Since I drug this 72 "sprint" ( I am now enlightened as to what exactly it is I have ) home it has sparked interest from a few different people,.. And each one of them has their own information about pintos that " I need to know " .
What I really need is some solid direction,.. warnings for pit falls to avoid etc. I need advice on how to achieve my goal without overspending in areas its not nessasary so I can spend the money on the unique aspects of my project.
If you will bear with me, I'd like to state what it is I have, and what it is I want. And as usual, they are two dramaticaly different things.
Why a Pinto?
Years ago I bought a 2000 cc 71 Sedan, it was warmed up a little, cam and carb mods, a long tube Esslinger header, low profile Mickey thompson 50 series on the rear and some traction improvements.
It was a "sreet fighter" in 1st and 2nd gear I was truly amazed at the acceleration comming from a 4 cylinder vehicle. ( All my cars prior were landyatchs by comparrison ) And the beautiful part was it still behaved like the thrifty commuter when I wasnt tearing the shifter out of the trans going for 3rd gear,.. ( that literaly happened several times )
A few months ago I came across a 72 Sprint and fond memories returned.
Anyway, thats the romance of it.
What I have,
72 sprint, 2000 cc 4 spd.
Enough rust I dont feel the car is worth restoration.
Solid enough I cant see scraping it.
What I like,
Sedans, 2000 cc engines, manual transmissions, early style bumpers ( plain, no rubber strip or bumper gaurds ) Low elevation.
What I'd like to do,
Build a street version of a road race car. I " WILL " use it hard, so it has to be more than cosmetic. Big brakes with stout suspension, posi rear, 5 speed trans, and most likely fuel injection. Relocate the battery, maybe a fuel cell, and a basic cage. The wieght must stay down at all cost, the target would be 2000 or less.
I need a place to start,..
Questions,..
1. Are all sedans the same in appearance,.. are there several years with intercahangeability so I can end up with an early appearance car?
2. Since the desired appearance is that of a road race car, proper track may not be critical.
Are there any known suspension mods that arnt to painful to the pocket that will gain me larger brakes? I dont care if the bolt pattern changes, in fact if it did change it might allow me a better wheel selection.
3. Is there a posi rear axle available thats easy to find? Probably wanting too much, but having the same bolt pattern front and rear would be great.
4. Is there a known conversion to put a 5 spd. behind a 2000?
I'd like to avoid some of the bumps,. I'd like to hear from anyone who has tried, or has knowlege of these mods.
Hi Tony,..
Negative on it being the Michigan sprint,.. when I saw that picture I realized what my car is.
Mine was found in Maple Valley Washington, and is in poor condition by comparrison,.. needing a repaint and some interior work is only half the problem. The bottom of the spare tire well is " see through "
I am the " junkman " or " scrapper "you all refer to. I was called to clean up an area and haul off several cars. There was a make shift car port that was literally colapsing around what looked like a Pinto from what I could see.
We lifted the structure off the car with a backhoe and were suprised to find it had only recieved a dent next to the fuel cap. other than that and a minor wrinkle where someone had tried to straighten the rear bumper it seemed pretty much undamaged.
the heartbreak came later. I told the guy running the Hoe to pull it out to the road so I could winch it up on my truck. ( You see the disaster comming dont you ),.. I didnt.
I should have left instruction to be careful,.. the original black plastic grille was destroyed as he simotaniously bent the living *&$# out of the front bumper when he " hooked " the bumber with the teeth on the bucket to pull the car.
Anyway thats the car I have.
I dont think stock 9" rotors will effectively pull a 2000 lb car down from high speed once,.. much less several times in a row. My Fiero had 11 inch on front and I belive nearly ten on the rear. They were vented disc and worked good on a 2500 lb car. Even at that, they burned a couple times.
I did just find a thread in here that covered a 5 lug disc conversion from a Granada,.. great info. Has anyone posted anything that informative on the 5 spd conversion?
I'm so glad a persons opinion value is that of how high their post count is.
I never got that message. (Not even Joking)
I too have owned several Pintos and have driven several hard miles and not suffered brake fade on a 9 inch disk, as long as the parts are in spec's and of some quality.
I have had more issues with the lack of improvement on the Granada/ GM caliper swap. I can say the last adapters I made were Merkur dual pistons on 9 inch rotors with a 460 Pinto. But they were small metric calipers. I ran large mid 70's truck drums in the back.
For someone that might be sassy driving the street the stock parts are best to reinvest in, making sure its all with in spec's and operating correct ...
I would like to see Pic's of your little car no matter the condition.
FrankBoss
Quote from: Pintony on July 12, 2008, 04:51:07 PM
I think Frank missed the point?
My point was that I have many years and have tried different brakes and have NOT found any worth the time and money spent.
My philosophy "NOW that I know" Is unless you are BREAKING the stock parts then don't go spend money un-necessarily.
That is my opinion. Do what you want.
But if you ask for an opinion do not "argue" as if you already had your mind made up.
I agree with Frank that you MUST have your items working properly and MUST have the BEST brake shoes-pads you can find.
In almost all cases when under a panic or sudden need for good brakes the tires were the weak-link as the adhesion from tires to the road was not as good as the brakes.
From Pintony
Wow!,...sorry if I ruffled anyones feathers,.. not my intention at all,.. I did ask for imput on how not to waste money,.. and Tony would be right in his assumption I had allready thought I was going to have to have larger brakes. My view was based on experience around high performance and racing vehicles, as well as some of my own projects. I was hoping to find a cheap way of accomplishing this,.. but it appears there is no need. I'm ok with being wrong,.. its part of the learning proccess,.. but dont be offended just because I stated a different view, or opinion. Most of us have them,.. and I'm at the age where its a little harder not to. lol
I once put together a 340 hp Iron Duke cobbled from the wierdest array of parts you could imagine,.. and made things work that intelligent people scoffed at. I dont think I'm "all that" or that those folks didnt know what they were talking about,.. I just know that there are very few absolutes, and that everything that is suposed to work or not suposed to work isnt so just because "bob" says so. I usualy look for several people supporting the same idea before taking it as reliable.
I would really like to post some pictures of my car,.. if I could just figure out how. Its no gem, but I think its cool,..
Anyway,.. how do I post a picture?