I remember those guys. I had a Pinto during that era. I bought it new for $2,388.
I remember when cars were cheap. They advertised the Ford Maverick for $1,995 new.
I remember those guys. I had a Pinto during that era. I bought it new for $2,388.
I remember when cars were cheap. They advertised the Ford Maverick for $1,995 new.
I would like to say that this thing is cool as hell and I'm sort of jealous.
Don't think my comments about the slow means it isn't cool
If you don't want to get into the motor, I have an Offy round port intake I would sell for beer money.
When my mom moved to California in the 70s she drove cross country in a Pinto from Ohio. She has frequently told the story about how much is sucked (there is also a story about moving to Texas with a Cadillac that burned so much oil they would buy used oil along the way to keep it full, but thats a tale for another build thread). I sent her pics of this after we bought it and asked if she would want to make the trip again for memories sake and she texted back a simple "no".
Using an inflation calculator and the original sales sticker this would be a 20k car today. I bet any 20k brand new car today, things like a lower trim Corolla, Elantra, Soul, etc would out perform this in every category and have way more bells and whistles like power windows/power locks, both AM AND FM. I cant say this is was the cheapest in 1976 since it does have an automatic, but it has to be close. The Ford website tells me the cheapest Mustang today starts at $26,670, which we KNOW will run circles around its 45 year old version.
Of course none of the modern cars have vinyl roofs so they lose all the style points.
For some reason I can still remember the first rental car I ever had...it was a baby blue 1976 Mustang II, exactly like your car. 
Antihero (Forum Supporter) said:I would like to say that this thing is cool as hell and I'm sort of jealous.
Don't think my comments about the slow means it isn't cool
It is pretty dang cool!
When I sent a picture of the car on the trailer a buddy said "Might as well ride in it back to PA because that's the fastest you will ever go".
Would a bunch more power be cool? Absolutely! But at this time I think the coolest part is how original it is. Honestly Im not sure I am the guy to swap it or build it anyway.
akylekoz said:If you don't want to get into the motor, I have an Offy round port intake I would sell for beer money.
I will definitely keep that in mind if I start to modify it.
stuart in mn said:For some reason I can still remember the first rental car I ever had...it was a baby blue 1976 Mustang II, exactly like your car.
I think my first rental car was a beige Neon, so you had the better looking ride!
I wish they sold more new cars in colors like that today.
I still think you should k swap it :P
BlueInGreen - Jon (Forum Supporter) said:I wish they sold more new cars in colors like that today.
I still think you should k swap it :P
If I Kswap it you have to come visit to help
logdog (Forum Supporter) said:BlueInGreen - Jon (Forum Supporter) said:I wish they sold more new cars in colors like that today.
I still think you should k swap it :P
If I Kswap it you have to come visit to help
...I could use a good road trip.
Was there a Fog Hat tape in the 8-track?
I had a brief fling (in my mind) with the Mustang II after a friend bought a Vega. Would have continued it but couldn't find a deuce at a decent price that was close enough to go and retrieve it. I'd STILL like to find one, but have a classic Mini and Fiat 600 projects to contend with, so . . .
In reply to BlueInGreen - Jon (Forum Supporter) :
Bring the kids, ride the horse, and if you get here soon enough I will let you have your choice of rust holes to fix on the the van!
In reply to notsafeforwork :
No 8 track. This has been upgraded at some point to cassette! I think I have some AC/DC tapes in the closet still.
Needs one of these hanging from the mirror...
Woody (Forum Supportum) said:Needs one of these hanging from the mirror...
And this:
https://www.partycity.com/hairy-chest-175751.html
This takes me back to college days. I tried to work out a deal on a '77 Mustang liftback with the v6 motor and manual trans. This was just before the gas crisis was about to hit our region and I was driving a '70 Olds Delta 88 Custom 2dr hardtop with the 455 and a 10.25:1 compression ratio. It would get low 20's mpg on highway drives - IF you would keep your foot your of the secondaries. It got as little as 5 mpg in town when you utilized the available performance in an urban environment. The salesman and I got within about $500 of each other. About a year later the Olds left and was replaced with a very lightly used Honda Civic.
In between some of the cutting and welding on the van doors yesterday, I took a walk to the other side of the garage and cleaned out the trunk. There were lots of "raisins" and acorns. Some of the trunk mat was used for a nest and I found only one mummified body.
Anyway, I pulled everything out and hit it with some Simple Green. Its in such good shape back there! Most of the black stuff is a tar/undercoating stuff. There is a little spot of light surface rust (that for some reason looks worse in the picture than in real life).
If you decide to stray from stock a little bit i know a guy who's typing right now that has a pile of 4 speeds and bellhousing for a 2.3 from a pinto
The 4 speed "hummer" trans I think it was referred to wouldn't be much better. Or maybe the 5 speed version that was in the XR4Ti was the hummer. Either one though was not very good. But could go T5 which is marginally better IMO but then still left with the overall non-performance-ness of the entire car. I had friends that had them & it's no wonder that when Ford & GM execs were dissecting Honda CVCC's they were crapping their pants. At least Ford had rack & pinion though.
In reply to agp1956 :
Same engine in my Grandparents 76 Olds Cutlass Supreme Brougham Coupe, 455 4bbl but was choked by emssions. That said, she still hauled ass haha.
XR4Ti 5-speed is the Type 9 box. Oddly I don't remember the name of the 4-speed box that the Type 9 is based on with the external linkages that came in cars like my long lost Capri. The 4-speed was nice shifting with long throws.
I've never rowed one so grain of salt but a Type 9 sounds nice aside from finding one in rebuildable condition. T5 obviously works as well and has real aftermarket support so there's that.
A Type 9 is a great gearbox for what it is, IMO. I think it shifts nice when the shifter saddle bush and the shifter itself is OK (and with Redline MTL) and for anything sub 200 bhp and say 250 Nm it is fine. It is also very easy to work on and rebuild.
The external linkage Capri gearbox is a Type F and really has nothing in common with the Type 9, not that it matters a lot :-)
Gustaf
In reply to notsafeforwork :
You really can find anything on the internet.
Patrick (Forum Supporter) said:If you decide to stray from stock a little bit i know a guy who's typing right now that has a pile of 4 speeds and bellhousing for a 2.3 from a pinto
If I do end up doing some upgrades this thing is going to be like stone soup with parts from all over GRM! That's what is awesome about this forum.
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