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Author Topic: Restoring my 78 Sedan  (Read 114866 times)

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Offline dave1987

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Re: Restoring my 78 Sedan
« Reply #390 on: September 16, 2011, 03:31:26 AM »
1) After removing my lower bushings and shells, this is what I was left with. (New bushing components on top, originals on the bottom)

2) The box steel spacers in place to prevent warping and bending the lower control arm(s)

3 and 4) Press set up and ready to install the new bushing shells (held in place by pressure)

The new shells can only be installed in one direction. The end of the bushing shell with the shoulder goes in through the front of the control arm. With this in mind, the original shell can only be pressed out in one direction as well, from the back of the arm through to the front.
1978 Ford Pinto Sedan - Family owned since new

Remembering Jeff Fitcher with every drive in my 78 Sedan.

I am a Pinto Surgeon. Fixing problems and giving Pintos a chance to live again is more than a hobby, it's a passion!

Offline dave1987

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Re: Restoring my 78 Sedan
« Reply #391 on: September 16, 2011, 03:38:30 AM »
The new bushings for the lower control arms came with the inner sleeves already installed. The inner sleeve and bushing are pressed into place together. Easy to do with a shop press!

REMINDER: Don't forget to lubricate the bushings before installing them! The Energy Suspension kit comes with a small tub of white silicone grease that you will use for this purpose. Grease the outside of the bushing and the inside of the shell before installing the bushings! Anywhere that the bushing contacts the metal! This will make installation easier by preventing the bushing from pulling in on itself, as well as prevent any squeaking when the car is back on the road again.

Energy Suspension bushings use a two piece bushing for the Pinto lower control arms. The bushing inside the shell, as well as a bushing "end cap bushing", which "cushions" the front of the control arm when installed into the cross member.

1) Bushing being pressed into the shell.

2) New bushing installed (view from above)

3) New bushing installed (view from below)

4) Bushing "end cap bushing"
1978 Ford Pinto Sedan - Family owned since new

Remembering Jeff Fitcher with every drive in my 78 Sedan.

I am a Pinto Surgeon. Fixing problems and giving Pintos a chance to live again is more than a hobby, it's a passion!

Offline dave1987

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Re: Restoring my 78 Sedan
« Reply #392 on: September 16, 2011, 03:43:20 AM »
When reinstalling the control arms with the new bushings it may be difficult due to the extra cushion now present. With some wiggling around it will go right back where it came from though.

1) Bushing "end cap bushing" in place.

2 and 3) Control arm reinstalled with new bushings!
1978 Ford Pinto Sedan - Family owned since new

Remembering Jeff Fitcher with every drive in my 78 Sedan.

I am a Pinto Surgeon. Fixing problems and giving Pintos a chance to live again is more than a hobby, it's a passion!

Offline dave1987

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Re: Restoring my 78 Sedan
« Reply #393 on: September 16, 2011, 03:55:12 AM »
That's it for the control arms!

Next up was the strut rod bushings. While I was nervous about removing the strut rods, in fear of finding rusted away rods like other members have had, I knew it had to be done if I wanted a nice tight suspension. Lucky for me, living in a fairly dry state and the car not driven much in the winter spring or fall much in it's past, my strut rods are still in great shape!

For those of you considering doing your strut rods, try to locate a good set of them before pulling yours off. You most likely won't want to put them back on after you find out how badly rusted and narrow the metal is where the bushings ride. If they do turn out to be good, at least you have a good spare set!



I also did my sway bar end links. I didn't realize how old and bad the ones I had on the car were until I pulled them apart for the first time. The ones that were on the car were original ford ones, and were like bad strut rods; rusted where the bushings ride and very narrow.


Picture 1) Old strut rod bushings on top, new ENS bushings on the bottom

Picture 2) Old FoMoCo end links on the right, new Duralast end links on the Left


1978 Ford Pinto Sedan - Family owned since new

Remembering Jeff Fitcher with every drive in my 78 Sedan.

