Look up flak monkey on here. He's just sold his car, it was a pinto which he replaced with a supercharged duratec. Made a 'bit' of power

130 at the wheels is very good with twin 40's, most Pinto's work best with 45's.
I would need to know the full specifications of your Pinto to know where next for more power.
Do you know what cam you have?
What is the static compression ratio?
Do you have a distributor or fully 3d mappable electronic ignition.
Ifthe answer to allthis is yes then an engine swap it is

[Edited on 18/8/10 by snapper]

A duratec install is the obvious way to go. That will give you around 160-170bhp at the wheels from a standard engine on throttle bodies.

Then after that there are lots of options to take it up to 270bhp NA or lots more with forced induction. On a reasonable budget you could see well over 300bhp at the flywheel.

I am in the process of changing the cams and having mine remapped for the new owner. Should see 330bhp after the changes.

My personal opinion is that somewhere around 270bhp is perfect in a seven. Any more or less and they become hard work.

David

200 is achievable from a 2L zetec with throttle bodies and wasted spark. Not much more though, unless you start looking at turbocharging, in which case is £££, because of the new valves, pistons and decompression plate, which means 2 head gasket sets, bronze valve guides etc etc.

If you want 300hp straight off, then the cosworth YB is the obvious choice, budget permitting.
Or, you could go 2.8 capri or 2.9 cosworth if you want the torque.

or if you want it to rev over 7000rpm stick a bike engine in !!

quote:

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Originally posted by flak monkey

My personal opinion is that somewhere around 270bhp is perfect in a seven. Any more or less and they become hard work.

David

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quote:

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Originally posted by graememk

What drugs are you on ???

150 is more than enough in a 7, power to weight....

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quote:

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Originally posted by flak monkey
A duratec install is the obvious way to go.

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quote:

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My personal opinion is that somewhere around 270bhp is perfect in a seven. Any more or less and they become hard work.

David

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personally I think 200hp is the magic number for a seven.

Definitely go duratex, the YB is one of the best engines (out of the box) for a seven but the prices of them now makes them the silly choice.

quote:

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Textor if you want it to rev over 7000rpm stick a bike engine in !!

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if you want umph from a pinto you need to get yourself a modified head, preferably race spec, 46mm inlets and 38mm outlets, one hell of a lumpy cam (i will possible have an RL8 soon that i will be selling) standard crank will do but forged pistons and rods would be ideal along with a 93mm bore. (you can see where the money starts going can't you! get all that set up with aliminium pulleys, make sure everything is balanced, an aliminium flywheel and a set of 45mm jenvey's with 60-90mm trumpets!

You start to go round in circles with a Pinto.
Max revs 7200 (very occasional 7500) or change the rods
Max compression 10.5 to 1 or change the pistons
Maximum cam duration 290 to 300 or up compression to over 11 to 1
Super unleaded 10.8 to 1 max

Hey all,

Thanks for the replies. I am up for investigating the Duratec route but I have not ruled out the potential mods for my pinto setup. At the moment, my pinto is running a standard vaccum advance points based dizzy. With this in mind, there is no programmable/mappable ignition system. Is this something that is worth looking into fitting or am I chasing a dead end? If so, what do you suggest?

Is it worth knocking the pinto on the head in favour of the duratec?

If I go down the duratec route, is it best to pick up a unit complete with stock injectors and it's relevant ECU or would I bin the injectors and ECU and buy injectors and an ECU that's a bit more special? (the whole ecu/injection systems are very alien to me at the moment, I come from a v8/ 2.25l land rover carb based background with good old points and big carbs!)

Thanks all for your interest and input.

Cheers,

Dunc

Zetec, 200bhp for less than £500, 250bhp via turbo for under £600.

Whack that against tuning a pinto, or buying a Duratec,

Or, I have Rover T16 engine here complete with 220bhp you can have for £300.

I'm going to say Zetec as well.I swapped from a 2.0 pinto that ran on bike carbs,it was the best mod i have ever done and it only cost me 100 bar

Andy

Hey All,

Thanks for your input on my question. Just to keep you all posted, I have bought a megajolt setup and shall be fitting it in the coming weeks. I opt'd to do this rather than swapping the engine out as I know the Pinto is a good engine with a lot of life yet. I will (one day) put a faster cam in and tinker with the ignition timing. I am quite new to the kit car game and thought I would give this a go. If all fails I will be on the hunt for a zetec!

Cheers,

Dunc