PINTO CAR CLUB of AMERICA

Shiny is Good! => Your Project => Topic started by: Scott Hamilton on April 14, 2014, 07:11:02 PM

Title: Engine Rebuild, Running again...
Post by: Scott Hamilton on April 14, 2014, 07:11:02 PM
OK guys, here is where I admit publicly that I did a real stupid thing....

About a month ago I took the valve cover off my 2000cc (Green Runabout) to check valve clearance and re-adjust if needed. I noticed that one of the cam lobes was warn and the associated rocker was warn as well- but not 'that' bad. I assumed that the spray bar was clogged so I replaced it with a new and then I did the really stupid thing- I replaced the warn rocker with a new one.

Thinking I could keep her going until after the Stampede, I closed her up (after re-adjusting the valves) and took her on a 1 hour trip. By the time I got back, she was knocking like a woodpecker on a sunny day. I removed the valve cover and discover, much to my dismay, that I was beyond a 'quick fix'. After sitting beside myself for a while, myself convinced me to go ahead and pull the head and get er done. Whee! I stripped down the head and took it to a machine shop and could not sleep that night... All that metal was most likely through the entire engine too... :( ..... I then decided to pull the engine (short block now) and have it gone through and I would install the engine for the yellow runabout that I had on the stand.

Just last night I finished installing this engine into the green runabout and 'broke her in' running 2500 RPM for 45min. This is the VERY first time I have installed one of these engines and had NO leaks what so ever! - this is a very good sign!

In any case, I just wanted to post these videos of the new (rebuilt) engine running in the green runabout- sharing my grief and my triumph!

The 'abused' engine is getting re-worked and will be dropped into the yellow runabout...

Gotta love this hobby!

:D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GI6MB8ReYhY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0sd2Bzd-qg

Title: Re: Engine Rebuild, Running again...
Post by: Reeves1 on April 14, 2014, 09:08:58 PM
Sounds good !

2nd vid even has a 70s strobe light go n' on !  ;D
Title: Re: Engine Rebuild, Running again...
Post by: dianne on April 14, 2014, 09:31:03 PM
WOW, what exhaust did you put on it? My 2000 sux compared to that one...

That was awesome!
Title: Re: Engine Rebuild, Running again...
Post by: 74 PintoWagon on April 14, 2014, 10:40:26 PM
Sounds great congrats.. 8)
Title: Re: Engine Rebuild, Running again...
Post by: jeremysdad on April 15, 2014, 06:31:23 PM
Sounds smooth! Don't forget the post-break in oil change!!!

Where did you source your rebuild kit from?
Title: Re: Engine Rebuild, Running again...
Post by: Pinto5.0 on April 15, 2014, 07:27:20 PM
Sounds awesome  8)  That should last awhile.
Title: Re: Engine Rebuild, Running again...
Post by: dick1172762 on April 16, 2014, 08:04:11 AM
SCOTT! You should get yourself a set of the factory roller rocker arms. They were sold here by Racer Walsh but across the pond they were used in taxi cabs and should be not to hard to find. No special cam was used and you never had to worry about the rocker arms or cam going bad.
Title: Re: Engine Rebuild, Running again...
Post by: Scott Hamilton on April 16, 2014, 08:41:48 AM
Hey Dick,

Your the second person to suggest and coming from you... I guess it's time to look into this. This may sound like a trivial question... having a roller setup, how does the engine sound? I know the 2000cc has always been noisy but does this add to it or quiet the engine down a bit? Also, I have painted the steering wheel I purchased from you and will be putting that in the car soon. It's much better than the one I had and looks shiny! I took apart a stock horn button and painted the rubber part to match but the clear coat was wrong and now it's sticky- need to get clear coat for rubber I guess.

Dianne,
It's a hooker header- I had a new one in the box for my yellow runabout for years. I just recently purchased one from eBay and tried to put it on this car but had too many issues. I was fed up and put this one on. Used stage 8 fasteners from Pegasus (they sell a header kit for the 2000cc)- that was cool. I just purchase a Shoefield (spelling?) header from summit. You know, the kind that will not clear the stock motor mounts. I also bought the Escort/MK1/MK2 motor mount and insulators from UK eBay and will see if this works on the Pinto. Had someone let me know that this works but have not tried it myself yet...