I am a Pinto Surgeon. Fixing problems and giving Pintos a chance to live again is more than a hobby, it's a passion!

Offline dave1987

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Re: Restoring my 78 Sedan
« Reply #394 on: September 16, 2011, 04:06:23 AM »
Last but not least, I installed the new steering rack! Nice and shiney! To bad no one ever sees the underside of my car! :(

As you can tell from the pictures the design is slightly different but seems to be just as durable. A couple of the JPL Street Rods employees have the same rack on their hot rods and have for a few years without any complaints. I have heard some good testamonials about the rack, so I am not going to worry to much. It's nice and tight and rides like a dream now!

The rack came with the inner and outer tie rods, rubber rack bushings, and the dust boots.


Picture 1) Old rack on the top, new rack on the bottom

Picture 2) Rack installed (view from front)

Picture 3) Rack Installed (view from driver side)

Picture 4) Rack Installed (view from passenger side)
1978 Ford Pinto Sedan - Family owned since new

Remembering Jeff Fitcher with every drive in my 78 Sedan.

I am a Pinto Surgeon. Fixing problems and giving Pintos a chance to live again is more than a hobby, it's a passion!

Offline dave1987

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Re: Restoring my 78 Sedan
« Reply #395 on: September 16, 2011, 04:11:13 AM »
The car rides like a dream, and the front end is unbelievably tight! I really have to re-learn how to drive the car since it doesn't wiggle around, it's not shaky or noisy anymore either. It handles different when accelerating, slowing down, shifter gears, dropping out of gears to neutral, turning, hitting bumps rocks or going up or down curbs....It's like driving an entirely different car and I LOVE IT!

I highly recommend those of you who can do it, to rebuild your front end, you won't regret it! Now I know what it means for the front end to be "tight", and what it feels like to drive a new Pinto! :D

Well that's all for now. I have some other pictures I will post up from some things I've done to the car this year, but I will do that tomorrow. It's late and time for bed.
1978 Ford Pinto Sedan - Family owned since new

Remembering Jeff Fitcher with every drive in my 78 Sedan.

I am a Pinto Surgeon. Fixing problems and giving Pintos a chance to live again is more than a hobby, it's a passion!

Offline r4pinto

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Re: Restoring my 78 Sedan
« Reply #396 on: September 16, 2011, 11:45:30 AM »
You know Dave, my front end is very noisey so that is prolly why. Those bushings are so old & rotted it's crazy. Can't wait to get mine all finished up so the car drives right.
Matt Manter
1977 Pinto sedan- Named Harold II after the first Pinto(Harold) owned by my mom. R.I.P mom- 1980 parts provider & money machine for anything that won't fit the 80
1980 Pinto Runabout- work in progress

Offline dave1987

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Re: Restoring my 78 Sedan
« Reply #397 on: September 16, 2011, 12:36:53 PM »
It really is amazing how different it is. Yes, there is a little bit of road noise, but nothing unbearable. The increase in the performance of the steering alone makes up for that. Bumps don't rattle the front end, dropping from different paved road to another doesn't bounce the car around, and when making turns there is no delay in the steering. Before it would take a fraction of a second for the car to respond to the turn of the wheel in a fairly quick turn, but now it is instantaneous. It also doesn't seem to be as harsh of a roll when turning.

While slowing down and taking the car out of gear to come to a stop the car would sometimes pull or wander off to the left or right, but it stops completely straight now. The same goes when accelerating, it doesn't want to wander off anywhere, it just stays where it is!


I was looking at my old steering rack and I may have been able to get away with new outer tie rod ends, the inner tie rods don't seem to be BADLY worn, but they are not like the new steering rack, where the inner tie rods will stay sticking straight out when set to a certain position. The inner tie rods on the original rack flop around like bunny ears.
1978 Ford Pinto Sedan - Family owned since new

Remembering Jeff Fitcher with every drive in my 78 Sedan.

