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pinto mods and tuning
omega0684 - 25/2/06 at 10:33 PM

hi there guys, im planning to run a 2.1 pinto in my DAX Rush, it has fr32 cams, a max flow head from vulcan racing, shortened sump and pick up pipe and twin weber 40 dcoe's.

i just want to get an idea on the sort of mods and tuning that could be done to the engine to get more horsepower and more torque. i've been told that turbo charging is a waste of time as i might as well stick a cosworth engine in instead. so what other mods can i do without taking the engine to pieces

all comments welcome, as usual

kind rgds

Alex

BKLOCO - 25/2/06 at 10:44 PM

Megasquirt the bugger.

auzziejim - 25/2/06 at 10:49 PM

ditch the 40's!

either motor bike carbs or 45's

mookaloid - 25/2/06 at 11:05 PM

quote:
so what other mods can i do without taking the engine to pieces



err not much

most mods require some dismantling.......

UncleFista - 25/2/06 at 11:20 PM

Megajolt ?

Suposedly great for engines with lumpy cams. Also you don't need to remove the distributor until the megajolt is up and running

omega0684 - 25/2/06 at 11:34 PM

can someone please explain to me what mega squirt and megajolts are?

Alex

UncleFista - 25/2/06 at 11:46 PM

I'm currently sourcing parts for a megajolt install. It's basically a distributerless ignition system that you can map to suit your engine.

Have a look HERE for an excellent site detailing an installation on a Pinto.

The bits you need from the scrappy are around £20 (according to my local when I asked him today) another £35 for the kit to solder together yourself and that's about it.

Megasquirt is the same kind of thing but controls fuel injection too, many people use bike throttle-bodies with it and get "large" power gains and much more tractability.

HTH

omega0684 - 25/2/06 at 11:49 PM

so you can use the megajolt system on carb'd engines, its not just for EFI?

UncleFista - 25/2/06 at 11:55 PM

Yes, my car has a single twin-choke carb fitted and I'm going to fit it

I'm eventually looking at fitting bike carbs, the megasquirt seems a little overkill on a lump of iron like a crossflow IMHO

omega0684 - 25/2/06 at 11:58 PM

so what benefit does the megajolt give to the engine? more horsepower etc? ive just had a look at the site you put a link to and it looks quite easy to install.....

Alex

UncleFista - 26/2/06 at 12:22 AM

I only know what I've read so far

But. The advance and redardation of your ignition timing is "set" by the distributor, and obviously it's "mapped" for a standard engine, once you've modified your engine, the map doesn't suit.

With the megajolt you can program the timing however you want, it should improve running through the rev range, help starting and being a more powerful spark will allow a slightly wider plug gap, so cleaner/smoother too.

britishtrident - 26/2/06 at 10:29 AM

Not really worth fitting Megajolt on its own -- if the engine needs more advance at high RPM it is a 20 minute job to alter the mechanical advance stop in the distributer.

An engine of this size and tune ideally needs 45 Webers or injection with equivalant sized throttle bodies --- but it is a Pinto the real answer is sell it and fit a Zetec.

MikeRJ - 26/2/06 at 03:04 PM

quote:
Originally posted by omega0684 i've been told that turbo charging is a waste of time as i might as well stick a cosworth engine in instead.


Whoever told you that needs a slap.. Of course you can stick a YBT in, but they cost good money, and quite a lot of it. In terms of performance gain/£ there is little to beat turbocharging. However, it sounds like you have already progressed down the N/A tuning wrt cams and head etc. which would mean wasting money to go to a turbocharged installation at this stage.

A megajolt system will allow you to optimise the ignition timing for your engine (after a session at the rolling road), but unless you current timing is miles out don't expect any major power gains, it's more a driveability/economy improvement.

DCOE 40's will be a limiting factor fairly quickly, depedning on what power you are aiming for 45's may be a better choice.

Personaly I would ditch the boat anchor and go with a 2.0 Zetec, which starts out with 130bhp, and 150bhp is trivial to obtain. Once you have a genuine 150bhp from a Pinto, any more power starts to get very expensive.

andyharding - 26/2/06 at 08:46 PM

I'm just having a 2L Pinto engine built.

Big stainless valves
Piper 285 cam
Head skimmed and block decked
Fully ported/polished
+1mm pistons
R1 Carbs

Engine builder says he'd be suprised if I don't see 160bhp. Watch this space...

[Edited on 28/2/06 by andyharding]

MrSandMan - 26/2/06 at 10:21 PM

quote:
Originally posted by britishtrident
Not really worth fitting Megajolt on its own -- if the engine needs more advance at high RPM it is a 20 minute job to alter the mechanical advance stop in the distributer.

An engine of this size and tune ideally needs 45 Webers or injection with equivalant sized throttle bodies --- but it is a Pinto the real answer is sell it and fit a Zetec.

White man speak with forked tongue!!!

Although you can adjust the distributor to get your max advance correct, it is unlikely that you will also get the mid range anywhere near as close. I have a good handle on modyfing distributors with varying spring rates and I am still opting for mapped ignition.

A distributor gives a 2D map which will be somewhere near and uses a vacuum unit to provide more adance during low throttle openings.
With Megajolt you have a 3D map which can be optimised for various rpm and engine load configurations.

Although a Megajolt, or any mapped ignition, will not gain you more top end power it can make a dramatic difference to the mid range power and drivability.
It is not clear if you have a standard dizzy or a modified one and whether you are running vacuum advance.

They say that 40s are good upto about 160bph but that 45s are better on a Pinto. I have bike carbs fitted and they seem very good at low rpm. With a 285 cam I am still ticking over smoothly at around 850rpm. They also have a Throttle position sensor which is a bonus if you are fitting Megajolt.

Edited to say:-
I hope he is white!!

[Edited on 26/2/06 by MrSandMan]

MikeRJ - 27/2/06 at 02:13 PM

quote:
Originally posted by andyharding
I'm just having a 2L Pinto engine built.

Big stainless valves
Piper 385 cam


That's an amazing amount of duration, more than you would get by welding the valves open

Point being that's a lot of time and money to get that 160bhp, and the final item is likely to be a little lumpy. 160bhp for a Zetec is a still in a relatively mild state of tune.

Just for reference, a totaly bog standard 20XE almost gives that with stock injection...

andyharding - 28/2/06 at 12:21 PM

quote:
Originally posted by MikeRJ
quote:
Originally posted by andyharding
I'm just having a 2L Pinto engine built.

Big stainless valves
Piper 385 cam


That's an amazing amount of duration, more than you would get by welding the valves open

Point being that's a lot of time and money to get that 160bhp, and the final item is likely to be a little lumpy. 160bhp for a Zetec is a still in a relatively mild state of tune.

Just for reference, a totaly bog standard 20XE almost gives that with stock injection...


Doh, why is the 3 key so close to the 2?