It is nice to see all of us Pinto lovers.I am a new comer to the site.I have had my 1973 Pinto sedan, Martha Splatterhead I call her, since 1986.I have gone through the years of family and friends asking me why I don't get a new car.Can't explain it-I love the car.It is so easy to maintain and so fun to drive.I don't race her.She has a 2000 cc engine.I was rear-ended at freeway speed in 2001 and this week, she is going into the body shop (was totalled).I can't wait to drive her again.And NO, she didn't explode.Kinda funny that when she came to rest after being hit, she was still running perfectly-just a little more jacked up in the rear than before :D I rebuilt the entire car over the years that I have had her (except for the interior).
So, I imagine I will be inquiring with you all over the years to find parts and for advice.I will try to post a picture-before and after-when I get her back.
Enjoy your Pintos!!
Hello, and welcome to the site.
Sorry to hear about your misfortune, but it sounds like all is in hand.
We'll be looking forward to seeing your pictures.
Well, I thank you. Yes, it was a big bummer. The good thing is, however, that the car will be looking better than it did before the wreck (well, with a little bondo, but NOT a LOT thankfully!). I can't wait to drive it. It's interesting to me when the younger generation comments on my Pinto. When I was in college in the mid-nineties, a skater kid (8 or 9 year old boy) came up to my car and said "wow, cool car! What is it?". I was also at a gas station and another young boy commented on my "cool car". They missed the whole "bad...pinto...blowup" era, so I think it's neat that the innocent ones know a cool car when they see one!!
Allright, another Pinto love in Wa State, any time you want to turn heads let the 2 of us cruise the freeway together. I live near Enumclaw.
That's funny, Farmboy, cause I saw your user name and immediately liked ya cause I am also a farmer! In fact, me and mine often attend the auction in Enumclaw. We raise chickens and other poultry. But, back on Pintos. Nice to hear that you are local! I'd be happy to cruise the freeway. My Pinto has been on the road for a long time, just took a couple years off and during those years I have noticed a drastic decline in the Pintos I see driving around. Do keep in touch, and we might just be cruising I5 together one of these days! Do you know of any other Washington Pinto Lovers? Do you show yours? Or just drive around?
A thread about racing and chickens in WA....
Why do visions of Burt Reynolds keep flashing in my head?
Breaker, Breaker, this heres the Bandit, anybody got a copy ;D
My Pinto went to the shop yesterday along with her parts car. I have to visit them today to discuss rust issues. The technician said they can fix it but it might be easier to swap chassis and rebuild a different car. This won't be the same, but I will discuss it. The only place I think exists a rust issue is where the door hinges are and under the dash/firewall area. When I'd drive it, I remember my left foot getting dripped on when it rained. You couldn't see any rust, but I am sure it is there. Other than that the car is pretty solid. Does anyone have any ideas about this? I think I'd rather have them fix the rust areas and keep my chassis. The car has been garaged since the accident in 2001. And my parts cars have all been sitting in the rain for years. I'll continue the story but probably should have posted it in the project section...oh well.... :-\
The drains for the cowl are stoped up, and the water has noware to go but inside the car. Locate the drains and blow them out. Should fix your leak.
My left foot allso used to get wet, swapped the left front quaterpanel and found a small rusthole, mixed up some JB weld, ground down the rusted area, put a dab of JB, no more wet foot or carpet ;D
Cool, thanks for the tips, fellers!
My car does the same thing! Driving it home I had to take off my shoe to keep the carpet from getting wet!!! I hae to clean out my cowl, and theres probably some rust issues I need to take care off, but if it starts to drip on your passenger side you might check your heater cowl, it could need replacing as well......
So they have hooked up the rear end to their rack and pulled out the smashed part. This revealed a lot of unforeseen damage to the floor pan in the back seat as well as other issues. I am now looking for a good body and have sent a couple of our co-members some emails. I am hoping to find a good body for cheap that I can use for my project. I found a NICE pinto in Kansas, but I do not want to use that one cause it is in such nice shape. In case anyone is interested, go to collectorcartraderonline.com and search for the 1973 pinto.
I called about this pinto above last night and he still has it. His name is Ron and he had a couple of calls on it but states he is having a hard time selling it in his area. It needs carb work and turns over, but won't start he says. Only one small rip in one of the seats and even still has the original seat covers.