I am a Pinto Surgeon. Fixing problems and giving Pintos a chance to live again is more than a hobby, it's a passion!

Offline dave1987

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Re: Restoring my 78 Sedan
« Reply #398 on: September 17, 2011, 01:43:57 AM »
So a couple months ago (July), the wife was out of time visiting a friend in California and I had to work so I stayed behind. I had some extra time on my hands and figured I would figure some way of mounting the adjuster knob for the passenger side mirror. It has been coiled under the dash behind the center cuby since I installed the mirrors a year or two ago.

Some of you might be wondering why I didn't just mount the knob in the stock location under the dash. Well, the sport mirrors are from a Mustang II, and the right side mirror knob isn't a 90 degree mounted knob like the stock Pinto ones are, instead they protrude straight towards the driver from the dash (on the Stang II).

So here is what I came up with! Found some scrap aluminum sheet metal lying around in the garage and went to work with it. However that wasn't going to be ridged enough, or thick enough, to mount the retaining ring/nut, so I had to cut and fab a spacer to put  behind it out of arcylic (all I had available). Here's what was done:

1) The bracket panel made from scrap aluminum. The small hole on the top lines up with an existing screw hole under the dash that I have been using as a ground. That way I didn't have to turn the dash into swiss cheese!

2) The bends done to make sure everything looked decent and not just another piece of bent up scrap metal.

3) The arcylic piece that is mounted behind the side of the bracket bezel that the big hole is on. I had to step the circular cut so the ring/nut of the knob would seat tight and flush with the bezel.

4) The bezel installed an in place. It is a bit out of place, but I can always remove it. I just need to find a Pinto correct passenger side mirror with the 90 degree knob!
1978 Ford Pinto Sedan - Family owned since new

Remembering Jeff Fitcher with every drive in my 78 Sedan.

I am a Pinto Surgeon. Fixing problems and giving Pintos a chance to live again is more than a hobby, it's a passion!

Offline dave1987

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Re: Restoring my 78 Sedan
« Reply #399 on: September 17, 2011, 01:45:32 AM »
And one last picture. It doesn't stand out a lot, which is what I was going for, so that is good. I just know it looks less stock like this and that bugs me, even if other people looking at my car don't know it.


1978 Ford Pinto Sedan - Family owned since new

Remembering Jeff Fitcher with every drive in my 78 Sedan.

I am a Pinto Surgeon. Fixing problems and giving Pintos a chance to live again is more than a hobby, it's a passion!

Offline dave1987

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Re: Restoring my 78 Sedan
« Reply #400 on: September 17, 2011, 01:58:10 AM »
And the last update for now...

So when I started driving the car and really started enjoying it, I greased and lubricated everything, including the window actuators. One thing I noticed was that the door handle wouldn't stay on at the back, so while I had the door panel off I would take a look and find out why. Well, apparently the fastener clip that the bolt threads into tore away from the door at some point in time, damaging the surrounding sheet metal. My brother made an attempt to weld it into place when he had the car but it didn't last and only weakened the metal more. The clip eventually stopped holding on all together and I had to figure out some way to hold the door handle in place before it put so much stress on the front fastener that it would follow in the rear fastener's footsteps.

So I went redneck and screwed a piece of wood inside the door and the rear bolt screws into it. It works, that's all I can really say! The handle is tight, and should it ever start to get loose again, I can just replace the piece of wood section. lol

This is the most out of whack thing I have done to my car, but at least no one knows...Well, except for you who read this that is!


 
1978 Ford Pinto Sedan - Family owned since new

Remembering Jeff Fitcher with every drive in my 78 Sedan.

I am a Pinto Surgeon. Fixing problems and giving Pintos a chance to live again is more than a hobby, it's a passion!

Offline dga57

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Re: Restoring my 78 Sedan
« Reply #401 on: September 17, 2011, 08:21:12 PM »
This is the most out of whack thing I have done to my car, but at least no one knows...Well, except for you who read this that is!


