I plan to replace the timing belt tension and idlers, water pump, oil, fuel filter and lines, plugs and battery before I attempt to start it.

Are there any particular brands to lookout for or about for the parts? (Particularly the belt and pump).

Thanks.

ImgBB

Clickety Click

Interested to see if anyone has ever tried this.... Bet they are ***kin expensive though

Andi

Tonight i was working on my 2B, doing some of those many final jobs before i put her back on the road.  It’s been laid up for 7 years.  I started her up a couple of weeks ago just to make sure all was okay and she ticked over nicely.

I thought I’d get her out of the garage tonight and turn her around to give better access to the side i have work to do on.   The engine cranked for about 15 seconds, sounding normal but not firing and then suddenly the engine cranking speed sped up.  I probably cranked it for another 15 seconds before i thought it really didn’t sound right.  I lifted the bonnet and saw that the timing belt had snapped and only the bottom of the engine was turning over.

As it never fired, will i have caused any damage to valves etc?  And also, strangely enough I’ve had a spare timing belt under my bed for the last 20 years, still in its box… do you think it’ll be okay to use?  Looks brand new still…

thanks,

Jon

My kit car is powered by a gen1 Hayabusa and not cranking.

The normal starting procedure (as it is based on a motorbike) is turn ignition on with the key and the dash lights up. Turn on the engine kill switch and the fuel pump primes, check it is in neutral the.ln press the starter button and the starter motor turns the engine and fires up.

Now, everything is as it should be except the last part - when I press the starter button nothing happens.

If I connect the output of the starter relay straight to the battery, the starter runs and the engine fires up so I know the starter motor is working and the battery is good. If I put a multimeter across the starter button, it reads continuity when pressed so I know the button is good.

I've tried hot wiring the ignition in case that was the issue but still doesn't turn the starter motor.

I've replaced the starter relay - no difference.

I've cut the 'ring' out of the little box that cuts out the engine if it thinks it's on its side - no difference 

I've tried following the wires from the ignition switch to the starter relay but they are all wrapped and very hard to get to.

Any suggestions as to where to look or how to isolate where the issue is?

Thanks in advance!

Over the winter I spent some time working on my Robin Hood 2B, mainly focusing on the cooling system.

Originally, I replaced the old Ford Sierra radiator with a cheap aftermarket one I found online. After rerouting all the hoses and getting everything fitted, we quickly discovered it had a major leak… not worth repairing considering the cost and quality.

So, back to square one.

In the end, we sourced a radiator from a Subaru Justy II (1995). We grabbed the radiator along with some hoses and reworked the whole setup again. I’ll admit the welding work wasn’t exactly professional, but after chasing down a few small leaks here and there, everything is now holding properly.

While we were at it, I also replaced the fan and added a manual switch for better control.

Now that spring has finally arrived, I’ve been able to test it properly. Temperatures are still on the cooler side, so it’s not the toughest test, but the engine temperature now seems stable and within a good range—definitely an improvement over before.

I also started tinkering with the carburettor (a Weber 38 DGAS), which is completely new territory for me. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to get advice from anyone experienced with it.

The issue I had was hesitation under acceleration—even mild throttle would cause the engine to stumble initially. It was worse at higher RPMs or under load (like climbing hills). At one point, after some overheating, even shifting from 1st to 2nd caused the engine to not respond to throttle for a moment, leaving me stranded a couple of times.

After opening up the main screw slightly, things improved quite a bit. At low and medium load, the hesitation seems mostly gone.

However, at higher RPMs and speed something still feels “off.” I can reach around 70 mph, but beyond that the engine struggles to gain more RPM. It doesn’t feel like a loss of power exactly, more like the engine has more to give but can’t quite get there. Hard to describe, but something isn’t quite right.

Overall though, I’m pretty happy with the progress. The car is running better than before, and it’s always great to get it back on the road.

If anyone has tips or advice, especially on the Weber 38 DGAS, I’d really appreciate it!

Thanks

i changed the timing belt and couldn’t find exactly what my tdc was so I took a compression reading while I knew it was close and moved it one notch clockwise to achieve maximum compression of 120 psi on all cylinders 

i ended up having a spark issue and had to spend $300 on a new distributor and coil from pertonix and got the cam gear lined up with its dot on head and installed it

it was running before the new distributor but suddenly stopped and lost spark and now will no longer start at all even with starting fluid

I'm all out of ideas please help

The unit is connected to a factory loom and earths directly through this to the chassis.   I'm suspecting the power feeds in to the engine harness are not good enough and it browns out when attempting to crank.   I don't get any info back from the crank or cam sensor, though have also verified these connections to the harness.

