I thought I would pop in since there's been some activity.
Not a lot to report on the project. It's been a very rough month for me and a lot of people I know. The Pinto has been mostly neglected (but not forgotten!).
After I got everything back together and some shakedown runs done, it felt like it nosed-over more on the top end. It's always smelled rich, but it seemed worse, so I checked the fuel pressure and it's about 10psi too high according to the rail gauge. The regulator seems to be working, just at 10psi above correct. I'm going to try a different gauge first, then see whether the return line is causing a restriction. If it is, I have a coil of 3/8" brake line and -6 AN fittings that will get strung as a new feed line while the current 5/16 one will become the new larger return leg.
You have done a great job on this build and an even better job documenting it! I have an 88 donor and a 73 wagon that I hope to breed in the future. I will definitely be looking back at this thread throughout the pain-staking process. I'm still gathering the basic mechanical parts needed at this point. Do you know anyone that may have 2.3 frame mounts or an oil pan?
Thanks!
The 2.3 mounts and oil pan were probably the most difficult parts for me to find. The pans pop up on fleaBait once in a while and you might find the mounts on the classifieds here. I was preparing to build some frame mounts and use the stock 'Bird engine brackets with universal isolators when a member here offered a whole Pinto set for trade.
I stumbled upon the C-Line seven-quart pan on my engine. Now that I have it for reference and a nice TIG welder, I might try making my own from the rear-sump Thunderbird pan. That's actually what C-Line did to begin with.
I must agree. 65SC has done a great job of documenting and keeping us up to date on his project. Being this car was only sold about 8 miles from me I had at one time contemplated getting myself a second Pinto. I never did get over there to see it, but because of the "closeness" (shall we say) of my having considering this very car I was pleasantly surprised to see what became of it.
Not to steal any of 65SC's thunder, I thought I'd mention that I also did a '73 wagon with a '88 donor TC. I have a two part write up about it (sorry no pictures). The link to the second part is at the end of the first part. Hope you can find something helpful. http://www.fordpinto.com/general-pinto-talk/so-you-want-to-build-a-turbo-pinto-part-1/msg76893/#msg76893 For reference 65SC's project is more advanced than mine. I kept everything basically stock in the switch over.
Thanks! Post away; it helps record and archive all that hard-learned information.
All the best to you. I believe (if I'm correct) both 65SC and I had our engines in/out seven times before we would commit to welding in the motor mounts! The '88 wire harness is a mess. I spent days sorting out what I didn't need and still had about 20 "I'm not sure" wires. I think he runs a different control system and maybe wired it himself??? His build is a good one to follow. He is very straightforwar d and will state what did and didn't work.
I think the engine came out closer to a dozen times. Yeah, the EFI is a MegaSquirt-II and the harness was
completely disassembled, shortened, and reassembled for it. My '86 harness wasn't as integrated as an '87-88 harness, but the result still wasn't really worth the effort IMO. It only served the purpose of reducing cost. Next time I'll probably shell out on new parts and wire it like a rally car or trophy truck with threaded metal connectors. At the very least I plan to use them for bulkheads going through the firewall.