2l Pinto

[68_Cortina]

Hey all,
Went to a wreckers today and found a 2L pinto, they want $180 for it, Its just a complete engine (block, head, starter, alt, intake, carb, exhaust mani, dizzy) basically just a drop in, tune and go. They said they dont know if it goes but i am looking a pinto to rebuild for my mk2 cortina. Now for the questions... is that a good buy?? Will a manual tranny from a newer cortina fit a mk2 no probs? and with a rebuild thats gonna have a supercharger is it best to space the head and have a low compression engine? flat top pistons,
better cam, bigger valves, ported & polished?
any help is much appreciated.

thanks

['68 CortyMan]

i am currently putting a 2ltr pinto into my 68 corty. A 4spd from a mk4 or something may fit, but perhaps a small bit of chopping might have to be done to the tunnel depending on if your corty started off as a manual or an auto. i dont know this exactly coz i put a 5spd sierra 'box in mine which is probably better because pretty much all ford 4 cyl fits to these directly after standard stuff like lining the clutch up n stuff.

the 2ltr pinto u speak of is a good buy for 180 given that the alternator and dizzy are working good. Are you planning on reconditioning the engine?

starter motor is all good because that can be re-used, as with engine mounts.

Sump has to be changed from back feed to front but they can be machined up for quite cheap. People have told me that escort pintos had a different sump bowl to fit around the steering than the cortinas but from what ive seen around, this is a load of crap so most likely it will have to be changed. The engine block is practically the same size as a 1600 xflow so there is no problems with size.

The bottom end is very strong for most things you could do to it so ont go spending money on steel cranks and ****, because the bottom end can take revs up to 7500-7750 already. some companies like burton power will tell you otherwise because theyre trying to sell some very expensive and overpriced parts to you.

Finally, personally i think your supercharger idea isnt that good because an N/A engine with a ported and polished head, decent lumpy cam and dual 45's will go like the hammers in a mk2 corty because the mk2 cortinas are lighter than the escorts. if you desperately want forced induction itd be better and cheaper to find a fuel injection manifold for the engine and turbocharge it, as this is more than adequate to give the ricers a run for their money and some v8's even. there is turbo lag however but realistically, a pinto engine in a mk2 corty will go pretty well at the lights even before the turbo isnt kicking in yet.

I hope this helps,
if anyone disagrees with any of this please speak out because the info will be quite helpful to me as well as this guy, but im sure its pretty much good.

[68_Cortina]

Yeah, gonna recon it, this pinto is from a later model cortina, so maybe the whole sump thing will just fit straight in, no mods, i havent look at that yet.
The whole supercharger idea is because i am going to run it on lpg and a blow through turbo system is to hard to setup and tune with the lag a turbo has and a draw through system is to damn dangerous for lpg, at least with a supercharger it is permanantly spinning and setup is relatively easy. Dont knock the lpg i choose this fuel because of 1. fuel prices (80km return trip for work 6 days a week is a killer) 2. my el falcon is on lpg and i have no probs with it and the wifes commo soon to be lpg too and 3. i just gotta be different

['68 CortyMan]

yeh lpg is alright. it is a higher octane than petrol apparently. I mean if your willing to spend the money there are systems that will give you just as much if not more power than premium.

[madmeggs75]

hi i just read your ideas and running straight lpg you will increase your power and i am building a 2l pinto for my mk2 escort but i am going turbo as i want 600hp and i am building the turbo setup my self ( from a sr20 turbo setup ), if you want to go supercharger you should get one off a mr2 as they are not to hard to fit ( but you will need to modify you exhaust pipes to get around to supercharger
good luck with your build

[TITO]

Originally Posted by '68 CortyMan

i am currently putting a 2ltr pinto into my 68 corty. A 4spd from a mk4 or something may fit, but perhaps a small bit of chopping might have to be done to the tunnel depending on if your corty started off as a manual or an auto. i dont know this exactly coz i put a 5spd sierra 'box in mine which is probably better because pretty much all ford 4 cyl fits to these directly after standard stuff like lining the clutch up n stuff.

the 2ltr pinto u speak of is a good buy for 180 given that the alternator and dizzy are working good. Are you planning on reconditioning the engine?

starter motor is all good because that can be re-used, as with engine mounts.

Sump has to be changed from back feed to front but they can be machined up for quite cheap. People have told me that escort pintos had a different sump bowl to fit around the steering than the cortinas but from what ive seen around, this is a load of crap so most likely it will have to be changed. The engine block is practically the same size as a 1600 xflow so there is no problems with size.

The bottom end is very strong for most things you could do to it so ont go spending money on steel cranks and ****, because the bottom end can take revs up to 7500-7750 already. some companies like burton power will tell you otherwise because theyre trying to sell some very expensive and overpriced parts to you.

Finally, personally i think your supercharger idea isnt that good because an N/A engine with a ported and polished head, decent lumpy cam and dual 45's will go like the hammers in a mk2 corty because the mk2 cortinas are lighter than the escorts. if you desperately want forced induction itd be better and cheaper to find a fuel injection manifold for the engine and turbocharge it, as this is more than adequate to give the ricers a run for their money and some v8's even. there is turbo lag however but realistically, a pinto engine in a mk2 corty will go pretty well at the lights even before the turbo isnt kicking in yet.

I hope this helps,
if anyone disagrees with any of this please speak out because the info will be quite helpful to me as well as this guy, but im sure its pretty much good.

A standard Pinto engine will not survive 7500 rpm or 7750. Constant reving to 7000 rpm is the max, even then your pushing the conrod strength. The weak part are the rod bolts to 7000rpm, but really 6500 is about your max. The crank is strong, a set of forged pistons is the way to go and ARP rod bolts, 6500 or under 7000 is about it. I found Burtons to be very helpful, the expensive parts your talking about are usually the best in the buisness you cant go wrong if you want the best. I suppose it depends on how you want to drive it.

[peachey80]

I agree, 7,500 for a pinto will usually equal destruction.
The physical size of a 2L compared to the old 1600 xflow is alot different. Bigger, taller and longer.
I had a pretty warm 2L in a MKII about 9 years ago. A nice cam and twin 45's make for a quick street corty.
The sump WILL need modifying as all escorts and later cortys had them the other end to the MKII. All I did was modify the pickup, cut the sump off about 2" from where it bolts to the block, turn it around and weld it back on... with a little massaging
A 4 speed gearbox from a later corty has the gear shift further back, so will need to modify the tunnel and trans mission mount, how much will depend on where you mount the engine as they are not a simple bolt in from the 1600. You will need to fabricate engine mounts.
I think escorts had the shifter further forward than the cortys though from memory, so that maybe a better option. I went for a supra 5 speed with a dellow adaptor.
With the added power the diff most likely will be a big weak point.
I shortend a TE corty diff from a 4cyl (3.7 gearing) they are a borgy diff the same as a falcon, so LSD centers are a dime a dozen to bolt straight in... never break it !!