2.0 Down To 1.6?

[Guest docter fox]

I have recently been looking at buying a rh and have noticed that there are a lot more 2 litre pintos fitted than there are 1.6.

The 2 litre undoutbably gives better performance, but as this would be my first car I would save over £500 a year if it was a 1.6 and it would be more than quick enough for now. (anyone know exactly how quick a standard 1.6 hood is?)

If i found a 1.6 which used the same sierra type 9 5 speed box as the 2.0 would the swap be easy enough to do?

Would i need to move the engine mountings?

It seems simple enough but i can't help feeling I'm forgetting something.

What else would i need to do and is there any more parts i would need?

Would i need to just pick up a 1.6 from somewhere and drop it in or are there other parts i have missed?

 

Thanks for any help

James

[Guest Charles B]

It's a straight swap nothing else needed just the correct carb.

I'm suprised they are that fussed about 400cc!

[Guest daveg]

James

 

If this is your first car I wouldn't get a Hood!

 

They are not the most practical car!!! (Now I am going to get flack ) they are best for a second car...

 

Dave

[Guest docter fox]

Yeh i understand what you mean about the practicality but I've seen the amount of stuff some of the rhocar members manage to stuff into their hoods when there going away for a weekend.

 

I wouldnt really be using the car to travel very far but just to and from school and the occasional blast around yorkshire.

 

I just want something thats great fun to drive and to play around with and enough performance to beat some of the ever increasing number of boy racers in their nova's and corsa's driving around.

 

I dont expect it to be amazingly reliable and I've always got a tow not far away from family and friends providing i take them out in it occasionally.

 

I'm dont expect to be able toget a weeks worth of shopping in it but then again I'm stil living at home so i don't have to and yes I am aware that I'm probably quite likely to get wet even with the wet weather gear.

 

Anyway enough about that, is a weber card about the best around or is there anything better? would twin carbs be a benefit or just a waste of my precious money?

 

James

[Guest chris brown]

If this is your first car  I wouldn't get a Hood!

I think your biggest problem is getting insurance check around to make sure you can get insured before you go to far down the line as most seem to only cover over 25s. But apart from that I think it’s a great car to have before you get to needing tin top to carry wife and kids and therefore have no spare cash and have to wait many years before the chance comes up again

[Guest timswait]

I built my 1.6 hood and had it on the road when I was 19. It felt quick, but that was compared to driving my mum's 1 litre micra. I reckon it would do 60 in 10 -11 secs, so you'd see off the majority of novas, but not the more heavily tuned ones. Insurance was £1000 with Adrian Flux, not bad considering my age and lack of no claims bonus. After a year with no claims the insurance had dropped to £700, so I put a 2.0 EFi engine in, this put the insurance up by about £80. It put power up from 75bhp tp 115bhp, about 50% extra, with more torque and general driveabilty it cut the 0-60 time down to about 7 secs and makes the car feel a whole lot faster than that. It wasn't such an easy job to change. The actual engine blocks are much the same, the 2l is just a bit taller, the problem was re -doing the whole fuel system, I also changed the exhaust which then meant relocating pedals and steering columb, in all the job took a few months. It would have been better to have built the car with the right engine in the first place to my mind. This year Adrian Flux were asking for £700 again, so I phoned round and found Roadsure were just £250, so I'm with them now (third year, no claims).

I use a Hood as my only car, just occassionally borrowing the micra when I need to move big things. I don't commute daily in it, but it does my needs fine, I drive it to Uni, and it's amazing what you can fit it; clothes, guitar, amp, snowboard, skateboard, books, etc! It's done about 10,000 miles, and touch wood has been pretty reliable. It's only once needed to be towed home and that's what you get when you try and drive 200 miles to Curbough the day after you've just finished changing the engine!

[Guest docter fox]

Yeh I've checked all the different insurance companies and the best seems to be footman james.

 

If i stayed with a non injection engine would this miss out the problems of the fuel system when changing as long as i set the carb up correctly?

Would i still have to relocate the pedals and steering colum if i left the exhaust the same?

 

I've seen this link http://community.rhocar.org/index.php?showtopic=3879

and think it looks good (a lot better than the last one i found)

Would this be a straight swap for the 1.6 or would i need to relocate things?

 

Timswait : Just out of curiousity what did you tie on to for the tow?

 

Thanks again

James

[Guest timswait]

The engine swap wouldn't have been such a big job if you were just changing like for like, so leaving the fuel and exhaust systems alone, but it still involves a fair bit of dismantling to get to bits, a hood is quite a hard car to work on, everything gets in the way of everything else. That 2.1 sounds thirsty as well as expensive to insure, so maybe a 1.6 would be a more economical option, I'd keep the 2.1 for when you get more power hungry though. I had breakdown cover (well worth it if you can get it with your insurance it'll probably be cheaper than the AA) so the Hood went on the back of a truck to go home. You could probably tie a rope to the wishbones on a 2B if you had to, though.

[Guest docter fox]

If i got something like the 2.1 would you recomend leaving the standard carb thats from the 1.6, buying a new carb or using one from the 2.1 or both?

[Guest V8K]

if your going down that road could you not also go one better and mate 1300 cvh engine up to get the £100 a year road tax im sure the loss in power from 1600 to 1300 for a year or so wouldnt be that bad if it saves you a couple of quid what with( limeted ) mileage and all that

[Peter Bell]

There were 1300 pintos but I guess they are few and far between, probably the worst power to weight ratio for many years.

Peter

[Guest docter fox]

I like the sound of anything that would knock a bit of the price but id also like to keep as much of the perfomance i can

 

The tax would be cheaper for the 1300 cvh then it would for the 1600 pinto but would i spend the difference converting it to fit?

[Guest docter fox]

just found this thread on a search I'm glad I went for the 2.0 and now I'm wanting it faster

[Longboarder]

This was a different James, from a lifetime ago. What a change in 18 months!

 

Nigel

[Guest docter fox]

the amount I've learnt from the car is pretty impressive too, still a long way to go mind

 

I may owe a few hundred quid to my dad but the amount of fun I've had is unbelievable! and a lot of it is down to you guys on here, thanks