Not much info on the Emerald FAQs, but I think this is either a bad supply voltage connection or, possibly an engine protection feature if it does not see anything back from the crank/cam?

Can anyone verify if the switch position 1 voltage in live view should be 12v, rather than the 7.4.     Any advice welcome at this point!

I'm happy soldering new ones into the holder (which it looks like I'll need to do) but want to make sure I order the right ones.

I think it's a Bosch starter but not 100%.

Cheers

What seems to be happening is every now and then the engine just cuts out for less than a second and then fires up again. It can be whilst driving (which is really annoying as it's like hitting the brakes for a second but it's unpredictable) or whilst stationary.

On 2 occasions now it's not fired back up again and I've pulled up on the side of the road only to find nothing obvious and the car starts up again on the key.

I've eliminated all mechanical possibilities I can think of such as fuel supply etc...and I'm sure this is problem is ignition.

It's a megajolt system and I've connected the laptop and can see when it happens that the rpm dial on the screen flicks to 0 and then back to the engine rpm.

My first thought was VR sensor. I've replaced the sensor and plug but it's still happening. I then thought that the plug might be vibrating loose so I've glued it onto the sensor....still happening.

I've wiggled all the wires and plugs on the edis, megajolt and coil pack to try and make it happen on demand but failed. All plugs are secure and the wires connected tight.

The next thing I'm thinking is pulling out the VR sensor's shielded cable and check for any damage, but I'm sceptical this will be the answer (I've already kind of done this and didn't notice any damage).

I'm hoping someone has some ideas as my next thought is to replace the coil packs which would be a bit pricey if they are not at fault!!

For those that don't know me, it's a rover V8 running edis 8, new megajolt MAP version & 2 ford coil packs.

Day 2 owner here…. I have a Robin Hood 2b with 1.6l ford pinto engine. Thanks to the previous posts I have found where the engine number is stamped and to me it looks like it is a 1988 engine (stamp JA78006) but when looking on button power they don’t have a cambelt for that age so now wondering if I have got it wrong?

Can anyone please confirm that I have read the code right and it is that year before I start searching for the wrong parts. Picture below.

Thanks in advance Zack

Advice seems to be I should retain this, but unsure if I should port to the plenum or the air filter side of the throttle body.

Just finished a rolling road session yesterday at Northampton motorsport, very happy with their work, however, the torque curve wasn't great at lower revs and didn't pick up until roughly 4k rpm. The guy running the session suggested that the exhaust manifold was small in bore size and also primary pipes too short, which was the most likely cause of lack of low rev torque. 

Can anyone suggest a good pinto manifold option that will fit into an exmo? Modifying the chassis side panel isn't a problem if need be, but space is limited around the engine mount and steering column. 

Thanks, Lew

I'm amazed that it should fit a 2B which I would have thought was wider than a series 3.

Nigel

I have recently purchased and embarked on a rebuild of an S7.

The engine sump has been damaged around the sump plug - minor leak (very low ride height) and I need to replace it. Does anyone know if it is possible to remove the sump with the engine in-situ?.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Many thanks

Glenn

Just after a few thoughts on running a rebuilt pinto in,

I have a fully rebuilt 205 block pinto, with crank regrind, new bottom ends n main bearings, new oil pump,rebored & honed with new pistons n rings, block decked, ported & polished head with new valves,springs, followers & a Kent FR32 cam fitted with new bearings plus all new gaskets,seals,core plugs,water pump etc etc and I am running it on valvoline VR1 oil.

What sort of mileage should I be running before changing oil & filter? and pushing a bit harder say 5k rpm (I keep engine to below 3500 rpm at min)

cheers

It started small. Just a stumble at 4k. Nothing major, just enough to make me frown and mutter “probably carb needles.” Left it for a bit, but it got worse. Even had one “specialist” tell me to ditch the bike carbs and Megajolt and go back to Webers and a mechanical dizzy — because obviously when modern ignition throws a wobbly, the answer is 1970s technology. Right…

Then came the backfires. And not polite little pops, oh no. Proper artillery fire. Pedestrians ducking for cover, small children crying, dogs howling. A couple of those and the engine just gave up completely and died.

