The Fix That Kept The Ford Pinto From Exploding (Hagerty)
Let’s be clear on one thing: I come not to bury the Ford Pinto (or Mercury Bobcat), only to explain how it outlasted its competition from General Motors, AMC, and maybe even an import or two that weren’t up to speed with American car preferences. It’s true, the Pinto/Bobcat not only survived the rear-end collision fire tragedy, it thrived to the tune of over 3.3 million units sold, with a freakishly loyal underground following to boot. Perhaps stealing victory from the hands of defeat was no small feat?
Actually it was a handful of small feats, which we will explore further with the acquisition of this new-old stock (NOS) Pinto gas tank retrofit kit from 1978. After a deep dive into the retrofit kit, we’ll look at what it accomplished, both for the Pinto and the automobile industry as a whole.
What was in the 43-year-old box? Nothing revolutionary, just new gaskets/seals, a longer fuel filler neck, a stronger fuel filler cap, a pair of plastic tank shields, miscellaneous bracketry/hardware, and Ford’s instructions to install everything. This is a good time to mention this fix applied to the Pinto/Bobcat sedans, as the wagons were exempt from the recall.
But this kit was selected (over others for sale on eBay) because it was designed for the 1975 Pinto with factory dual exhausts, which is apparently a one-year only configuration. This specific Pinto required a gas tank shield with an extra layer of metal to provide heat shielding from toasty-hot exhaust gasses.
(photo credit: Sajeev Mehta - Hagerty)