Jeremy,
I'm not much of an engine rebuilder so I take the short block and head to a local racing engine builder, Dennis Mitchell Racing Engines. I did take the head to a local machine shop years ago and they put the center cam bearing in covering up the spray bar oil hole. After that, I always use my modified distributor to spin up the oil pump and verify (with the valve cover off) that oil is flowing out of each hole in the spray bar. Talk about not having a good day when I discovered that! OH, and their fix when I brought the 'abused' head back to them, was to drill out the bearing leaving the metal shaving inside...  NOPE.. use Dennis Mitchell now. Don't know where he sources the rebuild kit- if I were up to me- I would try, Burton Power, Pegasus Racing and a engine place in Seattle... What's their name? Ivey? I'd ask them.

5.0,
I hope it lasts a while if I don't do anything like this again!
:)

I talked to a tech at Burton years back and they suggested I run the valve clearance @ .06/.08 for the break in period and then back it off to stock, .08/.10- 1000~1200 Miles, what do you guys think?

Scott
Title: Re: Engine Rebuild, Running again...
Post by: dick1172762 on April 16, 2014, 09:23:27 AM
Scott! When I used the roller rocker arms, it was on my 72 Pinto race car, so I couldn't hear the rocker arm noise. Should be no different than a Ranger cam in a 2300. Rocker arms look the same. Should be able to get them in Merry Ole England as they used the 2.0 L for a long time after we did.
Title: Re: Engine Rebuild, Running again...
Post by: Pintosopher on April 16, 2014, 02:47:06 PM
OK guys, here is where I admit publicly that I did a real stupid thing....

About a month ago I took the valve cover off my 2000cc (Green Runabout) to check valve clearance and re-adjust if needed. I noticed that one of the cam lobes was warn and the associated rocker was warn as well- but not 'that' bad. I assumed that the spray bar was clogged so I replaced it with a new and then I did the really stupid thing- I replaced the warn rocker with a new one.

Thinking I could keep her going until after the Stampede, I closed her up (after re-adjusting the valves) and took her on a 1 hour trip. By the time I got back, she was knocking like a woodpecker on a sunny day. I removed the valve cover and discover, much to my dismay, that I was beyond a 'quick fix'. After sitting beside myself for a while, myself convinced me to go ahead and pull the head and get er done. Whee! I stripped down the head and took it to a machine shop and could not sleep that night... All that metal was most likely through the entire engine too... :( ..... I then decided to pull the engine (short block now) and have it gone through and I would install the engine for the yellow runabout that I had on the stand.

Just last night I finished installing this engine into the green runabout and 'broke her in' running 2500 RPM for 45min. This is the VERY first time I have installed one of these engines and had NO leaks what so ever! - this is a very good sign!

In any case, I just wanted to post these videos of the new (rebuilt) engine running in the green runabout- sharing my grief and my triumph!

The 'abused' engine is getting re-worked and will be dropped into the yellow runabout...

Gotta love this hobby!

:D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GI6MB8ReYhY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0sd2Bzd-qg

Great example Scott, love the nice sounds of a Fresh engine.
 Perhaps after the break in , a rear Wheel dyno run result to encourage all us Die Hard 2.0 L folks.  ;D

 Pintosopher, disciple of the Vizard, apprentice to the Burton, scribe to the Ivey , watchful of the Esslinger doctrine
Title: Re: Engine Rebuild, Running again...
Post by: dianne on April 17, 2014, 06:43:55 PM
Scott,

I have a 2.0, does it run faster? How hard were parts to come by? I am debating what to do with the car, it's slow and too slow for me!
Title: Re: Engine Rebuild, Running again...
Post by: jeremysdad on April 17, 2014, 07:08:53 PM
Scott,

I have a 2.0, does it run faster? How hard were parts to come by? I am debating what to do with the car, it's slow and too slow for me!

Is it an auto or a 4 speed?

