Author Topic: New project... 1980 Runabout (Read 5590 times)

dga57 · « **Reply #30 on:** June 24, 2012, 10:25:45 PM »

That's a setback for sure, but at least your Dad's quick thinking minimized the damage! Here's hoping it won't be TOO bad.

Dwayne

Alpine615 · « **Reply #31 on:** June 25, 2012, 08:45:46 AM »

Oh no!

Thank God you were able to get it under control! I have an extra wiring harness from an 80, automatic, non-A/C car you can have, just reimburse me for shipping.

PM me your address if you're interested.

-Steve

r4pinto · « **Reply #32 on:** June 25, 2012, 09:26:18 AM »

That's really good of you Steve, Thanks for the offer!

PM sent.

r4pinto · « **Reply #33 on:** June 25, 2012, 11:35:09 AM »

A day after the fire things have calmed down some. When I get off work today I'm gonna be surveying the damage & start teardown. At this point I know I need to rebuild the carb, replace the plug wires, some vacuum lines, etc.. I am gonna remove the alternator and have it checked out since there was fire damage to the wiring on it, as well as degrease the whole engine to make sure all is in good shape. Gaskets are going to be inspected & replaced as needed. Five years ago I had an engine fire on an old 85 Dodge Omni & the goal was to have the car running in a week. I made the goal, although the car didn't run all that well as I needed to do other repairs. In the case of this car I will have a similar goal, but will aim for two weeks. I do have the old plug wires from the 77, as well as some vacuum lines in the garage that I can use to patch up the vacuum system. The fuel system will be gone over to insure nothing bad happens after it's all fixed. I was hoping to drive this car to the family reunion but after this the 77 Pinto will have to do.

Back in Blue · « **Reply #34 on:** June 25, 2012, 12:20:58 PM »

Sorry to hear about the fire! Pinto life has it's ups and downs. Sounds like you have it handled though.

Pinto5.0 · « **Reply #35 on:** June 25, 2012, 03:06:49 PM »

Sorry to hear about the fire. Hope it doesn't set you back too far....

r4pinto · « **Reply #36 on:** June 25, 2012, 06:21:16 PM »

Thanks. I think it's gonna set me back a little more than I would like. Gotta fix more than I thought. Just looked at the distributor & the electrical harness is all melted & nasty. Alternator harness is all bug gone, PCV valve is a plastic glob... sigh....

r4pinto · « **Reply #37 on:** June 25, 2012, 08:44:18 PM »

A fire is not the way I wanted to get to page two already

.

Anyways, I got the engine compartment torn down & it really did a number on it. The following were destroyed by the fire:

Distributor, power steering pump, alternator, all vacuum lines, all the wiring in that area, distributor cap & plug wires. The alternator & power steering pump did not get much of the fire but the reservoir on the power steering pump shows a lot of blistering & warping so I will be replacing that. The alternator has a lot of charring & it appears the bearing & diode area got a lot of flame exposure.

Reeves1 · « **Reply #38 on:** June 26, 2012, 09:25:36 AM »

Well that sucks !

r4pinto · « **Reply #39 on:** June 28, 2012, 12:09:26 PM »

Quote from: Reeves1 on June 26, 2012, 09:25:36 AM

Well that sucks !

It sure does.. Well, I haven't gotten anything else done to the car the past couple days, especially since I had a problem with the latch on my 2008 Pontiac. It wasn't the cars fault, but the operators for backing into a pole with the door. Oops. Back to the Pinto now... The car stil stinks under the hood but I'm hoping that when I clean it up with oven cleaner the smell will go away. Yes, I said oven cleaner. I have had more luck using oven cleaner to degrease an engine than I ever did using engine degreaser. I am gonna use that to clean all the old oil off the engine & engine bay. Depending how motivated I am today I will be timing the engine before I install the distributor I had in the garage.

r4pinto · « **Reply #40 on:** June 28, 2012, 01:53:17 PM »

