Popular Post ChrisL Posted July 17, 2020 Popular Post Share #1 Posted July 17, 2020 A Pinto sighting!!!! 3 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longjohn ★ Posted July 17, 2020 Share #2 Posted July 17, 2020 How come it snot on fire? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralphie ★ Posted July 17, 2020 Share #3 Posted July 17, 2020 Been a heck of a long time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralphie ★ Posted July 17, 2020 Share #4 Posted July 17, 2020 Wow - California is the place to be if you are a car! Lookin' good for a Pinto! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allen ★ Posted July 17, 2020 Share #5 Posted July 17, 2020 Nice spot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longjohn ★ Posted July 17, 2020 Share #6 Posted July 17, 2020 The last one I remember seeing was on the edge of the Ohio turnpike about 35 years ago. It was going up in flames and the owner was sitting in the grass watching it burn with a disgusting look on his face. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisL Posted July 17, 2020 Author Share #7 Posted July 17, 2020 2 minutes ago, RalphWaldoMooseworth said: Wow - California is the place to be if you are a car! Lookin' good for a Pinto! Yeah no snow/ice so no road salts so no rust. Vintage cars hold up well here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longjohn ★ Posted July 17, 2020 Share #8 Posted July 17, 2020 1 minute ago, ChrisL said: Yeah no snow/ice so no road salts so no rust. Vintage cars hold up well here. How in the heck did the drive train hold up that long. That was a Pampers style car. It was never intended to last very long. Use it and throw it away before it burns up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisL Posted July 17, 2020 Author Share #9 Posted July 17, 2020 3 minutes ago, Longjohn said: How in the heck did the drive train hold up that long. That was a Pampers style car. It was never intended to last very long. Use it and throw it away before it burns up. Yeah the exhaust smelled like hell but really was in good shape for what it is. He must have garaged it for decades... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralphie ★ Posted July 17, 2020 Share #10 Posted July 17, 2020 5 minutes ago, Longjohn said: How in the heck did the drive train hold up that long. That was a Pampers style car. It was never intended to last very long. Use it and throw it away before it burns up. I thought they only went up in flames if they got hit from behind. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralphie ★ Posted July 17, 2020 Share #11 Posted July 17, 2020 1 minute ago, ChrisL said: Yeah the exhaust smelled like hell but really was in good shape for what it is. He must have garaged it for decades... Yeah, classic cars do have stinky exhausts. Cars really have come a long way - fuel injection the main improvement. I hated carburetors with a passion! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longjohn ★ Posted July 17, 2020 Share #12 Posted July 17, 2020 7 minutes ago, RalphWaldoMooseworth said: I thought they only went up in flames if they got hit from behind. I think some of them went up in flames on the car hauler on the way from the factory to the dealership. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post maddmaxx ★ Posted July 17, 2020 Popular Post Share #13 Posted July 17, 2020 17 minutes ago, Longjohn said: How in the heck did the drive train hold up that long. That was a Pampers style car. It was never intended to last very long. Use it and throw it away before it burns up. I got 120k out of my wagon before the rear seal let go. We overhauled the engine and it was clean enough to eat off of inside. Wagons didn't burn though because the rear shocks were mounted differently to the axle so that the shock bolts did not puncture the tank in a rear end collision. I had one as a business car when I was with Stewart Warner and later I owned a second, the "crusin wagon" with the porthole instead of rear windows. Maybe I was swimming upstream but I thought they were great little cars. Pure 70's disco. 3 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralphie ★ Posted July 17, 2020 Share #14 Posted July 17, 2020 1 minute ago, Longjohn said: I think some of them went up in flames on the car hauler on the way from the factory to the dealership. That was what they said aboot the Vegas - they rusted in the showroom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisL Posted July 17, 2020 Author Share #15 Posted July 17, 2020 1 minute ago, maddmaxx said: I got 120k out of my wagon before the rear seal let go. We overhauled the engine and it was clean enough to eat off of inside. Wagons didn't burn though because the rear shocks were mounted differently to the axle so that the shock bolts did not puncture the tank in a rear end collision. I had one as a business car when I was with Stewart Warner and later I owned a second, the "crusin wagon" with the porthole instead of rear windows. Maybe I was swimming upstream but I thought they were great little cars. My uncle had one of those wagons for a long time too. Early 70’s to mid 80’s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddmaxx ★ Posted July 