My son and I have bought a Pinto Pro-Street which needs 302 motor gone through (already out) and needs to be reassembled. We are eager to start but may have gotten in over our heads on our first project. Anyone in the Hartford, CT area who can help? We would repay in kind with hours helping on your project.....Thanx.....Kevin
wow if i wasn't so far away in California id do it at the drop of a hat.
I love to help people when i haven't the ability to.
Hopefully someone nearby will be able to help.
However to get a good start on rebuilding the engine ,start by getting some good reference manuals to work with. you'll need to borrow or buy a decent engine stand and you hopefully already have some decent tools for the rebuild. Torque wrenches, etc.
If your looking for the experience to rebuild and engine theres nothing like it ;D Although i can say that unless you go bottom dollar on all the parts ( cheap ) you might be price wise ahead if you found a decent long block for around 1500-1800 and start there. Then theres always the crate motors from just about anyone for about 3000 and up depending on the $horsepower$
But theres nothing like the bonding you can get by rebuilding and learning with your son. 8)
Make sure you ask lots of questions and take your time checking ALL the clearances and keeping everything sterile clean. Also don't rush the building. Set small goals for each night and expect it to take twice as long and cost twice as much as you think it will. ( at least) Just because you see a MASTER rebuild kit for $500-800 don't think your done there ! Theres machine work involved as well, Boring the cylinders,hot tank cleaning,magnufluxing,decking,balancing, etc$ etc$ etc$. the list can get long and boring.
I built the engine in my car from all ebay parts .New Ford roller block $350, new standard forged pistons $100, reconditioned polished rods $125,Sweet used std crank $25 Etc, too much to list .It took about 8 months to get the major parts and I'm still getting parts for the rest of the car 2 years later .If you have the Cash it goes ALOT faster LOL. Just get a Summit or Jegs catalogue and go nuts !
I haven't started the engine yet (Will soon) But when I was helping my buddy with his sons mustang motor we learned a lot from the internet and some engine shops on what to do and how to go about things. When we finally fired that thing it was soo cool ! Fired right up and right into "cam break-in" RPMS.
so theres nothing like the feeling of a Job well done.
I think its soo Awesome to have a DAD spend time with their kids on projects of any kind ,as my father when I was growing up most of my life couldn't care less about seeing me . I Love him and all but hes not a real Dad. O well makes me Love my Daughter more and more!
ANYWAYS LOL. I tend to Ramble on.
If you have any specific questions let me know and I'll do my best to answer.
Whatever you do with your car have fun with it!!
Robert :P
71hotrodpinto get a "one-up" for that post............... :police:
Quote from: turbopinto72 on September 09, 2005, 10:52:04 PM
71hotrodpinto get a "one-up" for that post............... :police:
Wow thanks :)
Just trying to help when im able to ;D
Thanx 71hotrodpinto. We'll buy whatever is necessary, so far bought an engine stand and hoist, have most common tools. Actually the motor was removed to be sold separately before we bought the car. Supposed to be souped up, 13 to 1 pistons, cam, 400 HP, etc. We aren't sure how long its been out and didn't know if we should just put it in and hope for the best or disassemble and reassemble to be sure its okay. Would like to go thru it for the experience but just putting it in would be easier. What do you think.....Thanx.....Kevin
It's always best to have first hand experience, even watching someone who really knows what he's doing, but if you are really new to engines, you better invest in one of the videos that are available. They can really help, especially if you watch it several times before starting, and then review it when you have been some time away. As you pull things off, lable them and keep them with all the related parts, so you're not lost when you go back together. The lifter and the cam are special concern--if you use the old cam, the lifters have to go back into the very same spot, or you take your cam out in about 500 miles.
Your crank and rods and pistons are of critical concern, take them to someone in the business to inspect them. The pistons and rods need to go back on the very same journal, facing the same way as you removed them. You should stamp with numbers all the pistons and the even the rod caps, so you know they go on just like they came off.
Buy new bolts for the heads, rods, and crank main bearings- it's cheap insurance. Make sure you re-install the distributer as it engages the cam to oil the new machine work. Also, when you put gaskets and seals in, go slow, be sure and make sure they are right, or you get to pull your new motor down.