I have thought of a name for the car & I think I will go with Fred. Harold III is a possibility but not certain since Harold & Harold II were both sedans & this is a runabout.

sedandelivery · « **Reply #41 on:** June 28, 2012, 02:58:41 PM »

Hey Matt, with all the problems you have solved on your Pintos, you are becoming a Pinto Guru or Sage whatever fits. If you come to Carlisle next year you can have the chrome grille gratis.

r4pinto · « **Reply #42 on:** June 28, 2012, 03:22:57 PM »

Oh, I will be there... The car will be there too. WOuldn't miss it for the world

r4pinto · « **Reply #43 on:** June 28, 2012, 11:18:49 PM »

Didn't do a damn thing to the car today. Just too hot out. When it hits 103 in Ohio there is a problem. I have a replacement radio I plan on installing in the car that is a little more period correct. I got it for free when I got the 8 track radio I won off ebay. It's not an 8 track but is a nice weather band radio. It will go in until I take the radio from Harold II & install it. The Sony digital radio that was in the car had sticky buttons & no working passenger speaker. I think it was a problem with the radio but will find out for sure after installing the replacement radio.

Alpine615 · « **Reply #44 on:** July 02, 2012, 10:29:29 AM »

Any updates??

Also, sorry I've been a complete jackass and not sent out the harness yet. Just too busy getting work done on the house so my parents can list it...and this past weekend was spent in Connecticut with the lady. I will tackle this tonight.

Hope all is well with you,
-Steve

r4pinto · « **Reply #45 on:** July 02, 2012, 12:00:39 PM »

Nope, no updates. The power is out at my house due to a series of heavy thunder storms so I haven't been able to touch the car recently. It's cool about the harness. Like I said I haven't been able to work on the car anyways.

Pinturbo75 · « **Reply #46 on:** July 02, 2012, 05:30:00 PM »

i believe id name the car Murphy,,,, you know,,, as in murphys law.....

r4pinto · « **Reply #47 on:** July 07, 2012, 01:20:29 PM »

Haha... Not a bad idea... Only thing is I have family with the last name Murphy & they drive me nuts. That would be a reminder lol.

Now for the update on the car. It's been too hot to really do anything outside but the good thing is the wiring harness from Steve AKA Alpine615 has arrived. Thanks! Now I have started the painful process of fixing the fire damage. It's not an exact match in some sections so I'm having to mod it a little. It seems that there are some wires for extra parts that aren't on my car. No harm as the old wiring,although burnt to a crisp, is still able to be used as a template for anthing that needs to be switched. It's gonna be perfect once I get it all installed.! I also have an air cleaner assembly from someone in Michigan, who I don't know his username on here. Hopefully he can chime in on here & shed some light on the mystery lol. I'm also gonna be getting the radio ready to install in the car. Just gotta crimp some connectors & in it goes.

The radio is a kraco weather band radio an will work great until I part out the 77 & install the 8 track from her.

Future mods for this car include a/c, dual horns, and map light. Everything else is pretty much in the car! All I have to do is fix the rust outside & get her repainted. I'm leaning towards the robin egg blue since that was original but I'm not totally sure.

blink77 · « **Reply #48 on:** July 07, 2012, 03:29:30 PM »

Matt
Let me know when you get the aircleaner and stuff.
If I'd have thought about it I could have sent you
the plastic wing nuts that hold it on. If you need a
carb I also have a good one off a 1980. If you need
anything else, let me know.
Bill

r4pinto · « **Reply #49 on:** July 07, 2012, 03:58:34 PM »

I sure will Bill.

Thanks for ID'ing yourself on here so I knew who to thank properly lol.

I should be fine with the carb & actually have a couple plastic nuts. Managed to hang on to them from the 78 I used to have. The carb seems alright & I have a rebuild kit for it but will let you know for sure.

r4pinto · « **Reply #50 on:** July 07, 2012, 04:37:30 PM »

After receiving a violation in the mail regarding the Pinto not being registered I went ahead & got to work on the car. The car has temporary tags on it so the violation was pretty stupid.

