Pinto - rebuild or not?!?!?!

[TheArf]

Its all down to personal interpritation

[will_08]

Like you said Arf its a personal thing.

Im not frightened of ecu's, its not exactly rocket science is it. I re-map V20 gas engines at work every other day.

Ive aquired this stage 3 head is all, which are about a £1000 on Burtons website and im torn wheter to build an engine with it or flog it on.

[robo]

Cant say i see where this is going. If you have a 1.6 pinto and it fits the bill go for it, if you can afford a full race zetec great. Every one here is building to their own ideals and at the end of the day the car is not ever going to be an every day driver. Its pleasure miles only and a fantastic platform for later upgrades, just build and enjoy. Worry about upgrades as and when. Smiles for miles

Bob

[tkpm]

There are a couple of reasons i'm using a Pinto.

1. It came with the car
2. I don't have a clue about ecu, megjolts efi's

i've not even touched the pinto carb, as i wouldn't have a clue how to put it back together again.

At some point in the future i will replace the engine with something a bit more modern, but i will have pay someone to do that.

Terry

[robo]

http://www.pumaracing.co.uk/PINTO.htm

Nowt wrong with a pinto

Bob

[baz-r]

pinto's are robust bits are cheap as chips and there is bits everywhere
i should be fairly cheap to rebuild as long as it doesnt require any machine shop work and your willing and able to do it yourself.
should be an easy fit no cat to fit and no expensive extras needed toget it running
its a personal taste thing really
burton prices ar high btw
if its a 205 block someone would be paying top money for it as thay are sort after
people say its way too expensive to rebuild a zetec silver top
i got a good one with a weepy head gasket it turned out
rings and ful set of shells,gaskets,waterpump etc
cost me £120 total rebuild excluding 50 for the engine itself plus i got the engie complete as it was pulled out with box and everything so i think i did ok

[alga]

I completely agree with Ash. Pinto design is over 40 years old. It's old, uneconomical and restrictive. Why waste money rebuilding and tuning an 8-valve engine, when it's of near zero historical value?

Actually, I know one reason. If you want to get into engine rebuilding, Pinto is a good place to start. Primitive, crude, robust.

[robo]

Well my mate has an old westfield with a live axle and a 1600 crossflow in it. Its on dcoe 40`s and dizzy with points.That engine was made up out of two he had and he stuck a kent cam kit in it. It owes him nothing and its been in there for 15+ years , its good on fuel, bloody reliable, sounds good and I reckon you would kill youself trying to get past it round here on our roads. Old yes ,crap no way. And a pinto is better than that !!

Bob

[AshG]

haven driven my car with a pinto in it for a whole year and several others i can safely say they are crap.

last year i took it to Exeter show 160mile from my house. it used double the fuel of the people with zetecs and had no chance of keeping up even with bike carbs nice exhaust and a proper setup at ATSPEED. when i got home it was ripped out and replaced for the saab turbo engine. it has almost 4 times the power and easily does 30mpg regardless of my driving style.

all i can say is been there done it got the t shirt.

if you just want a nice little car to poodle about in then fine fit a pinto. if you want a serious tool that will do everything then fit something better.

a 2.0 zetec with bike carbs and a mejajolt is a very very simple setup and will cost you under £500 all done and dusted.

my saab turbo engine cost me under a grand to do the only reason for the added cost was all the silicon hose i need to plumb up the turbo and inter cooler and the ecu

[TheArf]

Hows the back end these days Ash is it straght now. Amazing what can happen with loads of power