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Why the Ford Pinto didn’t suck

Why the Ford Pinto didn't suckThe Ford Pinto was born a low-rent, stumpy thing in Dearborn 40 years ago and grew to become one of the most infamous cars in history. The thing is that it didn't actually suck. Really.

Even after four decades, what's the first thing that comes to mind when most people think of the Ford Pinto? Ka-BLAM! The truth is the Pinto was more than that — and this is the story of how the exploding Pinto became a pre-apocalyptic narrative, how the myth was exposed, and why you should race one.

The Pinto was CEO Lee Iacocca's baby, a homegrown answer to the threat of compact-sized economy cars from Japan and Germany, the sales of which had grown significantly throughout the 1960s. Iacocca demanded the Pinto cost under $2,000, and weigh under 2,000 pounds. It was an all-hands-on-deck project, and Ford got it done in 25 months from concept to production.

Building its own small car meant Ford's buyers wouldn't have to hew to the Japanese government's size-tamping regulations; Ford would have the freedom to choose its own exterior dimensions and engine sizes based on market needs (as did Chevy with the Vega and AMC with the Gremlin). And people cold dug it.

When it was unveiled in late 1970 (ominously on September 11), US buyers noted the Pinto's pleasant shape — bringing to mind a certain tailless amphibian — and interior layout hinting at a hipster's sunken living room. Some call it one of the ugliest cars ever made, but like fans of Mischa Barton, Pinto lovers care not what others think. With its strong Kent OHV four (a distant cousin of the Lotus TwinCam), the Pinto could at least keep up with its peers, despite its drum brakes and as long as one looked past its Russian-roulette build quality.

But what of the elephant in the Pinto's room? Yes, the whole blowing-up-on-rear-end-impact thing. It all started a little more than a year after the Pinto's arrival.

 

Grimshaw v. Ford Motor Company

On May 28, 1972, Mrs. Lilly Gray and 13-year-old passenger Richard Grimshaw, set out from Anaheim, California toward Barstow in Gray's six-month-old Ford Pinto. Gray had been having trouble with the car since new, returning it to the dealer several times for stalling. After stopping in San Bernardino for gasoline, Gray got back on I-15 and accelerated to around 65 mph. Approaching traffic congestion, she moved from the left lane to the middle lane, where the car suddenly stalled and came to a stop. A 1962 Ford Galaxie, the driver unable to stop or swerve in time, rear-ended the Pinto. The Pinto's gas tank was driven forward, and punctured on the bolts of the differential housing.

As the rear wheel well sections separated from the floor pan, a full tank of fuel sprayed straight into the passenger compartment, which was engulfed in flames. Gray later died from congestive heart failure, a direct result of being nearly incinerated, while Grimshaw was burned severely and left permanently disfigured. Grimshaw and the Gray family sued Ford Motor Company (among others), and after a six-month jury trial, verdicts were returned against Ford Motor Company. Ford did not contest amount of compensatory damages awarded to Grimshaw and the Gray family, and a jury awarded the plaintiffs $125 million, which the judge in the case subsequently reduced to the low seven figures. Other crashes and other lawsuits followed.

Why the Ford Pinto didn't suck

Mother Jones and Pinto Madness

In 1977, Mark Dowie, business manager of Mother Jones magazine published an article on the Pinto's "exploding gas tanks." It's the same article in which we first heard the chilling phrase, "How much does Ford think your life is worth?" Dowie had spent days sorting through filing cabinets at the Department of Transportation, examining paperwork Ford had produced as part of a lobbying effort to defeat a federal rear-end collision standard. That's where Dowie uncovered an innocuous-looking memo entitled "Fatalities Associated with Crash-Induced Fuel Leakage and Fires."

The Car Talk blog describes why the memo proved so damning.

In it, Ford's director of auto safety estimated that equipping the Pinto with [an] $11 part would prevent 180 burn deaths, 180 serious burn injuries and 2,100 burned cars, for a total cost of $137 million. Paying out $200,000 per death, $67,000 per injury and $700 per vehicle would cost only $49.15 million.

The government would, in 1978, demand Ford recall the million or so Pintos on the road to deal with the potential for gas-tank punctures. That "smoking gun" memo would become a symbol for corporate callousness and indifference to human life, haunting Ford (and other automakers) for decades. But despite the memo's cold calculations, was Ford characterized fairly as the Kevorkian of automakers?