 

Well hey, if it works it works!!!  Let's hear it for ingenuity!!! :drunk: :lol:

Dwayne :smile:
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Offline dave1987

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Re: Restoring my 78 Sedan
« Reply #402 on: September 28, 2011, 12:00:22 AM »
That's right. There are some crazy things I would do to this car to keep it on the road and a survivor! That's why my storage unit is 90% Pinto parts!



I bought a new stereo for the car last week, I'm installing it tomorrow. It's a Pioneer DEH-65BT. Black faceplate this time, which is what I wanted before but not available. Some neat options too!

Color changing button lighting and display color, I'll keep it at blue, or white if available.

Black remote (instead of black and silver like now)

USB support! YAY! I'll throw my most listened to music onto the 8GB thumb drive I bought with it and not have to worry about scratched CDs anymore! :D

Bluetooth phone compatibility. Not sure if I will use it, but interesting non-the-less.


The current deck will be transplanted into the station wagon. I'm chopping an old radio bezel to make it work (yes, I'm keeping the original one intact). Brownie has some things going on in her restoration as well, check out her thread for updates!



My dad said he would like to drive the car again next time he is down, to see the difference in handling and ride quality, but he is considering waiting until I rebuild the transmission.

Not much left to do restoration wise. New springs (both leaf and coil), and rear bushings, maybe a locking rear end if I can track one down. After that's it's a paint job, and door and trunk seals and it's all finished! :O

1978 Ford Pinto Sedan - Family owned since new

Remembering Jeff Fitcher with every drive in my 78 Sedan.

I am a Pinto Surgeon. Fixing problems and giving Pintos a chance to live again is more than a hobby, it's a passion!

Offline dave1987

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Re: Restoring my 78 Sedan
« Reply #403 on: September 30, 2011, 11:07:24 PM »
Well this is rather disappointing. ...

The DEH-64BT that I bought to replace my existing DEH-P3900MP is actually quite a down grade, and it was even the SAME PRICE! :(

Sure it has the multi color LCD screen, brighter, USB input and the bluetooth phone option...

But it cannot support the output to all four of my speakers, and gets extremely hot after five minutes of being on! The audio settings are lacking (not much there to set frequencies), and the remote doesn't even have an ATT or audio setting button, the two most used buttons that I use.

Oh well. The only stereo available right now that is comparable to what I have is nearly $200. I can't justify putting that much into a head unit. Looks like I will stick with what I was using before and get something half decent for Brownie (won't require much since I don't plan to put a high end system in her).

Life goes on!
1978 Ford Pinto Sedan - Family owned since new

Remembering Jeff Fitcher with every drive in my 78 Sedan.

I am a Pinto Surgeon. Fixing problems and giving Pintos a chance to live again is more than a hobby, it's a passion!

Offline dave1987

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Re: Restoring my 78 Sedan
« Reply #404 on: November 22, 2011, 06:41:52 PM »
Had to get a new battery today, during my routine winter battery check. They no longer carry the Die Hard C-10 so they replaced it with a Die Hard Group 56, but it is only 5 less cold crank amps! The factory replacement is a 385 CCA and the one they replaced it with is a 530 CCA, so I am not to worried about it. With a year and a half still left on the other battery, the replacement was 50% off! :D

I replaced the positive terminal and the felt pads while I was at it.

Hopefully I don't have to worry about it for another four and a half years! :)
1978 Ford Pinto Sedan - Family owned since new

Remembering Jeff Fitcher with every drive in my 78 Sedan.

I am a Pinto Surgeon. Fixing problems and giving Pintos a chance to live again is more than a hobby, it's a passion!

Offline dave1987

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Re: Restoring my 78 Sedan
« Reply #405 on: April 05, 2012, 02:25:50 AM »
As you all know by now I am a bit on the crazy side of the DIY group....

