I have a replacement on order, but it won't be in until tuesday. Since I have school on Tuesday that gives me wednesday & thrusday to get the transmission back in the car.

r4pinto · « **Reply #73 on:** June 02, 2008, 10:10:37 PM »

I got the crankshaft & bearings swapped out today as well as the oil pump installed. It rotates nice & freely, and now I'm getting the rest of the engine reinstalled. I'm waiting for the flexplate to arrive then I can get the rest of the work done. If all goes according to plan the car will run wednesday night. If not then I WILL have her ready for Carlisle Thursday night. The only thing that will keep the car from Carlisle is another problem, but hopefully I'm done finding problems with the car.

ADaughen · « **Reply #74 on:** June 03, 2008, 01:29:15 PM »

Man, you're flying on that rebuild.

You should stop by and get mine done.
I bet two weekends you could have it up and running.

r4pinto · « **Reply #75 on:** June 03, 2008, 01:59:25 PM »

Lol.. Yeah, I am but it's not because I want to. I am trying to get Harrold II back to Carlisle for the first time since 2006. The trip wasn't technically completed since the car died on the way home and I want to get the car done so I she can redeem herself. The flexplate arrived today, and had a rear brakehose rushed so I could get it installed before Carlisle. It arrived today after having it overnighted. The original one I ordered April 20 through another website was apparently out of stock and I found out when the money reappeared in the account. Not happy that I had to pay $40 to have the hose overnighted but I couldn't chance it.

The car is far from done being restored as the underside is a major disaster area. She needs a lot of work under there. It has more rust under there than my 85 Omni turbo did. I might just have to help you with your car. lol

r4pinto · « **Reply #76 on:** April 02, 2009, 07:49:26 PM »

It's been a while since I posted on my car, but that is because it didn't make it to Carlisle last year. I had one problem after the other so I couldn't get it done. The last nail in the coffin was the pilot bushing stuck in the crankshaft.

Well, I have started to work on her again this year, with a little hope of going to Carlisle. The little hope is VERY LITTLE at this point but we'll see.

Anyways, I am in the process of replacing the driver door hinges since they got mangled last year, when disaster struck again.. I couldn't get the door lined up. No problem, I figure I'm going to have to remove the fender for easier access. Well, I got it off then found out the bolts on the door were not wanting to thread, so I took the hinges & door back off the car. I got the threads fixed & pushed the door on the striker bolt and tried to line up the bolts. Well, the adjustable plate the bolts go into fell down into the side panel. I am now trying to figure out how to get it back up there without removing the door. I went ahead and put the lower hinge on & got the door on the car since it is going to rain, but I have to fix that one problem tomorrow after work. I hope I don't have to remove the dash to get the plate back in but if I do then I do.

dave1987 · « **Reply #77 on:** April 02, 2009, 08:24:29 PM »

Hmm, perhaps you can gain access to a high power magnet to put against that panel and "guide" the plate back to where you need it. Would need to be a mighty powerful magnet though, as the panel between the magnet and the plate that fell is metal itself. :\

r4pinto · « **Reply #78 on:** April 02, 2009, 08:29:35 PM »

Well, I had a wire run to pull it back up, but ran into a small problem. I couldn't get the part to stay in place. Whatever holds that piece in place was getting in the way, so I couldn't position the place. That's why I think I might just have to remove the dash.

dave1987 · « **Reply #79 on:** April 02, 2009, 08:32:14 PM »

Hmm. I wonder what DOES hold that in place. I'm guessing it is just a little shelf that it sits on that is folded on the other side, cradling the metal piece.

r4pinto · « **Reply #80 on:** April 02, 2009, 08:40:59 PM »

Something like that. I removed the bottom one to see what was causing my problem and that's what it basically was. A bent over piece of metal to hold it so you can adjust the hinge. The bottom one is easily gotten to but not the top one so much.

r4pinto · « **Reply #81 on:** April 02, 2009, 08:45:13 PM »

Funny thing, is the problems today started to occur after I decided that I was going to get the car ready to go to Carlisle this year. I am really starting to think the car does not want to go to Pennsylvania, let alone Carlisle.

