Hello, just joined this site !
Wanted to tell of how I found and purchased my Pinto
I gone to the southern part of Ohio [I'm from near Cleveland] to look at an advertised 1940 ford wagon. It was not the car it was made out to be, and certainly not something I wanted to get into.
This happens alot when you go by what a car looks like in pictures
Anyway, while I'm there, I see this Pinto Sta. Wag. in the attached garage, and ask about it. The guy tells me about the car, but says he didn't think he wanted to sell it. Alot of talk and a few offers and I drove it back home with me. It ran like a clock [and had about as much power as a clock also] for the three plus hour trip
I cant send / post any photos of the car as this computer is a 1989 model and doesn't have one of those slots [ha ha] where you'd shove the picture, so here's a story of the car
Seems it belonged to this guys mother. His father had emphysema and was on oxygen, that didn't allow the wife [mother] to smoke. She went out to the car, and sat in it, with her little beaded ash tray, the windows rolled up, and smoked about three or more packs a day for about a year and a half before he died. She followed hin in less than a year, died of lung canser, Ironaclly
Anyway, the car was 100% origanal, with only 30,000 miles. Had been driven thru car washes, and had the car wash brush scraches all over it. The Interior was perfect, except for the yellow nicotine that weeks to remove, The motor and motor compartment, you could eat of. And the factory tires, completely bald and dry rotted, but factory
Dont ask me how, but the car made it all the way to my house. with the tires, this was an accomplishment and scary for sure.
It took me two weaks and several buckets of soapy water to clean the interior, I redyed the carpet, used "Ritz" dye [will tell anybody that wants to know, how to mix and apply it] and thats all to the inside of the car. Replaced the brakes, with rebuilt calipers [frt] and new whl. cyl, in the rear, all three brake hoses. New plugs, points / condenser and wires. Four new tires [spare is origanal. and I wanted to keep it] Wet sanded the body and rubbed it out, polished and waxed it to a beautiful shine, Recharged the A/C system. And put a "peal & stick sticker in the rear window that reads "FLAMABLE" [as a joke] Now, all I do is drive it
It draws a more people at a cruise, than you can shake a stick at. Actually, more people than my $90,000.00 [ninty thousand] resto job, on my 1936 ford cabriolet convertable. Go figure !
Thats my Pinto story, JIMSPINTO