What Engine Change Should I Look At From My Pinto

[Guest david_l_perry]

Currently I have a nice old school Pinto 2.1 with bike carbs and 5 speed box on my 2B - all working fine

 

 

I keep thinking about the next big project and that would probably be a major engine change.

 

I am weighing up options on what to go for.

 

Ideal situation would be to buy a working car and do a complete transfer of engine / engine management and gearbox as well (my type 9 can be occasionally a little notchy)

 

 

I keep thinking about going for a 2.5l BMW 320 for no other reason than I like the idea of having a BMW 2.5l engine under the hood.....

 

 

No matter what I go for it would be a massive amount of work, and that's part of the appeal

 

 

Anybody like to throw any ideas in the pot for me to think about ??

[maccavvy]

a 320 would be a 2.0 engine if you want a 2.5 you want a 325 or some 323s had a 2.5 engine but with a 2.0 manifold to detune it .

 

personally the 330 is the engine to have 250bhp easy out of one ,lightweight ally construction and very reliable .

 

I own a 330 with 170k on as we speak now and climbing

[Guest mcramsay]

Only issue with bmw is the immobilizer, or ews as bmw call it. Older engines were fitted with EWS1 which can be deleted via software/chips and is not so much of a problem. EWS 2 is a different story. Lots of people claim it can be deleted but none have any evidence! I'm going though wiring up ews 2 in my project at the moment and there's lots of info on it. Basically you need the key, transponder ring, ews box and ecu from the same car as they are coded to one another. The ews box locks out the starter via a relay, but also prevents the ecu from firing the sparks or injectors. If you get everything from the same car you shouldn't have much of an issue, and there's loads of wiring diagrams online to help. But if you can get a car with an ews 1 ecu then on the electrical side of things it's much easier

[Guest david_l_perry]

My preference would be to buy a complete running car so the swap over would be as straightforward as possible regarding ecu and other electrical gubbins, but also I can check the engine and gear box are working well before the swap.

 

Thanks for the info on the BMW model.....

 

What other options would people be looking at as an alternative to the pinto

[Snapperpaul]

Duratec

Get the Fiesta ST engine for about £500 add cams and you can push 220bhp anymore needs rods & pistons

Your Pinto exhaust manifold will fit by just changing the mounting face

[Guest david_l_perry]

Just checked again and the 325 was a 2.5l option. Straight 6. Thought it was.

 

Just figured there will be more options and better deals on this slightly older model

 

 

[maccavvy]

depends which model you buy

 

an e30 325 is a 12 valve approx. 170bhp and relatively simple electronice but old skool engineering.

 

an e36 325 is a cast iron block m50 engine. very reliable and with a few simple mods over 200 bhp is available.

an e36 328 is an ally block m52 and a few simple mods will see 220 bhp .

 

an e46 is the worst electronics to get round but a 330 is the one to go for . ally block and head so lightweight and 250bhp easily and a noise to die for .

 

 

if your after something simple and easy to go in I reckon 4 pots is the way to go. zetec/duratec or Vauxhall red top xe.

[Guest mower man]

I honestly think to put a beemer 6 into a 2b would be a struggle / pain in the bum ,zeetec ,duratec ,mazda would all be much more straight forward even an rv8 would be better all in my ops. Im happy with 145 ish hp on a single carb pinto mower man

[richardm6994]

Mazda engine with a supercharger or turbo conversion would be a good choice......plenty of power and rpm's

 

Ask yourself what kind of driving you'll be doing (i.e. track, touring, sunday afternoon drive etc.....) and make your choice from there......When I did my V8 conversion last winter (from a pinto), my choice was based upon the noise of a V8's and becasue I use my car more for driving on public roads on the weekends than I do track days or long touring trips....plus I've always wanted to own a V8.

 

What ever you choose, make sure you are 100% happy and sure about you decision before jumping in.....it's a lot of work and money to end up with something that makes you think "not as good as I'd hoped"

[Guest mcramsay]

I think you would struggle with the bmw engine.... They are massive! And very very tall

[Guest wargob]

I think you would struggle with the bmw engine.... They are massive! And very very tall

 

 

Yeah very long straight 6 and super tall if it fits the torque would be good fun but it could be a lot of money and time to find out its just too big.

Edited March 31, 2014 by wargob

[Guest david_l_perry]

Mazda engine with a supercharger or turbo conversion would be a good choice......plenty of power and rpm's

 

Ask yourself what kind of driving you'll be doing (i.e. track, touring, sunday afternoon drive etc.....) and make your choice from there......When I did my V8 conversion last winter (from a pinto), my choice was based upon the noise of a V8's and becasue I use my car more for driving on public roads on the weekends than I do track days or long touring trips....plus I've always wanted to own a V8.

 

What ever you choose, make sure you are 100% happy and sure about you decision before jumping in.....it's a lot of work and money to end up with something that makes you think "not as good as I'd hoped"

 

Good points.

 

Ok, I am not remotely interested in track days / racing. Touring, and weekday blasts out are the main thing I do. Another Europe trip is booked in July (did the same last year - top fun)

 

I am genuinely not going to be rushing into an engine change, and am wanting to gather as much information as possible first. Probably late this year or early next when I make a serious move into doing this.

 

The main thought process with this is simply working out the next big project, and a new engine change would fit the bill -at the end of the day this kit car malarkey is a good fettling hands on hobby for me to get to tinker and mess and learn as I go.

 

I am under no illusion that pretty much everything would need changing with a new engine, most probably down to all the dash/clocks as well as the obvious engine bay components..

 

I like the idea of doing something a little different than a zetec / duratec. Not even got as far as measuring any engines yet, and just working out options.

 

As I am not remotely interested in silly performance Figures, I know I am not interested in bike engines, but other than that, I want something that can look shiny shiny and sound impressive....

 

Perhaps a nice v8 is another good option to look at....

 

Will look at the Alfa v6 as well. Sounds interesting.

 

I suppose I could get any engine polished to look shiny shiny now I think about it....

 

 

[Guest Ian & Carole]

When you decide on some thing doo your maths.

 

My Toyota 4AGE engine cost around £300.00 by the time I had bought ecu, carbs, exhaust and other bits and bats I can in just under 3K !!!!!

[Bob Tucker]

My redtop also cost £300......

I refuse to say how much it cost to get it in place...in case anyone

who was led to believe that was all it cost gets to read this .....

 

My next kit (I'm looking at a Healey 3000) will have an LS1 & powerglide box.

But I've got to summon up the courage to sell the Hood first...may never happen.

Edited March 31, 2014 by Bob Tucker

[kevin the chicken]

Good engine though. Torquey but not as torquey as a rover v8