Having just bought someone elses unfinished MK I was just wondering what sort of power/performance I can expect from the engine thats currently in
it:
Std 2.0 pinto (1988 injection head, 205 block)
twin 40 dellorto's
Mk exhaust
Assuming the engine is in good health - the PO had the head off, reground the valves and honed the bores (presumably putting in new rings, if not then
we're screwed in a few hundred miles lol). I plan on matching the ports on inlet and exhaust, however is the head going to hold it back without
proper work?
Am I right in thinking the injection head flows better than the others in std form?
I've read good and bad opinions of the pinto. some say its heavy compared to a crossflow - how much heavier? it doesnt look particularly huge.
What sort of weight are we looking at with this engine, 550-600kg? The car is currently very 'track' oriented with the bare essentials only.
if you want any sort of power,flog the pinto and put a zetec in,for track use a bike engine is ideal,no doubt someone will be along shortly extolling
the virtues of bike engines
There is a good comparison chart here;
http://westfield-world.com/enginespecs_car.html
Pinto's seem to hit a ceiling of development around the 180bhp mark. After that the returns aren't worth the investment. But 180bhp in a
Se7en will scare most people silly 
Having said that it's not a 'bad' engine just a bit older and heavier than some. You may as well play with it for a while and then
worry about changing it once you have decided you don't like it.
If you want modern/lighter power then a 2.0 Zetec would be a good investment and with a bit of money/effort over 220bhp is possible.
quote:
Originally posted by FASTdan
Having just bought someone elses unfinished MK I was just wondering what sort of power/performance I can expect from the engine thats currently in it:
Std 2.0 pinto (1988 injection head, 205 block)
twin 40 dellorto's
Mk exhaust
Assuming the engine is in good health - the PO had the head off, reground the valves and honed the bores (presumably putting in new rings, if not then we're screwed in a few hundred miles lol). I plan on matching the ports on inlet and exhaust, however is the head going to hold it back without proper work?
Am I right in thinking the injection head flows better than the others in std form?
I've read good and bad opinions of the pinto. some say its heavy compared to a crossflow - how much heavier? it doesnt look particularly huge.
What sort of weight are we looking at with this engine, 550-600kg? The car is currently very 'track' oriented with the bare essentials only.
I have a similar setup less the injection. Twin 40s and an unleaded head with fast road / rally cam from Burton Power and MK exhaust.
On the dyno it gets 140bhp so probably yours will be around that.
I looked at changing to a zetec but too much hassle for not enough gain in my opinion. Mine's a road car and plenty fast enough (too fast at
times) with the pinto. Also the engine is bullet proof and has the big advantage of only needing the minimum required emissions for SVA. Anything
newer will have to pass the more stringent test levels.
My plan was to SVA with a pinto and then change to a 1.8 zetec (bolts straight to the type 9 'box). Having got the car built and tested I
can't see the point as the pinto works brill!
Cheers
Gary
[Edited on 6/8/08 by Shamrock GS]
550kg with a pinto would be a seriously stripped out car built with weight saving parts. My R1 BEC with padded seats, LSD and a boot box weighs
530kg. The pinto and gearbox must be well over 100kg heavier.
Even with 120 BHP, it won't be a slow car. 6 seconds to 60? There abouts. Maybe 0.5 seconds slower for every 60kg extra.
A zetec is instantly lighter. It is also more powerful out of the box and more powerful when tuned. 145 BHP might be a second faster than 120BHP.
Edit to say, why not run the pinto for the rest of the summer then if you don't like it, fit a zetec over the winter?