Well I'm re-webbing my seat belts myself, putting the ole' Bernina sewing machine to some good use! Why do them myself? Well, no local upholstery shop will even consider re-webbing retracting belts, due to liability issues. I cannot fully understand why though, it is actually a very simple design and little can go wrong when one is paying close attention to the quality of the work. Stitch pattern, and thread type are the important part here.

I am using size 138, extra strength nylon upholstery thread, on a conventional machine sized spool. Due to the small size of the thread, I do three to four rows of stitches. If I were to use something larger, say size 207, I would do two rows of stitches.

For the stitch pattern, I do what the upholstery shops do for me with seat belts. First stitching a square, then stitching an "X" through it. For the lower anchor, I did two boxes with X's in them, but with a straight line between them. The original stitch pattern that FoMoCo used was a snake type stitch, but I do not trust that type of stitch as the box with X is stronger with more surface coverage.

This thread in a Corvette forum shows the type of stitch pattern I used. I couldn't get a clear pic of the stitching on my phone though.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c1-and-c2-corvettes/3022552-62-seat-belt-stitching-pattern.html


The type of webbing I am using is different from the original FoMoCo webbing. Stock Pinto webbing is three bar, with a wide center bar and narrow ones on each side. The new webbing is six bar with equal sized bars throughout the width of the webbing.

Now some pictures:

1) My old belts worn out and fraying compared to the new belt webbing.

2) The webbing difference. It may be hard to see the difference without adjusting your brightness or contrast.


1978 Ford Pinto Sedan - Family owned since new

Remembering Jeff Fitcher with every drive in my 78 Sedan.

I am a Pinto Surgeon. Fixing problems and giving Pintos a chance to live again is more than a hobby, it's a passion!

Offline r4pinto

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Re: Restoring my 78 Sedan
« Reply #406 on: May 14, 2012, 11:57:46 AM »
Looks good Dave, and bound to be a lot safer in a wreck, should it ever happen that is.
Matt Manter
1977 Pinto sedan- Named Harold II after the first Pinto(Harold) owned by my mom. R.I.P mom- 1980 parts provider & money machine for anything that won't fit the 80
1980 Pinto Runabout- work in progress

Offline dave1987

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Re: Restoring my 78 Sedan
« Reply #407 on: November 04, 2012, 06:41:22 PM »
The front end is squeaky, need to put some grease zerks in the shells so I can grease them once a year or so.


I found some decent fog lights at harbor freight to replace the set I was using before (nose dived in a parking lot and broke one of the lenses). These are a plastic body though. :( They will get the job done for the season though, I suppose....


I was using a set of Lucas Pathfinder Firecracker's that my dad used back in the 70s, and have had zero luck finding a replacement lens for it! :( I'm wondering if a glass forming company could make me one based on the one that I have left.. Any thoughts?
1978 Ford Pinto Sedan - Family owned since new

Remembering Jeff Fitcher with every drive in my 78 Sedan.

I am a Pinto Surgeon. Fixing problems and giving Pintos a chance to live again is more than a hobby, it's a passion!

Offline dave1987

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Re: Restoring my 78 Sedan
« Reply #408 on: April 14, 2013, 10:59:38 PM »
Been awhile since I've posted, yes. I've been lurking though! :P :)

Just ordered hog rings and #69 nylon treated thread, I have the piping already. Tomorrow after work I'm picking up the vinyl.

Hopefully I can start reupholstering the original seats for the car by the end of the week!
1978 Ford Pinto Sedan - Family owned since new

Remembering Jeff Fitcher with every drive in my 78 Sedan.

I am a Pinto Surgeon. Fixing problems and giving Pintos a chance to live again is more than a hobby, it's a passion!

Offline dga57

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Re: Restoring my 78 Sedan
« Reply #409 on: April 15, 2013, 12:25:11 AM »
That sounds like an interesting project!  Any prior experience in upholstery work?  Can't wait to see the results!
Dwayne :)
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Offline dave1987

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Re: Restoring my 78 Sedan
« Reply #410 on: April 17, 2013, 10:22:58 PM »
Well, I just about finished the seat cushion last night, and coming upon the final stitching, and a test fit before finishing it, the outside edges where the welt cord goes around the cushion, is wavy and not straight.

