Davo

I have a typical problem of when I start the pinto engine after a couple of days, it takes a while to get the fuel flowing. My guess is because the fuel seeps back down the pipe. It's a mechanical engine driven pump. I was wondering if a non return value would help this? If so, where to fit? Near the carb to keep it primed? Just before the pump in case that's got the imperfection? Back near the fuel tank to keep everything ahead of it primed?

Thank you. It has it's MOT next week so that should give me an indication if I have it roughly right?

Thank you. Only been doing it the wrong way round for 3 years

Really dumb question - doing the ignition timing on a pinto with vacuum advance dizzy. I know you’re mean to cap the vacuum during initial adjustment, but which should you cap off? The pipe to the dizzy or to the carb?

Hi all, I thought I’d try and get the mixture right on my Weber carb into the pinto engine. To do this I used a Gunson color tune allowing me to see the spark. I got the mixture much better but I did notice that the ignition didn’t seem regular like it misses a fire. check out the video and see if you agree or if I’m imagining this

It confirms my understanding at least thanks. Having that wire connected up does mess with other electrical functions though. I noticed with the circuit on the engine became lumpy and the dials were prone to random reboots. I suspect there is a short in my wiring or maybe the voltage from them alternator is unregulated.

Thanks ian. Unfortunately I think the loom takes the excitor wire off the accessory circuit which creates this back feed. I’d move it to the main ignition circuit but I guess then it would be impossible to switch the car off! as it happens, the car doesn’t currently have any battery warning light so I don’t have that luxury. I get what you’re saying though. Was my understanding of how the battery warning light works correct? When no charge is happening the current is lower after bulb the bulb is lit, and when the alternator returns charge it evens it out so the bulb goes out. And that is exactly the reason why I get feedback to the accessory circuit.

Is it an electronic one? Mine has a number of setting depending on how many then the dizzy does per engine revolution. If it is one of these could have gone back to factory settings. I think these type work by measuring current fluctuations on the wire as the spark is made, I don’t think it makes any difference if it measures on the positive or negative side, only that the negative is normally better. In fact the instructions for mine say you should hook it up to the positive side where as the dealers says you should hook it up to the negative side of the coil. Both work but neg is better

Hi all, having gone through a recent rewrire of the Robin Hood, it’s mostly all good but I do have an anomaly I think with the alternator I think. there’s two main circuits, the ignition circuit and accessories on different switches. The anomaly is that once the ignition is running if you switch the accessory circuit off, the gauges etc keep running. my guess is this is because there is current feed back from the alternator, and I’m guessing this is what keeps that circuit alive. there are three wires to/from the alternator - two big fat ones which carry the charge back to the battery and the third cable was the excitor to kick start the alternator into making some current. I understand this cable also has a second purpose (and I could be wrong here!), the positive current feeds through that cable but first lights a battery sign, but when charge is made on the other side it evens the current and the battery light goes out. anyway, the alternator start generating without the wire, so do I really need it? have I wired this up wrong?

Thanks for all the tips. Bought an extension piece that allowed me to add an 1/8 inch pressure sensor and keep the existing switch. the switch isn’t currently used

Ha some good advice. As it happens I don’t have either at the moment. there is currently a sensor in the block hole at the moment but not connected to anything but I’m presuming this is a switch. There’s a guage I like the look of at the moment but it comes with a 1/8 sensor. I’m assuming I can get an adapter to change the pinto 1/4 hole to an 1/8 and plug it straight in? Or I can get a t piece and have both?

Is there any reason if I replaced the oil sensor switch with a pressure sensor and used a gauge that I would need the warning light? Surely if the guage was measuring 0 that would be the same as a warning light?

No that’s perfect. Fitting a warning light feels cheaper and simpler than a fancy gauge.

Thank you. I’ve had my water temp connected up for some time, and like you say, on mine it’s above the dizzy. So just to be sure, is it an oil pressure switch or gauge to the right? As in, should I wire a warning light or gauge to it?

I can see in my 2 ltr pinto there is a sensor unconnected on the carb side toward the right (furthest from crank pulley). Is this an oil temperature or pressure sensor or something completely different? Couldn’t find it in the Haynes manual.

