Scooter
Well-Known Member
- First Name
- Brian
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2021
- Threads
- 18
- Messages
- 363
- Reaction score
- 493
- Location
- Vancouver, BC, Canada
- Vehicle(s)
- ------2011 Ford Ranger XL 2.3L Manual Scab
- Occupation
- --Machinist
- Thread starter
- #1
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I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone complain about the engine in a Pinto, unless for the standard SMOG controls of the era. Usually it’s always about the fuel tank.All start with the Pinto.
Hi Brian,
Hi Phil, love your advice & stories. I thought I remembered you mentioning SuperVee before. Curious if you knew of a Ray Weaver. I knew him as a service advisor at Four J Motors in Huntington Park , California. He was a super guy, he helped me with many VW’s through the 60’s & 70’s. Last I heard he was also inArizona.Hi Brian,
Believe it or not...I had a role in the 2.0L Lima motor...not by choice but my Executive Engineer, Dave G knew I was a racer and a gear head... Dave decided we needed an entry level Ranger with a "smaller" engine, so approached Engine Engineering.... He got the go soak your head. Not one to take no, he called me into his office...Now I am three to 4 levels below him. He told me we were going to so a 2.0L motor and I was lead...I had no wish for this but found myself in a career ending situation if I refused, so off to do a 2.0L Two years and some sleepless nights we delivered a 2.0L Ranger to market. It was a poor seller but volumes were such it broke even on investment.
As far as the Pinto...base was a 1.6L Kent (England), German 2.0L and a Lima 2.3 later in the Pinto life cycle.
Much maligned flammability of the Pinto is another story. Rear of the car folded like tin foil. There was a rear facing differential bolt at one spot on the diff that acted as a can opener for the fuel tank. The how and why of this bolt facing the wrong way is still subject to speculation...It should not been there... And so the recall finally put a puncture shield as the fix which was maligned by the press etc... Ford behaved poorly in my mind and that image haunts Ford to this day...
My Pinto, a 1.6 Kent engine twisting to 8500 rpm won its fair share of races before I went to the SuperVee....
The backwards Scrap on the nose was Small Car Racing and Performance...my side business at the time... The racers told me the Pinto was a pig...yep...a Pig! I made it a very fast Pig! You would not believe the suspension under the body...No way it should work, but it did!
Best,
Phil
The DC region of SCCA that races at Summit Point at one time had a GT Pinto class, always fun to watch.Hi Brian,
Believe it or not...I had a role in the 2.0L Lima motor...not by choice but my Executive Engineer, Dave G knew I was a racer and a gear head... Dave decided we needed an entry level Ranger with a "smaller" engine, so approached Engine Engineering.... He got the go soak your head. Not one to take no, he called me into his office...Now I am three to 4 levels below him. He told me we were going to so a 2.0L motor and I was lead...I had no wish for this but found myself in a career ending situation if I refused, so off to do a 2.0L Two years and some sleepless nights we delivered a 2.0L Ranger to market. It was a poor seller but volumes were such it broke even on investment.
As far as the Pinto...base was a 1.6L Kent (England), German 2.0L and a Lima 2.3 later in the Pinto life cycle.
Much maligned flammability of the Pinto is another story. Rear of the car folded like tin foil. There was a rear facing differential bolt at one spot on the diff that acted as a can opener for the fuel tank. The how and why of this bolt facing the wrong way is still subject to speculation...It should not been there... And so the recall finally put a puncture shield as the fix which was maligned by the press etc... Ford behaved poorly in my mind and that image haunts Ford to this day...
My Pinto, a 1.6 Kent engine twisting to 8500 rpm won its fair share of races before I went to the SuperVee....
The backwards Scrap on the nose was Small Car Racing and Performance...my side business at the time... The racers told me the Pinto was a pig...yep...a Pig! I made it a very fast Pig! You would not believe the suspension under the body...No way it should work, but it did!
Best,
Phil
Hi Mike,We ran a 2.0 in a mini stock, spun it to 10,200 every Sat night, had to put a heat treated crank in it every 2 races as the 16:1 comp ratio would groove the Nitrided crank badly, welded the chambers to get the compression, ran 4 round slide snowmobile carbs, really potent package, we were in pick a part every other week, scavenging cranks, now those engines are hard to find.
And I'm old enough to say, I did that recall on Pinto's as a Ford tech.
The story goes, 4 college kids stopped in the middle of the road just over a rise in the road to steal a sign from the side of the road, as soon as they got back in the Pinto, along came a car at speed and the 4 wheel road flare was born, it was sad.
Always been a great engine, so much so that Dan Esslinger (of Esslinger Engineering) went on to copy it in aluminum, improve on it and turn it into one of the most affordable, fast Midget race engines ever, it's still being used!!
Hi Mike,Ha, Dan is good at what he does but we have also had a rocky relationship, we were ahead of his Esslinger sponsored car (Kenny Smith) in the points battle, the rules were stock iron block and head, he got the association to allow his de-stroked 2.3 with the aluminum head, (as a series sponsor they didn't say no to him) we still won some races but ultimately finished 2nd in the championship, there were other things that had us at odds, questionable parts that failed, but my favorite was the sponsorship rule that said we HAD to run the Esslinger sticker on our car, but they didn't stipulate where (yet) so when they questioned us, we pointed to the muffler, we were proudly displaying the stickers on the muffler, next race it was mandatory on the body. LOL!!
I live in Lima and drive by the engine plant on my way to work.
RIP Lima 2.5L...its final displacement....Heavy boat anchor by today's standards...I live in Lima and drive by the engine plant on my way to work.