More to come.
check out the one for sale in the classified section, he's in Olympia, Wa. The runabout looks in good shape to me, E mail him and he'll shoot you some pic's
Support your local Biker
When I was a teenager, Dodge came out with the 7 year 70k mile rust protection on their trucks and didn't understand why, now I know. Man I feel sorry for you guys looking for a rust free vehicle in your part of the woods. I guess thats the price you've got to pay when you look out that living room window at all the pretty green, clean air & cheap land. .
It does seem awful hard to get away from the rust. Although I do have four parts cars, but all hatchbacks. I need a trunk model. 2 of the hatchbacks are rust free, but the parts I need are the rear body and frame. :-\
I checked out that add for the 1980 Pinto in Olympia, Farmboy, but I have a 73 and really want to stick to that year. I may have to go with a 71 or 72 rear frame if I have to, but want to stick with the older models-not as many of them out there, I know, but that's why I want to stick with them, I guess. I sure appreciate all of you folks keeping your eyes and ears out for me. Even if it is far away, I don't mind paying to have it shipped to WA, as long as from the doors back is nearly or all rust free and no more than lightly damaged. The body and frame is all that I need.
Don't know about a 71/73, but I put a 74 front end on my 80 racer and it fit as well as stock. Only way you can tell its an 80, is by the dash and tail lites..
Sedans were hard to find 10 years ago, let alone now. That's why I jumped on that '74 when I found it.
Even if you had fixed Martha, she wouldn't have been the same. :'(
Well I still am not having much luck finding exactly what I need, but I have many sets of eyeballs looking for me. One of my co-workers knows of a 1972 (he believes) wagon that has red interior, black exterior for sale in Olympia. He thought the guy was asking $500 and I believe it runs and looks wonderful. If anyone is interested, email me and I will get you in touch with the right person. Sorry, I'm not into wagons.
I know where there used to be a 71, 2 or 3 coupe in Clovis, N.M. a few years ago, but it would take me some time to see if it's still there and find out who to contact. I remember it looking like it had been there for quite a while. It's pretty dry there, it might not be too bad. I remember thinking it was a 70 1/2 at the time. Would you like me to see what I can find out about that one?
Thanks pairapintos. I am sorry I did not get back to you sooner. Have not visited the site in a while. Found a body - It's a 71 trunk model and is almost perfect. I visited the shop today and they were tearing parts off all of my pintos and getting ready to build mine. They say they'll have it finished by early summer and I can't wait!! Thanks to all of you who have been keeping your eyes out for me.
Glad to hear you found a body. Please post some pictures when you get a chance ;D
I visited the body shop again today to pick a paint color.The color had a bit much violet in it, so they are going to try a mix of about 50% of the violet that I saw today.The color is going to be black with the flakes of violet in it so it shows when the sun hits, but I don't want the violet to take over.They had the '71 stripped down and are ready to do the "strip painting"? Is that the right term? Anyway, interior is going from green to black (it was black on black w/my '73). You can see the cardboard between the rear seat and trunk. This will be replaced with sheet metal and the rear seat is not being reinstalled. They had the rear end installed (it is off a Mustang II), and boy just sitting there with the primer it was looking real sweet. The wiring harness is near mint in the '71, which is very cool.I am very happy with the shop that I am working with.What great dudes!And excellent customer service!!Well, more later.
Visited the shop again today to see my new car all painted and looking GORGEOUS!!! It is running and is now a '71 pinto with '73 guts. They still have to put in the glass and front bumper and some things like side mirrors, etc. Little stuff. Car looks GREAT!! I did not have the chrome accessories put back on (around windows, wheel wells, etc). The only chrome on the car will be the bumpers, taillights, rims, and pinto emblems. It will be looking very dark once I get it tinted. The color turned out perfect! I will eventually have the rear-end lifted a bit and a tow package put on. I feel a bit safer having a nice hitch sticking out the back of the car; which my former car had. Sorry that I have not posted any photos. I do not have a digital camera but have asked one of the owners of the shop to snap some photos for me so that I can post them. I do have hard copies of the car the day of the wreck (just after being hit) and I will have my sis put them in electronic format for me to post. The car really looks sharp. The interior is non-existent for the time being and will be custom finished later. Farmboy, you just might see me in my pinter up at the Enumclaw auction.