Naturally, not on the driveway. Not even on a quiet back lane. No, it chose a busy A-road. At first the sun was out, so I thought, “could be worse.” Then, as if scripted, the heavens opened. Biblical rain. And I should remind you: no roof, no sidescreens, no heater. Just me, rapidly soaking through while lorries thundered past, each one adding another gallon of spray into the cockpit.

Called the RAC. “No problem, sir, we can recover you in… eight hours.” Eight! To cover six miles. I was this close to abandoning the car and starting a new life in a hedge.

Eventually got it back home. Out came the multimeter. Battery? Fine. Fuses? Fine. Coil pack? Live. Spark? Absolutely none. Convinced myself the Megajolt ECU had died, so I went down the rabbit hole. Spent evenings testing relays, chasing wiring continuity, even pricing up new coils and a replacement loom. At one point I was three coffees deep, staring at wiring diagrams like they were ancient runes.

And the culprit? The one thing I hadn’t considered, because it was just too simple: the crank VR sensor. The little sod had wriggled loose and swung out of position. At first the extra gap gave me a weak signal — hence the 4k stumble. Swing a bit further, and the ECU lost sync entirely — hence the big backfires and then total silence.

Pushed it back into place roughly by eye, tightened it up, hit the starter… and she fired straight up, purring away like nothing had ever happened. The 4k stumble? Gone. The random cut-outs? Gone. My sanity? Questionable.

So after weeks of chasing ghosts, humiliating roadside breakdowns, and half an ocean of rainwater soaking into my socks, the fix was… one loose sensor bolt.

That’s kit car ownership for you. The highs are euphoric, the lows are borderline tragic, and the line between the two is usually a £2 bolt. Lesson learned: always check the simple stuff first — and yes, before anyone asks, I’ll now be carrying a spanner and a tube of Loctite in the non-existent glovebox.

Ta

Andi

I bought a GARBI 7 30 months ago, the car in a Robin Hood Mk2 monocoque with in board front suspension with a 2 l Pinto engine fitted with 2 Weber 40IDF 70.

The chassis was bought by a spanish company near Barcelona in 2005 which was assembling the car and registered it in Spain. The problem is the company failed few years after so all the registration datas were lost.

I spent the first year to take away all the donor wiring as it was full of bad connections. I took away all the fiitings in the boot of the car , spaekers, pieces of wood etc abd installed an electric pump insteadof the mechanic one. I Tried to pass the ITV (equivalent to IVA) and failes due to too much pollution for a 2005 car. I have worked on the problem during an other year on my own and with the help of a UK mechanics in Spain to improve the pollution level. I have isnstalled a 123 ignition, a Vortex exhaust, a complete rebuild of the 2 weber and manage to pass the ITV with a pouultion level of Co of 0.8% instead of 1.8% when I bought the car. every thing will be great if I hadn't a problem with the engine stoling after a hard accelaration loosing all power and ratling a lot. When I replace the mechanic fuel pump I connected the electric one with the same tubes connecctions, inlet tube and return tube to the tank. The fuel pump is an Edelbrock, the red one. Do I need a return line to the tank with this type of pump as it is self regulating? Thanks for your comments.

Bernard

PS I will have more question to come As I would like to improve the car which is good fun to drive.

I'm new to this but hope to put the engine together and get the help of a mechanic towards the end as it seems theres loads out there on pinto's . .. 

First question. The seller fitted a reconditioned engine with new weber carbs and inlet manifold. I have 3 hose unions on the inlet manifold. Can anyone advise me why they are there? where they should be going? can't make any sense of them.

Struggling to upload an image due to the zie, but here is a link to which inlet is fitted.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/115830132314

Many thanks 

Now my clutch fork feels very loose and I think the release bearing is no longer seated in the clutch fork, I could be wrong as I only had a very quick look before shutting garage door.

Before I give up and take the engine out (!!!!!) my questions:

1. What generally causes this?  Had I adjusted the cable too tight, if so what is the process to adjust the cable?

2.  Can the clutch fork be re-attached from the little access panel on the side of the MT75 bell-housing?  The fork feels like it is no longer "seated" properly in the pin.

3. If the release bearing has come out of its seat (probably not right word - but from memory it clips into a rectangle hole on the fork) can it be re-seated from the access panel on the side of the bellhousing?

Does anyone have any suggestions or quick fixes that don't involve taking the engine out - I really, really don't want to do it again.

Thanks!