Have fun! You might want to check cam specs and compression, too. make sure it's what you want. 13 to one is airplane fuel, and if you don't have deep breathing heads, its waaaaay to much for the street use at all.
Break it in like you want it to last, unless you have a 55 gal drum of $100.00 bills--but uou have some potental fun and memories to last for ever!! Good luck:) ;D
SAM
Quote from: kringie on September 13, 2005, 10:11:37 AM
Thanx 71hotrodpinto. We'll buy whatever is necessary, so far bought an engine stand and hoist, have most common tools. Actually the motor was removed to be sold separately before we bought the car. Supposed to be souped up, 13 to 1 pistons, cam, 400 HP, etc. We aren't sure how long its been out and didn't know if we should just put it in and hope for the best or disassemble and reassemble to be sure its okay. Would like to go thru it for the experience but just putting it in would be easier. What do you think.....Thanx.....Kevin
Well sounds cool . However id have to recommend that you either change out the pistons to something in a lower compresion ratio. Ive heard that you really don't want anything over 10.5 to 1 on pump gas with aluminum heads and nothing over 9.5 with iron. And thats pushing it with a perfect tune on a street motor. If your planning on running race gas all the time @ about 10 to 12 mpg then id say go with the 13.1 .
So if thats out then you need to either have the current pistons milled ( if even possible ) or new flat top pistons . Then you will need to have the Whole reciprocating assembly re-balanced. Crank, rods,pistons, rod bearings, balancer,flywheel.
With a lower comp ratio you will lose about 80 to 100 hp but you will have a much more streetable fun car and still about 300 hp depending on many factors. heads, cam, valves , porting (or not),manifold,carb etc etc.
No matter what you do if you decide to just slap this thing back together you need at least new bearings, rings and clean everything. Don't forget to re-hone the Cylinders with the recommended grit (i.e 280, 320, 400) to put the cross hatch back in for the rings that you choose.That way the new rings will seat.
To clean the parts I used Castrol super clean which does a real good job but You have to be real quick with the wd40 and a bag to cover what you cleaned and oiled. If you wait to long it will flash rust, and if you don't cover it in a clean bag the oil will attract dust. Better is good Ole solvent but thats hard to get and expensive. When I had a parts cleaning tank i used paint thinner. But be real carefull as it can be more of a fire hazard if your careless. You also need compressed air and lots off it when your blowing off parts.
With the heads off you'd be be "ahead" ::) if you disassembled them to check things like valve guide wear, spring pressures, bent valves,burnt valves, and valve seals. I have a recommendation from West Coast Cylinder Heads that you use only Viton Positive seals. They've found that the Teflon seals as they get old tend to capture particles and then scratch the stems.
So with the cam and lifters if there in great shape you will have to make sure that they stay together if its a flat tappet cam. Whatever system you use ,the lifters and cam lobes MUST stay together in the re-build. If its a roller solid or hydraulic than that doesn't apply. However check everything, flat tappets check the lobes and faces of the cam. Roller check the rollers on the lifters and make sure that they are smooth and not rough. Also before reassembly run a brake cylinder hone through the bores to break the glaze on the bores. This helps for some oil control.
Oh as a side note you might need to re-cam the engine if you decide to lower the compression. He might have had a high overlap , high lift , long duration cam which bleeds off allot of cylinder pressure. On a lower compression motor it might feel like a dog at street rpms. id say no more than around .525 lift and around 230 deg would make a hot street cam. But ASK some professionals on that .
As you can tell I'm pro-rebuild. I just think that as long as you have some time and some money to play with i say why not go through it?
its allot easier to do it now that its out rather than find out the hard way that the previous owner had ran it hard and it was in need of freshening up anyways. Or worse yet, that it was a grenade ready to put a hole in the side and then oil down the rear tires on your way into a telephone pole. :o
As a side note I subscribe to Fordmuscle.com (http://fordmuscle.com) and although you wont find many pinto related issues you'll find lots of small block ford stuff and tech articles. its $16 a year and they have some real nice articles. or you can try it for 30 days for 5 bucks, i think .Theres thousands of other sites to get small ford tech also.
Good luck! As thourough as i tried to be I'm sure i missed something. So let me know again if you have any other questions.
Robert