Author Topic: Here is my '80 hatch I call Callisto (Read 12068 times)

Pinto5.0 · « **Reply #90 on:** July 09, 2012, 07:04:20 PM »

Quote from: bbobcat75 on July 09, 2012, 06:32:07 PM

what is the radiator for?
as far as car make and model??
thanks
eric

looks like a 2.3 setup rad. not v6, by the hose locations!

It's for an '87 to '96 Dodge Dakota. I spent 10 hours researching radiators to find one with the maximum core height & width that fit & had a 1 1/4" upper left & 1 1/2" lower right hose fittings plus a fill cap on top. That was a tall order & I can honestly say I think this may be the only radiator in existence(other than stock Pinto) that measured up. I looked at more than 400 before I stumbled on this one.

The part # is CU981 & unlike a replacement single core Pinto radiator, this one is usually in stock at most parts stores. This one has the pins on the bottom that drop into holes(I'll drill holes & use wiring grommets for those) & shouldered bolts that fasten it at the top. I may grab a pair at the junkyard if I can't match them up at the parts store. Some exhaust bolts look pretty close but I wont know till I measure them.

The core measures 17 5/8" tall by 21 5/8" wide & it's a 2 core downflow that's only 1 1/4" thick.

bbobcat75 · « **Reply #91 on:** July 10, 2012, 07:36:47 AM »

thanks for the info, been looking for something for my v6 bobcat that looks factory and have no luck, but might steal this idea for my 2.3 wagon.!!!

Pinto5.0 · « **Reply #92 on:** July 10, 2012, 09:18:38 AM »

Take a look at this one for your V6.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SGT-CU871/

It has the correct sized outlet & inlet on the correct sides, the core is similar in size to the one I found for the 2.3L & it's designed to cool a V6 Jeep Cherokee so it's got the capacity. It even looks like it mounts at the sides which may make installation as simple as drilling a few holes.

Pinto5.0 · « **Reply #93 on:** July 11, 2012, 03:23:45 PM »

I found a Hellwig 7511 sway bar new in the clearance section at Summit for $30 so I nabbed it. It fits '83 & up Rangers.

I saw a post from '06 that showed eatmydust's installation of one from a Bronco II so I knew the width was correct. I'll get to it when I swap in the 8" rearend & detail the back of the car.

bbobcat75 · « **Reply #94 on:** July 11, 2012, 07:28:51 PM »

plz post pics of install of sway bar!!!

thanks

eric

Pinto5.0 · « **Reply #95 on:** July 11, 2012, 10:22:37 PM »

Quote from: bbobcat75 on July 11, 2012, 07:28:51 PM

plz post pics of install of sway bar!!!

thanks

eric

I definitely will. I hope to get to the back of the car over the winter. I never planned to go as crazy on this car as I have with all this detail work & it's added cubic hours as well as dollars to the build.

I just wanted to get her running again & do this later but I realized I'd never get to it. My son turns 16 in a little over 4 years & I only have about 16 hours a week to work on his car on some weeks but less on most others. Add to that the time spent to maintain my houses & work on my own cars & you begin to realize that 4 years is gonna fly by FAST!

I think the hardest & most labor intensive portion of this build is behind me now that the frontend is complete & I can install the drivetrain. There really was no way to half-butt the front of the car since I replaced everything in sight. I could have skipped all the cleaning & painting but why not do it while it was torn completely apart. I think it adds to the quality of the build to have it look this good underneath.

Once the engine is in & running I can toss the rearend in & drive it, enjoy it & work any bugs out. I'll get it in my garage this winter & pull the axle, springs & fuel tank & go detail crazy back there. I want to tie the subframes, install the rear swaybar, weld in the new rear footwells & finish up under the car by spring.

I want to drive her next year so I'll worry about body/paint next fall. I have a hundred different ideas for body mods so I don't want to jump the gun & paint her too soon. I still need to find a flawless hood anyhow. Mine has a big hole cut under that scoop to clear the air cleaner hose when the turbo was on it.

bbobcat75 · « **Reply #96 on:** July 12, 2012, 08:40:13 PM »

you got a smoking deal on that sway bar kit its over 200.00 on ebay and summit.
good find well now i know what to look for online and at pick and pull.

