Pinto 2045cc Full Rebuild & Upgrade

[Greaty61]

I've just started my first project today and am working on the cylinder head. It's from an old Cortina and therefore needs unleaded inserts. I'm going to use std exhaust size and 45.7mm Inlets. Started to work on the first chamber, can someone cast an eye over what I've done so far please. Am I going in the right direction? Taken me 2 hours to do this....





This is how all the rest look

[alladdin]

What is your aim regarding chamber ?


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[Greaty61]

I'm trying to unshroud the Valves, especially if going to a 45.7mm inlet. Then have the unleaded inserts fitted.

But I think there is a crack in the head. Can you see it here??





Is the head scrap?

Steve

[Forest_rallying]

Remember Greaty, the more metal you remove un shrouding valves gives your chamber more ccs, so it will have to be got back somewhere, you need to increase compression if your engine's to perform well.

[alladdin]

certainly looks like a crack

[Greaty61]

Is it scrap then?

[Graham]

if it is a crack yes scrap, get it "hot" pressure tested

[Greaty61]

Got this off ebay instead, and got a refund off the bloke who sold me the Cortina engine he had been running on unleaded! Didn't mention that in the listing!

[alladdin]

Do you have a time machine 😀


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[Greaty61]

Started on the 'NEXT' head today.

Done Exhaust Ports 3&4.

Have I taken enough out?





These came as well............new std ex valves



And these REC 882 Inlet Valves

[Forest_rallying]

Who are you going to get to bore the throats and cut the seats, Dave Rushton?

REC valves had the part no stamped on the top of the stem at one time of day, not sure now. Did you remember to buy come new single groove collets?

[Greaty61]

I bought single collets from Burton earlier this week and yes, I was thinking of Dave Rushton. Is he recommended then Forest_rallying?

Also got to get the block bored to 92mm and about 0.010" off the block.

Going to use 136mm Farndon Rods with 33.3mmAccralites for the bottom end, and a GTS1 cam.

I'm very excited.

[Graham]

last time i spoke with paul ivy ( rec) he said they had gone metric with teh single groove valves/retainers so it might be best to check the collets you bought off burton ( most likely essex v6) are actually compatable

[MemphisTwin]

I bought single collets from Burton earlier this week and yes, I was thinking of Dave Rushton. Is he recommended then Forest_rallying?

Also got to get the block bored to 92mm and about 0.010" off the block.

Going to use 136mm Farndon Rods with 33.3mmAccralites for the bottom end, and a GTS1 cam.

I'm very excited.

I can recommend Dave Rushton. He did a great job for me.

[Forest_rallying]

I have n't had any work done by Dave Rushton but I know Memphis had him cut the seats on his down draught pinto head.

What are you intending to use the engine for when it's finished Greaty? When you have had the block bored you'll need to do a dummy build with the pistons and rods installed before you do any machining to the block face.

[Greaty61]

Graham, Burton collets fit OK.

Forest_rallying, I'm very tempted to go back to the Road!! Might not be the same but I can still have some fun.

Just need a cheap pair of Split 48's.

I'm going to give Dave Rushton a call when I've finished all the exhaust ports. What do you think of the shape anyone?

Steve

[Graham]

the differnce may of been in the id of the retainers and od of the collets , to be honest as i was buying valves, retainers and collects i didnt pay a lot of attension to what paul said was differrent

[Forest_rallying]

I don't think there's such a thing as a cheap pair of split 48's, they always command strong money. What about a pair of bike carbs, are they RR legal?

[Greaty61]

Two chokes still. The Dave Brookes manifold is like the old BMC one with a balance bar between, I suppose it's just getting the volume right and the size of two single bike carbs.

Sold my Split 48's in 1987 for £400!

[Forest_rallying]

I never cut my Dellortos when I ran them as splits so I was able to fit them back as twins for stage events. A lad from Congie Beech bought my inlet manifold.

[MemphisTwin]

I have n't had any work done by Dave Rushton but I know Memphis had him cut the seats on his down draught pinto head.

What are you intending to use the engine for when it's finished Greaty? When you have had the block bored you'll need to do a dummy build with the pistons and rods installed before you do any machining to the block face.

I used Dave Rushton for the rebore, crank polishing, camshaft bearing fitting and scraping (to match camshaft), K liner fitting, valve throat and seat cutting etc. etc. An excellent service and very knowledgeable. He can also do offset crank grinding.

[Greaty61]

I've just got to strip the block down and then I can call him.