Wow, alot of work done, send me a PM and I'll meet you somewhere.
I finally was able to upload some wreck day pics to my original post. It's funny, car doesn't look too bad really, but the entire trunk floor is folded, and the floorboards torn open. I think the leaf springs and hitch absorbed quite a bit of the energy. I didn't have my foot on the brake and the force knocked me about 100 ft forward. No glass broke. She really held up nice. So I pick up my new Martha Splatterhead on 6/15, next Wednesday, and have several appts to take her to: Muffler (having a Flowmaster put on-she has a Headman Header already) and alignment/shocks plus a once over to make sure running gear is A-OK. Then taking her to Olympia to get the windows tinted. I ordered some black shag carpet for the floor and headliner (thought the carpet-covered headliner would offer better sound system acoustics). I am ok with the bucket seats now but still going to put some splashguards behind all 4 wheels. I am still looking for some black monster fur (like the cookie monster) with purple tips or purple with black tips. I had the rear seat removed (seat belts still present, there will be groovy pillows and such in the back-like a lounge, I guess) and sheet metal added to the hole between the rear seat and the trunk, which eventually will have a grated-over bass speaker box in the trunk. I will be putting monster fur in the rear seat area, under the rear window and up the sides of the rear seat area, dash cover and maybe the door panels. I am also looking for some dark purple leopard longhaired fake fur material to make custom seat covers (also thought about putting this over the front door panels-not sure yet). Thinking I will use Velcro to attach the monster fur and leopard fur because my dog, Jake, will be my car alarm and if he tears it or stinks it up, I can remove it for washing or to put a new piece on. Pretty excited about the interior but it is hard to find the custom fabric I am looking for. Right now she is stripped down to the sheet metal, but it is all cleaned up and painted flat black, so a good starting point. I should have pics of the new ride soon. I am thinking of taking her to some shows-she really looks nice. I had the work done at Extreme Auto in Shelton WA. What a group of great fellers and they provided me with the BEST OF CUSTOMER SERVICE!! The car turned out better than I had planned, partly because they made some recommendations to me that made a lot of sense. I will post some photos in a week or two.
I picked up Martha Splatterhead yesterday and here she is. I had the windows tinted. Water pump was leaking (it dried up) due to the engine sitting for 4 years, but other than that she is running and looking mighty fine. And, might I add, is also looking very SHINEY!
:D
Nice Pinto.
Amazing story too. Good to see it has a happy ending.
OK, here she was before the shop started on her:
.....and after:
Awww, the new Martha is just great!! Sittin' pretty on the Strait of Juan De Fuca.
Too Cool, I can hardly wait to see her in person. She turned out so nice and shiney :o
I am very happy with Extreme Auto's work. Hope to show her to you soon, Farmboy. Check out my Chevy-lover co-worker in the 3rd pic admiring the pinto!! He gave me crap all the way since Jan when I first put her in the shop. Then when he saw her, he loved her!
She did turn out really sharp. I was hoping one of your pictures would show the purple flakes, and one did. That turned out really cool.
As far as the "monster fur". you could try contacting some costume design places, and maybe get some leads on where to find what you are after. Good luck.
Heck of a time finding the right monster fur but I do have a lead. Sample is being sent to me now. I think I found the material that I will use on the seats. It's not quite what I had in mind....it's better. Thanks for the compliment, Dirt Track. It really takes a nice sunny day to bring the purple out just right - a rare occurrence in WA state ;) But I do enjoy the dark paint and love the sleek black look when it is cloudy/rainy.
Hey sagesunrise:
Cool! ;D
77pintocw
:D And the shifter...one of a kind. Handmade by a best friend of mine back in '89 or so out of melted down aluminum. :D Not the best connection between the shifter and the tranny and one day I'd like to have it altered at a machine shop and some of his "neck" trimmed off. But for now he adds to the fun of driving ol' Martha. His head fits perfectly in my little hand. The harmonics of the car will cause him to start bouncing and rattling and that tells me it's time for a tune up or some carb tinkering. More interior to come as that part of the project moves forward. It's on hold for now as I try to locate all of the material styles I am looking for. I did receive my black shag carpet - 8 yards should do it (headliner and floorboards, including where the back seat used to be).
