With all the craziness going on over the holidays this is the first I've had to get back and finish letting you know what I have and who I am.
I pretty much covered my '79 Panel and what I would Like to do with it the last time. My daily driver is an '80 Squire that is a dark metallic brown with, I believe, an '80 only interior color that I would probably call "rust". I haven't seen that interior color on any other Pinto. It's a 4cyl/4spd with factory A/C. It is completely stock except for the radio and a Hurst shifter. I have installed the three spoke "Sport" steering wheel, wire wheel covers, sheepskin covers on the front buckets, and a factory power steering setup. I have an extra intermittent wiper setup yet to install.
The third car I currently own is a '77 Squire with 2.8 V6/C-3 auto, fact A/C, P/S, and P/B. It runs, but I believe one of the cylinder heads may be cracked as I get a lot of "steam" out of the exhaust when first started and it is very hard starting when at operating temp. The body is straight with just a little rust in the bottom of one of the doors. It has some very minor surface rust in a couple of areas where the paint has worn through. The woodgrain paneling and trim is pretty well shot. It is white with a chamois interior. The interior is in pretty good shape overall. The dash has some cracks. My plans are to swap the trans and rearend into the Panel to get it driveable while I do the other work on it I want to do. If anyone is interested in a straight '77 Squire (I can't find anywhere where the car has been hit, except in one of the flexible headlight trims and I have a replacement for that) with the trans and 8" removed (the rearend from the '79 will be installed so the car will roll), please let me know.
The other three Pintos I have owned were all '77 Cruisin Wagons. The first was silver/ black interior, V6/auto. Second was white/chamois interior, 4cyl/stick. Third was white/blue interior, 4cyl/stick.
I bought my first Pinto in '78 and have owned one off and on ever since. I didn't know that Ford had ever built the Panel until I saw one in about '83 or '84. Being a sedan delivery/panel truck fan, I decided to try to find one. I finally found the '79 I have in '90, so as you can see, it has been a "longterm project". The transmission gave up after about six months. Some other financial considerations cropped up, so it sat for a while. It wasn't until I "found" eBay and could start finding some of the parts I either needed or wanted for the Panel did I really start to work on it again. My "New Years Resolutiion" is to get the Panel on the road.
I currently work with computers (desktop and network support). Before that I was in the automotive industry. Worked as a line mechanic in a dealership for almost four years and then got into the automotive performance aftermarket working for companies such as Hedman Hedders and Weiand Automotive. I have worked on cars since I was eleven and I'm now an old fart of fifty-five, so I can handle most anything with cars. My body, unfortunately, has gotten to where I can't do as much as I used to. I also had a quadruple bypass about two and a half years ago and my ribcage still hurts where they cracked it open. All this means is that I just have to take things a bit slower than I used to (and rely on my son's help at times!).
I am married with two children (boys, one eightteen and one twelve) at home. Also have a married daughter that is twenty-five.
On my last posting, I was asked if I could post some pictures. I will as soon as I get my home computer straightened out and get the pictures scanned into the computer.
Does anyone have a good running 2.8 V6 that they are looking to sell? If so, please let me know. Thanks.
Brien
Welcome,
I too was a mechanic, (junior) in my earler days & I'm now a IT Manger for a Local TV station...
From cars to computers... what's the link?
We're glad to have you here!
I don't know what the car-computer connection is either, but i took th ASE certification straight out of high school. I only worked in a shop for 6MO (I found I didn't like working on other people's cars) last year I took the final MCSE exams , and I'm working on building a small ccomputer buisiness. So, I've got two certifications 15 yrs apart.
Cool!
Another computer geek,
I also own the Hosting Company that FordPinto.com is hosted on, WEBcanyon Inc.
FordPinto.com gets all the 'free' hosting & bandwidth it wants,
http://www.webcanyon.com (http://www.webcanyon.com)
Starting a business is time consuming,.. let me know if I can help!