Author Topic: New project... 1980 Runabout (Read 5767 times)

r4pinto · « **Reply #60 on:** August 08, 2012, 10:47:49 PM »

What to do... What to do... What to do...

Haven't really worked on the car much but today I walked around it & spotted a little hole in the left front fender. It's got rust in the usual places & while I have patch panels for the rear quarters I am thinking I might have to go ahead & replace the front fenders. Not too sure and for now I am gonna go ahead & finish polishing the car but more importantly I have to get it running. Hopefully tomorrow evening I will be setting the timing on the engine so I can index the distributor. We'll see what happens. Gotta decide if this car or Harold II is going to the Ohio Pinto meet.

r4pinto · « **Reply #61 on:** August 17, 2012, 11:48:11 AM »

The end is near for Harold II so it is time I get my butt in gear and get this car back on the road. The goal for this weekend is to remove the timing belt & put a new one on, install the new distributor, rebuild & reinstall the carburetor, replace the fuel pump & all the fuel lines, change the oil, clean the interior, swap the tires from the 77, and adjust the exhaust pipe on the back. I have a little more than two days, as I am gonna be working on the car all I can from the moment I get home tonight until there is no more light Sunday. When I get done the car will run and will be ready for the first drive on Monday morning.

Alpine615 · « **Reply #62 on:** August 17, 2012, 12:09:17 PM »

Hey Matt, it's been a while! What are you thinking for replacement fuel lines? Are you going to re-use Harold's? Or go aftermarket?

r4pinto · « **Reply #63 on:** August 17, 2012, 12:34:51 PM »

Well the metal lines are in good shape. It's just the rubber hoses that are needing changed. Replacing them as a precaution. Only one fire per car allowed in my household

r4pinto · « **Reply #64 on:** August 30, 2012, 11:32:35 AM »

Just got a pair of the aluminum wheel caps since my alloys didn't have any. I got them off ebay for $22 shipped. They aren't perfect but neither are the wheels. Regardless they will look better than wheels without the centers.

r4pinto · « **Reply #65 on:** August 30, 2012, 07:09:37 PM »

Pics of the center caps

r4pinto · « **Reply #66 on:** September 02, 2012, 08:30:10 PM »

Update:

I went to "Swappers Day" in johnstown, Ohio and found a pair of speakers that I am gonna try to install inthe door. not sure how they will fit since they aren't flush mount but not bad for $4.00. I also went ahead & tore into the nightmare of the fuel pump. Wow is that car an oily mess down there. Time to degrease everything. The fuel pump may not have been a problem, as I found a burst fuel hose. Either way I'm not gonna chance it since I have a spare fuel pump & the old one shows fire damage. In addition the metal line would not come off the old fuel pump so I am gonna bend a new line going to the carb from the pump. I hope to have the car running by tomorrow, but we will see.

blupinto · « **Reply #67 on:** September 03, 2012, 10:42:35 PM »

Quote from: r4pinto on August 30, 2012, 07:09:37 PM

Pics of the center caps

I saw those on ebay a few days ago. I was considering putting a bid on them, but I'm on the search for Civil War crap, so I didn't. Good get, Matty!

r4pinto · « **Reply #68 on:** September 03, 2012, 11:03:52 PM »

Thanks Becky, As soon as I saw then I had to get them. Too good a price to pass up.

Now for updates on the car. I removed the char broiled fuel pump & looked at the hoses. Well, it looks like one ruptured since it was very much charred and blown out. There were two hoses & one was still in one piece, just a little cracked. The other one was all charred with a hole in it. I think the hose blew out & possibly caused some of the fire. Regardless I am replacing all the hoses, as well as the metal like that would not come off the pump. Before I attempt to start the car I will replace the rear fuel hoses as well. I was gonna take the car to the Ohio Pinto meet but I wanna get the car right before taking it on such a long trip.

r4pinto · « **Reply #69 on:** September 08, 2012, 05:04:55 PM »

I swear when you think you are gonna get somewhere someone pulls you back to reality and proves you wrong...

I went outside planning on pulling the radiator, replacing the timing belt & after a few other repairs having the car running this evening. Well, I was proven wrong again. I started by loosening the radiator petcock to drain out the old coolant & it wouldn't drain. I thought there was something wrong so I kept trying but only a few drips. I got out a wrench & ended up removing it, to see nasty, brown, cruddy antifreeze coming out. Flushed out the radiator with a garden hose until I got clear water but was concerned. Looked at the petcock & it was packed with so much dirt & crud it wouldn't drain. No problem, I figured I would replace it. Got to thinking what else is plugged, so I went ahead & pulled the upper & lower hose. Interesting find with the upper hose. The t-stat housing was so corroded there is 1/4" of the housing gone at the top where the hose goes. The t-stat was also stuck in the housing. More muddy coolant in the head... I went ahead & checked the hose & it is mushy so that is gonna be replaced. Also removed the lower hose, which is also crap, as well as the hoses going from the heater core to the t-stat & water pump. All those rubber hoses will be replaced. I went ahead & removed the fan from the water pump & fortunately the bearing is still good. Just as a precaution I am gonna remove it & make sure there is no debris in there, as well as get a new gasket.