Pinto5.0 · « **Reply #97 on:** July 12, 2012, 10:33:04 PM »

Here's the post where I got the idea from.

http://www.fordpinto.com/general-help/wagon-sway-bar/msg25017/#msg25017

I'm gonna play around with it this weekend & see if it's close or won't work at all. A few zipties will hold it in place while I do the mental planning to make it fit.

Pinto5.0 · « **Reply #98 on:** July 15, 2012, 07:51:32 PM »

I didn't have time to work on the Pinto this weekend. I hit the Canfield swap meet friday, did 5 hours of yard work then spent 6 hours organizing my garage saturday then spent today mowing & trimming trees before work. Man I'm beat!

I did score a pair of fiberglass fenders for my '73 on friday so it wasn't a total loss.

They join the glass hood & bumper that I already rounded up.

By the time I get started on my '73 I should have everything I need to assemble it.

Reeves1 · « **Reply #99 on:** July 16, 2012, 07:14:52 AM »

Not fair you can find fiberglass parts ! LOL !

Pinto5.0 · « **Reply #100 on:** July 16, 2012, 08:08:25 AM »

Quote from: Reeves1 on July 16, 2012, 07:14:52 AM

Not fair you can find fiberglass parts ! LOL !

It was no easy task

I swapped a chrome bumper with another member in Delaware for the glass one, drove to New York & got the hood from Pintoman1972 & found the fenders in Pittsburgh & the guy brought them to Canfield for me. And so ends the 2 year search for parts lol.

I figure the whole frontend is gonna weigh about 30 pounds.

Reeves1 · « **Reply #101 on:** July 16, 2012, 08:14:50 AM »

Would be nice to have that much shaved off mine with the heavy B2 engine.
Maybe I'll add more HP to off set this ?

Pinto5.0 · « **Reply #102 on:** July 16, 2012, 08:50:36 AM »

What I really need to find now is that front valance that's on yours.

Reeves1 · « **Reply #103 on:** July 16, 2012, 05:36:28 PM »

The air dam below the bumper ?

Right now it is at Map351s place. He is making copies & will be selling them.

Pinto5.0 · « **Reply #104 on:** July 16, 2012, 06:05:10 PM »

Quote from: Reeves1 on July 16, 2012, 05:36:28 PM

The air dam below the bumper ?

Right now it is at Map351s place. He is making copies & will be selling them.

Cool, that's the last piece I need to complete my 73's frontend. I hope he posts pics. I was planning to run his other bumper until I decided to tub it.

Norman Bagi · « **Reply #105 on:** July 17, 2012, 10:01:03 AM »

I was looking at a 77 with the same color scheme last year. It was a Rallye, you may want to look into the Marti report on this car, I believe with that interior and since it originaly had the Rallye wheel that you actually have one. Nice work on the body and brakes, I had the same issue with the tie rods rotten almost through. Good thing you got to it in time. Really nice car, you may want to keep it as original as possible. Just a thought.

Pinto5.0 · « **Reply #106 on:** July 17, 2012, 03:16:13 PM »

Quote from: Norman Bagi on July 17, 2012, 10:01:03 AM

Really nice car, you may want to keep it as original as possible. Just a thought.

Thank you. I backed off a lot of major changes I had planned for this car when I started to realize it was oddly optioned & I couldn't find another like it except the parts car another member sent me a pic of.

I'm stashing all the original parts like the 4-speed, front bumper(rear was garbage), stock wheels, etc., just in case it ever warrants a stock resto but it's still just a Pnto & I doubt it would even be worth 10K with a flawless restoration.

I'm changing a few things like painting the grille & headlight buckets satin black instead of argent, the bodyside molding & wheelwell trim is getting stored since I like it without & I have anouther set of brite window trim that's going to get anodized black to replace the originals & I'm putting '78 tail lights with black anodized trim to replace the stockers since I never liked the huge plastic '80 lights anyhow. All this is easily reversible down the road.