[Edited on 6-8-2008 by smart51]
only real option realy is get rid of the pinto and go bec you know it makes sence
as above really - finish and drive it now - upgrade later (that way you'll know the difference the extra ££ made)
also you'll get a pre-cat emissions test for the pinto at the SVA (and your future MOT's), which will give you more options later
a zetec is a good option, but before you spend any money tuning a 2.0 zetec - have a look at the duratec's too
they may seem more expensive to start with but look at the total cost of converting to rwd, £ per bhp and room future tuning - it might not be as bad
as you think (loads of them in Mk1 /2 escorts these days) and its even lighter
or you could be stubborn like me and spend loads of ££££ on a pinto
some people recon the standard injection head is worth ~10bhp over the carb'd one (in other words the power increase on the EFI cars had nothing
to do with the EFI itself)
porting, cam and valves will all give you a bit more but you could spend alot for just a few more bhp
say you've got something with 130ish bhp now, look at the cost of getting to the 160-180bhp range (look at what the likes of Vulcan offer in that
range)
I've gone way too far and stuck a cossie bottom end in mine for a future cossie NA head upgrade - this is a not the cheapest or best way to get
to the 220-240 bhp range, but I quite like the idea of a lump of ford iron thats nearly as old as me reving to 9000+rpm
[Edited on 6/8/08 by mcerd1]
[Edited on 6/8/08 by mcerd1]
My Pinto engined Indy weighed in at 600kg. I wouldn't say it's stripped out, but only has a perspex aeroscreen and single hoop roll bar.
Fully rebuilt standard 2.0 Pinto with DGV carb and MK exhaust. Rolling roaded @ 107bhp and then 112bhp after having the carb re-jetted.
If your engine is in good health then leave it where it is and concentrate on finishing and driving the car (IMHO).
[Edited on 6/8/08 by nick205]
It all depends on how much experience you have really. If you've only driven boy racer hatch backs then it will be more than enough if your well use to rwd then maybe you'll feel like a bit more power. I'd still build it with that engine, spend a while driving it then decide.
I have had 2 2litre powered MK Indy's and for performance they both did 0-60 in 6 seconds. The only difference between the two was the 1st had a Transit type9 gearbox and the 2nd had a std Sierra type 9 so the gearing was slightly different. The latter was perhaps half a second quicker.
mine came in at 550kgs no real effort to get to that stage just a bit of thought
My pinto engine made 118 at the wheels with a home modified head, Piper 285 cam, Robin Hood exhaust and twin 40 dellortos. Since changed to 160 zetec and it seems much less exciting somehow. Obviously faster but tame. The old pinto was somehow more brutal and exciting.
Its not all about the power, these are a fairly torquey motor, loads of torque + light weight car = Big grins
we do plan on running the pinto for a while as has been said. My mates westy with a well worked 1700 crossflow (so probably 130bhp) is great fun so I
wouldnt expect this to be any different. Thats the other thing though, I need to be quicker than him
I'm just thinking long term.
The point about what you've driven before is probably quite a valid one so yeah the pinto will probably be plenty for the time being - but
i'll be a little disappointed if its slower than my XR2 lol. Tho i know its not about straight line speed with these so much anyway
Whats the weight difference between a pinto and a crossflow? im just surprised that the pinto seems so criticised for weight - i wouldnt have expected
that much difference?
quote:
Originally posted by FASTdan
Whats the weight difference between a pinto and a crossflow? im just surprised that the pinto seems so criticised for weight - i wouldnt have expected that much difference?
Bolt on a turbo to your pinto as I have done - loads of torque and performance for little cash!
I actually have a spare Janspeed manifold which I may be persuaded to sell which is the only difficult to get part of bolting on a turbo.
quote:
Originally posted by FASTdan
Whats the weight difference between a pinto and a crossflow? im just surprised that the pinto seems so criticised for weight - i wouldnt have expected that much difference?
quote:
Originally posted by MikeRJ
quote:
Originally posted by FASTdan
Whats the weight difference between a pinto and a crossflow? im just surprised that the pinto seems so criticised for weight - i wouldnt have expected that much difference?
Don't know but I can lift a Crossflow by myself (had to carry it off my workbench as there wasn't enough room to get engine lifter to it!), but I can't get a Pinto even a mm off the ground.