All this corrosion & crud in the coolant is now making me wonder about the condition of both the radiator, and head gasket. The radiator is a no brainer. Remove it & have it pressure tested, as well as professionally flushed. The head gasket, that is a little different. I'm not sure about tackling that just yet, as I wasn't planning to at this time but might end up doing it anyways. It's also got me concerned of that heater core. Wondering what kind of crap is in it or if it will leak as well.

So the day started off with me planning on having the car running by the end of the day, now with the realization that it needs more than I thought to get the car running, and with no cash to do it with. Not a good day at Matt Manter's house. First the tranny goes out on the 77, now the 80 needs more work than thought in order to be driveable.

Pinto5.0 · « **Reply #70 on:** September 08, 2012, 08:24:56 PM »

I would put a water pump on it. New is better than rebuilt but a rebuilt will be cheap insurance against it failing. Once the rest of the system is up to snuff that old one isn't gonna last a month.

sedandelivery · « **Reply #71 on:** September 08, 2012, 08:42:25 PM »

Absolutly replace the pump. I had a similar situation and I took off my pump to find the impeller was almost completely rusted away. A new pump only cost 30.00 I think for a new one.

r4pinto · « **Reply #72 on:** September 08, 2012, 09:07:53 PM »

Quote from: sedandelivery on September 08, 2012, 08:42:25 PM

Absolutly replace the pump. I had a similar situation and I took off my pump to find the impeller was almost completely rusted away. A new pump only cost 30.00 I think for a new one.

That's another reason i will be pulling the old one. I wanna make sure there is no corrosion to the impeller. I'm thinking there has to be some since the corrosion was bad enough to eat away at the t-stat housing. That's also why I am considering replacing the head gasket. It's my fear that if one part is badly corroded how will the rest be.

r4pinto · « **Reply #73 on:** September 11, 2012, 07:36:21 PM »

Today when I got home from work I dove into the Pinto's engine. The engine had a bad oil leak & what caused it was the fact the valve cover bolts were not tight. I didn't even need the ratchet to loosen them. I removed the valve cover & the inside was immaculate! Not one bit of sludge whatsoever. I did notice a nearly new gasket ruined by clear silicone. the gasket even came off in one piece. No cleanup there. I will be degreasing the valve cover & repainting it, as the original paint has seen better days. I checked out the cam & no suprise, it is worn out. All the lobes were worn so I will be getting a replacement. I will look for a Ranger roller cam but if I can't find one I will go ahead & install another slider cam. Next I removed the water pump & found it is okay. No corrosion to the impeller at all! I will degrease it & reinstall it on the block, once I remove all the old sealer that was glopped on so thick the bolts were sticking in the bolt holes.

What was supposed to be an easy fix is turning into more with every turn of the wrench. Oh well, cars will be cars.

r4pinto · « **Reply #74 on:** September 15, 2012, 03:29:37 PM »

Went to the junkyard to get a roller cam & followers. Managed to get the roller followers but the Ranger didn't wanna give up the cam. Don't wanna do this but will be buying a new cam & use the followers I got from the junkyard. It will be in Tuesday. While I am waiting for it to come in I am gonna get the gaskets & other parts so I can start getting that stuff all taken care of. I got a way to pressure test the radiator so I will do so to make sure it's fine. Once I get the water pump, cylinder head & water outlet installed I will be flushing the entire cooling system out to make sure all the crud is out of the engine.

r4pinto · « **Reply #75 on:** September 22, 2012, 09:22:02 PM »

Went ahead & got back to the junkyard to see if I could get the cam from the Ranger. Well, I wasn't able to get it from the Ranger but found a 93 Ranger that was willing to give up its cam. Got the cam & later on got to work on the car. I managed to get the exhaust manifold and intake manifold off the head. When I looked at the water jacket on the intake it was pretty much plugged with all the crud & corrosion. I was so pissed at what I saw I went ahead & pulled the head. That engine didn't want to give it up but eventually lost. Got the head off the car, to see a nasty looking head gasket but it was still in ok shape. Some places looked a bit bad but overall fine for a 32 year old head gasket. I also checked out the timing belt tensioner & it spins way too easily & is rather noisy. No shocker there as it was the same way on my 77 when I tore into it. I gotta see what I can do to get this thing fixed but know that won't be an easy task as of yet. This car was not taken care of mechanically & it shows.

r4pinto · « **Reply #76 on:** November 26, 2012, 09:03:30 PM »

First day back in a long while... Anyways, haven't had the time or patience to work on the car lately as I've been working on myself lately. Had some issues to take care of financially & actually got out & enjoyed life for a while. Anyways, I plan on soon rebuilding the cylinder head & getting the car running. Eventually an entire rebuild is in the car's future & while I am rebuilding the original 91k mile engine the 77s 124k engine will be in its place.

r4pinto · « **Reply #77 on:** January 10, 2013, 06:19:53 PM »

Went ahead & swapped out the lock buttons & the turn signal stalk on the 80. There were some jacked up aftermarket crap installed on the 80 so I installed the OE styled ones that were on the 77. May not be much progress but it's better than nothing.

r4pinto · « **Reply #78 on:** January 11, 2013, 04:49:03 PM »

Installed the radio antenna from the 77 to the 80. The one on the 80 looked like crap, being all pitted & nasty. Stupid aftermarket POS. It's not hooked up but looks better than the old one.

r4pinto · « **Reply #79 on:** January 13, 2013, 05:17:35 PM »

When it rains, it pours. Literally!!