17, 2020 Share #16 Posted July 17, 2020 1 minute ago, RalphWaldoMooseworth said: That was what they said aboot the Vegas - they rusted in the showroom. That too was a factory flaw. The cars were dip primed before paint and when the front and rear window trim/retainers were pushed into place the clips scratched through the paint and primer to bare metal...........weeeee, put up a sign inviting rust to start here. Yes, I owned one of those too that was purchased to be a race car but never was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralphie ★ Posted July 17, 2020 Share #17 Posted July 17, 2020 1 minute ago, maddmaxx said: That too was a factory flaw. The cars were dip primed before paint and when the front and rear window trim/retainers were pushed into place the clips scratched through the paint and primer to bare metal...........weeeee, put up a sign inviting rust to start here. Yes, I owned one of those too that was purchased to be a race car but never was. My best friend from my last workplace had one too. Then there was the aluminum block with no cylinder liners or proper treating, so smoke city. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longjohn ★ Posted July 17, 2020 Share #18 Posted July 17, 2020 The Vega was Chevy’s version of the pinto. They had the crappiest engine of all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddmaxx ★ Posted July 17, 2020 Share #19 Posted July 17, 2020 8 hours ago, Longjohn said: The Vega was Chevy’s version of the pinto. They had the crappiest engine of all. I believe the first of the unsleeved aluminium engine blocks made. It used a treatment of the cylinder walls to resist wear........not so good. These cars came from the experimental and transition era in Detroit when old tried and true processes were changing to modern design and manufacturing. Before this nobody cared what your car weighed or what it's fuel milage was like. The engines of both cars were horror stories of EGR valves and vacuum delay valves attempting to control what is done by computer today and what wasn't done at all before that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rattlecan ★ Posted July 17, 2020 Share #20 Posted July 17, 2020 8 minutes ago, maddmaxx said: old tried and true processes were changing to modern design and manufacturing. All in a failed effort to catch up with the imports which were eating Detroit's lunch. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Further Posted July 17, 2020 Share #21 Posted July 17, 2020 I had a 72' Pinto wagon it was a pretty decent car, I drove the wheels off it for a few years, till the valve guides wore and started laying down a smoke screen at every traffic light. I spotted a pair a couple years back, a Vega and a Pinto, all dragstered up, fat back tires, blowers sticking out of both hoods. They were in a parking lot, apparently street legal, sharp looking cars. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F_in Ray Of Sunshine Posted July 17, 2020 Share #22 Posted July 17, 2020 There was a guy around here who specialized in oddball stuff like that. I never knew what I was going to see when I went by. For a while, he had a Mercury Bobcat wagon, then a Gremlin, 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F_in Ray Of Sunshine Posted July 17, 2020 Share #23 Posted July 17, 2020 9 hours ago, Longjohn said: How in the heck did the drive train hold up that long. That was a Pampers style car. It was never intended to last very long. Use it and throw it away before it burns up. Dunno. My friend's mom had one and it survived him - he even rolled it once and they kept driving it. My dad's Vega, OTOH.... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
team scooter Posted July 17, 2020 Share #24 Posted July 17, 2020 The Pintos and Vegas were the Escorts and Chevettes of their time, but more memorable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralphie ★ Posted July 17, 2020 Share #25 Posted July 17, 2020 Just now, team scooter said: The Pintos and Vegas were the Escorts and Chevettes of their time, but more memorable. I remember looking at an escort when car shopping, and when I saw the jagged metal under the hood, I was out of there! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F_in Ray Of Sunshine Posted July 17, 2020 Share #26 Posted July 17, 2020 15 minutes ago, team scooter said: The Pintos and Vegas were the Escorts and Chevettes of their time, but more memorable Hey, the diesel Shove-It had the dubious distinction of having 0-60 times measured in days 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddmaxx ★ Posted July 17, 2020 Share #27 Posted July 17, 2020 34 minutes ago, Further said: I had a 72' Pinto wagon it was a pretty decent car, I drove the wheels off it for a few years, till the valve guides wore and started laying down a smoke screen at every traffic light. I spotted a pair a couple years back, a Vega and a Pinto, all dragstered up, fat back tires, blowers sticking out of both hoods. They were in a parking lot, apparently street legal, sharp looking cars. That's what I would have done if I still had that wagon. A street legal hot rod to drive to the cruisin shows around here. Along the way I learned enough about the motor to have been putting one in the last drag car womaxx and I started to build. With turbo of course. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
