If you don't have the money to spend on reproduction rods from sscenterprises, you can just purchase the rubber tips from them, which should be around $6.50 for a pair. Then just go to the junk yard and pull some good rods (which may be missing the rubber tips) off of 70's Ford cars, like the Gran Torino, LTD or Granada. Almost every year of these cars use the same rod as the Pinto does! Mercury cars, however, I have noticed use a shorter rod, but the same tip. My local junk yard didn't even charge me for five pairs of these, which I pulled myself.
Now remove the visor from your Pinto. If you still have the rod showing but no rubber tip, you can grasp the end of the rod with a pair of pliers and twist and pull until it comes out. However, if the rod has broken off and you cannot reach what is left of the rod, you can drill a 1/8" hole into the center of what is left of the rod, then screw in a 3-4" dry wall screw into it. Now use a pair of vise grip pliers and grab the head of the drywall screw, and pull (twist a bit) the old rod out. Now insert the replacement rod and lightly tap on the end of it with a hammer (or other easy to use tool) until it is seated. All that is left to do is pop on the new rubber tips and you are ready to go!
I hope this comes in handy for some of you, it has helped me fix a problem that has bugged me since I started driving my little Pony.
Up next, fixing a droopy visor!
Good tip. I replaced the visors cuz of that (I had spare visors from a parts car)
I was considering doing the same thing, but my original visors were still in great shape and not faded. I have three or four spare visors in storage, but two are faded black ones, and one or two are tan with stains.
Inside the visors "hinge" there is a spring. Over time this spring becomes compressed due to normal wear, or as in my case, broken visor rods. Broken visor rods let the visor hang freely as if they were down all the time, squeezing the spring down. Over time, the spring becomes "so used" to being compressed, that it stays that way.
The idea to repairing this, is to either replace the spring with a new one of equal compression, or to fill in the gap between the spring and the visor's mounting plate. I did the second alternative, as the shaft is not repairable without destruction of the spring's retention "design".
To start, you will need a steel split-lock washer, most likely 1/8" thick with an inner diameter of 1/4". Do not use cheap pot-metal washers, as they break to easilly. You will need a flat blade screw driver and some pliers. A bench vise helps a lot, but it can also be done with a couple pairs of lock jaw pliers.
The first step is to flatten the split-lock washer so that it isn't "overlapping", you don't want the extra thickness for this repair. I was able to flatten mine by putting half the washer in a bench vise and bending it to the correct position. Once this is done, you want to open the washer about 1/4" so that you can fit it around the hinge shaft. Do this slowly or the washer can break it half and you will have to start all over again.
Second, you want to create a gap between the visor mounting plate and the spring using your flat blade screwdriver to separate the two and shim the opened washer between them. Once this is done, squeeze the washer closed again with the pliers. I used a pair of vise-grips (lock jaw pliers) to make sure it was closed tightly so that it didn't come out later.
Third, re-install your visor(s) and check them for droopiness and smoothness of functionality and rotation. If they seem really hard to move and stiff, you may want to go with a 1/16" thick washer instead, and then double up on on with 1/32" thick washers until you get the feel you like.
The end result should be nice visors that don't droop and still move smoothly, just as they did when they were new!
Below is a picture of the end result on my driver's side visor.
Wifey's 79 Pinto plastic visor rod broke.
I found them at SSC Enterprises.
They are for 74-78 Mustang II, but they are the same.
Link: http://www.sscenterprises.net/4images/categories.php?cat_id=17
Great place too! I figured I would save some money by pulling a dozen or so from my local junk yard, though.
Speaking of SCC Enterprises, I just checked the kitchen counter top and my parents put a package for me there. Looks like my fuel sender o-ring and e-brake seal came in! :D
Now, does anyone know if the original visor rods were colored to match the interior scheme, or were they all gray??
ok how is it i spend tone of time looking for new parts for pinto's and miss ssc!!!!!!
SCC is a very small parts supplier. I don't know exactly how they get their parts or produce them, but they are great. They still do orders via email, and hand write "Thank You!" on the invoice you get with the parts. Very friendly and personal to their customers. I am extremely happy with their services. By far the BEST experiance I have had with a vendor when getting thing for the Pinto, even compared to face to face services!
SCC definitely good to do business with, have ordered twice, they're quick to answer questions, and shipping is quick and reasonable, and the parts fit.