pintos I owned a 72 pinto and I loved it. Disc brakes, floor shift, bucket seats and it was rust free. Paid $100 bucks for it. It had a good 2 litre that ran well. Should of never sold it. It would have been great with a v-8 swap. My friend had a 78 Bobcat that was mint and had cool orange paint. He just sold it last year. It is all blue oval! that's O.K. with me!
A friend told me that a Pinto was Ford's Vega. I said nahhh, I would have a Pinto and never a Vega, so not the same
I wouldn't recommend a torch!!!! We used to cut the patch out of body steel. Grind both sides with a 40 grit disc. Grind the repair area so it is completely bare metal. Brush liquid soldiering acid on both sides of patch as well as the bare spot on the tank. I like to tack the patch on in a few spots to hold it. Use a good size soldiering tip on a soldiering iron.Hold the iron on the edge of the patch to heat and start working your way around. I usually will build up the soldier about 1/16 to 1/8 of an inch.Don't grind the soldier as it weakens the weld.Make sure you don't have any galvinizing on either piece as the soldier won't stick to it. We fixed a lot of tanks this way.(it was an Italian body shop)
OK, seriously, when I was in the 7th grade I took metal shop in middle school - and now I recall those big soldering irons that I used to put together a tool box for my Dad. For those projects we used acid based solder flux, NOT the same stuff you use for electronics work (and never should). Thanks for that gentle reminder of my youth, back to the reality of turning 49 in just over a month..... Chris
i would like to have an early wagon and make it like the 77-78 cruzin' wagons, but with a large v-8 in it!
Ya know....It makes me feel old to. Doing those gas tank repairs was one of my first jobs as an apprentice at a Fiat dealership 28 years ago. It really does work, and you have the right idea with the tin box.
Fiat 28 years ago And the funny part is, it's still there! and looks like it did 28 years ago!! Oh, I have one of those soldering irons, if you ever need to borrow it!
Pinto was a pint sized Ford There are thousands of Hotrods using Pinto/MustangII front suspensions. There was a guy racing one at LACR that had an SVO Turbo 4 in it. Ran high 11's and got 30mpg. :bananaman Fix the tank issues (leaks and explosions) and you have a great little car.
Alright, I'll buy that. I'd forgotten about the Fiesta. Didn't consider it because its mechanical roots aren't in the US. But I also forgot neither was the Chevette, entirely. So, perfect match.
The Fiesta - a lot of people "lament" the poor Pinto, but I gotta tell ya, the Fiesta is much lower on the food chain than the Pinto. I actually saw one this past weekend (North Texas), I laughed as it driove by. Talk about your stripped down unattractive econo-box!! Can't imagine too many folks looking for one to drive or restore.... Chris
Well, I wanted to give an update on my gas tank adventures, since Blugene was involved. As you recall, I pulled the gas tank out of my Pinto a few weeks back, and Gene helped me "discover" the various holes that were in it. I have since taken it to a radiator shop, had the holes brazed, obtained a NOS sending unit (mine was bad), cleaned/painted the top with POR-15, and completely stripped the lower part by hand scraping all of the undercoating off. Gene is tired of me bugging him.... I have yet to line (coat) the inner tank, and paint the lower half; I plan to use POR-15 "natural metal" paint. This is turning out very nice. BTW - I hope y'all don't mind my posting about the Pinto stuff. If I may say so, this group makes me wish I had chosen a Maverick first, but having had Pintos and Mavericks in my family in the past, I ended up with a Pinto wagon (and am in too deep now to turn back). I hope you can appreciate the work. The Pinto forum is NOTHING like this forum - and I'm a bit tired of it. Your enthusiasm here is contagious - and appreciated! Chris
