Another 1977 Pinto

[BroncLander]

This car is so horrible that I love it

 

[sgtsandman]

This car is so horrible that I love it

You’ve never seen an AMC Gremlin then.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

You’ve never seen an AMC Gremlin then.

I once owned a GremlinX. It was a hoot.

 

[sgtsandman]

I once owned a GremlinX. It was a hoot.

I have heard that the ones with the V8 were awesome to drive. It doesn’t make them look any better. I don’t know what it was with AMC loving to make ugly vehicles. The only one that looked pretty normal was the Eagle and Jeep but Jeep didn’t originate with them.

 

[Blmpkn]

The gremlin looks awesome though.. as do the OG pacers.. super unique styling at a time where a lot of vehicles had the same basic shape.

 

[ekrampitzjr]

Pintos get a lot of hate, but overall they were actually pretty good cars with solid drivetrains and not prone to rust. The Chevrolet Vega, on the other hand...

 

[ekrampitzjr]

The gremlin looks awesome though.. as do the OG pacers.. super unique styling at a time where a lot of vehicles had the same basic shape.

AMC never had much money to spare, so the Gremlin was a two-door Hornet cut off behind the front doors. Every body part forward of the B–pillar interchanges with the Hornet versions. The front clip (grille, etc.) was styled differently, but even it interchanges entirely with the Hornet clip. You could easily make a Gremlin look like a Hornet in front if you wanted.

The Pacer was intended for GM's rotary engine that never came to market, which explains the styling. It was supposed to be the "wide small car" in ads of the time. Frankly, I think the original versions (before the higher hood and grille to allow a V-8 option) look better today than they did then. Most people I knew thought the Pacer was ugly then, and it certainly wasn't a big sales success, but AMC had bought the tooling and was stuck with the car for a while.

Jeep kept American Motors afloat during the 1970s more than the cars did. When Chrysler bought AMC years later, it was for Jeep, not the cars.

 

[19Walt93]

Pintos get a lot of hate, but overall they were actually pretty good cars with solid drivetrains and not prone to rust. The Chevrolet Vega, on the other hand...

I owned 3 Pintos, a 76 Runabout, a 76 wagon,and a 78 wagon, drove each 30k per year, had no trouble with them and sold each one for a profit. I bought the 76 Runabout in the fall of 78 for $1600 right after the gas tank recall came out, it had new tires and didn't even need to be vacuumed out. Two years later I sold it for $2500 and if the woman had backed out at the last minute there was a guy standing behind her with cash in hand. In NH Pintos had rust problems just like every other car in the 70's.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I went over the car in a little more detail, there is floor board rust holes. Have to remove carpet to see how bad. The exterior rust doesn't seem to have holes tho but I'm sure I'll find some...
Pressure washed the engine bay as well as underneath. Also washed behind all the chrome, lots a dirt... Hope there isn't rust too. This car has the most chrome of any I've owned...

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

 

[sgtsandman]

View attachment 97897

You'll burn your pistons out kid!

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

So tonight I removed the wiring harness from the blue pinto. Wasn't as hard as first thought. With some advise from Walt and a member on a Pinto forum, I got it out and no blood! That's probably ly a first for me, most times I'm working there's blood dripping.
Started on the orange pinto. A little more involved as there is a motor in the way, but still not bad so far. Wiring is burnt from starter solenoid to regulator, and looks like some others too. I'll post pics later.
Oh, looks like the orange pinto is a higher level. It has right and left remote mirrors. And the right one actually works...sorta...lol.

 

[dvdswan]

 

[Blmpkn]

My vote is for something more along the lines of this..

 

[dvdswan]

View attachment 98517

My vote is for something more along the lines of this..

Hella torque out of that lil' 4 cyl. Nice launch.