Some advice for my Pinto

[avtospotter]

Hello group, I'm asking you all for some help getting my motor ready as its too cold in the shed to continue work on the shell during the next few weeks.
Heres the engine, 1.6gt pinto out of a capri, got twin 40' IDF webers with it and the tubular manifold.
The engine was sold to me without a few parts which I'll list in a minute. First of to be clear what i'm after is:
-where would you recommend me getting the parts needed (best price & quality)
-what parts would you recommend for me? My dad recomended me upgrading the distributor points to a non contact rotor as the points are not as reliable. Here I need help as to what are all the things needed to do this? Any other little upgrades anyone would think are worth doing? Not looking to upgrade the power itself just yet, right now I just want to get the engine ready to run reliably. Once the car is on the road I will strat looking into a camshaft upgrade for later on etc.

So, the missing and shot parts:
-leads are shot
-no coil pack
-valve cover gasket leaks
-no fan
-engine mounts I supose are capri and wont fit (or will they?)
-all belts except timing belt
-will ditch the mechanical fuel pump and use a facet electrical pump - what does it take doing this? which pump is the right one? fuel pressre regulator etc...?

Thank you anyone who read through all this and to anyone helping me out, I really apreciate it as Im a young guy and I really want to get this right without buying the wrong bits. Cheers!

If anyone has something like the fan, an alloy sump, engine mounts or anything you think I could use for sale you are welcome to offer it in the comments

[Graham]

the metal part of capri mounts wont fit escort.

regarding fuel pump, a good condition mechanical pump will cope with 140-145bhp so you probabl;y dont need to go electric

[katana]

the metal part of capri mounts wont fit escort.

regarding fuel pump, a good condition mechanical pump will cope with 140-145bhp so you probably don't need to go electric

Agreed - save your money and the aggro! If you are thinking of doing the camshaft - do it now with the engine out as if it's in the car, the head has to be removed to fit it as insufficient space - saves wasting a head gasket etc.! You'll need RS escort engine mounts - be prepared to pay loads for genuine or swap to chassis mounts / fabricated ones . . . . may be cheaper? I'd get a Luminition ignition - solid state and reliable. Electric fans and controllers are relatively cheap and help gain some free HP !

[avtospotter]

the metal part of capri mounts wont fit escort.

regarding fuel pump, a good condition mechanical pump will cope with 140-145bhp so you probabl;y dont need to go electric

Allright Graham thank you for that! I'm more than happy to stick with the mechanical fuel pump then and use the $ for something else.
Is there anything where the pump might fail or be worn out?

[avtospotter]

Agreed - save your money and the aggro! If you are thinking of doing the camshaft - do it now with the engine out as if it's in the car, the head has to be removed to fit it as insufficient space - saves wasting a head gasket etc.! You'll need RS escort engine mounts - be prepared to pay loads for genuine or swap to chassis mounts / fabricated ones . . . . may be cheaper? I'd get a Luminition ignition - solid state and reliable. Electric fans and controllers are relatively cheap and help gain some free HP !

Thanks Katana, Ill be looking out for the mounts then, Ive seen some being sold not too long ago
Is the Lumination kit really necesarry? I was thinking just using the Accuspark electronic ignition kit to change the points in the dizzy thats already on the engine. Thoughts on this?

[Graham]

luminition is by far the most bullet proof electronic ignition system out there.

tbh pinto pumps very rarely fail, and have less moving parts than most mechanical ones

[katana]

Luminition does replace the points and does retain the dizzy

[alladdin]

Thanks Katana, Ill be looking out for the mounts then, Ive seen some being sold not too long ago
Is the Lumination kit really necesarry? I was thinking just using the Accuspark electronic ignition kit to change the points in the dizzy thats already on the engine. Thoughts on this?

another option is ign pack and dizzy from sierra - easy to wire in and cheap / reliable option

[Forest_rallying]

There's nothing wrong with a good set of points in that distributor if they are correctly maintained.

[avtospotter]

another option is ign pack and dizzy from sierra - easy to wire in and cheap / reliable option

Would one of these be the right one? I've seem to come across lots of these motorcraftz units, I suspect they are oem from sierras, no?
Another thing I'd like to ask is about the vacuum advance, do I need ot not need one with twin carbs? Asking because of some stuff that I read online but didnt really understand

The ones I found:

1










2










3

[Miniliteman]

The set "2" is what you need.

[avtospotter]

The set "2" is what you need.

Allright great, thanks for the answer. I will get that one then Just for info, would you explain what the difference is between them?

[Miniliteman]

Set 1 is used with a ECU, the distributor has no advance, the ECU takes care of that.
Set 3 is an early version of set 2.

[avtospotter]

Set 1 is used with a ECU, the distributor has no advance, the ECU takes care of that.
Set 3 is an early version of set 2.

Well the set you recommended isn't available anymore

Would you say number 3 would do also?

I've searched on for this Motorcraft units and found these, any good? One of them the same as from the set you told me to get, says in the add its from a 2.3 sierra.

And what do you recon is the set (dizzy + spark unit) worth?