After seeing your car and the cool shifter handle, I was thinking its too bad washington is so far from pennsylvania. ;)
I am kinda bummed that I live so far from the East Coast. Seems there are so much things going on over there regarding pintos. I really would love to be able to attend the shows and the meets with other pinto folks. I suspect there are a lot more West Coast pinto people, but they just haven't discovered the site yet. My pinto has been my life since 1986 and discovering this site was the coolest. I never knew there were other people who were crazy like I am :D I LOVE THIS WEBSITE!!
8) WAY COOL car Sagesunrise! Troy
Thank you!
if Kermit is passed out on the lawn, I wonder....... Where did Miss Piggy wind up last night????
That turned out quite nice! Wish I had seen this earlier, as I have a '73 body only a few miles from you, at my folk's house in Allyn, as well as a few other parts. Unfortunately I moved to the east coast a few years back and wasn't able to take the cars with... My sister has her '73 Wagon out there, too.
PERVERT!
ChrisV, Yea, what a bummer you moved! You could have free parts galore! I can't find anyone to take the parts and I am offering them for free. Does your sis drive the wagon? I was driving into Belfair once and saw about a'73 wagon pulling out of North Mason High heading South on SR 3. That was about 6 months ago or longer. Could've been you or your sis!! I work for the Allyn fire department if your sis is interested. They all know about my pinto. She can inquire with them the next time she passes through if she would like anything. Be happy to give her any and all parts that she thinks she could use, but she has to turn the wrenches :) Thank you for the compliment and I am very glad to see you all enjoying Kermit. I wanted a pic that would make everyone laugh!!
Very well could have been hers. Hers is red.
And turn wrenches? She could rebuild any part of any car. She's been an SCCA racer for a LONG time, and wrenches on all her own stuff. Most of her racers have been older Hondas (though she learned to race in my Pinto way back in the day), however, and her Pinto is just a clean driver.
ChrisV-It's so great to hear she is a gearhead girl. I've got some parts that are waiting to go to scrap that I would rather give to fellow pintoers. If she is interested, she can have at 'em. ;)
I found my connection on some black with purple monster fur. It is not the type of monster fur that I had initially thought of using, it is more "hairy" instead of "furry", but because the color combo that I must have is so difficult to find, I will use this hairy stuff. So it is polyester and I give off lots of energy (static electricity) wherever I go...should there be any concerns of using this as my interior with all of the static it will produce? Just a thought that crossed my mind so I wanted to ask the group. I plan on using it for the back "seat" area - sides, back, and under the rear window. One of my plastic sides under my rear pop out window has a big chunk broke out of it so it will definitely be nice to cover that up. Obviously that part came out of my '73 cause I remember the interior being crunched in that spot. I will cover the dash with this stuff too and I have decided, at this point, to leave the door panels as is. They are in great condition, shiney, and look very nice. I prefer the '71's arm rest to the '73's. It seems the arm rests in the '73 were always coming off and breaking. I will also put this monster fur on my ebrake assembly. I will be purchasing this fur in August and will post some interior pics as the project starts. For now, I have purchased 8 yards of black shag carpet for the headliner and floor, including the floor area where there once was a rear seat. Stereo system needs completion before the carpet is installed. I have 3 more speakers that I'd like to install before the carpet goes in. Here is a pic of the monster fur I had hoped to find, only in black and purple but I am unable to find it. The second pic is the style I will be purchasing (in black and purple of course).
RIGHT ON! You are obviously comfortable in your own skin (monster fur) ;D
Great to hear from some other Washington Pinto Owners. I just picked up a 1973 Pinto for $100, i found it in an old car lot in Central Washington. Needs carb work and quite a bit of rust but i think it'll be great when i get some time to work on it.
I'd love to see what parts you have left from your parts cars. I need a few things to get mine looking good. for now probably just a dash and drivers door armrest. I'm looking for the kinda dark blue. Is that monster fur something that can on some pinto's or is that something that people added later? my seats are kindof a light blue valour kindof fabric that looks professionally done.