The reason? The pattern I traced from the original panels is no good. The original vinyl panels are dry, stretched and out of shape that they are no good as a reference. :(

I need to find a seat cover pattern with exact measurements. What I am doing is creating new upholstery for the seats from scratch and nothing to reference off of but the original aged material, which really is a poor reference.

Any ideas where I can get a good properly scaled pattern for 1979 - 80 seat upholstery?

Now I have two 1/2 lb spools of upholstery thread, two remaining yards of vinyl, and 500 hog rings and nothing to do with them, for the time being. Argh!
1978 Ford Pinto Sedan - Family owned since new

Remembering Jeff Fitcher with every drive in my 78 Sedan.

I am a Pinto Surgeon. Fixing problems and giving Pintos a chance to live again is more than a hobby, it's a passion!

Offline dave1987

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Re: Restoring my 78 Sedan
« Reply #411 on: May 12, 2013, 05:43:26 PM »
Something good now!

I picked up a replacement 4spd FOG transmission for the car last week, found it on craigslist for $45, was sitting outside for a few years in an old race car driver's back yard, said he took it off a blown 2.3 and never used it since the replacement motor had the tranny already on it.

Put a new release bearing on it cleaned it all up, new cover gasket cut out, topped it off and swapped them out today.

I don't have anymore odd whine in 2nd gear and the pulsating in 2nd from 1500 - 2000 rpm is gone! The shifter is much tighter in this, and the shifter when in gear feels much tighter and "secured".

One thing I did notice, though, was that the bolt that goes straight up into the tail shaft which holds the transmission mount bracket to it was missing when I pulled everything apart. I used the bolt that was on the replacement trans and put that in, and the transmission no longer sits ON the bracket. I'm thinking that's where the groaning sound during deceleration was coming from, and just resonating through the car. Now the transmission sits about two inches higher than the rubber strap connected to the catalytic converter.

I'm starting to get good at this transmission swapping thing, I've got it down to three hours with just myself and no other help! lol
1978 Ford Pinto Sedan - Family owned since new

Remembering Jeff Fitcher with every drive in my 78 Sedan.

I am a Pinto Surgeon. Fixing problems and giving Pintos a chance to live again is more than a hobby, it's a passion!

Offline dave1987

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Re: Restoring my 78 Sedan
« Reply #412 on: April 17, 2014, 11:19:21 PM »
Got some more work done on the Pinto! I have been super busy with work, training new restaurant manager's, fixing troubled stores, developing and strengthening existing managers, and now in training to be a district manager. I finally got around to getting a week of my vacation time put to use, and of coarse, the Pinto wants some attention as soon as it started! lol

A week ago I noticed the exhaust started to sound pretty bad. I looked it over last week and noticed that the pipe (which I have known was rotten and beyond repair for some time now) from the catalytic converter back had finally started to rust away from the muffler inlet. I wrapped a coat hanger around the muffler and secured it under the car, just in case the pipe decided to give away and drop the muffler like a hot potato, glad I did to!

A few years back it started to rust away from the hanger above the axle. I patched the pencil sized hole and it actually was still holding quite well! I took the car in before patching that hanger hole and they said that the pipe was so rotted that welding anything to that pipe would only burn a hole through it due to it being so thin from age. I told them I would just patch it and wait as long as I could before doing any work to it, hoping to get the V8 in before I had to redo any of the exhaust system.

I didn't get the V8 in, but I did, quite literally, wait until I absolutely had to do anything to it!

So two days ago, I picked up a FlowMaster 40 series muffler, and removed the pipe from the cat back to take into Boise Muffler and have them do a copy bend of the pipe for me to take back to the shop (Dad's garage) and install in the car.