TIGGER · « **Reply #82 on:** April 02, 2009, 09:45:34 PM »

Don't give up on it Matt. You can do it. Just take one thing at a time.

r4pinto · « **Reply #83 on:** April 02, 2009, 09:51:20 PM »

I know Gerhard.. It's just frustrating. I try to fix one thing for something else to go wrong. I so hope I don't need to pull the dash. I hear it is virtually impossible

pintogirl · « **Reply #84 on:** April 02, 2009, 10:10:06 PM »

Quote from: r4pinto on April 02, 2009, 09:51:20 PM

I know Gerhard.. It's just frustrating. I try to fix one thing for something else to go wrong. I so hope I don't need to pull the dash. I hear it is virtually impossible

That is what seemed to happen to me with the Ghost!! If it wasn't one thing, then it was another, but not to that extreme!

If I am correct in my assumption, you will need to pull the windshield to get to top dash bolts/screws. The shield was already broken out of the parts pinto I stripped so I can't say for sure if it needs to be pulled, but I think it does?? Other then that, the rest was fairly easy. I did it myself with out hubby being around to help me.

If you do have to pull the windshield, I would defenitly buy a new rubber, and just cut the old one to get the shield out!!!! I broke my shield when I tried to pull it back out when I still had a leak. Course, I think the new rubber runs about 89 bucks, and a new shield cost me 100! LOL Not much of a difference! LOL I did lose my original shield though, but then again, I got rid of the scratches from the PO not having good wiperblades!! LOL

Good luck, and I hope you can get that part with maybe a combo of string and magnet!!!!

dave1987 · « **Reply #85 on:** April 02, 2009, 10:11:33 PM »

Not really too impossible, it's just A LOT of work. I pulled the dash from a 77 Bobcat at the junkyard to keep as a spare. The windshield had to be removed for access to the screws along the firewall at the base of the windshield. Then I dropped the steering column, removed the glove box insert, radio bezel, switches, gauges, vents and ducts, heater control panel, wiring harness clips, fuse panel, dash struts on each side, then removed the rest of the mounting hardware for the dash.

It took about 45 minutes to do, but I really didn't give any concern to the well being of the other parts that I didn't want. I will admit though, I did cut the harness in some places.

r4pinto · « **Reply #86 on:** April 02, 2009, 10:27:51 PM »

Great. That is not what I needed to hear. I might be having to replace the windshield rubber and headliner sooner than I wanted to. Both need done but I don't want to do it now. If I gotta do that I might just go ahead and get her running & driving and see if I can borrow part of the garage of a guy my Dad works with.

TIGGER · « **Reply #87 on:** April 03, 2009, 01:12:19 AM »

Quote from: r4pinto on April 02, 2009, 09:51:20 PM

I know Gerhard.. It's just frustrating. I try to fix one thing for something else to go wrong. I so hope I don't need to pull the dash. I hear it is virtually impossible

Back in high school I was where you were at with my 67 Mustang. I was in a wreck that took out the majority of the perfect original parts of the car. Next week my parents started their divorce. I decided to focus on the car to keep my mind off my parents divorce. The car however, decided to fall apart. I would take one step forward and the next day the car would take me 3 steps back. I was so frustrated after the third or fourth time that I almost sold it out of frustration. Eventually the car started comply and things turned around. I am so glad I didn't sell the car. I have since gone thru this with a couple other cars. A couple years ago, I spent what felt like a year under our explorer, trying to keep in on the road. It seemed like every month I was doing a major repair on it. Lately my crusing wagon has been nickel and diming me but I am slowing fixing all the little qwerks. Unfortunately I think this is the nature of our hobby. We are going to get into these ruts from time to time. We just need to stick to it and fix one thing at a time. Eventually you will get over the hump and be able to enjoy your car. At that point you will be motivated to finish her.

r4pinto · « **Reply #88 on:** April 04, 2009, 09:09:18 PM »

Well,

today I planned on getting quite a bit done to my car. Fix the door hinge, pull the front of the engine & crank off. Knock out the pilot bushing, get the crank back in & also install the flexplate.

Well, nothing went to plan. I spent all day messing with the stupid door hinges. I bought two kits that both went to the upper hinge after I messed up the first pin on a bent hinge. Tomorrow I hope to get another hinge pin kit so I can rebuild the bottom hinge Gerhard sold me last year. Then I can get the door to close properly & get to work on the bottom end of the engine. Hopefully I can get all that done tomorrow.

r4pinto · « **Reply #89 on:** April 05, 2009, 02:22:04 PM »

Got the lower door hinge replaced and the door opens & closes perfectly. I am happy about that. Now I am going to get the front of the engine taken back apart so I can get the crank pulled back out of the engine.

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Author Topic: 1977 Pinto- project in the works (Read 28936 times)