Perhaps not. In 1991, A Rutgers Law Journal report [PDF] showed the total number of Pinto fires, out of 2 million cars and 10 years of production, stalled at 27. It was no more than any other vehicle, averaged out, and certainly not the thousand or more suggested by Mother Jones.

Why the Ford Pinto didn't suck

The big rebuttal, and vindication?

But what of the so-called "smoking gun" memo Dowie had unearthed? Surely Ford, and Lee Iacocca himself, were part of a ruthless establishment who didn't care if its customers lived or died, right? Well, not really. Remember that the memo was a lobbying document whose audience was intended to be the NHTSA. The memo didn't refer to Pintos, or even Ford products, specifically, but American cars in general. It also considered rollovers not rear-end collisions. And that chilling assignment of value to a human life? Indeed, it was federal regulators who often considered that startling concept in their own deliberations. The value figure used in Ford's memo was the same one regulators had themselves set forth.

In fact, measured by occupant fatalities per million cars in use during 1975 and 1976, the Pinto's safety record compared favorably to other subcompacts like the AMC Gremlin, Chevy Vega, Toyota Corolla and VW Beetle.

And what of Mother Jones' Dowie? As the Car Talk blog points out, Dowie now calls the Pinto, "a fabulous vehicle that got great gas mileage," if not for that one flaw: The legendary "$11 part."

Why the Ford Pinto didn't suck

Pinto Racing Doesn't Suck

Back in 1974, Car and Driver magazine created a Pinto for racing, an exercise to prove brains and common sense were more important than an unlimited budget and superstar power. As Patrick Bedard wrote in the March, 1975 issue of Car and Driver, "It's a great car to drive, this Pinto," referring to the racer the magazine prepared for the Goodrich Radial Challenge, an IMSA-sanctioned road racing series for small sedans.

Why'd they pick a Pinto over, say, a BMW 2002 or AMC Gremlin? Current owner of the prepped Pinto, Fox Motorsports says it was a matter of comparing the car's frontal area, weight, piston displacement, handling, wheel width, and horsepower to other cars of the day that would meet the entry criteria. (Racers like Jerry Walsh had by then already been fielding Pintos in IMSA's "Baby Grand" class.)

Bedard, along with Ron Nash and company procured a 30,000-mile 1972 Pinto two-door to transform. In addition to safety, chassis and differential mods, the team traded a 200-pound IMSA weight penalty for the power gain of Ford's 2.3-liter engine, which Bedard said "tipped the scales" in the Pinto's favor. But according to Bedard, it sounds like the real advantage was in the turns, thanks to some add-ons from Mssrs. Koni and Bilstein.

"The Pinto's advantage was cornering ability," Bedard wrote. "I don't think there was another car in the B. F. Goodrich series that was quicker through the turns on a dry track. The steering is light and quick, and the suspension is direct and predictable in a way that street cars never can be. It never darts over bumps, the axle is perfectly controlled and the suspension doesn't bottom."

Need more proof of the Pinto's lack of suck? Check out the SCCA Washington, DC region's spec-Pinto series.

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My Somewhat Begrudging Apology To Ford Pinto

ford-pinto.jpg

I never thought I’d offer an apology to the Ford Pinto, but I guess I owe it one.

I had a Pinto in the 1970s. Actually, my wife bought it a few months before we got married. The car became sort of a wedding dowry. So did the remaining 80% of the outstanding auto loan.

During a relatively brief ownership, the Pinto’s repair costs exceeded the original price of the car. It wasn’t a question of if it would fail, but when. And where. Sometimes, it simply wouldn’t start in the driveway. Other times, it would conk out at a busy intersection.

It ranks as the worst car I ever had. That was back when some auto makers made quality something like Job 100, certainly not Job 1.

Despite my bad Pinto experience, I suppose an apology is in order because of a recent blog I wrote. It centered on Toyota’s sudden-acceleration problems. But in discussing those, I invoked the memory of exploding Pintos, perpetuating an inaccuracy.

The widespread allegation was that, due to a design flaw, Pinto fuel tanks could readily blow up in rear-end collisions, setting the car and its occupants afire.

People started calling the Pinto “the barbecue that seats four.” And the lawsuits spread like wild fire.

Responding to my blog, a Ford (“I would very much prefer to keep my name out of print”) manager contacted me to set the record straight.

He says exploding Pintos were a myth that an investigation debunked nearly 20 years ago. He cites Gary Schwartz’ 1991 Rutgers Law Review paper that cut through the wild claims and examined what really happened.

