FORD PINTO ENGINE REBUILD
In the last issue of Classics, we followed the strip down of a rusty two-litre Pinto engine, which had seized pistons and required lots of brute force to fully dismantle. Over the following pages, we’re revealing what’s involved in checking and grinding the crankshaft and boring out the cylinders to displace 2.1 litres, before rebuilding the engine with new bearings and other components.
Turning a Pinto engine from a two-litre to a 2.1 adds an extra 95cc to the engine’s displacement. This is done by boring the block and fitting larger pistons from Ford’s V6 motor. The crankshaft and cylinder head can remain unmodified when doing this, but the block has to be decked by 1.5mm (60-thou) to allow for the shorter compression height of the V6 pistons. The resulting displacement equates to 2088.8cc.
There are several differences between the various Pinto engines, depending on which size of engine you are working on and its age. For instance, early Pintos have a spring on the timing belt tensioner, whereas later ones don’t. Similarly, the torque settings we’ve stated are recommended for the 2.1-litre, so check a workshop manual if you are rebuilding a different-sized Pinto.
The Pinto engine has some alternative engineering when compared to most engines of its era. For instance, there’s a camshaft
