110Bhp From A 2.1Pinto

[Longboarder]

Wow. There are some pretty impressive pintos out there. Make my ST engine look a bit pathetic.

 

Going back to the original problem of apparent low power output I think it's reasonable for the mods known to be done, disappointing but possibly predictable. (Your rolling road operator may be more honest than most too!) Tuning is to some extent developing all the different aspects of an engine that make it breathe. Its about balance. No one would expect bolting a pair of 48 DCOE webbers on a standard pinto would do anything but make less power over 95% of the rev range and make it undrivable.

 

You have twin 40's, 270 cam, 2.1 block. All good choices. You don't say what head you have. It may well be non injection, have standard compression ratio, standard ports and standard valve seats. Exhaust manifold? Cam vernier? Optimised ignition system? All aspects limiting the ability of the engine to pump air and petrol through it and burn it most efficiently.

 

I would look at it a work in progress and you cannot release the potential of the mods that have been done until a little development work has been done across all aspects of the engine. It goes without saying that the engine needs to be healthy before you start. No leaks, old knackered plugs, good dizzy etc.

 

Nigel

[Shandylegs]

 

I always remember a pinto rolling road shootout in a magazine from about 20 years ago. Loads of lads wheeled out their MK1 and 2 escorts running silly states of tune.

 

Basically, when tested none of them made the numbers that were expected and blamed the rolling road - that is until a Roland Hayes' car(H-T Racing?)posted some really huge figures - with about 4 people sat in the boot to stop it spinning up while on the rollers!

[richardm6994]

Hi CMA,

 

I'm a derbys lad and wondered where you all went for the rolling road tune?

 

I'm just finishing a megajolt conversion on my pinto and as I've never had it rolling roaded.........I thought that this time I would do so to get it set-up properly. I don't know what bhp to expect, however the engine spec is pretty good;

 

2.1 (2093cc)

twin 48's which are choked to 38mm and had all the jets and emulsion tubes spec to the engine

megajolt

FR32 cam

big valves (45mm and 38mm from memory)

the head has been on a flow bench and increased it's cfm to around 180cfm

 

Numerous other stuff, but that's the bulk of it!

[speedtripledan]

Hi CMA,

 

I'm a derbys lad and wondered where you all went for the rolling road tune?

 

I'm just finishing a megajolt conversion on my pinto and as I've never had it rolling roaded.........I thought that this time I would do so to get it set-up properly. I don't know what bhp to expect, however the engine spec is pretty good;

 

2.1 (2093cc)

twin 48's which are choked to 38mm and had all the jets and emulsion tubes spec to the engine

megajolt

FR32 cam

big valves (45mm and 38mm from memory)

the head has been on a flow bench and increased it's cfm to around 180cfm

 

Numerous other stuff, but that's the bulk of it!

Thats a better spec than what my pinto was, and that was in the 120bhp's @ the wheels...or 150's at the crank which always sounds better so if its a good un i would expect high 120's to low 130's at russ's

[Guest thekingofbling]

Always been a fan of the pinto, and stuck with them in various phases of tune, back to the original post, 110bhp defo something amiss, my first 2.0, which turned out to be a low compression version from a transit, witha set of 45's stuck to it and a fast road cam made slightly more and concerns were raised then, hence doing a compression check and discovering find the low compression bottom end, do you know any background behind the engine itself, or is it one you have built.

 

Been through numerous 2.0 and 2.1's the last 2.1 running high compression and big cam on jenvey 45 bodies, strong motor pulled like a train.

 

Bought an ex autograss national winning 2.4 pinto which im now running on the jenvey's and mbe full management, dry sumped it, this one defo brings a smile to my face.

[Guest NantLladron]

Thanks all so far for the comments , i guess after i comp test it the only other thing is to take the head off and see ..........1, Is it actually a 2.1? i guess i can see from the pistons , then see what head it has on it .....maybe just a standard ..... a few people have mentioned distributors in the posts ..........mine does more than pop on the overrun it fires blue flames out as is bangs ....the dizzy has no vacume advance on it, it just works from the weights , im wondering if the timing is moving around a bit ?

 

Engine runs very smooth , a little hesitant just at low revs as you back off the throttle then back on .......of course it could be a v low reading from the rolling road and its actually higher ..........but it isnt mind blowingly quick which i would expect if it was 140+ ........

[steve_wilson]

when i first registered my 2b i got it rolling roaded at bogg brothers, went in with 45bhp at the wheels and came out with 85 at the wheels

 

i had

2.1 pinto

twin 40 dellortos

points dizzy

standard sierra cast manifold

carb head (no head work)

piper 285 cam + vernier pulley

 

went back a year later with:

 

same 2.1 pinto block

fireblade carbs

megajolt

RH 4-1 manifold

injection head with very mild porting but standard valves

piper 300 cam + vernier

10.8:1 compression

 

came out with about 135 at the wheels

 

 

the better flowing exhaust really made a difference, it was very noticeable when i fitted that. injection heads are supposedly worth 5-10bhp. getting a decent ignition system i.e. bestek or megajolt with be worth a bit, especially mid range.

and making doubley sure your cam timing is spot on! with a DTI and timing disc

also worth upping the compression, even just a little bit with a felpro head gasket, theyre only about £25 from burton power

[Guest jasonmorris]

Just a thought, and maybe someone more in the know will comment on this. I wonder if the block was decked when converting to 2.1 if they used V6 pistons. I think you can check this by removing the head and looking at the gap between top of piston and block face, although I'm not too certain on what that gap should be. A bit extreme I know, but just a thought and worth checking if you're changing to a Felpro gasket.

 

I would have thought with your spec you should be looking at a reliable 120 wheel bhp figure, about 145-150bhp at the flywheel.

 

In my opinion it is worth looking into why your pinto is not performing as it should, especially seeing as the mods have already being done. If you was starting from scratch I would have definitely said go straight for a Zetec as it's more cost effective than tuning the old pinto and has 130ish horses straight outta the box. One thing I would do though is forget the Duratec. Why go down this route when Zetec's are in plenty supply and cheaper to buy, install and tune.

 

Just my opinions of course.

 

Jason

 

Rgds,

 

Jason

[Snapperpaul]

Steve, how many miles have you done with 10.8 to 1?

Cast pistons are a bit close to breaking piston ring lands at that so I am told.

Certainly you don't want any detonation.

I'm curious because I am struggling to get my compression down to 10.5 to 1 from 11.2 with the new head.

My options are enlarge the chambers or fit an expensive Cometic gasket.

[Grim]

did they adjust the cam timing at the rolling road?

[steve_wilson]

Steve, how many miles have you done with 10.8 to 1?

Cast pistons are a bit close to breaking piston ring lands at that so I am told.

Certainly you don't want any detonation.

I'm curious because I am struggling to get my compression down to 10.5 to 1 from 11.2 with the new head.

My options are enlarge the chambers or fit an expensive Cometic gasket.

 

only done about 300 miles on 10.8

 

will be going supercharged next winter so will probably only do another 1000 miles at 10.8 then i'll be lowering the CR

 

enlarging the chambers seems like the best bet, unless you can skim the pistons?

[Guest NantLladron]

^{Lots of comments and advice , thanks , the rolling road guy just repaced the jets in the webbers , balanced them and adjusted the spark timing , he didnt touch the cam timing ( autosprint have come back with start at 110 degrease and work from there ) .......}

 

^{the long and short of it is this is getting far too complex for my talents ........can anyone recommend someone Northwest ish ( dont mind travelling to get it sorted ) that could look at it ?}