When
you boil all the possibilities down, there is only two ways to make a
car fast.
Make it
lighter, or give it more horsepower.
This project started in '99 when I traded my Probe GT for an F150. I
missed the performance of the Probe, even though it wasn't spectacular.
I got to
musing one day that the Probe's 164 HP/3000 lb power to weight ratio
would be easy to duplicate in a light car. What is the lightest mass
produced rear drive Ford out there? The beleaguered Pinto, of course.
Early Pintos have a curb weight around 2200 lbs. I figured 135 HP or
so, and I'd have a fun little ride that would handle eighty percent of
the fart-piped Civics. I purchased the car in '99. It had the venerable
2.0L, But I decided parts were getting scarce for them, so something
else had to go in. I researched 2.8 V6's and small blocks, but parts
were scarce for the former also, and a V8 would be overkill and destroy
the handling. I then started looking at the 2.3L.
Advantages? In production until just a few years ago. Performance
variants from the factory.
Widely used in racing, sand buggys, boats, etc. Strong block, crank and
rods. Disadvantages? Heavy for a four. Heads don't flow all that well.
Still, research showed that 135 HP normally aspirated was easy, and
much more was available with boost. The stages of completion are below.
Would I change anything? I'd probably pick a '74 car with a trunk
instead of a hatch, because the '71 to '73 cars use obsoleted parts in
the front end, and the trunk cars are a pinch lighter. But that's it.
The original car, in it's primered and checkered paint glory.
2.0L on the left, assembled 2.3L on the right. Front sump Pinto pan was
hard to find...
The first engine. Had stock pistons, rods, crank, total seal gapless
rings, Ranger roller cam, Holley two barrel.
A view of the Heddman header...
Esslinger's Power Pulley...
And windage tray. Esslinger makes them for front sump Pintos and rear
sump Fox Bodies...
Pretty ugly, huh?
After much detailing and paint work, ready for the first fire up.
Notice the GM one wire alternator, and the Holley two barrel mounted to
a stock '83 2.3L 'D' port head intake.
These are '74 mounts welded to the '72 frame. The '73 to '74 model year
change was huge, involving the mount location, rack and pinion, control
arms, spindles, brakes, and core support (which was kicked out for the
longer 2.3L).
Lower ball joints are no longer available for '71 to '73 Pintos. Mine
were worn, so I adapted a set of '74 units by slotting the inner two
bolt holes. The spindle taper is the same.
The first engine was in for a year, then I stumbled across a '90
Mustang,
installed this engine and sold the Mustang. Time for build number two...
This engine went .020" over, but had all the same parts.
Time for the bodywork...
And Paint.
The interior was green, and in
good condition, so I repainted the body
the original Green Poly.
The car now has an 8" axle out of a '76 Mustang II
(direct bolt in) and
Garrett T-3 turbocharger.
The oxygen sensor is to aid in carb tuning. Turbo exhaust housing
barely clears the heater blower motor. Stock distributor recurved so
that full advance comes in late (3800 RPM), and limited to 15 degrees
initial and 31 degrees total.
The Mighty eight inch. Plastic shield in front of fuel tank is part of
the infamous recall...
I decided from the beginning that I wanted the car to be carburetted,
for nostalgia. Running any carb in a blow-through setup requires
patience in tuning. Below is a record of my tribulations with fuel
mixers, starting with a Holley two barrel.
Notice the air horn on the right side of the picture. The boost
pressure was warping the air horn down, causing a loss of boost.
I had a Holley/Motorcraft 4180 laying around that doesn't have the air
horn hanging out in space like the two-barrels do. So I made an
aluminum plate to cover the secondary metering block holes,
disconnected the vacuum secondary linkage, transferred the float bowl,
jets, power valve and electric choke from the two-barrel, creating a
two-barrel from the 4180.
The two-barrel was mounted to an Edelbrock two to four barrel EGR
spacer, just to allow someplace to mount the throttle linkage. Flipping
that over gave me a four-barrel mounting pad.
I wanted to bolt the rear float bowl on just for looks, but it
interfered with the linkage. Oh well.
This restored boost, but the carb was way dirty, giving me CO readings
of over 5 percent at cruise and the fuel mileage
dropped below 20 miles per gallon. Solution? a Weber.
I made a plate to adapt the existing bonnet to the oval top of the
32/36 Weber. Throttle response and economy improved with this carb,
although
I will probably end up injecting it eventually. There is still a
problem with the way power valves work under part throttle and
boost.
Finally got a T5 trans...
T5 from '90 four cylinder Mustang on right, worn-out German four-speed
on left.
Trans in the car. Had to oblong the crossmember and mount holes a bit,
and dimple the front crossmember for clutch cable clearance.
Used a V8 Fox Mustang driveshaft with a four cylinder front yoke and
conversion joints front and rear. Fox Mustang speedo cable works
perfectly, but the speedo is worn out and makes noise. I'll dig through
the junk yards and find one...
The car will break the tires loose in second gear when the boost (10
psi) comes on at about 3000 RPM. My ultimate goal is 12.80s and 25 mpg.
The latter I've achieved, the former will probably require an
intercooler and boost controller.
The Garrett T-3 gets attention at car shows....
Must get around to detailing the underhood, blacking out the rear
quarter window moldings and replacing the bumpers....
More to come!
