Pinto Car Club of America

Hi, I am a newbie to this site. I bought my Pinto when my other car broke down and needed transportation in a hurry. A person close to my house had it in his yard for $700. I have been working on it since then. I really don't need it anymore but have come to really like it. I have fixed everything on it but the engine is real tired. Does anyone know any good companies or websites I can find a new engine to purchase? Preferably something of the high performance type. It is a 1980 2.3 4speed. I have been looking but I think you people would know more than I do with all your experience on these cars. I love this car and really want to keep it running. Thanks for any help!

Welcome.

First off, how do you know the engine is tired? They were so underpowered it can be hard to tell.

There is a bunch of stuff you can do (or have done) to a n/a 2.3 to get some power out of it, but as far as "high performance", depending on your definition, you might want to think about a swap for the money you WILL spend for the amount of power you can get. There are lots of Mini-Stocks out there running these n/a 2.3's, so I am sure you can get a race built engine out there if you have the money. That would give you about the most power out of a n/a one, but keep in mind that it might not be too "street-friendly" to drive.

We will do what we can to help, but first we need more details from you, and to do that we need to know what your answers are to the following:

What do you want to do to the car?

What do you plan to do with the car?

How much money in the budget?

How much 'power' do you want?

(more questions will follow your answers to these)

Bill