Years ago when I was a kid, my parents had a 1972 Pinto wagon with the 2.0l SOHC engine with an automatic transmission. S.L.O.W!!! I don’t think my Dad ever messed with the carb though he was a pretty good mechanic. He bought it with a crashed front end, installed the sheet metal and radiator off another car, and with $350 spent on both cars, she was operational once again. Kevin in Hillsboro, Oregon 2019 Sprinter 12 passenger 144WB 1600mi, Low Mileage Lutgard 1982 240D, High Mileage Hildegard, no news
Sent from my iPhone > On Sep 12, 2020, at 9:04 AM, Dan Penoff via Mercedes <mercedes@okiebenz.com> > wrote: > > The Pintos were varied based on what mill they had. The early models, like > mine, had a 2000cc OHC 4 cylinder that was also used in the Capris, and was > very popular in that community. It was a wicked little engine that was > constrained by the Holley 5200 Ford put on it. For whatever reason, no doubt > pollution controls, which were very crude at that time, the linkage on the > carb was set up so the second barrel would never open beyond about 25% or so. > As soon as I figured this out I remedied the situation so I got both barrels, > full operation. That made it a totally different car. > > The story about dropping the head bolt driver came from when I had pulled the > head and ported and polished the intake and head. I read a couple of books on > how to do it, got the necessary die grinder bits and went at it after hours > in the shop where I worked. This resulted in some additional performance, > although I don't recall it being a great deal. > > By today’s standards it would have been pretty inadequate, but at the time it > was a good car. The fuel tank thing was just a design flaw that should have > never happened. The remedy was nothing more than a plastic shield placed > between the tank and the undercarriage of the car. > > -D > >> On Sep 12, 2020, at 11:53 AM, Curt Raymond via Mercedes >> <mercedes@okiebenz.com> wrote: >> >> A former coworker told me a tale of his friend who had a Pinto that was >> absolute garbage, could barely get out of its own way. So he decides to take >> it to the junkyard and just for a laugh drives it the 5 or 6 miles there in >> second gear with the engine just wailing and trailing a billowing cloud of >> smoke. Apparently when he's nearly there he relents and shifts up and is >> amazed to find the engine very peppy.I don't remember if the story included >> the tale of the little old lady that owned it first and got it all carboned >> up but the punchline was that the drive had burned all the carbon out of the >> engine and the guy ended up keeping it several more years. >> My parents owned both a Pinto and a Vega at the same time. Some guy hit the >> rock wall by my parent's house and sent a rock into the door of the Pinto >> which "totaled it". I put that in quotes because the car was so terrible I'd >> have called it totaled long before. "Check the gas and fill the oil" comes >> to mind. >> Anyway with the insurance money my parents bought a Mercury Lynx wagon which >> was a rebadged Escort. This was about the time I started to realize (at 8 >> years old no less) that my father had no taste in cars. His '91 Ford Tempo >> with a 3spd automatic was the closer. >> Other than his current Jeep Renegade my dad knows how to pick loser cars >> like nobody else... >> -Curt >> >> On Saturday, September 12, 2020, 11:37:56 AM EDT, Floyd Thursby via >> Mercedes <mercedes@okiebenz.com> wrote: >> >> My buddy's dad bought him something like a 75 or 76 Vega wagon to drive >> in college after his Beetle kakked. Might have been 74, too long ago to >> remember. Red/black, 4spd cheap stripper, it actually looked pretty nice >> though. He thrashed that thing unmercifully and I think the engine blew >> up or started blowing oil after like 20k miles which apparently was the >> main issue with them unless they rusted out first. >> >> My boss when I worked at the airport summers in college had a yellow >> Pinto wagon or hatchback or whatever it was, black interior, 4spd. He >> let me drive it once to go on some errand or delivery or something. It >> was quite peppy and handled well, you could see out of the big windows >> well too. I kinda liked it, it was "sportier" than the big merkin iron >> I was used to driving. >> >> Another summer I was working for another place, a guy drives up on the >> ramp (back when you could do that sort of thing) early one Sunday >> morning in his MGB GT, BRG/black, and asks me to get his airplane out of >> the hangar. OK fine. So I get the plane out after some jockeying other >> planes around, he hands me the keys to the car and says, "Go drive it >> around if you want." Oh yeah. So I spent the next hour or so racing >> around the ramp and the old taxiway that went by our hangar. Now THAT >> was sporty! He comes back after awhile, I fueled the plane and put it >> away, give him the keys back. H asked me how I enjoyed the car and we >> chatted a bit about it, really nice guy. I think he really got a charge >> out of letting me drive his car. I can't remember who he was, a rich >> guy with toys I guess, just liked to have fun with them. >> >> --FT >> >>> On 9/11/20 9:37 PM, Peter Frederick via Mercedes wrote: >>> The drive train on the Pinto was excellent. Body was, well, 70's whacko >>> styling and poorly made. If the fashion of copying Japanese styling had >>> been then instead of now, Ford might have made a decent car. >>> >>> Ugly styling, with uncomfortable seating and deadly gas tank (saved money >>> by leaving the originally designed shield out!) but mechanically quite good. >>> _______________________________________ >>> http://www.okiebenz.com >>> >>> To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ >>> >>> To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: >>> http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com >>> >> -- >> --FT >> >> >> _______________________________________ >> http://www.okiebenz.com >> >> To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ >> >> To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: >> http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com >> >> >> _______________________________________ >> http://www.okiebenz.com >> >> To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ >> >> To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: >> http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com >> > > > _______________________________________ > http://www.okiebenz.com > > To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