Any comments on the exhaust ports I've done so far. Don't want to proceed if they don't look right. Thanks everyone for your future comments!

[Graham]

exhausts have little bearing on anything!

[Greaty61]

Point taken Graham, so I should just get them all alike then?

What would be your take on adding material to the inlets? I'm not sure whether to try it or not at the minute.

[Graham]

whats your target with the engine? im not convinced filler is the way to go unless your trying for something pretty ultimate

[Greaty61]

I want a torquey engine, as I want to go back to Road Rallying.

I'm only going to 92mm on the bore with the Accralites and 136mm rods.

The idea is to build a very strong bottom end, so if I decide to change direction in future, I don't need to re-do it. Regarding the head, I wanted big inlets 45.7mm and standard exhaust as I was thinking this would be the best combination, rather than 44.4mm & 38mm.

[monkeymoreton]

Have you thought about twin su carbs as a ones off a rover v8 would be like having 48s

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[Greaty61]

My brother originally had a Dave Brookes manifold with twin 2" SU's. It kept losing power when accelerating. He went back to Dave Brookes, who put the split's on and it never missed a beat after that!

[Graham]

probably vibration foaming up the fuel in the float chambers

[Greaty61]

Is that something that can be stopped? Or is it in the design of the carbs? Presumably twin 2" SU systems work ok in other performance environments?

Finished stripping all the engine down now! Block, head and flywheel ready to go. Only took me 5 hours. 2 of those were mopping up the dirty old oil off the garage floor and scrubbing it with Fairy liquid! That old oil smell stays in the nostrils for days!

Oh well, I'm blaming it on my wife, she told me to get a car again!




Wish she was still here to complain.

[Forest_rallying]

The 1984 Motoring News Road Rally Championship that year was won by no other than Gwyndaf Evans in a single cam 2.6 Chevette that was sponsored by Peter Maiden Cars. The engine breathed through a pair of 2 inch SU's. They certainly worked on that engine.

[Greaty61]

I remember they called it the RS2000 formula, because of the tight regulations! I suppose it was won by an exceptional driver though!! Don't you think?

I would like to explore why they weren't working, as DB offered both options at the time. There must be someone in this forum (mentioning no names) who could see why one system (split 48's) was preferred over 2" SU's.

I thought (maybe wrongly) that the SU design was very similar to sliding throttle bike carbs?

[Graham]

su design is very similar to CV type bike cars, which ALL have internal float chambers and are rubber mounted. MGA twin cam suffered badly with that issue, had they rubber mounted the carbs there wouldnt of been a problem

[Greaty61]

Finished the 32/36 DGMV which came with the engine. Going to put this back on to get it running and to bed in the camshaft.



Opened out the inlet ports to approx. 36mm. Blended each runner under the carb (which was more tricky than I thought it would be) and put an extra 15mm stack under the carb. All idea's discussed on here and 'borrowed' for this manifold.

[Greaty61]

Block, head and crank all back from Dave Rushton Engines....





Going to put a mild chamfer on the bore edge on the block, clean out all the dirt, re-tap the threads and paint it.

Head needs the inlets doing next and I've decided to take the plunge and put some filler in the ports.

I know as this is my first engine build it's a bit ambitious, but I've been thinking about it for many years now and there's probably no better time to 'Have a Go!'...

I've got 45.7mm Inlets, but looking at the theories on here I think I need a 41mm throat and 36mm Ports. I'm not lifting the roof of the port, just filling the bottom.

[Greaty61]

Did the port floor filling on Thursday the 14th July. It's been in the airing cupboard for 4 days.

Started to shape it and is this what's supposed to happen. Only using a small Dremel grindstone and it just makes loads of dust that doesn't seem that solid!?!






Please can someone put me out of my misery?

Thanks Steve

[madragon199]

what filler did you use...jb weld is normally black...and yes it is a filler so its easy to sand.....the main thing is good adhesian to the port floor,,,
cheers mark

[Forest_rallying]

In all intense and purposes JB Weld and many others appear to be nothing more than glorified body fillers. There'a another product on the market called Belzona 1111, I have heard of some people using that. Check out the data sheet on their website.

I bought a head off Memphis, that had JB Weld type filler and that was dark grey.

Graham hit the nail on the head, unless you're seeking the absolute ultimate Pinto is port filler really needed.

[Greaty61]

Should I just polish it out then? Don't want to ruin the money I've already spent or get the engine to swallow a lump of it.

[Greaty61]

Madragon199, it looks grey rather than black.