Schwartz methodically determined the actual number of Pinto rear-end explosion deaths was not in the thousands, as commonly thought, but 27.

In 1975-76, the Pinto averaged 310 fatalities a year. But the similar-size Toyota Corolla averaged 313, the VW Beetle 374 and the Datsun 1200/210 came in at 405.

Yes, there were cases such as a Pinto exploding while parked on the shoulder of the road and hit from behind by a speeding pickup truck. But fiery rear-end collisions comprised only 0.6% of all fatalities back then, and the Pinto had a lower death rate in that category than the average compact or subcompact, Schwartz said after crunching the numbers. Nor was there anything about the Pinto’s rear-end design that made it particularly unsafe.

Not content to portray the Pinto as an incendiary device, ABC’s 20/20 decided to really heat things up in a 1978 broadcast containing “startling new developments.” ABC breathlessly reported that, not just Pintos, but fullsize Fords could blow up if hit from behind.

20/20 thereupon aired a video, shot by UCLA researchers, showing a Ford sedan getting rear-ended and bursting into flames. A couple of problems with that video:

One, it was shot 10 years earlier.

Two, the UCLA researchers had openly said in a published report that they intentionally rigged the vehicle with an explosive.

That’s because the test was to determine how a crash fire affected the car’s interior, not to show how easily Fords became fire balls. They said they had to use an accelerant because crash blazes on their own are so rare. They had tried to induce a vehicle fire in a crash without using an igniter, but failed.

ABC failed to mention any of that when correspondent Sylvia Chase reported on “Ford’s secret rear-end crash tests.”

We could forgive ABC for that botched reporting job. After all, it was 32 years ago. But a few weeks ago, ABC, in another one of its rigged auto exposes, showed video of a Toyota apparently accelerating on its own.

Turns out, the “runaway” vehicle had help from an associate professor. He built a gizmo with an on-off switch to provide acceleration on demand. Well, at least ABC didn’t show the Toyota slamming into a wall and bursting into flames.

In my blog, I also mentioned that Ford’s woes got worse in the 1970s with the supposed uncovering of an internal memo by a Ford attorney who allegedly calculated it would cost less to pay off wrongful-death suits than to redesign the Pinto.

It became known as the “Ford Pinto memo,” a smoking gun. But Schwartz looked into that, too. He reported the memo did not pertain to Pintos or any Ford products. Instead, it had to do with American vehicles in general.

It dealt with rollovers, not rear-end crashes. It did not address tort liability at all, let alone advocate it as a cheaper alternative to a redesign. It put a value to human life because federal regulators themselves did so.

The memo was meant for regulators’ eyes only. But it was off to the races after Mother Jones magazine got a hold of a copy and reported what wasn’t the case.

The exploding-Pinto myth lives on, largely because more Americans watch 20/20 than read the Rutgers Law Review. One wonders what people will recollect in 2040 about Toyota’s sudden accelerations, which more and more look like driver error and, in some cases, driver shams.

So I guess I owe the Pinto an apology. But it’s half-hearted, because my Pinto gave me much grief, even though, as the Ford manager notes, “it was a cheap car, built long ago and lots of things have changed, almost all for the better.”

Here goes: If I said anything that offended you, Pinto, I’m sorry. And thanks for not blowing up on me.

Another '74 Bites The Dust?

Started by blupinto, January 09, 2013, 08:19:37 PM

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cutelitlputtputt

Anything to keep her runnin'!

johnbigman2011

Heck, you could of trained him to be a master pinto gasser like your self Becky ;D
1972 Trunk Model..... Yeller Feller
1979 Wagon Turbo.... 85 2.3 Turbo
1923 T- Bucket ...... 2.0 Pinto Powered
F 250 Redneck Lincoln .... Pinto Picker upper

blupinto

Well, one next-door neighbor saw me just sitting there looking stupid when I was holding the still-uninserted filler tube and dumbly looking on... he asked what I was doing. I considered asking him to get on his knees and hold the gas tank (unstrapped) while I pushed the tube in or vise-versa. I lost my nerve, though- nhe's not the kind of guy who likes to get down and dirty working on cars.  ;D The other neighbors couldn't care less.  :P
One can never have too many Pintos!

johnbigman2011

So your telling me the neighbors didn't come over and ask if that hurt?? I hate that when people ask those kind of questions when I totaly ......... :-X
1972 Trunk Model..... Yeller Feller
1979 Wagon Turbo.... 85 2.3 Turbo
1923 T- Bucket ...... 2.0 Pinto Powered
F 250 Redneck Lincoln .... Pinto Picker upper

blupinto

Thank you, John. lol  I didn't just throw them... I lobbed them hard (and loud) enough to annihilate whole towns, especially when that finger got caught! Patience is truly not my strong suit.  ;D
One can never have too many Pintos!

johnbigman2011

Becky. I usually throw the f bombs and drink some beer and lite the BBQ when the stress gets too high... Remember your the master mechanic in your drive way shop and you can do as you want.