First nice week in a long time & I can't work on the car due to the rain. I was able to get a little work done though. I degreased the driver side of the engine block, removed the radiator, started to scrape the block, found another carb to install, found a water leak inside I didn't know about, and buffed the paint on the front clip.
The water leak I'm talking about was found on accident. I was in the car looking at the fuse box when I noticed water coming down the passenger door speaker. Not sure where it's coming from but I think it's from either the loose door mirror or bad door seal. Not much else has been done to the car because of the rain but I did also find a bent up radiator core support. It was so bent up the center bracket that supports the grille & hood release was twisted. I figure to remove it what I will do is take off the bumper for better access and heat up the core support before beating it out with my BFH.
The car isn't gonna be perfect by any means but I don't wanna chance anything happening to the radiator, which was a little jacked up at the bottom anyways. When I get a moment I will post the pics of the work on the front clip. The paint sucks but at least it shines up a little.

r4pinto · « **Reply #80 on:** January 13, 2013, 09:14:50 PM »

Major brain fart with the carb. Not good to let the parts soak for almost 7 months. Everything in the cleaning solution is gummed up & will prolly be junk. Stupid mistake but oh well. Time to start from the beginning & try again. Good thing I got a couple parts carbs to replace the parts that are too far gummed up.

r4pinto · « **Reply #81 on:** January 19, 2013, 03:45:36 PM »

Today I washed the car & she already looks a lot better. I went ahead & was cleaning up the carb & decided to work on the engine some. The inside of the rear timing cover was nasty with oil so I removed it to inspect the intermediate shaft. I removed the gear & the first thing I noticed was a groove in the shaft. Not good that I would need to replace the intermediate shaft but I went ahead & checked a spare engine block that came from a 1980 Ford Courier. I still had the shaft in the block so I removed it & found it to be in perfect shape! Went ahead & cleaned it up, lubed up the bearings with assembly lube & installed it. I wasn't able to remove the crank pulley, since my air compressor decided to die on me. The starter is still on the car & it is at the bottom of a slanted driveway, so locking the flexplate isn't an option. I gotta either pick up a new air compressor or think of another way to remove the crank pulley bolt.

r4pinto · « **Reply #82 on:** January 19, 2013, 06:18:44 PM »

Pics of the polished paint

r4pinto · « **Reply #83 on:** January 19, 2013, 06:22:25 PM »

Results of first bath the car has had since at least 2008, if not longer

r4pinto · « **Reply #84 on:** January 19, 2013, 06:26:13 PM »

Even though I washed it I still can't believe how much better the car looks.

blupinto · « **Reply #85 on:** January 19, 2013, 10:58:35 PM »

From where I'm sitting she's BEAUTIFUL!

r4pinto · « **Reply #86 on:** January 20, 2013, 02:58:27 PM »

I was bored & since my air compressor is dead I couldn't do much to the car. With that in mind I decided to polish it up. The paint is really rouch & some areas are crusty, rusty but for now she looks better than before. The name Fred seems to keep popping in my head for some reason so her name is Fred. Fred is now as shiney as she can get for the time being. I hope that I can push the car up the driveway soon and get the tires swapped over. Otherwise she will look pretty ratty with those 14s lol.

r4pinto · « **Reply #87 on:** January 20, 2013, 03:00:45 PM »

Pics!

r4pinto · « **Reply #88 on:** January 20, 2013, 06:46:17 PM »

Did a little more work. I went ahead & used some Meguire's quick detail on the metal dash & it cleaned up nicely. I had removed the old headlight switch so I went ahead & installed the NOS unit I bought on ebay a few months ago, and re-installed the instrument cluster. The car is slowly coming together with what I can do while without a working air compressor.
I also went ahead & checked the process or the carb soaking, as well as the soaking bolts, and degreased the valve cover. The spare valve cover I have in the garage looks in worse shape than the original valve cover so I chose to go with what I had. The head bolts are also soaking, and come tomorrow I will be checking the threads, as well as running a tap through the bolt holes. If all goes according to plan I will be reassembling the top end of the engine.
I have a brass wheel I wanna use on the combustion chambers, and want to change out the bad valve stem seals as well before installing the head.

r4pinto · « **Reply #89 on:** January 20, 2013, 08:56:19 PM »

Forgot to mention something interesting I found when I was polishing the paint on my car. Rivets evenly spaced on the rocker panels, one every 5 or 6 inches down the center, and on the lower fender as well. From what I found out my car prolly had the lower rocker panel moulding from the factory, as well as possibly the wheel well trim. Farther investigation will be done tomorrow in the day time and I will then decide what to do later on. If the car had that stuff from the factory I would love to get the exterior accents back but I know they would be very very hard to find.

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Author Topic: New project... 1980 Runabout (Read 5767 times)