Pinto5.0 · « **Reply #107 on:** July 29, 2012, 09:14:22 PM »

I finally found time to mount my radiator. There were a dozen ways to halfass it in but I wanted it to make it look good. Boy can I make anything into a project.

I made a new bottom on the core support that doubles as the lower mounting point.

The little rubber shipping protectors made perfect mounts so I used them in the bottom.

I still have to weld the upper mounts(ran out of gas for my mig)but they turned out great.

I need to find the right shouldered bolts this week to finish it off.

Also fitted my shroud. I will weld a tunnel on it once the engine & fan are in place.

Pinto5.0 · « **Reply #108 on:** August 06, 2012, 09:38:55 PM »

Quote from: Pinto5.0 on September 11, 2010, 04:44:43 PM

Here is something I wanted to do 26 years ago to my first Pinto. '68 Firebird tail lights. I have been saving these just for that purpose & this is the car they will end up in. I have seen a sequential LED kit for these & down the road Ill probably upgrade.

It's amazing how well these fit in the back & I can't believe it's never been done before. This should be a very simple cut & weld & I'll probably spend 4X more time on bodywork versus installation.

It's not often you get to quote yourself or even see a one-off idea you came up with as a kid put to steel but here's my tail lights already done.

I wanted to do this back in '84 to my '74 Runabout but never did. I saw a blown Pro Street Pinto around 1990 at the Hot Rod Nats that pulled it off but it was Corvette Red. I wonder if this is that Pinto? Sure looks like it to me just repainted dark red.

oldkayaker · « **Reply #109 on:** August 08, 2012, 05:19:03 AM »

Very nice looking fabrication. The custom Pinto linked below had the same idea of using 68 Firebird lights but ended up using GM truck turn signal lights for a similar look. I have more photos of that red Pinto (from eBay I believe). I saved them to a Word file and can not figure out how to convert them to jpg or gif format for posting here. If would like them, PM me your email address and I will send the file to you.
http://www.fordpinto.com/your-project/my-v8-street-pinto-project/

Pinto5.0 · « **Reply #110 on:** August 08, 2012, 10:58:51 PM »

I thought these turned out great

I have a few more I copied from his sale ad as well. It's a beauty.

Pinto5.0 · « **Reply #111 on:** August 16, 2012, 03:12:45 PM »

JC Whitney sent my roll of weatherstrippi ng last week so I tried it out. The crappy cell pics don't do it justice. This is a great match & I'll only have about 10 bucks wrapped up in it. I should have enough left to do my wagon & 3 more hatches.....

The channel is dead on. The seal has an egg shape versus the D shape of the stock rubber but the next pic says it all.

Perfect match

The new one is on the left side.

3 of my bell housings came in yesterday, 2- D5's & 1- D9

To my surprise one of the D5's had a clutch fork & the other one had a dust cover.

Pinto1955 is sending me the other D5 fork so I've got the bells for Callisto & the wagon(when I swap out the auto. trans.) & one of the D9's is getting set aside incase I 2.3 Turbo my '73 instead of installing the 5.0 $:-\$

Reeves1 · « **Reply #112 on:** August 16, 2012, 09:21:08 PM »

Bell that was on my 302w. I'll never use it...... T-5 was bolted to it. Meant for the small 157 tooth flywheel. BTW - I also have the flywheel & Center Force clutch I will not be using.
I still have to get the fork number for you.

Pinto5.0 · « **Reply #113 on:** September 09, 2012, 06:03:45 PM »

The Pacesetter header arrived a few days ago. Wow, what a beauty. I almost hate to put this in an engine bay. The $250 price tag was a bit steep but this car is turning into a showcar in front of my eyes & I just couldnt put a crappy looking used Ranger header on her in good conscience.

I already have a chrome timing cover & a black powdercoated 1-wire alternator as well as a polished aluminum scoop for the 350 Holley carb.

Problem is that now I want to get the stock valve cover, water pump pulley, alternator & power steering brackets & Offy intake all powdercoated chrome.

I also want to move the battery out back & fill all the holes & smooth out the engine compartment. How in gods name did I end up here??

