In 1970, I bought a Pinto for an incredible $1997 on the street. The engine was a 2.0 liter 4 speed tranny. I would shift it when it wouldn't go any faster (haha). Loved that little car.
Had a 71 2.0, 4 spd. installed tach ran it 7k all the time, was going to keep, but someone ran into rear, did not catch fire, but destroyed. Had it for 3.5 yrs. loved it.
Good job man, finally someone put vinegar on camera. Here stateside homedepot has started carrying 30% vinegar, stuff from the market is 4%. I'd bet that would speed it up. As someone else said , for oil and grease spray on oven cleaner ,here stateside made with caustic soda. This works a treat for getting down through oil and grease - doesn't seem to hurt paint so engine compartments come out looking new. Looking forward to seeing up coming vids on this project. Cheers!
To all those shade tree mechanics out there, the best rust/ grease removal chemical on iron is oven cleaner( sodium hydroxide, NaOH). NaOH will dissolve aluminum, so don't use it on any aluminum/ nonferrous parts. Pressurized parts cleaners or vinegar (acetic acidCH3COOH) will be ok for that.
Use Electrolysis, water, and washing soda. Bolt electrical connections to part and sacrificial plate using heavy gauge steel wire. Get the current as high as you can and run for 24 hours then remove and pressure wash. Put it back for another 24 and wash it again. Repeat till you are happy with the result. You can speed things up by replacing some of the water with white vinegar but that adds expense that's not really needed.
This German 2.0 ltr. engine was used to power motor cross cars. The drivers would run the heck out of this little engine That's why Hank for went to it for the first generation Pintos. Eventually the US engineers got their engine finished, a 2.3 ltr. of their own. It wasn't that good. Fuel mileage was not impressive and performance was ho hum. Many experienced cam shaft lobes getting wiped. I found out that the best way to fix this was to change the oil every three thousand miles with a new filter without skipping any changes. Mine had ~72K miles on it when I traded it in. I got what I paid for it in '73 and got the wagon automatic BIG MISTAKE! Wouldn't get out of its own way! I should've just gottin' another stick shift.
Very interesting. Good video. It has to be asked…..why would anyone want to restore a Pinto block? That thing is the heart muscle to one of the biggest pieces of junk ever made.
They are used in most European fords from 70s to 2000. Even in vans. I have a 2.0 in my ford 81 ford transit van. And it runs great and can handle a lot of Weight. People get like close to 200 hp out of them with 4 carbs.
I owned a 72 pinto and those little cars were very dangerous and unpredictable it almost got me killed, that was way back in 1984. I'd never own another one.
