After 7 years, and nearly 100,000mi of faithful service, my Pinto laid down for the last time today.
She started knocking 2 days ago, that deep down frightful sound. Unfortunately, She was all I had running. I had no choice, but to drive her.
To her credit, she got my wife & I home before she quit completely.
If the body was in better shape, I'd entertain thoughts of a T-bird Turbo swap. As it is, I'll likely scrap her.
There aren't many good parts on her, but If you have a need, just ask.
Rest in peace, my trusty Steed
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/crazyhorse001/misc/DS2_0647.jpg)
Thanks for the memories.
Heart transplant??
Bill
I say just go ahead & drop in another engine & keep on trucking. It doesn't look too bad in the pic.
Hey Paul,
Sorry to hear that your Pinto is down for the count.
Did it have the 2.0 or 2.3?
From Pintony
She had the 2300.
The pics don't show the damage/rust. I'd done a few patch jobs on the floorpan. Including the passenger rocker panel The rear 1/4's are pretty bad. The doors are bad too, as even new hinge pins/bushings didn't allow them to close properly.
well dont scrap her! part her out!
Where are you located? If you're close enough i might be willing to come get the whole car if the price is right. Might be january before I could tho is the only bad thing. I like the whole car in general and i am sure i could use alot of the parts from it on my other 3 pintos if it is indeed unserviceable.
I may have written her epitaph a bit too early. Last night it looked REALLY bad. Things generally look better in the light of day though. I went to do the autopsy, and found the #1 exhaust rocker arm laying in the head. The arm & cam are both toast, but that's fixable. I'll get on it ASAP.
I always wanted a Ranger roller cam. Now is as good a time as any to upgrade. What years Ranger camshafts are "plug & play" in the '74 2.3L?
if you want the rf fender to have a good home my pinto is the same color and needs one.
Good luck, hope you can save the car from the scrap heap. :D
She's been VERY good to me over the years.
I bought her 7 years ago, for $550. In that time, I've replaced 2 starters, a flex plate, and most recently, an oil pump. All told less than $300 in parts. She's rusty, the doors don't close right, and she's too small for my family, but DADGUMMIT she's been reliable, and a BLAST to drive!
I'll scrap her when/if she rusts to the point of being unsafe.
Just the other day, I was at the local Chevy dealer to get parts for my Olds. When I pulled in, EVERY salesman came out to look over my Pinto! I couldn't have gotten a better reaction in a Lamborghini!
Glad to hear it wasnt a rod or busted piston. Hopefully the head is ok and that it didnt damage it any. As far as rust goes, i know how that is. My fist pinto was so rusty it actually had a hole in the floor on the passengers side up front about 6" wide and probably 18 inches front to back. you had to make da*n sure you kept your feet to the side of the hole ;D The back floorboards on both sides were so rusty if you stepped on them you felt like you were going to fall thru because they would flex under your weight! The rear 1/4's had holes big enough for you to put your head thru behind the wheels and the trunk floor had some big holes in it too. There was almost nothing left of that car, but it ran to 344,000 miles. Thats what got me started on pintos. I sold it to a guy that made a dirt track racer with it for $100, and he gave me my engine and new transmission/starter/clutch/pressure plate back. That clutch and pressureplate is in the 76 i have now.