adam cork
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| posted on 24/3/04 at 12:02 AM |
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2.0L pinto or 1300 x-flow?
Hi all, just signed up.
Brief intro: Got the book (both editions) last year, and am looking at options. (Signing up for 12 week welding course in a day or two)
The real question is that I have the offer from a friend of a 1300 xflow engine, but prior to that, I had been looking to get an old sierra with a 2.0
pinto.
I'm thinking that the extra power and 5 speed box is what I want, but my friend suggests that the extra weight of the pinto will have too much
of an adverse affect on the handling at the front end.
If anyone could let me know what they think and their expeirences with either or preferably both I'd really appreciate it.
Cheers,
Adam.
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nick205
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| posted on 24/3/04 at 08:55 AM |
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Welcome to LocostBuilders!
Best thing might be to ask on here if anyone can take you for a spin in cars with the engines you are considering. This might give you a better
idea.
Personally I'm building with a 2.0L Pinto and 5 speed type 9 box that came free with the Sierra. IMO the extra grunt offered by the Pinto will
outway the weight panalty over the Xflow.
Good luck with the welding course and build.
Cheers
Nick
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Ben_Copeland
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| posted on 24/3/04 at 10:34 AM |
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I expect the main reason why your friend said that the 1.3 is best is cos he's getting rid of it  and will lose out otherwise.
BTW welcome to the board. Lots and lots of people have used the 2.0L pinto, i'm sure if they had adverse affects to their handling, their
wouldn't be so many people using them
Ben
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 24/3/04 at 12:03 PM |
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The x-flow is physically smaller, and easy to maintain. Power is reasonable for a 7-type car, and should give heaps of enjoyment.
The Pinto will give more power, but is noticeably bigger and will require more work to make it fit.
There is one other factor - your age! If you're young (i.e. well under 25) then you may get insurance with the 1300 where you wouldn't
with the 2 litre - 2 litre is a watershed for everyone's insurance, and usually premiums are noticeably higher than for, say, a 1600.
rgds,
David
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scoobyis2cool
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| posted on 24/3/04 at 12:47 PM |
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I'm currently 20 (21 tomorrow!) and I was worried about insurance on my 2L pinto. I got a quote from Footman James for somewhere between £400
and 500. I can't be more accurate because I seem to have lost the quote but it sounded quite reasonable to me, especially seeing as it costs me
at least twice as much to get insured on ANY 'normal' car and they won't be half as quick!
Hope that helps
Pete
It's not that I'm lazy, it's that I just don't care...
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britishtrident
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| posted on 24/3/04 at 01:17 PM |
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Many of those of us around at the time considered the Pinto a step backward from the 1600 xflo when it was launched in the UK in the Mk3 Cortina it
was very heavy and in 1600 form no more powerful than the 1600 xflo and until the launch of the Sierra when oils and production processes improved
had major problems with camshaft wear.
The 2 litre version of the Pinto is taller and heavier than the 1600 to be honest a bit too tall and too heavy for a 7 style chassis.
The Lotus 7 was designed for a light 1200 cc engine put a big heavy engine in it and you loose more than you gain .
Against this background you have got to consider what else is available, the 1600 XFLO is now quite rare (expensive) in its rwd versions and can be
very expensive to rebuild. The 1300 xflo was the toughest of the Kent engines simple and almost unburstable, it is also slightly lighter than the
1600 but it is an old fashioned noisy engine that will always be less powerful and less torquey than the 1600 -- but it has a major advantage over
the 1600 it can be bought for next to nothing or as you have found for free. The 1300 xflow can be easily mated to the Sierra 5 speed gearbox but
how much use the 5th gear would get is open to debate.
What else is around ? --- Vauxhall/Opel single cam engines mated to either Ford or Opel RWD Manta gearboxes have a following but it is about the
same weight as the Pinto but less bulky.
Rover engines --- the K series is lovely if you get "a good un" but buy one thats been boiled and you will never get it water tight. In
addition the bits and pecies required to install a K series add to the cost.
The Rover O, M16 and T16 Series are great engines but are iron block and just too heavy for a Seven. The same goes for the ancestor of the O, T
and M series the good old pushrod B series.
The BMC A series has a lot in its favour -- loads of cheap parts around but 1275 Marina/Midget RWD version is getting quite expensive to buy as
many owners of Triumph engined MG Midgets and Morris Minors are buying them up.
That leaves the 1600 XR3 CVH and 1800 Zetec Ford units.
The Zetec isn't that simple to install but is a good unit --- but cost rapidly escalate as special parts are required.
The CVH isn't the best engine in the world but it is cheap easily available and in basic XR3 form not that hard to install because it has a
carb and conventional distributer -- it is also very tuneable much more so than the Pinto for info see
http://www.sylva.co.uk/cvh.html
http://www.pumaracing.co.uk/cvh.htm
[Edited on 24/3/04 by britishtrident]
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adam cork
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| posted on 24/3/04 at 06:06 PM |
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Thanks for all the responses guys, will have to consider the possibilities.
I'm sure I'll be back when I get closer to making a start.
Cheers,
Adam.
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phelpsa
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| posted on 24/3/04 at 07:41 PM |
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If your worried about weight affecting you handling, stick a bike engine in. CBR1000 engines are cheap as peanuts.
Not sure about insurance though!
Adam
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