Pinto Car Club of America

I have a '73 pinto woodgrain station wagon,which is in great condition,except for the original 2.0 liter engine,which is pretty much toasted.It has a 4 speed manual transmission(the German one).A friend of mine has a '67 mustang with a 289 in great shape(recently rebuilt by local speed shop)that got totaled in an accident.The engine was not damaged.Is it possible to put this engine in my pinto,and if so,how much work would be involved?What would have to be changed/modified/replaced?I was about to order a rebuilt 2.0,when I found out about this.I can get it for less than the 2.0.What do you guys think?   Thanks.

It will fit it just depends on what you want. There is a complete thread on this subject on this list. I have a 74 wagon that is set up for drag racing that I bought complete, I think it could be involved. I don't know about the trans, mine has a C-4. It had a muncie 4-speed, the tunnel needed some massaging. Good luck.


Brian

Save yourself a lot of trouble and get a front mount engine plate from Jeggs or Summit. Do not mount it solid!! There are a lot of small rubber mounts you can mount the plate on where it fits the frame.(I am using NEW stock 72 2.0 engine mounts from NAPA. Then you can remove the frame mounts and have a bunch of room on each side of the engine. Do not worry about a trans mount until you slide the engine back and make the LEFT cyl. head touch the firewall. Then make the trans mount fit your trans whatever it may be. You will need to shorten the stock Pinto driveshaft but it WILL work. All of this will give you more room at the front of the engine for things like radiators and alternators. You will need to make an oil pan work which really is not all that hard to do. The lower and farther back you can place the engine the better it will drive on the street and the better it will hook up on the Drag Strip.

Thanks for all the information.The more I looked into it,the more complicated it got.I am not building this car for racing.I have a '93 Mustang for that.I just thought that since the engine was available for a decent price,it would be a neat project.But it's more involved than I have time or money for now,so I decided to just go ahead and put a rebuilt 2.0 back in it.Thanks again.