Old Ford pics

[gasman826]

I installed some of the recall 'kits' that were to make the Pinto safe in a rear end collision.  Extra bolts were installed in the tank strap slots to keep the straps from disconnecting, allowing the tank to leave the car.  A plastic cover was zip tied to the rear end cover to reduce sparks if the tank contacted the rear end.  A new fill tube replaced the original tube.  The original fill tube flange was on the out side of the fender.  The new fill tube flange was on the inside of the fender...less likely for the fill tube to be pulled from the tank in the event of a side-swipe collision.  This kit did more to make Nader and the FEDs happy than make Pintos safer. 
PICs are of my '66 Mercury land yacht before and after a rear collision.  My 9-month pregnat wife was making a left turn into factory to pick me up after work.  A Toronado driver never touched the brakes.  Even this boat of a car couldn't take a rear hit without gas running down the street.  The tank was located on edge between the rear end and trunk.

[Ecode70D]

OK Boys....Now I get it     I had forgotten all about the Pintos getting hit in the rear and the fires.
Out of site, out of mind.

[rmk57]

  I owned a 1972 Pinto. Worst part about that car it was an automatic, god it was gutless. Traded it off after 6 months of ownership on a 1981 Ex-RCMP Crown Victoria. The Crown Vic had a 351 H.O, 240 kph speedo, bucket seats, rubber floor mats and a huge trunk. It's strange it didn't have rear window cranks and the rear doors wouldn't open from the inside.

[hiball3985]

Only thing worst then a Pinto was a Vega 

[thomasso]

Owned a 76 Bobcat ( Pinto ) for several years in the 80s.  It was a great little car, used to drive it 80 mph.  Rebuilt the 2300 engine at 100K.  Ford had neglected to put oil squirt holes in the rods, consequently piston would scuff and they sounded terrible but wouldn't break.    My daughter  continued to drive it for several years to college and subsequent jobs.  Pinto was a much better car than the Vega, terrible car. I worked at a Chevrolet dealer during the Vega era.  Replaced many engines when practically new and still under warranty and warranties were short in those days.  Was also a Ford service manager in the 70s.  Other than the piston scuffing I can't remember anything particulary bad about Pintos.  Bad rap brought on by press.

[hiball3985]

Vega engines only lasted 40,000 at average  And they were shipped on their nose in special train cars.

[John Palmer]

The Pinto was used as the lightweight body of many early Pro Stock drag cars. 

I seem to remember a story of some team that figured out that the body had a lower drag coefficient if it was placed into the wind tunnel backwards for testing.  Maybe that's why the flames were painted on in reverse flow?

[terry_208]

In 74, we bought a new Pinto with the 2300 and 4 spd.  I was asked multiple times if I had installed a 289.  I thought it was the right sized engine for the car.  We drove it for 10 years and 160,000 miles.

[59meteor]

The Ford Pinto was actually not a bad car, the 2.0 and 2.3 OHC 4 cylinder engine evolved over many years, and were used in various forms long after the last Pinto rolled of the assembly line. The steering and front suspension was the basis for many race cars, street rod and kit cars, still widely used today. Certainly far better car than the Chevy Vega! While virtually every Vega either got a V6 or V8 swap before they were 10 years old, you still see the occasional 4 cylinder Pinto around. The Vega was also far more prone to rust than the Pinto. Still, about the only place you ever see a Pinto or Vega these days is at a dragstrip, but then again, how many early 70s Toyotas, Datsuns, Hondas or Mazda cars do you see on the roads either?

[hiball3985]

I know we are off topic but thats a common occurrence here
For anyone who hasn't seen how Vegas were shipped. Another one of the Generals bright ideas

[RICH MUISE]

We have a town here about 30 miles west of Amarillo called Vega. Just for grins one day, I checked the meaning of the name, and it's Spanish for "plain". In this case, I'm not sure if it meant plain , as in simple, or plain as in prairie. Kinda gave me a smile when I thought about it for the name for the Chevy plain-jane car

[rmk57]

  I'm pretty sure the car was named after one of the northern stars "Vega".

[Ford Blue blood]

Interesting little dity I found when parting a 76 Pinto wagon.  The rear end was an 8", 4 lugs, 3.73 T-Lock.  Never followed up on how the rear was used, a fellow rodder bought it for one of his projects.

[rmk57]

Interesting little dity I found when parting a 76 Pinto wagon.  The rear end was an 8", 4 lugs, 3.73 T-Lock.  Never followed up on how the rear was used, a fellow rodder bought it for one of his projects.

  V-6 maybe had the 8"? The place I worked at had a fleet of them used for building, electrical, plumbing inspectors. They all had 4 cylinders and had the integral carrier.

Besides blowing up if you were rear ended the biggest issue we had with them were the doors. They were huge and heavy for such a small car and we were constantly replacing the hinge pins from sagging doors.

Other than that they weren't a bad little car.

[59meteor]

Yes, the V6 Pintos did have an 8" rearend. They were also only available with an automatic transmission , and had a factory high stall torque convertor. A buddy had a V6 Pinto wagon, actually moved along quite well.  Speaking of the Chevy Vega, there is a guy back In British Columbia, that for quite a few years, has ran a business specializing in Vegas and Monzas, called "Daves Vega Village". I have to wonder how busy he can be, specializing in such cars, but I have talked to a racer here in Nova Scotia, (4000 miles from the Vega Village, and he has dealt with him, so I guess the niche market is big enough to be somewhat viable.