I decided to remove the cat while I was at it, since the bolts looked like they had seen better days, and just as rusty as the pipe was. Not only that, but they couldn't even be removed, I had to cut them off at the flange, then push the remaining bolt out with a press. For the cat to the pipe, I had to cut one of those two bolts off. The flanges are still in great shape though! Replaced the bolts for the cat and got a new gasket for the cat to the down pipe, everything sealed up real well! Not bad for a 44 year old catalytic converter shell!

I installed the pipe that Boise Muffler bent for me, and it all DID go together, just not a great fit. The bends they did to get the pipe over the axle were to far apart. They fixed all of that when I took the car back in to them to install the glass pack resonator to quite things down.

When I had them copy bend the original pipe, I had them angle the pipe, from the axle to the cat, upwards about 15 degrees, since the original pipe had sagged so low that I lost 1.5" of clearance and the exhaust would drag over speed bumps!

After everything was installed, the car sounded GREAT! A nice deep growl, just what I was hoping for, but the drone from the exhaust was to much while driving down the road at a constant speed. I loved the loudness at idle, but couldn't stand the drone while cruising, so I took the car into the Boise Muffler shop, and they installed a canister style glass pack resonator, which cut the drone down by about 40-45%. It still has the growl and deep rumble, but it's not annoying anymore.

All in all, here's what I did:

Sized up the pipe from 1.75" to 2.25" from the cat back
Added a canister style glass pack resonator just before the pipe bends to go over the axle
Added a FlowMaster 40 series 16" welded muffler
Installed a 45 degree cut straight pipe tip to direct the exhaust out from underneath the car, lessening drone noise

And here are the pictures!
1978 Ford Pinto Sedan - Family owned since new

Remembering Jeff Fitcher with every drive in my 78 Sedan.

I am a Pinto Surgeon. Fixing problems and giving Pintos a chance to live again is more than a hobby, it's a passion!

Offline dave1987

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Re: Restoring my 78 Sedan
« Reply #413 on: April 17, 2014, 11:20:59 PM »
And these two show the FlowMaster and the exhaust tip from above. Although I'm not a fan of styled exhaust tips, I'm going to continue using this until I find something better and a bit more conservative that isn't a down turn pipe.
1978 Ford Pinto Sedan - Family owned since new

Remembering Jeff Fitcher with every drive in my 78 Sedan.

I am a Pinto Surgeon. Fixing problems and giving Pintos a chance to live again is more than a hobby, it's a passion!

Offline dga57

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Re: Restoring my 78 Sedan
« Reply #414 on: April 17, 2014, 11:37:17 PM »
Dave,
Glad to know you're still working away on that Pinto!
Dwayne :)
Pinto Car Club of America - Serving the Ford Pinto enthusiast since 1999.

Offline dianne

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Re: Restoring my 78 Sedan
« Reply #415 on: April 18, 2014, 06:37:39 AM »
Looks good Dave!!! Can't wait to see and hear in person!
Vehicles:

- 1972 Plymouth Duster (To be a Pro Street)
- 1973 Ford Pinto wagon (registered ride 195)
- 1976 Mustang II mini-stock
- 1978 Mustang King Cobra II
- 1979 Ford Pinto Runabout
- 1986 Chevy K5 Blazer
- 1997 Suzuki Marauder

FORD: Federal Ownership Respectfully Denied

Offline 74 PintoWagon

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Re: Restoring my 78 Sedan
« Reply #416 on: April 18, 2014, 08:16:02 AM »
Nice installation.
Art
65 Falcon 2DR 200 IL6 with C4.

Offline dave1987

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Re: Restoring my 78 Sedan
« Reply #417 on: October 19, 2014, 02:08:36 AM »
Hello all! Been pretty busy with work this year, haven't had much time with the Pinto so I have been getting some computer projects/hobby done in the short amount of time I have had.