Pinto5.0 · « **Reply #114 on:** December 17, 2012, 08:32:52 PM »

Wow, after almost 4 months of working on anything but Callisto I finally got back to her. She's in the garage for winter & I started welding up the holes in the inner fenders. I had it all painted & ready for the engine but my OCD made me go back & make it better.

I think I'm gonna weld up that hole under the brake booster unless there is a really good reason not to.

Srt · « **Reply #115 on:** December 18, 2012, 04:22:07 AM »

Quote from: Pinto5.0 on September 09, 2012, 06:03:45 PM

The Pacesetter header arrived a few days ago. Wow, what a beauty. I almost hate to put this in an engine bay. The $250 price tag was a bit steep but this car is turning into a showcar in front of my eyes & I just couldnt put a crappy looking used Ranger header on her in good conscience.

Man how times have changed, and not necessarily for the better!!!

Back in the 70's I used to be a distributor for Doug Thorley, Hedman & Pacesetter and had great connections when it came to Hooker too.

That set back then would have been installed on the car with a complete 2 1/4" system out the back using a Walker turbo mufffler would have been no more than what you paid for the headers alone!!!

I realize it's all about supply vs demand and, really, I can't argue that point. It's just that I know what went into those then and what it took to hand build a system then and to see what these parts/services are going for now; well, it's hard for me to comprehend.

If I ever win the Lotto I'm going to set up a shop to fab only Pinto exhaust products & damn near give them away.

If I could do that I would die a happy man! (not really!)

Pinto5.0 · « **Reply #116 on:** December 18, 2012, 06:22:47 AM »

It definitely wasn't cheap. I could have saved a hundred bucks by opting for the painted version but I'm going way over the top with details on this car. I'll build the rest of the exhaust myself out of 2 1/4" or 2 1/2" mandrel bent tubing & probably send that out to get coated as well.

I haven't settled on a muffler yet but was leaning toward a polished Magnaflow. I know I need a little backpressure so I'm saving the glasspack style mufflers I bought for use with my turbo wagon. I also have a Magnaflow 1 into 2 splitter(I wanted dual tips) that I'll save for the wagon. I found a really sharp oval exhaust tip that measures 1 1/2" x 8" that should really compliment the rear of the car.

Pinto5.0 · « **Reply #117 on:** January 15, 2013, 02:29:53 PM »

I had quite a few days off & did absolutely nothing with them except one day for about 6 hours. I'm gonna regret that at some point. At least I took the time to mock up the '79 turbo longblock with my ported head & re-check clearances. This time I showed plenty of piston to valve clearance. I thought I was off a tooth or two when I tried the 1st time.

The 9 to 1 pistons combined with the milled head should give me close to 11 to 1 compression. The big solid cam & porting as well as my dual Weber 40 IDF's should push me near 150 HP & be a blast to drive. It will eventually reside in my dunebuggy but for now I can run this combo in this car for a few years while I get the EFI engine ready to install.

I also did some welding on my inner fenders. The big hole on the drivers side is history as are all the smaller ones......ALL 30 OF THEM!! Wow, thats a lot of holes.

I decided to move the battery so I removed the reinforcement for the tray.

That left so many holes to fill plus the rivnuts so I decided to replace the whole section with new steel..

That's where I left off. I need to get my rear end moving on this thing.

Reeves1 · « **Reply #118 on:** January 15, 2013, 07:23:48 PM »

Looking real good !

I stripped the engine compartment in mine. I too will be removing that battery tray part : rust leaking out from under it. Plus no need for it.
I also have a pile of holes all around in there !

Pinto5.0 · « **Reply #119 on:** January 15, 2013, 07:57:09 PM »

The MSD will be under the dash, the coil is getting mounted on the engine & I have a 1-wire alternator for her. That eliminates everything on the inner fenders & I'm amazed at the number of holes that were drilled.

If I do this to my wagon I may cut the stockers out completely & metal brake a new set instead of all the welding. I need to make room for the turbo on the passenger side anyhow.

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Author Topic: Here is my '80 hatch I call Callisto (Read 12068 times)