1977 Pinto

[alwaysFlOoReD]

This is the best picture I could find of the rally dash, I think the "Cruising Wagons" used them, too.
View attachment 85906

The tach doesn't go high enough...

 

[rusty ol ranger]

This is the best picture I could find of the rally dash, I think the "Cruising Wagons" used them, too.
View attachment 85906

You can say whatever you want about 70's ford cars but the dash/cluster layouts looked the best of any ford car ever.

Im partial to these...

77-79 LTD II/Ranchero/Tbird/Cougar sport cluster with sport wheel.

Id love to find that style wheel for my LTD II. I got the cluster.

 

[RangerNumber3]

My 76 wagon from back in the day.

 

[19Walt93]

You can say whatever you want about 70's ford cars but the dash/cluster layouts looked the best of any ford car ever.

Im partial to these...
View attachment 85919

77-79 LTD II/Ranchero/Tbird/Cougar sport cluster with sport wheel.

Id love to find that style wheel for my LTD II. I got the cluster.

That's the same steering wheel as in my Mustang. It came with a vinyl wrapped version and the top was getting sun baked and I wanted to replace it. A few years ago I found and NOS leather wrapped one at Carlisle and got all excited- until I saw the price, $650. A couple years later I found real nice used one at $250 and was looking it over long enough that the vendor offered it for $200 so I bought it. As nice as that LTD/Bird dash looks, we thought they looked cheap compared to the 76 Torino cluster.

 

[19Walt93]

The tach doesn't go high enough...

With the restricted exhaust, retarded cam and ignition timing, and lean fuel mixture, nothing in the mid/late 70's would run to 6000 RPM's.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

That's the same steering wheel as in my Mustang. It came with a vinyl wrapped version and the top was getting sun baked and I wanted to replace it. A few years ago I found and NOS leather wrapped one at Carlisle and got all excited- until I saw the price, $650. A couple years later I found real nice used one at $250 and was looking it over long enough that the vendor offered it for $200 so I bought it. As nice as that LTD/Bird dash looks, we thought they looked cheap compared to the 76 Torino cluster.

I didnt like the earlier clusters as much...with the deep dish of the gauges.

With the restricted exhaust, retarded cam and ignition timing, and lean fuel mixture, nothing in the mid/late 70's would run to 6000 RPM's.

They didnt need to...IIRC the 351W in my LTD peaks torque at 1600rpm

 

[superj]

in 94, an old neighbor had an orange pinto sitting under his lake house carport. it hadn't moved in so long, the tires were flat. it wasn't the wagon though, just a two door hatch like the yellow lowered one.

that is possibly the last time i have seen one in person and its probably still sitting there.


edit: it actually looked just like the one in the gif that blows up

 

[Angie]

your dash will look like this unless the car has been altered or it was a cruise wagon. add a tach along the wheel column, this wheel we took from a Mustang II. cheers

 

[19Walt93]

I didnt like the earlier clusters as much...with the deep dish of the gauges.


They didnt need to...IIRC the 351W in my LTD peaks torque at 1600rpm

Yup, and it ain't a very high peak, either. If everything else remains as built and you fix the advance curve the improvement will surprise you.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Yup, and it ain't a very high peak, either. If everything else remains as built and you fix the advance curve the improvement will surprise you.

290ftlbs IIRC.

Not bad considering the last of the EFI ones were 315.

 

[Fast Eddie]

This is the best picture I could find of the rally dash, I think the "Cruising Wagons" used them, too.
View attachment 85906

I had this steering wheel in a 79 Capri RS with a 302...a few tweaks and alcohol injection and SOB would fly.

 

[cbxer55]

P = Put
I = In
N = Nickel
T = To
O = Operate


In the early 80's, my brother ha a brown Pinto with a 289 snatched out of a Mustang. It was a blast to drive, if a little scary on wet roads.

 

[cbxer55]

Oh man, a Pinto! I haven't see one of those in the wild in many years... cool find!

Used to see Pintos in demolition derbies fairly often, ironically. They usually didn't last too long against the big cars but it was fun to watch.

Watch some old Mannix and Cannon reruns. You'll see Pinto's in them, guaranteed.

 

[cbxer55]

The gas tank problem aside, the Pinto was a much better, more reliable car than many of its competitors, especially the Chevy Vega. Having a Pinto Cruising Wagon like this in good condition would be cool.

View attachment 85815

Except for the mismatched front and rear rims.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

It's been awhile since I've posted. No, I haven't given up on the pinto...
I just finished refurbing a rotisserie for doing the body work on this rust bucket. Might get it mounted in a couple weeks.

First one I did black, the second yellow. I ran out of black paint. The rotisserie is home built, not by me. Whoever did it did a real good job. I bought from a guy that had restored a multi window VW bus. I paid $250.00 for it several years ago and it was rusty from being stored outside.