PINTO CAR CLUB of AMERICA
Welcome to FordPinto.com, The home of the PCCA => General Help- Ask the Experts... => Topic started by: rob289c on May 07, 2017, 04:02:16 PM
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After casually searching for a Pinto for about 5 years I finally found my treasure. I had three of them between 1983 and 1989. They got me through 4 years of Navy and 2 1/2 years of college before I decided to get a pickup. I needed another project so I dragged a Bright Caramel (Orange) 1980 Pinto Home last weekend. My wife wasn't happy with my surprise but she's over it. I will start a thread on the Projects Forum to let you know what I'm going to do with it. I have been lurking on this site on and off over the past 3 or so years; now I am a member and will post and contribute as I get into my project. I tried attaching pics but the ones I have are over the 3000kb limit. If someone can tell me how to make them smaller I will attach...
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Use Photo Bucket..... and Welcome to the site !
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You can also use something like Irfanview, which is a photo editing/management program to resize pictures. Best thing is it works great and is free.
http://www.irfanview.net/
personally I hate sites like photobucket, but that is just me. Been on too many forums/sites where the photos are lost (ruining posts, especially how-to's) if the person closes his account or in some cases forgets to pay, or even the site itself shuts down.
Welcome to the site.
Russ
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Welcome, hope you enjoy your pinto. Please post pictures when you can. I have an '80 Wagon the same color and would love to see yours. Only Mustangs and Pintos shared that color in 1980. :) :)
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Welcome aboard, I truly wish you the best on your new project. ..And yes, we're all suckers for pics. post lots of 'em. :)
I'm now working on my 2nd Pinto. My favorites are the Port-Hole-Wagon styles. I've recently rescued a stripped squire wagon(someone removed most things 'squire' on the exterior) & I'm now in the process of switching the 2.0 4yl for a 2.9 L V6 engine(I just might even get this to work without "Funny-Car'ing" it(more rework than if I started from raw materials! ..did I mention I've applied this Pinto to the Velocity Cable Channel's "Garage Squad" show for help?). lol
My 1st Pinto Wagon I'd built the snot out of, putting some 7 Grand $ into it back in the 80's(costs after paying it off, the pain-job & interior were the biggest costs. There was more workable mech-stuff around back then).Even as far as cutting down a Mustang rear end for it to get better gearing(I had that work done, it was beyond my talent). Well, I must not have been the only one that loved my work, that car was stolen & only the stripped hulk was recovered months later,(they took "everything" but the paint job!) Sigh.
I've since learned more about "Hidden Kill Switches" & "Combination Electrical Lock Systems" that might make theft a bit harder.
Anyways, I hope we can help each other out with our Pinto Projects.
Michael
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I think I may have figured out how to get the pics to attach. I re-sent them to myself but resized to 10%. Hopefully they aren't too small to see. Since I last posted I got it up on jackstands to get a good look at the undercarriage. The floors and driver's side front frame rail are rotted. There is a lot of NY corrosion. I have decided not to save as a stock Pinto it but it's not going to die. I am going to use it as a doner for another project. I will send a few more pics and then describe my plans.
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More pics
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It doesn't look too bad. The interior is in nice shape. No tears in the seats. It is a complete car, mainly unmolested. 2.3l, automatic. The body isn't completely rotted but there is a lot of corrosion on the underside. It sat in an open outdoor stall for the last 10 years. I knew it wasn't a gem when I looked at it but bought it anyway. I had looked at it two years ago. As with a lot of Pintos I see advertised, the previous owner thought it was worth much more than I was willing to pay. I made an offer but they weren't willing to part with it at that time. I saved the phone number and waited two years. I called a few weeks ago to see if they still had it. They did and offered it to me for less than I offered two years ago. I know Pintos are rare, and to some collectable, but in my opinion they are rare because very few wanted to keep them! Anyway, I loved the three Pintos I had in the 80's so I bought this hulk. If it was more solid I would fix 'er up, but I have new plans. Read on...
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So here's my plan. I apologize in advance to any purists for what I am about to tell you. The pic below is the back half of a 67 Mustang coupe. I dragged it home 7 or 8 years ago with plans to make a trailer out of it to tow behind my 67 Fastback. The Fastback has a tiny trunk and when our kids were younger and we would go anywhere in it for more than a day trip, there was no cargo space for all the necessities. I was going to do the bodywork on it and paint it the same color as my Mustang, use the same rims, and it would have provided me cargo space, and a place to sit at car shows. It was a cool thought but it never happened. I thought about making a smoker out of it, but then got the idea to make a trike out of it. So that is the plan. I have all the body repair panels so that part will still be done, and the Pinto is going to donate its engine, tranny, drive shaft, wiring harness, shifter, radiator, etc. I am going to weld up a frame, mount the power plant, shorten the driveshaft, and graft a motorcycle triple tree and fork assembly up front. It's going to be a cool novelty vehicle. It will be a made up of three vehicles I have enjoyed over the last 30+ years: Mustangs, Pintos and motorcycles. I know, some of you are going to ask me to reconsider, but this is going to happen. I have two other projects ahead of this trike project but it is in the planning and gathering stages. There is no turning back! I will post to the Projects forum once I get going and will lurk and occasionally post in the meantime. I hope I haven't turned too many of you off. I am a true auto enthusiast. I have 8 1/2 vehicles, including the half Mustang. I'll post pics of my other toys.
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I've had the Mustang for 23 years. It was a good solid driver when I got it. I stripped it to a bare shell, welded quarters on it, some other bodywork, rebuilt the 289 2V and C4. Went through all the mechanicals. Freshened up the interior and made it a real nice driver. It took 14 years to complete the project due to crazy long work days, military duty, babies, and other commitments. I finished it in 2008 and drive it sparingly each summer. Three years ago I dragged the 82 EXP home to be a father-son resto project for my then 14 year old son. He claimed to be interested in "fixing up a car" but he's more interested in X-box. I've done 95% of the work on it so far. It was solid with only 44,000 miles. I have gone through all the mechanicals and it's ready for primer and paint. I have a later model EXP rear hatch with spoiler that is going on it. It should be done and roadworthy by July 4. He is 17 and has his license so I can teach him to drive stick and he can start driving it. That will get him out of my Ranger. After the EXP I need to do body and paint on my 94 GMC Jimmy that I bought new. It's a 2-door, 5-speed and it is my plow truck. My son is going to drive it in the winter. I am going to weld lower door patch panels and rockers on it and do some other bodywork and spray in with International Harvester Red tractor paint. After that, I get to start my trike project. That is the one I'm really looking forward to. As I said, the Pinto is going to donate its life to this project and in the end I will have a Pinto body that can either be a parts source for others or I may consider making a Pro-Street Pinto. We'll see,,,