peter_m7uk

Woah, Jim's experience puts mine in perspective Anyway, I tracked down a head to a scrap merchant in Goring and got it for £40, so panic over. Cheers guys

Just for the record, what is the problem with Hammerite??? Pete

Hi Fred, Did you pay £30 for the bare head, or did it have valves, springs, camshaft etc? I'm just trying to figure out how much bargaining power I have. Cheers, Peter

Joel and Jaffer, Did you use the POR15 solvent as well, or will white spirit do the job? I just wonder if their solvent is nothing special, but sold more expensively under their label?! Pete

The original head was injection and I wasn't intending to port it or fit carbs, so that's ok. Just a bit peeved, cos I paid £80 for the donor Sierra and now I'm being asking £45 just for a head! :gdit: Must be very careful with that hammer in future :boohoo:

Having cracked the rear camshaft loop on my existing head, I've been offered one by a scrap merchant for £45, complete with valve gear and cover. Anyone reckon this is a good price or not??

When rebuilding a Pinto, does everyone fit new big end and main cap bolts? From Burton Power, the main cap bolts are £3.50 each and you need 10. That's not too bad, but the big end bolts are £59 for 8!! Pete

PS Anyone know how the SVA/registration/MOT is affected by having mismatching engine block and head numbers?

Thanks all for the advice, I'm looking into several leads at the minute. Still p$$$ed off with myself! :gdit:

My FR34K arrived yesterday and also contained a head gasket, camcover gasket and camshaft oil seal

Bu**er!! I decided to take my 2.0i Pinto cylinder head apart today and everything was going fine until it came to sliding the camshaft out. I tried pushing it and pulling it, but it seemed to be stuck, so I thought I'd "assist" it with a hammer. Next thing, it came loose, but I'd cracked the rear loop for supporting the camshaft, $£##! :gdit: After swearing for a bit, I looked at the Haynes manual and realised that it said "withdraw the camshaft from the rear of the head" and I was trying to get it out of the front!! :boohoo: So, read the manual, guys and gals! Now down to my question - How do I sort this out?? I suppose there are three options: 1) do nothing, 2) try to repair it, 3) look for a new cylinder head. 1) The camshaft is still supported by the front and middle loops and by the rear loop on one side. The bearing adds a bit of strength and the cam cover sits on top of the loops, so it may actually be useable, at least for a short time. I expect it will die eventually, though, and it won't be pretty! 2) So, if doing nothing is asking for trouble, I could try a repair. Anyone else done something similar and tried welding it? Presumably, the cylinder head is cast iron and reasonably weldable, but what are the potential problems with this? The other repair idea is to tap a couple of screws into the loop of metal, one each side of the crack, then attach a brace across it. Or I could do it with a couple of bolts and brace it on both sides. 3) Looking for a new 2.0 injection head will be a pain in the ar$e and the most expensive, so I consider this the last resort, unless someone on here has a spare head going at a reasonable price?! I'd be grateful for any advice, Hoodies. Cheers, Peter

Very soon I will be rebuilding my Pinto engine and of course I want it to look great. So, a few coats of paint will be in order, but I'm wondering what people have used for the job, taking into account the high operating temperature of certain parts? Is it possible to use common or garden paint from B&Q, say, to paint everything, bearing in mind the low cost/locost nature of building a Robin Hood? I suppose the block, cylinder head and sump get pretty hot, but the cam cover and intake manifold are relatively cool? The exhaust manifold will of course be scorching, so I would need special paint for that - Any recommended? Cheers Hoodies.

It's the auxiliary warning module to tell you your doors are open, it's frosty outside etc. I agree with Bloke.

Thanks all for the interesting chat, fellas. So, I've taken the plunge and ordered a Kent 2.0 Sports Injection cam kit (FR34K). £202.69 inc VAT and P&P from RallyDesign, not bad. When I get it up and running, I'll come back to this one. I'm intrigued by increasing the fuel pressure to avoid running lean at high engine speed and airflow rates, but I may have to get on a rolling road to tune up a replacement regulator valve. Peter

Just ordered an FR34K from RallyDesign. Fingers crossed for goodies!!!! Peter

Well, it seems that Phil Slater and Iain Brooks think that the Kent cam is fine. Simon Cooper waffles on about the idle, but I bet he's never tried that cam in that engine before. My conclusion is that the new injection cam will actually be fine and there's a lot of speculation in some of these threads! My other problem is that Piper do a Fast Road Injection camshaft for the 2.0 Pinto, so what is that one like? It has less lift but longer timing and the power band is 2000 to 6500 rather than 1000 to 6250 on the Kent cam. It also seems to be slightly cheaper 8-D This needs further investigation... Cheers, Pete

Interesting reponses from Fred2b and Jim Poole. My question is: How do you know the ECU can't deal with the new camshaft and have either of you done any actual tests to check that the engine is running lean or low on power? I would interested to see your info on the Bosch ECU, Jim, thanks. Otherwise, without test data as proof, I'm inclined to believe the Kent Cams guys. They are the experts and say that the cam was developed for the standard ECU. Cheers, Pete

You're all on carbs of course, so I didn't think I'd get many replies! It's ok, I spoke to Kent Cams directly and their answers (if anyone's interested) were: 1) Yes, the cam was developed around the standard ECU 2) I'll get 15bhp extra 3) Due to the cam's low duration/overlap, emissions aren't a problem Pete

Hey all, My engine is a 2.0i Pinto, but the camshaft has done 100,000 miles and is badly worn. So, I want to stick a new camshaft in and discovered that Kent Cams do a fast road camshaft for the injection engine. My questions are these: 1) Will I be able to reuse the standard Ford ECU 2) How much extra BHp do you reckon I'll get 3) Do you think I'll fail the emissions test on the SVA/MOT?? Cheers, Pete

I just wanted to come back on the question of the usage of the new Lightweight Robin Hood as a track car only, and it's durability. I e-mailed the company and this was their reply: "No that is not true, as with all robin hoods it is intended for the road rather than the track. If customers wish to use it on the track then it could be done and quite successfully we think with the weight of the vehicle. If built carefully and weatherproofed then there is no reason why a Lightweight shouldn't last as long as any other vehicle." Do you think that's legally binding?!

ECAM, what's the difference between pop rivets and avdels? I thought a rivet's a rivet? Pete

"Not for road use"!! Oh hell, it didn't say that in the brochure! I'm going to the Kit Car Show at Detling, Kent on 2nd/3rd April, so I'll have a damn good look at the Lightweight and bring up this question of road use. If that's true, I'll have to rehash all my plans and start looking at a 2B/4 or 2B+. Fortunately, I haven't chucked away the Sierra trailing arms and torque tube, so it's still possible to build an established kit. I'm rather concerned now, but grateful for the warnings. Cheers, Peter

Oy! I'm going to buy a Lightweight! Stop trying to put me off. Where do you get this incredible inside knowledge that there's something wrong with it??

Anyone seen the announcement on the RH website that the new owners "would like to market the new Lightweight project themselves in their own style as they are not happy with our style" ?? I hope this doesn't mean price increases!! Peter

Brilliant idea, chaps! I was down at B&Q last night getting the bar, nuts and washers for about £3. CHEERS, Peter