# MPC's Pinto Cruising Wagon - or is it Bruising Wagon?



## Faust (Dec 1, 2012)

I’m sure we’ve all run into those kits that we thought were going to be fairly simple, only to realize that they’re a lot more involved than they first seemed to be. That’s been the case for the last couple of cars I’ve built, as I’ve tried to overcome dodgy instructions and a lack of reference material regarding stock versions of the vehicles. 

I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised that MPC’s Pinto wagon, rereleased in its late-run “Pony Express” form by Round 2 is any different. However, it’s not just the engine that’s wrong on this one, it’s the whole Cruising Wagon rear end! (You know, the whole reason most of us likely bought the kit?). It’s not Round 2’s fault, though. It’s all MPC laziness, but with some dedication, it can be made to work out in the end. 

Check out all the blood, sweat and tears that I’m having to put into this thing at the link below. Just a word of warning: if you want to build an authentic Pinto wagon from this thing without a lot of work, stick to the windowed version!

*https://adamrehorn.wordpress.com/2018/07/04/pinto-update-2-body-issues/*


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## aussiemuscle308 (Dec 2, 2014)

> the instructions technically show it going ONTO the bumper


ah, no, there is a little 180° arrow in the wheel well to show putting it to the inside of the bumper, but i'm sure you missed that. I'll bet there aren't any locating tabs, either.

overall, another great read


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## NTRPRZ (Feb 23, 1999)

Faust said:


> I’m sure we’ve all run into those kits that we thought were going to be fairly simple, only to realize that they’re a lot more involved than they first seemed to be. That’s been the case for the last couple of cars I’ve built, as I’ve tried to overcome dodgy instructions and a lack of reference material regarding stock versions of the vehicles.
> 
> I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised that MPC’s Pinto wagon, rereleased in its late-run “Pony Express” form by Round 2 is any different. However, it’s not just the engine that’s wrong on this one, it’s the whole Cruising Wagon rear end! (You know, the whole reason most of us likely bought the kit?). It’s not Round 2’s fault, though. It’s all MPC laziness, but with some dedication, it can be made to work out in the end.
> 
> ...


Was there a model of a 72 Pinto station wagon? I had one of the real things!


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## Faust (Dec 1, 2012)

aussiemuscle308 said:


> ah, no, there is a little 180° arrow in the wheel well to show putting it to the inside of the bumper, but i'm sure you missed that. I'll bet there aren't any locating tabs, either.
> 
> overall, another great read


Ah ha! There is! I didn't think they could miss that badly, but I wasn't going to give them credit given some of the other things they've done.

There are technically locating tabs, on the sides of the rad, but they're not a very good fit. Inside the body? Nothin'...


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## finaprint (Jan 29, 2006)

The separate part is the radiator and goes on the back of the front piece which actually has the CONDENSER for the a/c molded into it. Why the parts are separate, and the real car is the same way. I had an '80 wagon and transferred some 50-60% of the MII parts from a hailstorm damaged '74 car to the Pinto to rebuild much of it. Amazing how many common parts were used in both cars.

The clear bits used as bumper supports are actually one long piece of shaped rubber to cover the huge gap between the bumper and grillework/valance on the real cars. The real bumper was mounted top roughly 1 1/2" below the bottom headlite/grille line on the real cars. The actual bumper mounts were two horizontal shocks for the 5 mph crash bumpers that extended one for each side way low at the bottom of or slightly below the front cross member with the condenser. IIRC the original frame horns extended just enough to incorporate the shock mountings in their ends.

I used the 2.3 SOHC engine/ATX, rad and condenser, entire front suspensions, rack, entire HVAC system and main box, the car was in the process converted from an MTX to ATX car because at the time I could find no MTX internal parts to rebuild the trans. Countless other small parts used with no or slight mods too.

I drove it for years and it went to the scrapyards still running as I could find no one to take it even at scrap prices; I had too many cars.


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## Faust (Dec 1, 2012)

finaprint said:


> The separate part is the radiator and goes on the back of the front piece which actually has the CONDENSER for the a/c molded into it. Why the parts are separate, and the real car is the same way. I had an '80 wagon and transferred some 50-60% of the MII parts from a hailstorm damaged '74 car to the Pinto to rebuild much of it. Amazing how many common parts were used in both cars.
> 
> The clear bits used as bumper supports are actually one long piece of shaped rubber to cover the huge gap between the bumper and grillework/valance on the real cars. The real bumper was mounted top roughly 1 1/2" below the bottom headlite/grille line on the real cars. The actual bumper mounts were two horizontal shocks for the 5 mph crash bumpers that extended one for each side way low at the bottom of or slightly below the front cross member with the condenser. IIRC the original frame horns extended just enough to incorporate the shock mountings in their ends.
> 
> ...


Oh, that's what it is! And yet, the kit has no A/C... and they don't tell you to mount the Rad. Typical MPC. The parts are there top do it right, but you have to suss out the truth on your own. 

Thanks a lot for all the awesome info; Pintos aren't as easy to get info on as, say, Vettes, for some reason. Sad that nobody wanted your car...it's always a shame to toss a running car, but there's almost always a time that it's inevitable.


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## Milton Fox Racing (May 27, 2014)

https://www.fordpinto.com/











:cheers2:


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## aussiemuscle308 (Dec 2, 2014)

Man, after seeing your build in progress of the cruisin' wagon, i found this video that has a real cruisin' wagon, AND a cruisin' van!


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## finaprint (Jan 29, 2006)

I did something rather different on my real wagon. I wanted kick-butt a/c but back of wagon had too much airspace to cool effectively. I made up a clear acrylic separator panel cut and ground to fit with foam edging that bolted to the rear seat pivot point and it folded up and down like the seat back originally did using the same hinges. I gutted the original seat back to be just a plate that ran across the back seat area, the seat bottom was gone and an excellent overhang remained to hide tools and such under that flat cover, which was stout enough to load heavier stuff on too. The clear plastic divider came out quick if needed and in use it went in straight up to give clear view through rear tailgate window while sealing against the roof and sides and all the airspace in back was cut off separately to let the a/c freeze your butt off in the much smaller area that had to be cooled then, basically the two front seats. The a/c I converted to R134 and if anything it cooled TOO much, I never ran it at max blower.


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