Yes, you are a drive way professional in my book ;D

Great job with the tank for sure.
1972 Trunk Model..... Yeller Feller
1979 Wagon Turbo.... 85 2.3 Turbo
1923 T- Bucket ...... 2.0 Pinto Powered
F 250 Redneck Lincoln .... Pinto Picker upper

blupinto

lol thank you guys... but is it professional to drop f bombs and go in the house, sulk and eat ice cream in the middle of the job?  ::)
One can never have too many Pintos!

cutelitlputtputt

I think everyone needs to have a Becky in their house!!! 

Good God, I mean dog!!!  You know how to get down and dirty!!!! 
(I just realized that has many meanings....LO L)

Very professionally done Becky!

Anything to keep her runnin'!

r4pinto

Nice job Becky, I knew you would get it all taken care of in no time  ;D
Matt Manter
1977 Pinto sedan- Named Harold II after the first Pinto(Harold) owned by my mom. R.I.P mom- 1980 parts provider & money machine for anything that won't fit the 80
1980 Pinto Runabout- work in progress

blupinto

New sock (Thank you thank you THANK YOU Rich!) and other stuff. lol

I replaced the gasket and that flange thingy (technical term- look it up! lol) that is so fun to remove and put in place. I guess it's a sending unit retainer ring. No, I didn't manage to mess it up. lol Between the strap bolts and the filler tube I spent at least three whole hours in pure frustration. The bolts because a) the darn things are long, so a normal socket wasn't gonna cut it (that's all I had, socket-wise) so I had to resort to an open-end 1/2 wrench. With so little space to move it, the nuts loosened or tightened in tiny increments. My poor arms and long-suffering shoulder needed frequent breaks.  Reason b) I had to keep adjusting the nuts because that filler tube wasn't just going to go in unless I found a sweet spot where the angle of the tube going in the tank were perfectly aligned (I used clean motor oil to aid in insertion) and finally had to REALLY push the top part. The good news is FINALLY it went in. The bad news is I smooshed my little finger on my right hand because it was between the flange and the car's body. So fay it's not broken... but you can bet the air around me turned blue with cuss words. lol
One can never have too many Pintos!

blupinto

Interesting sock there, huh? I'm not really surprised that a piece or two of wrapper could find a breach there. Nicely colored zip ties too.  :o
One can never have too many Pintos!

blupinto

No, Rich... this is NOT my Homer Bucket! (inside joke). lol

This is actually what mostly came out of the tank...


...and this was also what came out of the tank.  >:(
One can never have too many Pintos!

blupinto

Last Saturday I tackled the gas tank and fuel line. I've been down this road before with my other '74.  Amazingly, the tank was mostly clean with no rust seen inside. As I expected, there was something (or somethings) lurking around in there but no more!  After draining the gas, cleaning the tank with acetone, blowing out the fuel line using a small air compressor, replacing rubber hoses and a gasket or two she mostly runs great and starts right up in the morning. The not-so-great news is she has surging issues now and then at high speeds (I'm not sure I should be calling them surges... it's more like she loses power kinda like fuel starvation) but then she rights herself and down the road we go. I have a feeling a piece of that mylar wrapper might've made it into the fuel pump. I guess since that one piece was found in the rubber line that connects to the pump it's possible. Anyway, you shoulda seen what came out of my hair after I shampooed it! lol  Talk about gray water!  ;D


This is how I lowered the gas tank. Believe me when I tell you it was "hands-on"! lol


The second picture shows a (I think) vapor separator hose.  Talk about your crack hose. lol (ok stop throwing the rotten tomatoes! lol) :P
One can never have too many Pintos!

derekrichmond15@yahoo.com

How are you doing ? I tried to text a pic to you of my cars. I'm going to be in your area this summer going to pant 2 cars for my friend brother this trip is going to be so much fun & going to be bringing a 1932 Ford roadster home are you still going to want my parts I'm saving 4 you? My gas bill is pad 4 already this is going to happen  WOW call me please (425)679-1184:)
1977 408W stroked pinto

blupinto

lol the filter is missing from the pick-up tube. That's my guess, anyway.  ;D
One can never have too many Pintos!