It IS a German motor...it likes to rev. If it's an auto, try shifting it manually starting in one, and wind it out a little. You might be surprised. If I leave mine in D, it is in 2nd by 10 mph, and will hit 3rd at 20. I treat mine like a manual unless I'm cruising down the highway. :)

If a stick, wind it out a little more. You might be surprised. :)
Title: Re: Engine Rebuild, Running again...
Post by: Scott Hamilton on April 17, 2014, 11:18:09 PM
Scott,

I have a 2.0, does it run faster? How hard were parts to come by? I am debating what to do with the car, it's slow and too slow for me!

Hey Dianne,

I'll give you my 2 cents but there are guys much more knowledgable in this area in our community than me.

If you have the 2.3, stay with it. They are both good engines, there is nothing outstanding that would warrant the cost of swapping. They made several improvements going to the 2.0 to the. 2.3- one I admire is the lifters- especially after the exercise I just went through!

For me, I'm going to stay with the 2.0 as long as I can. I love the fact that they were built to run in opals (escorts?) on the autobahn, and they will scream. Ford bolted them to a pithily 4 speed and even a c3 that was basically a governor in my opinion.

Parts are almost all across the pond now and it's getting worse but because they were used in so many applications in the UK, parts are still plentiful.

I'm a 71-73 guy, 2.0 runabout 4 speed. Same car I learned to drive as a kid and wrecked... My interest is not so much power, but gas mileage. I'm trying hard to beat my wife's 09 focus....It's just 'fun'!

:)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Title: Re: Engine Rebuild, Running again...
Post by: dianne on April 18, 2014, 07:02:10 AM
Well, I did not know these were in Opels :-D  My Catera was an Opel that was branded as a Caddy, and that was an awesome car!

Now that I know there are a ton of parts available on the other side of the pond, looks like now is the time to start gathering them. And I would suppose I would like one car that's good on gas - the Galaxie is only around 14 MPG when it's back. The Mustang II Ghia is a 2.8 and I don't know yet, the King Cobra is being built, so that one wouldn't be that good on gas since it's being built. So the Pinto with some pep with a 2000 and a tad loud with a good muffler and headers would be awesome also :-D Good MPG would be a bonus.

What's your source for parts?
Title: Re: Engine Rebuild, Running again...
Post by: jeremysdad on April 19, 2014, 04:59:18 AM
http://www.burtonpower.com/parts-by-fitment-type/parts-by-engine-ford/ford-sohc-pinto.html
Title: Re: Engine Rebuild, Running again...
Post by: dianne on April 19, 2014, 07:41:11 AM
http://www.burtonpower.com/parts-by-fitment-type/parts-by-engine-ford/ford-sohc-pinto.html

Cool, thanks :D
Title: Re: Engine Rebuild, Running again...
Post by: jeremysdad on April 19, 2014, 03:11:41 PM
I've found a lot of cool stuff on ebay.co.uk as well, but a good majority of them don't ship to the US. Be forewarned, shipping from the UK can be killer, so make a list and buy a bunch of stuff at once. lol
Title: Re: Engine Rebuild, Running again...
Post by: dianne on April 19, 2014, 03:31:07 PM
Thanks :-)  I'll do that!
Title: Re: Engine Rebuild, Running again...
Post by: dick1172762 on April 19, 2014, 06:54:55 PM
Well, I did not know these were in Opels :-D  My Catera was an Opel that was branded as a Caddy, and that was an awesome car!

Now that I know there are a ton of parts available on the other side of the pond, looks like now is the time to start gathering them. And I would suppose I would like one car that's good on gas - the Galaxie is only around 14 MPG when it's back. The Mustang II Ghia is a 2.8 and I don't know yet, the King Cobra is being built, so that one wouldn't be that good on gas since it's being built. So the Pinto with some pep with a 2000 and a tad loud with a good muffler and headers would be awesome also :-D Good MPG would be a bonus.

What's your source for parts?
     DIANNE! Nothing wrong with a 2.0 L Pinto. I drove my red 72 Pinto race car around Dallas all the time I was building it with no problems what so ever. All I had on it was a Hedman header and a glasspack at that time. Just remember to turn it up cause that's what it likes. RPM and more RPM.