My dad learned that "pintoautocross er" here on the forums, is a co-worker of his. He and my dad go "junkyarding" on a semi-regular basis and on the last quest they were able to get me a 4-speed with 5th/overdrive from an 82 Mustang GT. Not a Borg Warner T5 or an SROD, but a tremec. It's the "RAP" transmission. It will do until the V8 comes, though.... :) The 5th gear/overdrive helps immensely with dropping the RPM at highway speeds so that I can still hear myself think!

Here is the transmission pictures he had sent me over the phone.

Pic 1 - After removal from the Mustang
Pic 2 - After being degreased
Pic 3 - Casing casting ID and lube fill
1978 Ford Pinto Sedan - Family owned since new

Remembering Jeff Fitcher with every drive in my 78 Sedan.

I am a Pinto Surgeon. Fixing problems and giving Pintos a chance to live again is more than a hobby, it's a passion!

Offline dave1987

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Re: Restoring my 78 Sedan
« Reply #418 on: October 19, 2014, 02:22:17 AM »
We started the job of installing the transmission on a Sunday at 15:00, which would have been just a three hour job, but we ran into a complication.. ...

We got the old transmission out and the new one in an about an hour, however we had to relocate the speedometer cable from the passenger side to the driver side, for one. Then, after we got everything bolted up, we realized that with the original flywheel I have been using, the clutch fork could be pulled completely forwards and against the bell housing without every touching the pressure plate! Then it clicked.....

Lucky for me, I don't discard anything I may find of use, and I kept the flywheel I bought from a fellow from here, about four years ago. This flywheel was nearly twice the thickness of the original flywheel for my car, and now I knew why, because it wasn't for my car, it was for a different 2.3l manual transmission! So we ran back to my place to get what we needed from my shed, including the proper flywheel.

Once the flywheel was in place, we reinstalled the transmission to the car, and started modification to the transmission cross member. The Ford FOG transmission mount is similar to the mustang's RAP transmission mount as far as measurements go. In fact, I was able to re-use the mustang's transmission mount with the Pinto by simply widening the holes/slots for the transmission cross member so that the mount's threaded posts could pass through it. We did this by using a cutting bit in the drill press and hogging out the cross member holes.

The Pinto's catalytic converter/exhaust hanger that is connected to the transmission mount is removable, which meant we wouldn't have to fabricate any type of hanger for the exhaust system, keeping things super simple with this swap!

Pic 1 - Flywheel differences - (FOG transmission on left, RAP transmission on the right)
Pic 2 - Pinto transmission cross member holes widened
Pic 3 - Pinto transmission mount/exhaust hanger in place on RAP transmission
Pic 4 - Pinto transmission mount/exhaust hanger in place on RAP transmission
1978 Ford Pinto Sedan - Family owned since new

Remembering Jeff Fitcher with every drive in my 78 Sedan.

I am a Pinto Surgeon. Fixing problems and giving Pintos a chance to live again is more than a hobby, it's a passion!

Offline dave1987

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Re: Restoring my 78 Sedan
« Reply #419 on: October 19, 2014, 02:29:01 AM »
Once everything was taken care of under the car, it was time to take care of the the transmission tunnel, and cutting the shifter hole forwards an inch, to accommodate the new position of the shifter. Strangely enough, the position of this transmission seems to be identical to the position of a T5, and modification is pretty much the same. Past research of mine really paid off here!

We cut the transmission tunnel just enough to drop in the three bolt shifter, and a little bit of room for shifter movement. Nothing crazy. The remaining of the shifter opening at the rear of the boot was covered up with a section of sheet aluminum cut to sized and pop-riveted into place using the original shifter boot bolt holes.

Pic 1 - Transmission tunnel marked for cutting
Pic 2 - Transmission tunnel cut for shifter
Pic 3 - Aluminum plate pop-riveted into place to fill gap
1978 Ford Pinto Sedan - Family owned since new

Remembering Jeff Fitcher with every drive in my 78 Sedan.

I am a Pinto Surgeon. Fixing problems and giving Pintos a chance to live again is more than a hobby, it's a passion!