Pinto5.0

How is stuff getting into the fuel line unless the filter is missing from the pickup tube?
'73 Sedan (I'll get to it)
'76 Wagon driver
'80 hatch(Restoring to be my son's 1st car)~Callisto
'71 half hatch (bucket list Pinto)~Ghost
'72 sedan 5.0/T5~Lemon Squeeze

r4pinto

Quote from: blupinto on January 22, 2013, 07:01:24 PM
Srt yes it dies. It looks like a woven ribbon of wire. The one on Moxie is intact and has no deposits that I can see.


On a side note... I went to start her this morning... and she acted like her battery wasn't connected. Not even a click did I hear... and the usual instrument cluster lights didn't come on either. When I got home from work I went to start her... the lights came on and she started right up and she idled for awhile til I shut her off. I restarted her and she fired right up again. I swear my cars are messing with me.  :o

Thank you Matty.  As for the garbage I'm sure there's more. Who would've thunk that someone would stick trash into a gas tank...  well, at least it won't be my first time taking off a gas tank.  ;D

Haha ain't that the truth. Hopefully there isn't too much more trash in there and you can have something to drive to work. Sounds like your car has gremlins. Time to fix that lol
Matt Manter
1977 Pinto sedan- Named Harold II after the first Pinto(Harold) owned by my mom. R.I.P mom- 1980 parts provider & money machine for anything that won't fit the 80
1980 Pinto Runabout- work in progress

johnbigman2011

You can do it Becky... We all have faith in you. ;D
1972 Trunk Model..... Yeller Feller
1979 Wagon Turbo.... 85 2.3 Turbo
1923 T- Bucket ...... 2.0 Pinto Powered
F 250 Redneck Lincoln .... Pinto Picker upper

blupinto

Srt yes it dies. It looks like a woven ribbon of wire. The one on Moxie is intact and has no deposits that I can see.


On a side note... I went to start her this morning... and she acted like her battery wasn't connected. Not even a click did I hear... and the usual instrument cluster lights didn't come on either. When I got home from work I went to start her... the lights came on and she started right up and she idled for awhile til I shut her off. I restarted her and she fired right up again. I swear my cars are messing with me.  :o

Thank you Matty.  As for the garbage I'm sure there's more. Who would've thunk that someone would stick trash into a gas tank...  well, at least it won't be my first time taking off a gas tank.  ;D
One can never have too many Pintos!

Srt

IIRC doesn't the plate that the points fasten to have a ground strap?
the only substitute for cubic inches is BOOST!!!

r4pinto

You know what I think Becky?? No???? Well, too bad cuz I'm gonna tell you.... I think you should drain all the gas all over the ground and watch all your money go up in flames....

Nah, just kidding here. I know you're doing what you can with the resources you have & will get through it one issue at a time. Hopefully there isn't any more garbage tossed in the tank. I would hate to see anything else plug up the line & leave you stranded. As for the car I'm sure you'll figure it out. Once you have some extra cash one thing that would be a big help to both you & the car would be one of those retrofit kits that eliminate the points entirely. I think Dave (dave1987) and Brian (cookieboy) have both used something like that on their early model Pintos & from what I remember hearing it helped the ignition system, as well as vehicle driveability.
Matt Manter
1977 Pinto sedan- Named Harold II after the first Pinto(Harold) owned by my mom. R.I.P mom- 1980 parts provider & money machine for anything that won't fit the 80
1980 Pinto Runabout- work in progress

blupinto

I know it, John... but I'm out of $$$.   :(

One can never have too many Pintos!

johnbigman2011

Becky, they sale hand siphons, so you could save the gas. I just don't want you to have more problems down the line. Candy wrappers in the tank could cause major issues.
1972 Trunk Model..... Yeller Feller
1979 Wagon Turbo.... 85 2.3 Turbo
1923 T- Bucket ...... 2.0 Pinto Powered
F 250 Redneck Lincoln .... Pinto Picker upper

blupinto

Hi John yes I know I need to drop the tank... should've done it at the get-go. The thing is, the tank is 3/4 full right now. I need to use up most of that gas before I take the tank down. I know I'm asking for trouble but I'd just as soon use the gas the way it's supposed to be used to get where I need to be. With the vet bills, two unexpected battery purchases and other expenses I'm broke, so I can't just drain the gas (even if I physically could).  Aaaah the allure of cranky old cars... lol

