Jerry, as far as suspension, I lowered the front an inch by cutting 1/2 a coil, lowered the rear with a 1" lowering blocks. I have a 1" ADDCO sway bar on the front and a 7/8 Addco sway bar on the rear. In Portland, I won a RideTech award which got me some new adjustable shocks. Front shocks were a bolt-in, but I had to cut thru the rear deck to let the adjusters poke through. I made a carpeted subfloor in the back which raised the floor to cover the shocks with removable access plates and a hinged compartment over the spare tire and where the rear seat used to be. As far as the engine is concerned, it's a stock block 2.3. I converted it to a serpentine belt system with an electric fan, Pertronix ignition, MSD Streetfire module with a rev limiter. Upsized the carb to a Weber 38 and for exhaust, I'm running a Ranger style cast header and new 2" exhaust all the way back. I just added a new roller cam this week and found that I had to make a lot of carb adjustments and ignition timing changes...stil l messing with it. Part of me wonders if I should have left it alone. I also upsized the wheels and tires from what is on the pic above. I got some 1993 Mustang Pony Wheels, 16x7 with 215/45R16 Falkens. These have an inch and a half more treadwidth and less sidewall which should improve response in the corners. The car has a T5 tranny and an 8 inch rear and I just added an Aerostar aluminum driveshaft.
I really can't compete with these guys that are running 500-800 horsepower Camaros, Mustangs, etc. I would really need to do a turbo swap or V8 to keep up in the straights. I just started doing this series for fun. I'm hoping the new tires and stuff will work for me in the autocross where I may be able to compete a little. Either way, the car is a crowd favorite and lots of folks will be rooting for the little Pinto no matter how well it does, as long as it doesn't break! It's been pretty bullet proof, so we'll see what happens