[wildo105e]

There's nothing wrong with a good set of points in that distributor if they are correctly maintained.

save yourself all trouble for now and just run points as above. It will get you going and far simpler than wasting money on unknown second hand stuff. I installed an Aldon ignitor in my lotus twin cam and has been reliable. It just replaces the points

https://www.aldonauto.co.uk/ignition/ignitor-i

[hawk1903]

Set 2 is known to be a very reliable unit. But I had 1 failure in the rally, the coil inside the distributor failed.
I have also used Aldon, Pertronix, Accuspark, Powerspark with only 1 or may be 2 failures over the last 12-13 years of rally seasons in more than few Pintos. I had more coil failures than ignitor units but that may be because of some copy or inferior products and may be just too rough conditions. By the way, as far as I know there are fake Bosch coils in the market.
My own BDG uses Lumenition, touch wood it never failed.

[Miniliteman]

The set "2" is available 2nd hand just search ebay or ask Darran/Mark at escort-tec.
All the other BIG box ignitions I do not recommenend.
Aldon Ignitor (the original not copies) are ok for normal use.
Like Kerem I only use Lumention Performance ignitions on my engines.

[avtospotter]

The set "2" is available 2nd hand just search ebay or ask Darran/Mark at escort-tec.
All the other BIG box ignitions I do not recommenend.
Aldon Ignitor (the original not copies) are ok for normal use.
Like Kerem I only use Lumention Performance ignitions on my engines.

what exactly do I put in the search engine? "sierra OHC distributor" or what?
thanks for the tip!

save yourself all trouble for now and just run points as above. It will get you going and far simpler than wasting money on unknown second hand stuff. I installed an Aldon ignitor in my lotus twin cam and has been reliable. It just replaces the points

https://www.aldonauto.co.uk/ignition/ignitor-i

What if I just buy the 30$ Accuspark kit that replace the points in the dizzy and leave everything else be? Just so I can eliminate the points failing/maintenence...

[Miniliteman]

NOS distributor:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/154152575968
Used item:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/184340952686
Pattern item incl. module:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142787403469

Hardest part to get is the loom from distributor to module.

[Forest_rallying]

what exactly do I put in the search engine? "sierra OHC distributor" or what?
thanks for the tip!







What if I just buy the 30$ Accuspark kit that replace the points in the dizzy and leave everything else be? Just so I can eliminate the points failing/maintenence...

Lumenition's the best way to go for reliability but it's going to set you back well over £300 which for a nearly standard engine's a fair amount of money to spend. Your alternative is the Accuspark type module that fits into the distributor. At that cheap price they are what they are, something at a budget price from China.

I don't know why you think a good set of points is going to be so unreliable, with a good condenser and a quality coil they are good for many thousands of miles. Once the Accuspark type systems fail that's it your engine's dead where as a set of points at the roadside can be cleaned and regapped with the minimum of fuss and you're on your way.

[wildo105e]

I don't know why you think a good set of points is going to be so unreliable, with a good condenser and a quality coil they are good for many thousands of miles.

As above they were good enough for all the cars in the day and proved reliable for cars and vans for daily use etc nothing has changed apart from poor repo parts. Everything is only as good as the weak link. My car with aldon ignitor failed due to brand new lucas rotor arm.

[Graham]

I don't know why you think a good set of points is going to be so unreliable, with a good condenser and a quality coil they are good for many thousands of miles. .

my rover P6 is running on a set of points which were fitted to it over 20 years ago!

new old stock points and condensors are actually ok if you can find genuine lucus/motorcraft from the 1970s/80's

[hawk1903]

By the way, no intention of hijacking the OP but what do you think regarding the quality of the reproduction Pinto distributors in the market ? Are they all the same and are they all from Far East ?

[avtospotter]

As above they were good enough for all the cars in the day and proved reliable for cars and vans for daily use etc nothing has changed apart from poor repo parts. Everything is only as good as the weak link. My car with aldon ignitor failed due to brand new lucas rotor arm.

Lumenition's the best way to go for reliability but it's going to set you back well over £300 which for a nearly standard engine's a fair amount of money to spend. Your alternative is the Accuspark type module that fits into the distributor. At that cheap price they are what they are, something at a budget price from China.

I don't know why you think a good set of points is going to be so unreliable, with a good condenser and a quality coil they are good for many thousands of miles. Once the Accuspark type systems fail that's it your engine's dead where as a set of points at the roadside can be cleaned and regapped with the minimum of fuss and you're on your way.

my rover P6 is running on a set of points which were fitted to it over 20 years ago!

new old stock points and condensors are actually ok if you can find genuine lucus/motorcraft from the 1970s/80's

Honestly, because of stuff I read online it makes me think about ditching the points. Its my first ever engine with carbs and people also told me, if possible, change the points for electronic.

And its not really going to be an easy driven car; engine stock or not I intend to push it as much as it goes. Be it a drive in the Alps im surrounded with or a trackday/hillclimb event. Sooner or later its going to get modified; it's just a teenagers budget doesnt really allow me to go ahead and get everything at once, its just a long streched process for me.

Thats the reason I wrote this question, in search for opinions and pointers. If you guys insist in keeping the points I'm happy to do so as it means i'm of the hook spending for this

But there comes another question and its - what coil, plugs and leads do you recommend for me then? I was going accuspark as the price seems nice, but Im not even sure what price is acceptable for these parts and if accuspark is an okay company or not, so any other recommendations?
And how do I check my distributor, condensor and points if they are all good or need replacing/adjusting?

I hope Im not a burden with this thread

cheers to all who are replying