So, the engines running smoothly after a bit of help with the HT wiring and some vacuum tubes from the scrappy.

I notice after it's been running for a minute the exhaust (from MK) gets very hot. It'll sit and idle over and sounds smooth enough. I noticed a bit of smoke round the (new) gasket too. I don't want to leave it running for too long as it does seem very hot compared to when it was in the sierra.

It's full of water and the belt is spinning the pump. It's a pinto, for reference.

Any thoughts?

Cheers
Tom

You are a lot nearer to it than you were in the Sierra so you feel the heat more. The surface oil and stuff burning off the exhaust will stop eventually, get a temp gauge on the engine and don't worry about it too much.

I used that exhaust wrap stuff under the bonnet to try to keep things a bit cooler.

Also I have found that if the ignition is a bit retarded, the exhaust gets a lot hotter.

HTH

Mark

Take the car out for a thrash one evening when its getting dark. When you get home take the bonnet off and you may note that the exhaust is glowing a very dull red. They do get very hot, exhaust gas is rather warm...

Tom,

I got my Pinto running a couple of weeks ago (with MK exhaust). I ran it for about 10 mins and likewise the exhaust got very very hot. It also smoked as all the oil and crud burnt off. The temp gauge came up nicely and settled just over normal, so I was reasonably confident that all was well. I have since run it several times and the smoking has stopped, but it still gets very hot.

I'm planning to fit some exhaust wrap to the engine bay sectio of the manifold as most other people have, to try and keep the engine bay temp down a bit.

It's great to get it running though - have you driven it yet?

Nick

I think if your timing (or is it cam timing) is backed off a bit it will run hotter as well.
Dale

So in summary, it's an engine, it will get hot and I should stop being so soft

I've got a gauge on it but I'm not sure if it's working yet! I didn't run it long enough cause I thought something was amiss. I'll give it another go tonight and see how it goes. It's good to hear other people are getting very hot exhausts. It's not been driven yet, the engine has been sat around for a year so I'll run it on axle stands first and get it warm before I start blasting it up and down the back street!

I've had another look this aft (not run it again, yet) and the timing seems to be factory sealed? I've got a strobe I could check it with if needs be, but i've not altered the belt or anything since it last ran. I checked the valve clearences aswell and they seem ok. The only thing I did notice was it seemed to be running a bit rich, looking at the spark plugs.

I'll have another go tonight and see if it's still smoking. I'll try and leave it long enough to get the water up to temp!

It's good to hear it run again though, I thought it'd never happen....

mines buried under the exaust wrap and it still gets too hot to touch, plus it smokes big time! Did get better with time, though it never stopped altogether. Ive not run it many times since!

Funnily enough, i drove it to my new house a year ago and still havent finished it! damned bodywork...