You read right! I just became the proud (I think?) owner of a crusing wagon!
My neighbor told me about a year ago this guy we both know had a cruising wagon with a blown engine in his garage. My neighbor wanted to buy it and put a V8 in it but that kind of fizzled out. I was at a friends shop last night working on a rollback when this guy, Rocky, strolls in. He says "Hey, your just the guy I needed to talk to, how about working on the A/C on my truck?" I say sure and ask if he still has the Pinto wagon. Well, one thing leads to another and he says "You fix my A/C and the Pinto is yours." He confirms that it is indeed a cruiser, no idea what year it is, but it has a v6 that won't run. First thing that pops into my head is timing gears, he said someone else looked at it and told him the same thing.
Well, tonight I went to look at it...whew! What a mess!
It has been sitting in the garage for 15 years, and has 15 years of junk piled in it and on it! We had to clear a path just to get to it! From what I can tell, it looks solid, no signs of rust or body damage, and the interior looks pretty darn good. The hood and grill are missing, (although they may be in the garage somewhere) and the passenger side mirror is broken off. Oh, and it is a '77 or'78, my second favorite body style. YAY!!