Pinto Swap?

[b33fy]

Ditto with what's already been said. As Steve said pinto's cheaper, as tends to be in older cars and older tech. Can be tuned as with anything at a price. Money better spent on a conversion though imo. Worth considering a Duratec conversion, if the right base car is available. More modern again than the Zetec and relatively cheap. (As Phil says its the bits that cost the dosh) and easier to get to 200 bhp without too much difficulty. Inlet and exhaust on same side as Pinto so not so much hassle with some aspects of the conversion. 2.5 duratec versions available which are ripe for turbo conversions if your Kahunas are big enough.

[steve m]

Dave,
Are you related to Martin (scrooge) ?
as he seems to have all this upragradingitous disease

steve

[Larkingabout]

Ok ill post it up before you go to far the vvt k series can be a problem if you have a head issues

q james

Thanks for that Dick, yes I had a problem but the boys at Snodhurst of course got it sorted. It is a great engine when it's working and a pig when it isn't. Have had my nasty warning now going through a bit of upgraditus on the cooloing and pump side of things. May not be as bad in a conventional front engine set up but sure did my mid engined configuration a pile of no good!!!

[Crunchie Gears]

Hi and welcome

I have a K series in a Westfield and it is a light engine. Look on the DVA Power website for exhaust and tuning tips. The long runs to the radiator and the thermostat on the wrong side of the engine are an issue which can be sorted but the engine was well ahead of its time.

Personally if I were you I would go for a Duratec and suffer a little extra weight. My problem with the Honda engine is that it weights 137Kgs which is a monster in many lightweight kits.

I was maybe looking at possibly doing a build and thought a 1.6 ecoboost at 100Kgs and chipped to 250+ would make a good engine although very tall and would not brake the bank secondhand.

[Dav]

Thanks for all your replies, I had a feeling this was going to be a good forum

The main reason I ask about engine swaps is because being a young'un(ish), carburettors are a bit of a grey area for me, and whilst I get how they work, I'm not quite sure how they work (if you see what I mean).

And as for the modification, I am a very firm believer that any and every car can be made better when the right mods

And basically a swap comes down to how much work I want to put in.

Engine mounts then; custom jobbie every time?

[Dav]

Hi and welcome

I have a K series in a Westfield and it is a light engine. Look on the DVA Power website for exhaust and tuning tips. The long runs to the radiator and the thermostat on the wrong side of the engine are an issue which can be sorted but the engine was well ahead of its time.

Personally if I were you I would go for a Duratec and suffer a little extra weight. My problem with the Honda engine is that it weights 137Kgs which is a monster in many lightweight kits.

I was maybe looking at possibly doing a build and thought a 1.6 ecoboost at 100Kgs and chipped to 250+ would make a good engine although very tall and would not brake the bank secondhand.

I have heard of DVA before from the days of my ZS, I spent a lot of time reading and daydreaming

And I didn't realise that the K20 was that heavy Probably not the best when the car is already going to be hauling my fat ass around

[andyf]

Second what Phil said,be careful you can buy a kit pinto or crossflo for cheap money,then think oh well I will just pop a zetec in, this will cost,properly more than the car, tho there are bargains to be had.......martin

If you're buying a car I would find one with the engine you want rather than buying one with a Pinto in it and then setting about swapping it. A few guys on the Marlin forum have done it before and it does seem to be expensive even though a Zetec crate engine looks cheep by the time you've got everything else that's needed to get it going you could be looking at something like £4,000 to complete the swap!

[scotty]

http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/1997-Sylva-Styl ... nav=SEARCH

not as light as some moderen engines but its half way to being injected? The older lumps can get decent power but it costs,but changing to say a zetec is about 3 times the price people think( i looked into it....i will just buy a different car when i get the bug for more power) its best to just push the budget if you can in the 1st place(not always possible).....but if you cant you will be amazed at what even the lowest powered ones will do,i have 100bhp(lowest ish here i think) and at track days have great fun with 911s and gtrs every where but the strights....but you see them again very soon.

[andyf]

http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/1997-Sylva-Stylus-2-0-Vauxhall-Red-Top-16V-like-Fisher-Fury-Phoenix-NOW-TUNED-/131661873250?nav=SEARCH
In
not as light as some moderen engines but its half way to being injected? The older lumps can get decent power but it costs,but changing to say a zetec is about 3 times the price people think( i looked into it....i will just buy a different car when i get the bug for more power) its best to just push the budget if you can in the 1st place(not always possible).....but if you cant you will be amazed at what even the lowest powered ones will do,i have 100bhp(lowest ish here i think) and at track days have great fun with 911s and gtrs every where but the strights....but you see them again very soon.

That's a lovely car.

[martin butler]

As in any engine change, the engine is the cheap bit, its all the other bits that will rack up the costs, my advice, look at what you have to change for instance inlet manifold, exhaust manifold, then will the steering column foul on anything? if the brake master is now on the exhaust side, can you add some heat shielding? boiling your fluid isnt to be recomended, then there is the gearbox, will you need an adaptor plate and a different clutch, will the gearbox need changing, remember you are limited to what chassis mods you can make the chassis has to still be in essence as supplied, you can add in some new supports, but not redically change it, come MOT time if a tester dont like your welds, or sees a lot of changes, you may well be told you have to IVA it,
so think very carefully if you can get the car that already matches what you want, too many abandoned builds are the result of someone starting a conversion only to find out its too dificault to do, or beyond their skills.