team scooter Posted July 17, 2020 Share #28 Posted July 17, 2020 At least the RWD Chevettes skipped the steering rack failures that the FWD Chevy Citations and Cavaliers suffered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralphie ★ Posted July 17, 2020 Share #29 Posted July 17, 2020 22 minutes ago, F_in Ray Of Sunshine said: Hey, the diesel Shove-It had the dubious distinction of having 0-60 times measured in days I swear my brother and I measured 0-60 in our 66 MG Midget at aboot a minute. Of course it was uphill. So i skipped the American POS era but got stuck with the British and Italian POS cars - that Midget and an 850 Spyder. My favourite POS car story was when one of the front shocks fell off the Fiat and a state cop saw it and stopped me. What I don;t remember is how the hell he let me drive away or even give me a ticket or anything - those were the days. The top shock mounts were body metal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longjohn ★ Posted July 17, 2020 Share #30 Posted July 17, 2020 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralphie ★ Posted July 17, 2020 Share #31 Posted July 17, 2020 That is why I liked Norm McDonald on SNL. Ford - where job one is.... MAKING YOUR CAR EXPLODE! That was in reference to the Ford Exploder. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralphie ★ Posted July 17, 2020 Share #32 Posted July 17, 2020 Too bad they were such POSs, because the Pinto Bean and Vega were at least sort of cute. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F_in Ray Of Sunshine Posted July 17, 2020 Share #33 Posted July 17, 2020 9 hours ago, RalphWaldoMooseworth said: That was what they said aboot the Vegas - they rusted in the showroom. My dad’s didn’t rust. He only owned it for six months and GOT RID OF IT. I think it vapor-locking on a regular basis was the trigger. It had elves that lived under the dash. At night, they would pull off random pieces of plastic and throw them on the floor. You’d get in, go “WTF is this?” and toss it in back. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longjohn ★ Posted July 17, 2020 Share #34 Posted July 17, 2020 BMW a few years ago had issues with their cars self igniting but they never got the media attention that the Pintos did. I think the Beemers caught fire when parked. Less horrible burned alive episodes. When I was searching for the Larson comic with the load of Pintos on the way to the dealerships all I found was photos of burning loads of Beemers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralphie ★ Posted July 17, 2020 Share #35 Posted July 17, 2020 2 minutes ago, Longjohn said: BMW a few years ago had issues with their cars self igniting but they never got the media attention that the Pintos did. I think the Beemers caught fire when parked. Less horrible burned alive episodes. When I was searching for the Larson comic with the load of Pintos on the way to the dealerships all I found was photos of burning loads of Beemers. The Dilbert site has an EXCELLENT search, sadly probably not for Far Side. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F_in Ray Of Sunshine Posted July 17, 2020 Share #36 Posted July 17, 2020 2 minutes ago, Longjohn said: BMW a few years ago had issues with their cars self igniting Hybrids are known to ignite....if you submerge them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralphie ★ Posted July 17, 2020 Share #37 Posted July 17, 2020 Here is an article on the Explorer problems. Fires I think were less of an issue than the rollover thing. But my BIL did have the closely related Ford Ranger that caught faar. https://carbuzz.com/news/famous-for-catching-fire-ford-explorer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralphie ★ Posted July 17, 2020 Share #38 Posted July 17, 2020 Ahh, this is one of my favourite kind of threads, the POS car thread. Hmm - brb! Dangit! I think the POS car thread I was thinking of was in the Olde Country. I remember Key West Oasis was a participant, and I am sure Longjohn was there with his Deadwood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longjohn ★ Posted July 17, 2020 Share #39 Posted July 17, 2020 1 minute ago, RalphWaldoMooseworth said: Ahh, this is one of my favourite kind of threads, the POS car thread. Hmm - brb! Can’t let this thread die without a mention of my Deadwood. I had Bubba the tow truck driver’s number saved in my phone. After the dealership said it was ready (after having it for months) it quit on the drive home from the dealership. A combination of a crappy car and an incompetent dealership. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razors Edge ★ Posted July 17, 2020 Share #40 Posted July 17, 2020 10 hours ago, Philander Seabury said: Wow - California is the place to be if you are a car! Lookin' good for a Pinto! Yep - probably rust free, too! I think the mom has a Pinto in Stranger Things. That's actually sort of annoying about that show - the car representation seems oddly "off" what I remember from the mid-80s. Maybe it was just crappy in the mid-west at that time, though? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralphie ★ Posted July 17, 2020 Share #41 Posted July 17, 2020 22 minutes ago, Longjohn said: Can’t let this thread die without a mention of my Deadwood. I had Bubba the tow truck driver’s number saved in my phone. After the dealership said it was ready (after having it for months) it quit on the drive home from the dealership. A combination of a crappy car and an incompetent dealership. I was SO tempted by the twofer offer they had trying to unload them. This is why procrastination can be good at times. Or as a pilot told me, when you encounter trouble in the air, the first thing you do is wind your watch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rattlecan ★ Posted July 17, 2020 Share #42 Posted July 17, 2020 1 hour ago, Philander Seabury said: I remember looking at an escort when car shopping, and when I saw the jagged metal under the hood, I was out of there! I bought my (now ex) wife a brand new Escort in 1984. She didn't even get it home from the dealership and was involved in a crash. Some woman backed out of her driveway with her rear window all covered in snow and right into the right side door of her brand new car. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rattlecan ★ Posted July 17, 2020 Share #43 Posted July 17, 2020 1 hour ago, F_in Ray Of Sunshine said: There was a guy around here who specialized in oddball stuff like that. I never knew what I was going to see when I went by. For a while, he had a Mercury Bobcat wagon, then a Gremlin, My first brand new car was a 72 Gremlin X. 304 V8 with 3 on the floor. Would put a pretty good run on a 318 Mopar. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralphie ★ Posted July 17, 2020 Share #44 Posted July 17, 2020 1 minute ago, Rattlecan said: My first brand new car was a 72 Gremlin X. 304 V8 with 3 on the floor. Would put a pretty good run on a 318 Mopar. Wow - all engine - sounds fast! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rattlecan ★ Posted July 17, 2020 Share #45 Posted July 17, 2020 1 minute ago, Philander Seabury said: Wow - all engine - sounds fast! That thing was heavier than you would think. I ran it over the scale at the local feed mill, and with me in it was 3,200 lb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralphie ★ Posted July 17, 2020 Share #46 Posted July 17, 2020 9 minutes ago, Rattlecan said: That thing was heavier than you would think. I ran it over the scale at the local feed mill, and with me in it was 3,200 lb. For a while my wife drove a borrowed AMC Spirit with a four banger, and that darn thing barely made it over the heavily arched toll bridge. At work in 1978 we had an AMC Matador, and every time you tried to drive it outside the plant, it would hesitate and falter, so you would turn around to go back and it ran great. We also had an International Scout with a standard, and quite a few engineers learned to drive standard with it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rattlecan ★ Posted July 17, 2020 Share #47 Posted July 17, 2020 1 minute ago, Philander Seabury said: For a while my wife drove a borrowed AMC Spirit with a four banger, and that darn thing barely made it over the heavily arched toll bridge. Isn't that the model that replaced the Gremlin? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralphie ★ Posted July 17, 2020 Share #48 Posted July 17, 2020 1 minute ago, Rattlecan said: Isn't that the model that replaced the Gremlin? You got it! My poor officemate, her dad bought it for her because he thought it was a sensible car for her, but she hated it. Absolutely zero throttle response - it slowly and barely perceptibly picked up speed. AMC Spirit The AMC Spirit is a subcompact marketed by American Motors Corporation (AMC) from 1979 to 1983 as a restyled replacement for the Gremlin. The Spirit shared the Gremlin's platform and was offered in two hatchback variations, each with two doors — marketed as sedan and liftback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rattlecan ★ Posted July 17, 2020 Share #49 Posted July 17, 2020 Just now, Philander Seabury said: You got it! My poor officemate, her dad bought it for her because he thought it was a sensible car for her, but she hated it. Absolutely zero throttle response - it slowly and barely perceptibly picked up speed. AMC Spirit The AMC Spirit is a subcompact marketed by American Motors Corporation (AMC) from 1979 to 1983 as a restyled replacement for the Gremlin. The Spirit shared the Gremlin's platform and was offered in two hatchback variations, each with two doors — marketed as sedan and liftback. Might have shared the platform, but obviously not the power train. Even the two six bangers that were offered in the Gremlin were pretty spritely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralphie ★ Posted July 17, 2020 Share #50 Posted July 17, 2020 2 minutes ago, Rattlecan said: Might have shared the platform, but obviously not the power train. Even the two six bangers that were offered in the Gremlin were pretty spritely. 79-93 were prime fuel economy years, but I guess they forgot they needed to knock some weight off also. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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