Anyways, I went ahead and worked on replacing the bad wiring in the engine compartment, but it was really hot so I went ahead an moved indoors to work on the radio. The car had a Sony digital radio in it but the right channel didn' work so I decided to install a different unit. In the garage I had a Kraco AM/FM weatherband radio, as well as a replacement radio bezel. I filed the bezel about 1/2 inch on each side & fit the radio. I also installed the blade terminals that will plug in to the speaker connections in the car. I lucked out & found a pair of Ford radio knobs in the garage tht look better compared to the Kraco knobs.

r4pinto · « **Reply #51 on:** July 07, 2012, 06:16:51 PM »

Tested the radio hook up & so far so good. It appears that I have either bad wiring or just a dead speaker on the passenger side, as no sound. I'm gonna have to check in to it some other time but at least I know the radio works.

r4pinto · « **Reply #52 on:** July 09, 2012, 08:49:44 PM »

Thanks to blink77 today was like Christmas for me & the Pinto. I got a big box today & in it was the air cleaner & air intake box. He told me I would be pleasently suprised abou what else was in there & all I can say is thanks!! Vacuum lines!!! YAY!!!!

I was so happy to see that in there that I went out to the car & installed them. It's so nice not to have to worry about figuring out where they hooked up since they are just the way they should be. There are still a couple other pieces the car will need to be right but at least it is getting closer.

r4pinto · « **Reply #53 on:** July 13, 2012, 11:33:52 AM »

Got paid today so now I'm going to get this car running, hopefully by the end of the night! When I get off work I am gonna get the cap, rotor & plug wires. I will also get some carburetor cleaner to rebuild the carburetor, as well as replace the fuel pump & hoses. Wow... that sounds like a lot on "paper" Maybe not running tonite but I'm gonna give it my best. Then I will drive the car around the block & sound the horn in front of the nosey neighbor's house & drive the car away.. Take that jerks!

r4pinto · « **Reply #54 on:** July 15, 2012, 03:12:43 PM »

I started to demo the carb to clean it & that thing at the EGR port was so plugged up that I came to the conclusion that I needed to get a can of carb/parts cleaner to soak the parts in. One thing that I did not see inside was rust so I'm glad of that. I got parts soaking currently to take care of all the carbon & dirt that was inside & outside the carb. Needless to say it was supposed to rain all weekend so I did not even try to work on the car outside. At least I'm one step closer. I might go ahead and try to set the timing on the engine so I can install the replacement distributor, as well as the new plug wires.

r4pinto · « **Reply #55 on:** July 17, 2012, 09:17:55 PM »

I got one thing done to the car today. It was sort of out of sync with what the car needs but what I went ahead & did was replace the wipers on the car. Over at Ollies Bargain Outlet they have off brand wipers for $2.99 each. I had got a pair for my 77 when in Carlisle & they worked pretty well so I went there & got a pair for the 80 as well. I would have just taken the ones off the 77 but they are a month and a half old, and if I drive that car in the rain I sorta need them lol.

blink77 · « **Reply #56 on:** July 18, 2012, 04:06:21 PM »

Matt
Got your check today. If you need anything else that I might
have let me know.
Bill aka blink77

r4pinto · « **Reply #57 on:** July 18, 2012, 04:09:14 PM »

Sure will Thanks Bill! Just gotta get it all cleaned up & a carb mounted under the air cleaner. It's really nasty & parts have been soaking for 2 days.

78_starsky · « **Reply #58 on:** August 05, 2012, 01:25:07 PM »

what size/style carb? i might have one that i can send you free for a parts carb if you need it. I have to check to make sure that i have the carb from the 2.3 in the box of parts still. that was a nasty fire.

r4pinto · « **Reply #59 on:** August 06, 2012, 11:41:31 AM »

Cool, I will let you know. It's the Holley 5200 carb with all the emissions junk connections. Ran really well before the fire, hopefully it will do the same after I get it all back together

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Author Topic: New project... 1980 Runabout (Read 5590 times)