This confused m for years. The car would get hot, water would spray out from under the hood. I eventually worked out it was from the rad neck designed to off load expanded water. I drilled a hole in a flask, strapped it under the cone and put the tubing into it. Now escaping water fills the flask and then sucks it back when cooling

Hey all Ive finally finished a load of jobs over the winter and I’m fairly happy with the car now. Next project will be more about improving performance of the engine. It’s a 2l pinto from a Sierra gl and I know there’s lots of gains to be had. But before I invest to much in pinto specific upgrades, is there a way to know if the engine is sound or not? I’d hate to start with new cams, carbs etc and then find out the engine was on its way out. it runs good, a bit smokey when cold but soon clears (passes mot each year), performance ok across the whole band, no reason think there’s something wrong with it but when it comes from a b reg car I have doubts.

Same. Squirt stuff is my alternate solution for a puncture. I’ll give it some consideration to changing the steel wheel for something wheel shape. cheers

Ok, had the car a while now and always thinking of ways to get a bit more power, hp, bjo, torque, whatever works. whilst dropping the fuel tank, i had to take the spare wheel off, and it occurred to me that it weighed quite a lot. Losing that amount of weight could potentially increase the power considerably. What if... to keep the looks I knocked up a polystyrene wheel to fit in the cover. but... do I actually need that extra weight hanging off the back to balance the car out? Without it will I end up in a bush? With it will I end up In a bush? Maybe! any thoughts?

So the middle thick wire is pushing out 14.5 volts the other thick wire seems to pushing out 0.5 volts at idle. Although it did occasionally spike higher but that could have been my multimeter touching the other spade. so questions : the wiring loom I am installing provides a cable to take that 14v back into the loom. However it does advise if the current produced by the alternator is greater than 80 amps then use a by pass wire to take the feed straight back to the battery. I have no idea what my alternator puts out and with only one set of hands it’s going to be challenging to rev the engine and measure current etc. Is the safest bet best to just take the 14v output from the alternator and run it back to the battery + directly to charge it? On the old loom there was a clip that looked a bit like a voltage regulator. Having taken it apart it look so rusty I don’t even know if it was being used. I don’t know if the alternator has a built in regulator as I know more modern ones do. If I’m taking the output from the alternator back to the battery post, do I need to get some kind of inline regulator?

Makes sense. So what do you think the second thick brown wire with the tape on it is for?

Also seemed a bit thick for an earth! so I can run it, but I don’t expect to get any voltage out of it until I put a 12v exciter into it right? A 12v exciter would only carry 12v low current from the ignition so it would be reasonable that’s the thin blue wire? Wish I’d tested them before taking it out. Another lesson. it looks most like an old Bosch alternator if anyone has anything similar.

Mr Barry, old loom out and new one in position. All going well so far. Could you advise on the alternator though please. Three wires on the previous loom. Two thick brown and one thin blue. I’m presuming one thick to take the charge back to the look or battery +, the thin blue im presuming any ign live as an exciter wire and the other thick wrapped in yellow and green would be an earth? agree? yes, I should have put a multimeter on each of the wires before pulling the old loom out.

Thank you. Appreciated. The original loom is from a Sierra but I’m replacing it with a complete new loom because there were wires everywhere without a clue what they were doing. Random shorts everywhere. I’ve bought a 21 circuit loom which is good value but in reality not much more than wires laid out in bundles going through a fused box. No instructions but if I look at it long enough I’ve got most of it sussed I think. I’ve laid it next to the car and started it on the new loom so all good. Now I have the driving, headlight main and dipped I’m pretty happy although it feels messy at the moment joined together with blocks. the biggest challenge I think will be getting the brake light and reversing lights sorted.

Cheers mr Barry I think I’ve solved the lights puzzle although there are w couple of bits need fine tuning ive got one fairly substantial wire for the main feed to headlights I’ve tried to do the right thing by isolating the switches and power to head lights via the relays. Is it ok to split that main feed out in order to power both the coil side of the relay and the switches power going through it? Or should I find a totally different cable to power the coil side?