The monster fur will be custom and the idea came from yours truly. I don't think I can help you with a dash. The dash on my 73 is very bad. I am not sure the condition of the blue dash on the 74 but I think it is also cracked at least a little bit (although you could cover it with some custom material and no one would know). Drivers arm rest in my 73 has been broken and welded back and forth so much that I think it has given up. I believe my passenger side arm rest is good, though (it's black). The interior and body of the 73 is pretty thrashed but there are some parts like coil springs that are still good. The rear that is currently sits on is stock from a 71 sedan and it should also be in good shape. You are welcome to whatever is salvageable on the 73 and 74 (free parts). It might be worth your drive to come on out.
believe it or not, you can use a set of "clippers" or sheep shears to get that monster hair, down to monster fur. As for the extra "energy" as long as your not sitting on it it SHOULDN'T give you any troubles. That being said, anyone who does sit on it will mist likely have a hair raising experience & more shocking fun that you can shake a stick at! I'd never have thought to use fur in my interior, but as my interior is FINALLY done, it's a tad late to change my mind LOL
Hey Sagesunrise.........Your static electricity thing can be minimized by getting a can of Anti-Static spray from an electronic componant store or Maybe Radioshack.
And also I like the fur thing. I did a fur roof liner in my 89 Jimmy and it is nice. Please......photos are good. Did you post any pics of your car? Are you doing this work yourself?
High_Horse
If you have any monster fur left over???
You can make tribels! ;D
From Pintony
Hey Tony, when you say Tribels are you talking regalia?
crazyhorse, I don't really want to clip the hair, it's just that the monster fur is more "nappy" and I like that better than the hairy stuff, but I like them both. It will still look nice.
High Horse, I do have a bunch of pics of my car on the previous pages of this post. I just recently snapped a couple interior (not much interior to speak of at this point) photos that I will have developed and put on a CD so I can put some on the site. There is a pic of my favorite part of the interior, my shifter :D , posted herein. Here is a picture my buddy snapped behind my back. Sorry it doesn't really show the real interior, but it's fun nevertheless.
I probably won't have any back seaters and the static spray is a good idea. Or I could just rub the fur down with a fabric softener sheet, it will smell good too!
I think I will do the fur myself, but am having the seats custom covered by a professional and the carpet/headliner installed by a professional. I didn't want to mess with the headliner cause I want it done right so it doesn't flop down on me when I am driving. :o That would not be good.
Hello Sagesunrise,
Your obviously NOT a Trekie! ;D
From Pintony
Nope. Never was much into the boob tube. Did watch some CHiPS, though! 8)
If you want to see Pintos on the tube "Night Stalker" is the ticket. Lots of Ponys on that show.
GEESH it is HOT outside almost 10:00PM and and still over 90 Deg.
only 10 more days untill the show in St Louis. Tick Tick Tick
I might pull an all nighter tonight.
Sure wish my BIG fan had not burned up.
From Pintony
Hey, you can avoid electrocution by installing some grounding straps, I think you can still get them at napa, if not im pretty sure they still sell them at Jc whitney. they just clip to the under-carriage somewhere and dangle to the ground, all youre pent up energy goes thru them to the ground instead of thru you!! Or you can cheapy cheapy your way out by just running a piece of heavy gauge speaker wire off the bottom of your car somewhere, as long as its just long enough to touch the ground when you're stopped.
Have you tried your monster fur samples under a blacklight yet?
Dirt Track,
Nope, haven't tried the black light but what a GROOVY idea! Maybe down the road I can put a black light in the back area somewhere. So would that strap really help the issue? Never heard of that. Does that mean that if I get struck by lightning with that dangler strap that it won't get me?? :D Thanks for your input. I am going to have a lot of fun with the interior as soon as I have cash to buy the rest.
Tif
You're welcome. The strap doesnt cover lightning, but they do work for static electricity. ;D. I've had a few cars where I got zapped every time I got out of them, I'm a cheap-skate so I just ran a piece of wire, and I didn't get zapped anymore. Good luck and have a zap-free day.
The monster fur/hair arrived a few weeks ago, black with dark purple throughout.The fur strands are one-and-a-half to 2" long. I am having my sound system upgraded tomorrow and next month the black shag carpet will be installed.Thought it wise to have the sound system wiring run before installing the carpet. I'll post pics once the carpet is installed and then again when the fur is installed. Still looking for weather stripping for both driver and passenger doors if anyone has any connections.
Sound system upgrade was successful. Very nice. Now for the carpet...