One can never have too many Pintos!

blupinto

Hi Rob mine's funny like that too... but in this case there's also a spark issue. Even after I let the car cool off and any excess gas or fluid evaporate for a couple hours it wouldn't start even with the spritz of starting fluid (ether). After the car would stall I would check for spark (nope) and do the dummy (old) spark plug test to see if there's spark there (nope... not til I fiddle with the distributor and its innards and the coil wire (yes put the probe on both positive and negative posts on the coil- the probe lights up on both and stays on but slightly dimmer when I crank engine and have probe (tester) on the negative coil post.
One can never have too many Pintos!

johnbigman2011

Becky I think you better drop the tank.

Just hope it wasn't a snicker bar dropped in there.

Might be peanuts stuck in the fuel line next. :o
1972 Trunk Model..... Yeller Feller
1979 Wagon Turbo.... 85 2.3 Turbo
1923 T- Bucket ...... 2.0 Pinto Powered
F 250 Redneck Lincoln .... Pinto Picker upper

blupinto

Yes apparently it is the ignition going wonky. It seems every time there was no spark I would go into the distributor and I'm noticing the points get closer than what I'm setting them at (.025) so I readjust AGAIN and then check the points for spark (yes) then check the dummy spark plug I put on the #1 spark plug wire and crank engine (yes spark). Then I replace the wire back on the new spark plug and crank the engine (we have ignition!) When I placed the air cleaner housing in its normal spot the engine stalled, not wanting to start again. Putting starting fluid and even a tad of gas didn't get anywhere. Ooookay take off the distributor cap off AGAIN and repeat the process. I tightened the points mounting screws as tight as I humanly can without messing up the heads and repeated the rest. Made sure coil wire is secure on both distributor and coil (in an effort to figure out what the heck is going on I swapped out the new coil wire for the old one) checked for spark... yep... cranked the engine again... we got ignition without starting fluid or gas. I kept her idling because the battery took a beating this weekend. lol  Something's loosey-goosey here. Has anyone here had this kind of issue? My friend Rich and I have been scratching-no BEATING- our heads on this.


Ok here's what came out of the fuel line yesterday when I removed the fuel line from the pump.  :-\ >:( What's wrong with people!? This is, I believe, part of a mylar or mylar-like candy or snack wrapper.  There's a dime to show the size of this scrap of rubbish. I knew there was crap in the gas tank but this is ridiculous!
One can never have too many Pintos!

78txpony

Quote from: blupinto on January 21, 2013, 05:56:46 PM. Also, when I press the accelerator down (the car was hot when I did this)  I could smell fresh gas.
If you pumped the pedal when the engine was stopped yet hot, it could have gotten flooded.  Mine is touchy about that.  Hold the pedal down and crank to clear it out. 
The carb should probably be cleaned out internally, along with your gas tank and fuel lines.  If the filter sock in the tank could also clog up while the engine runs, it will die, then some of the crap falls from the sock, allowing restarting, then sucking it back on again.............
-Rob Young
1978 Pinto Pony sedan (Old Faithful) a.k.a. "the Tramp"
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thelonerider2005/sets
1972 Cutlass Supreme Convertible (442 clone) -"Lady" (My mistress...)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/robsalbum/sets
1986 Cutlass Supreme Coupe - "Pristine"
1997 H-D Sportster

r4pinto

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm..... sound like no sparky spark. I'd pull the plugs & see if they are fouled out &  go from there. Maybe the ignition system went wonky on you
Matt Manter
1977 Pinto sedan- Named Harold II after the first Pinto(Harold) owned by my mom. R.I.P mom- 1980 parts provider & money machine for anything that won't fit the 80
1980 Pinto Runabout- work in progress

blupinto

Not only am I getting fuel to the carb (yes there is literally junk in the tank) but it's not even starting with starting fluid. If it's merely a fuel issue the starting fluid would at least let me start the car... Also, when I press the accelerator down (the car was hot when I did this)  I could smell fresh gas.


Yes (for what I feel is the zillionth time lol) it has a new fuel filter.  :P

One can never have too many Pintos!