CAR-1979 Ford Pinto model kits?

AMT and MPC box had Pintos. Palmer did too, but it was a mess.

I'm not laughing, I used to have a 71 hatchback and loved it. It was a great little car and even with a 4-cylinder & 4-speed it ran like stink! I can't remember what year MPC's kit was, but IIRC it had the bigger bumpers of the "later" versions.

russ wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

How 'bout this?

or

russ wrote: : Ok, don't laugh. I just bought a real one. It is going to be my daily : driver, wife needs her suv back. : Were did you find one of those things in running condition? Does it have the all important plastic seperator for the fuel tank and muffler, to keep the pyrotechnics down?

Bruce

how about 63 corvairs?

The last plastic kit I'm aware of was MPC's 1978 Pinto Wagon. I'm unaware if it was ever reissued. I've heard that Pintos are fairly common on E-bay but I've never gone looking.

Bill Banaszak, MFE Sr.

yeah, I suppose I could go there, but I actually cancelled my ebay account a while back. I didn't like all the changes going on there. They seem to be trying to get rid of the small seller, and that is the type I like to buy from. And thanks to the others who gave links. Although they aren't a 1979, still it shows me what sort of stuff is out there.

Buying this car may put the brakes on my recently renewed model building activity. As long as it is fun, I plan on fiddling with the real car. I haven't had something that I could drive and enjoy working on for quite a while. But since I get home after 1am, working in the garage is kind of out of the question for the most part. So maybe I will still build. Note, I did not say finish. sigh. I still get to a certain point where I feel tired of the current model kit and want to start on another. But I am trying to limit current builds to two at a time.

russ

=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 Bruce

I had a 1971 yellow Pinto. Wonderous memories of my senior year watching the submarine races in 1977, but that is another thread. I had the plastic thing installed. Also found one of those hazard placards you see on trucks. Put the "flammable" sign in the back window. Got lots of smiles with that one. Eventually the carb went, forgot to check the brake pads and gouged 1/4 inch grooves in the front disc brakes. Sold it for $300.

Craig

russ wrote: : : Small town here in Ohio. : I am even more surprised, given the amount of salt I would expect it to have been exposed to. : : It is in pretty decent shape. Much better than the newer(1990's) cars : in the same price range. Not much rust even. Runs great. Drove it well : over 100 miles to bring it home, not a single issue. : I have heard idiots paying $5k for a GEO Metro on ebay. So, I am not surprised it was less expensive than newer alternatives. I guess just getting into it any not finding a "rubber floorboard" would have to be considered a major accomplishment. : : There is actually a web based forum,

that the seller : clued me into. It is amazing what some people are doing with these : things. : I have never been a Ford fan, but I do have to acknowledge that Ford never had the small car antagonism that GM continues to exhibit. And, if you could replace that pathetic piece of late 70's smog choked, casterated 4 banger with something better, it would probably be a fairly decent car. And, probably get better milage to boot. Of course, my main problem with Ford is (was?) their "marshmellow" suspension, so tightening that up that would be a necessity. And, probably the steering as well. :-)

Bruce

you know the resto projects i got from you? i started to restore most of your resto starts and now have a pile of restoration, restorations i've started to restore. that pile is seperate from my old kits i'm restoring and the pile of new old kits of started kits which are seperated from the new kits i've started. i'm thinking of restoring my modeling room because i can't find which stuff i need for the restorations i want to resume before i start restoring the new kits i started. i have almost finished the time machine build of the lindberg ju87. just an antenna and 3 panels left to frame. pictures in the picture group as soon as i restore my photo setup.

i had a white 63 that had a bondo frontend. my father let an insurance company stick him with it. i spent forever re aligning the 2 carbs. it was a 4 speed and could beat a vw bug if the carbs were right.

I know what you mean about E-bay. I used to sell there but the new rules make it a vicious place to do so. I keep my account for when I go shopping - only. Ah, another second-shifter! Did that for 17 years and still can't break the biorhythm. I've got a Fox Mustang and I've never noticed the ride to be springy. It's the tightest and most maneuvrable vehicle I've ever driven. I've steered out of several near-accidents that a mere emergency braking wouldn't have gotten me safely through. GMs always tend to make me slightly nauseous so I assumed they were more softly sprung - except for my son's '97 Malibu. I've driven that several times and refer to it as the 'buckboard'. The 'Rustang' has the 4-cyl engine and it gets pretty good mileage but I'm only driving it once or twice a week now. Your building practises remind me of my own. If I don't get something done quickly I tend to wander off to another project. Subsequently I have many projects sitting unfinished. Good luck with the Pinto!

Bill Banaszak, MFE Sr.

They've never been reissued to my knowledge. There is a '69 that gets reissued ever so often but it's not 100% street stock. As far as showing up on E-bay, I don't know. It would be neat to have one in a diorama, running over a pedestrian that looks like Nader. ;)

Bill Banaszak, MFE Sr.

Uh, yeah. ;)

Bill Banaszak, MFE Sr.

Thanks! So far it is living up to my usual luck with cars. But it is thirty years old, so I have to expect little things like breaking a wire when changing a headlight. grrr. Fortunately Autozone still sells a replacement connector with the wires attached, just have to splice them in to the old ones. And I am an electronic tech, very familar with soldering wires. :-) Now I just have to get up early (for me) and go get it and get it fixed.

Second shift. I seem to have been on it a good part of my adult life. I actually tend to go back on it on weekends on the few times I have worked day shift. I just have always been a night person. And definitely never been a morning person. Everyone at the place I last worked at while in Phoenix knew to not talk to me before 10am. Although when I was on the sub in the Navy, we usually had a 6 hour on and 12 hour off schedule while underway. That may have messed me up for life. Problem now is my wife is most decidedly a day shift type. Although since she has been out of work, she is slowly sliding down to my side. There may still be hope to get her to start building a model some day. I should have been building tonight, Sunday nights being when I seem to find to be the best time for me, but after messing with the Pinto and then add to that we are moving this coming weekend and we spent most of the day packing, well, model building is pretty low on the list right now. Russ

to me, having an old car to play with is as fun as modeling. i found a 86 mk3 supra for cheap a few years back and it's a joy. we just did a head gasket. it's a weak spot on the 7m-ge motor. but the car is so well made that even with 184k miles, we didn't need to shave the head or touch the valves, the hard part is the hoses for the egr and fule injection. so i used model master paints to mark each hose. had to get a tech friend to check the cam chain, but it was right and the car started after 6 seconds of cranking. i took it on the hiway, got it warm and then passed a smog test. i love that little sports car. everything works and it flys! check out the first fast and furious movie for my car....only difference is mine has no turbo. though i would kill for it, there is no kit of the 86 supra....darn.