on my pinto i removed the head and sump replaced all the gaskets and seals cleand up painted it and put it all back together. total spend £40 ish. these old engines are 10 a penny is it seems pointless throwing loads of money at them when you can buy another whole engine for less than a set of big end bearings.
i dont expect loads of people to agree with the above but in my opinion its much easier/cheeper to replace an engine of this type age than it is to repair.
im plan is to run the 1.6 pinto until it pops then change it for something with a bit more poke
