Hey all, just a little fun i wanted to share. A quick story about the car and its origins. My father gave it to me when i was 16. I didn't get to drive it right away, insurance and money in general was the issue. It was totally stock of course but from the get go, i wanted a V8 conversion. Well I started driving it in '88 after i started working for my Mom and Step dad in their Feed Store. All the while i just Drove and fixed, drove and fixed, with small "upgrades" along the way between 88 and 03. Uno, cam, header, straight pipe etc,etc. Nothing major. I had fun with it every now and again but really it was my only car so i had to keep it easy. Of course i get from just about everybody " why are you pouring so much time, effort, and cash into this car?" "cause i like the Car!" Nuff said!
So fast forward to these days. I started to swap a 302 back in 03 before my 1st Daughter was born. A great friend helped me out with a free place to do this and all the free electricity i could use.(grinder, welder, light etc.) That lasted over 3 years at his place.( yeah he's still my friend!!LOL) It wasn't even near finished but the major stuff was done there and the engine was sitting properly and the headers were in place just needed... well everything else! I'm a nit picky major pain in the butt to other people about that, but i don't like calling it done till its really done Uno? Moved it to the apartment parking complex and worked on it for about 6 months and then was told to move it till its running. Then off to the father in laws place. That lasted till the wife and i hada major fight. Everything calmed down and the Pinto found a home back here at the apartment closer to being done but yet so far. So i worked on it "illegally" for the last 2.5 years here off and on with sometimes major amounts of time of doing nothing at all. Finally got it turn key about 2-3 months ago and talked about a couple of times here on FP.com.
Well my father has been in IDAHO for just about all this time, as he moved there about 6 years ago. Id talk about the car to him occasionally and share some pics but I never really got a excited response. I love my Dad but sometimes hes just not very into car stuff. Hes a Model Airplane NUT and cars have come in a distant second to him for many, many years.
So i get a call from him about a month ago that hes finally coming down to see us all on Labor Day weekend! Great news! Hes going to be here about 10 am sat morning. I cant wait to see him and show him the car.
Well the car was in a state of dis-assembly with no front suspension at all under it. I was redoing the front suspension because it needed new lower bushings and a bump-steer kit cause it was all over the road. Ive spent the better part of a month blasting and painting everything i could in hopes that this would be the "last time" i do this. (yeah right) Since I'm a "procrastinator especial" i waited till last Thursday to start re-assembly. I give up at 2am Friday morning and start again after the kids go to bed at 10pm Friday night. I figure ill have it back together about 2am tops. Well I finished about 9:30am the next morning with 1 20 min nap in the car port about 2:30am ! LOL! I was running on pure adrenalin the whole rest of the day.
My dad shows up about 12:00 which was great. We left for lunch to go to BOBS BIG BOY (where he hasn't been in over 6 years!) And at first we thought "OK well all squeeze in the Focus. All 5 of us. ( the wife is thin and can squeeze between the car seats in the back. Its Really tight though. So we get down to the carport and I'm showing him the car. He's awestruck! He just kept telling me how great it looks and how sano the install is. I was soo happy to hear that. So he says "Ok lets go eat so we can get back and i can take a ride!" I say, "well why don't we take it!" DONE! Lets go!
I got the thumbs up a few times on the way to Bobs and we had and absolute Blast! Showin off and breaking a few laws in the process! hehehehe!
Just a great time even though it was too short. We even had the LAW follow us for a short stint. Good thing he didn't see me 5 min earlier!
We got to BOBS Had lunch and went to see the new place. Lets face it though, it was all about the car!! LOL! My Dad Loves the car. It reminds him of the 65 Mustang that he had back from 75 to 84. The same Idle, the same sound, the same smell! (gotta love a Holley and lumpy cam!)
So here is a pic at Bobs of my Father and I with the Car. Thanks for reading and letting me share!
