This is my First 1977 Cruising Wagon,
which is now a retired vehicle. I got it when I was
16 years old. It was originally Rootbeer brown and I had it
painted toyota red with a red pearl. I customized the interior
by putting diamond tuck on the rear panels
and putting in CRX seats and redoing the headliner as well.
I also customized the stereo system. It would hit 140
decibels easy. By the time I retired it (in 1997, it had been in 1
serious wreck in which the pictures are included, and
several minor ones. It had over 450,000 miles on the
frame and about 30,000 on the motor. By this time the
frame had separated from the body. I would have
loved to keep this car but it was in such bad shape
that it was no longer safe for me or my wife to drive.
When I found my second pinto, I transferred the motor
and stripped the vehicle of all good parts before sending
her onto the graveyard. I am now restoring my second car.
Take a look at all of the pictures and you will see what
I mean. I do miss her though.

GETTIN READY TO PAINT!

THE WRECK
This is what happens to a lowered pinto when
you rearend a 1977 el camino without brake
lights in a construction zone. It took
off 8 inches of the passenger side fender, and
pushed the fan into the radiator and even
bounced the battery upside down. And of course she
didn't have insurance and my insurance only
covers liability because the car is too old. So I
fixed her myself with a cumalong and a tree. I
put a screw in the core support and put a new
fan, radiator, fender and hood on her and she
was as good as new. Sorry about some of the
distortion but I was trying to lighten the photo.
They were taken at dusk.

Ouch

Check out the core support, see the crack

The passenger door and drivers side fender are
also primered due to other mishaps involving a
ridinglawn mower and a log. It's a long story.

The day I bought my other one. See the
difference in height.

The Stripping
Here is the part where I stripped the car
down to a bare minimum. I even put the
stock rims off of my wife's mustang. Boy
weren't they ugly.

Check out that dash. uugghhhh. Included
is the factory steering wheel off of the
black pinto. To see more of the black
pinto, go to the next page.

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