Pinto Car Club of America

I started doing the swap "today". I say "today" because I put a wrench to the car itself "today", but I have been working on the parts for a while.

I got the 87 T/C donor the first week of July, and gutted it a few weeks later. We put CT "temps" on the car and drove it for a while; it runs great.

We did not get to many "before" photos when we got Connie's Pinto to show how bad it was, so we want to do better now.

The engine needed a few things to get it ready. First was the E-6 manifold appeared to be cracked; It was not leaking, but why chance it when I have two good ones kicking around? As posted in several threads, the heater blower on the non-a/c cars will hit the O2 sensor, so I am changing the location of the sensor on the turbo outlet. Also, I needed to re-locate the waste-gate actuator (see photo). The T-3 from an 86 t/c has it tucked between the turbo and the engine so the rod is to the engine side of the oil drain. The IHI from the 87/88 t/c has it outside the oil drain, and would have issues with the frame (or need the car to be cut up more than I want).  The stock t/c oil pump now has the Pinto pick-up on it, also swapped the main bolt with the stud to a new location, moved the dip-stick, and installed the Pinto pan. The waterpumps are different between the stock Pinto and the t/c. We are keeping the mechanical fan, so we are using the Pinto water pump. The engine has the Ranger Roller cam and followers installed, and will be ready to go in as soon as we finish the upper intake modifications, and get it and a few parts powder-coated.

One of the photos shows the 86 t/c harness that we will be using (looks simple don't it? it is, I should grab a photo of the 87 one and let you decide).

I installed the inertia switch in the car. Not much, but a start.

More pic.s to come.

Bill

More...

very glad to see safety first!  My new fuel pump will flow 1000 liters/hour....i'll be using an enertia switch also!

Thanks.

I decided that I wasNOT going to install the A/C heater box to this car, just way to much of a pain. I decided to re-locate the O2 sensor, modify the turbo outlet, and install a heat sheild.

I have located the VAM hole, made it's mount bracket and made a new battery tray.

I have a spare turbo assy. for test fitting everything.

More pics:

MORE

Please note these parts will be detailed/painted.

More.

Hey Bill,
These are great photos!
Will really show the group what needs to be done to install a turbo in a Pinto.
Interesting??? Is that the IHI turbo you are using???
From Pintony

Thanks Tony.

Yes, it's an IHI.

More Photos:

Here is the new battery location and tray

I found a good location to run the EFI harness into the car is in the left front wheel well just inside the inner fender. There is a hole into the engine bay right there to get into the engine bay, and it will be in about the same location in the car as the T/C, AND it keeps it away from the turbo's heat. There is plenty of room behind the non-A/C heater box, and it comes through in front of the vertical vent hole. The wires will run over the top of the box, and still give plenty of room to work on it and install the ECU. The bad part is that the heater box MIGHT need to come out to do this. The reason I said "might" is that I removed the box anyway to change the heater core and the hoses.

Speaking of heater hoses, I found that 90* angle with a long run on one end will allow me to hook them up to the t/c metal lines and look clean. The issue is that the hoses need to feed from back to front during the install (more on this later).

In my first turbo swap I used an A/C heater/evap. box.  It might be an issue trying to run the wires in this spot with that box. Also, with where I went through the firewall on that car (just below the stock harness) I had to 'strech' a few of the wires; this location should not need those adjustments.

Photos:

For room under the hood, I have modified the upper intake (not detailed yet).

I have run without a valve cover gasket, and just use RTV, and a section of gasket material over the hump, and have had no issues. This lets me slam the upper down .5" with MINOR grinding of the bottom of the T/B.

Please note that the IAC in the photo is an 87/88 one. The IAC on the 86 T/C has the harness connnector straight out the end, not angled up to the rear. They can be swapped to keep from the wires away from the hood

Still in work.

I might have it running within a week.

I did noticed that not all engines sit at the same height in the engine bay. This car's engine sat .25" higher than the one in the tan car (it's original engine location) and .185" higher than my blue car. I dropped it down about the same as the tan car, but it sits about .2" higher. With the modified upper intake, it has all the room it needs on top, and the bottom is fine too. I had only planned to drop the engine down about .125" due to the power steering rack being bigger, but it seems that every car is different and should be fully measured to to what I did.

We do have more pic.s, I will post them soon.

Bill

It runs!

Bill

Yaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is the best part. Congradulations!!!!! Connie has got to be overjoyed and so anxious to do some turbo Pinto tooling with the old man. Ya know. Pintos aren't just chick magnets, they are guy magnets too. Did you think of that?

                                                                                                                       High_Horse

Thanks HH.

Yea, I know. Sometimes when we arive at shows at different times, guys seem to gravitate over to her and her car.

Bill

Looks good!  Check out my wagon on car domain for more sleeper ideas.  I need to up date it.  My wagon now runs a nicer front mount, BPV, tubing, and a Holset hy35.

i like the battery "box"

Thanks all.

I don't know why the pic's dissapear, I have re-done them too. sometimes they stay, sometimes not. Oh well.

Here is another with the car a little further along.

Bill

We have had it running for a while, but today it hit the road.

Connie took it around the block, then we went for a slightly longer trip. All seems well for the most part, but I still need to do some finish work.

I might take it for a spin so I can drive it too.

Bill

Tease... :P
Great to hear Bill... I cant wait to see it out in the sun.


Jim

Sorry, I never posted one with it almost done.

I am not happy with the way the powder coating is (or with the powder coater, but that's a LONG story), I will be having it all re-done.

Bill

a clean uncluttered engine compartment.  looks good Bill

Thanks.

Bill

the engine bay looks great! good to see that its runnin in the streets. i had alot of problems w/ our powder coater round here too.... now i do it myself, its really not that hard. just gotta keep things clean. if you need tips just give me a e-mail. budtestr@interbel.net.

Tony: Thanks.

BTW: Your not in PA are you??

i was, i lived there for 38 years, now i live in eureka, montana. much higher in the mountains and NO humidity!!! btw, we dont use salt on the streets so rust is almost unheardof. i have a 77 trunk model w/ no rust at all, and its got 129000 on the body.