Pinto Car Club of America

On my way to Schucks yesterday to get the rebuild kit for my 78' Sedan's Holly 5200 carburetor, I noticed a yellow 72' runabout in a brake shop parking lot. I went in and the co-owner of the shop is selling it for $1500 but has someone interested in it already. If he doens't hear anything from the already interested father and son, then my dad is going to buy it for $1200 for me and I'll pay him back. He'll be shaving $300 - $400 off what he pays for it for all of the time, work, and parts I've put into the family's 78 Sedan already. I sure hope I get the runabout, I would REALLY love to have a hatchback car!

The seller of the car did all of the work on the car when it was needed. Here's what he's said he's done to the car so far.

1) New clutch cable and recently repacked clutch.
2) Recently repaired radiator (done by the same shop that did the one in my 78' Sedan)
3) New alternator and battery
4) New muffler
5) Recent oil change
6) Balljoints were inspected and repaired as necessary.
7) Steering is nice and tight.
8) Transmission was inspected and checked out okay. Deffinately not as loose as my 78' Sedan.

However, not only does the car have recent work done on it, it also comes with a 73' Sedan for parts. The 73' parts car was hit in the front end but the seller says that the engine in it is an identical 2.0 4 cylinder and only has 65,000 on it. The current engine in the Runabout has 156,000 on it and needs some work done to it. From a visual and driven inspection, here's what the engine needs work on:

1) Carburetor rebuild and tune up
2) Needs new distributor and cap
3) Needs new valve cover gasket
4) Engine needs cleaning badly
5) The brakes take a lot of pressure to apply, possibly a rebuild
6) Rust at the rear driver's side quater panel at the bottom near the tire. Easy enough to cut out and put a new section in with a welder.
7) Needs a new steering wheel
8) Needs new carpet (sun bleached)
9) Needs new passenger's side door handel

It has the original yellow paintjob which is in pretty good condition minus some minor damage done to the driver's side door and the rus at the rear driver's side quarter panel by the tire. All the door latches and the hatch latch and locks all work fine. The interior isn't in to bad of condition. The vinyl on the driver's side and rear seats are all in very good condition, with the exception of a small tear in the driver's side seat. The front passenger's seat isn't in the greatest condition, but it isn't destroyed.

Primarily I really want the car due to the hatchback feature. I really like the fact that I could drop the back seat down and have a lot more cargo space when I take my computer and what not to friend's houses and when moving things from different locations.

Due to the work the engine needs and the age of the car, my dad is offering him $1200 instead of the $1500 he's asking. But with a second car for parts and the recent work done to it, is it worth the purchase? I realize I'd be "downgrading" from my current 78' with the 2.3, but how much of a difference will it really be?

Well???  Did you get it?

Nope. Dad didn't want to drop any money on it due to some rust around the driver's side quarter panel where the water gets kicked up. He didn't think it'd be worth the time or effort to cut it out and put a new piece in. It was where the panel goes flat on the bottom of the quarter panel.

Sure would have loved the car though...