Engine Fit

Section XI Fitting the Engine and Gearbox Assembly

Note:- U.O.S all threads are Right Handed or Normal. ie. They TIGHTEN UP with a Clockwise rotation. Left Handed threads TIGHTEN UP in an Anti-clockwise direction. Examples of LH threads are the 32mm Viscous Fan nut and some later models of LH Rear Hub Nut.

The Engine and Gearbox have been overhauled and some minor " blueprinting " carried out. All this work is covered in the Sierra Haynes Manuals and How to Power Tune FORD SOHC Pinto Engines by Des Hammill or Rebuilding & Tuning Ford X-FLOW & PINTO Engines by Peter & John Wallage. The last two are very good books, fully recommended. Externally the block has been pressure washed and painted heat resistant Black, as has the Gearbox Bell Housing and the cast iron gear box. Alloy parts have been polished up to a moderate degree only and any casting flash dressed off. A shortened sump has now been fitted (see the RHOCaR article) as well as a 90 degrees speedometer cable 1:1 output gearbox. (Europa Specialist Spares Part No. ADFORD) This will allow the cable to exit forward and away from the footwell.

The cost of a 90 degrees gearbox plus a new cable is substantial and you may wish to consider fitting an Electronic Speedometer and dumping the Sierra Instrument cluster altogether. By taking this option any worries regarding Tyre size, Diff ratio and Speedometer output gearing are eliminated as they are fully programmable for any combination. The output, in the form of a magnetic pulse, being taken off the propshaft or even one of the 1/2 shafts.

At this stage it is best to replace the Gearbox output shaft oil seal and the entire Clutch Assembly c/w a new thrust bearing if this has not already been carried out during the overhaul. Earlier 1.6 Pinto Engines are fitted with a 7.5" Clutch with a small centre spline diameter. If you come via the single donor route this is not a problem but if you are (as I did) trying to fit a later 5 speed box to an early 1.6 litre engine you will need a 7.5" pressure plate with the 1" (approx.) splines. (Quinton Hazel Part RCK 8941) You could of course always fit the later flywheel with the 8" clutch. This is probably the best option if you can get a flywheel. The 2.0 litre engine uses an 8.5" Clutch Quinton Hazel Part No. RCK 8050. Make sure you get a pressure plate with 23 splines when using the Type 9 - 5 speed gearbox. See AutoCad Section for Flywheel Strap.

Note that the larger (8.5") clutches have the pressure plate spring fingers PROUD of the clutch unit housing, whereas the smaller clutch has the spring fingers BELOW the clutch unit housing. For the SMALLER clutch to operate correctly you must use a thicker clutch release bearing, approx. 10mm thicker. Check first. Also ensure the friction plate is fitted the correct way round. The 8.5" friction plate is marked SCHWUNGRADSEITE. For the non German speaking kit car builder it is also marked FLYWHEEL SIDE. Borg & Beck Part No.51580 & 53131 depending which side you are looking at !! It is also marked Lead & Asbestos free so we can be sure that we will not get Lead poisoning or Asbestosis. You are however strongly advised not to lick it or smell it.

Getting the Clutch Release Bearing off is virtually impossible. Bend up a piece od 1/2" x 4mm flat bar in the shape of a large Allen key. The short arm needs to be about 1/2" long. Chamfer the inside face to a chisel and insert under the plastic spring housing. A quick pull and it will snap out. Repeat for the other side. This MAY break off the tangs so it may be scrap unless you have a couple of spare springs handy. See AutoCad Section.

Warning:- There are at least two Engine backplates. Early ones had a larger hole for the Starter Motor mounting register. Later versions had a 3" dia hole. Before fitting the engine make sure that the Engine/Backplate/Starter Motor/Gearbox set up is correct. Will the Motor fit and will the pinion engage fully on the flywheel ring gear. Will the clutch work? See the chart on page 118 of "Rebuilding & Tuning Ford X-FLOW & PINTO Engines" by P & J Wallage.

Due to extreme pressure on garage space, I have decided to fit the Engine block and Gearbox without the Cylinder Head and other ancillary items. These will be fitted later once I have more room to actually work in. The unfinished head was fitted temporarily as the lifting lugs pick up off the Manifold bolts. The Pinto Engine Mountings are a real work of art, non of your pressed steel crap here. Half an hour with a file and a rotary wire brush will bring these up a treat. Leave in the " as cast " state but burnished. Bolt these on to the block, they will only fit one way. The rubber engine mounts will need to be fitted at the last moment as they do not clear the chassis sides. Watch out for the two dowel pins which are to the FRONT. Also the Crankshaft pulley may need to be removed as clearances are at a minimum. The engine shoehorns in fairly easily but a 2nd small hoist may be needed to keep the back end of the gearbox up as it goes over the chassis tube. See also the section on Speedo Calibration.

Note:- While the cylinder head is off now is a good time to do an accurate check on piston TDC. Fit the crankshaft pulley you intend to use and rotate the engine until No.1 piston is at the very top of its stroke. Perfectionists can use a "clock gauge" but it is not that critical. Note the position of the TDC mark on the crankshaft pulley. If it is in line with the marker on the crankcase, fine. If not you will need to remedy this by re-marking the pulley etc. Finding TDC once the head is in position is not easy to do with any degree of precision. If you do find an error check again, as mistakes are rare, unless of course pulleys have been used off another engine etc.

The front engine mounting holes are quite large, 25mm for 10mm bolts but this allows the propshaft to be aligned by slewing the engine thus moving the rear of the box. A small movement of the front end makes quite a large movement at the rear. Use large washers on the underside of the mounting holes and secure with nylock nuts. Do not fully tighten just yet.

There are two holes to be drilled in the chassis for the Gearbox mounting. The Video shows these drilled from the underside. Not easy unless you have a pit or a crane and potentially dangerous either way. Align the drive train and position the Gearbox mounting bracket upside down on the top of the chassis rails and mark off the two mounting holes as accurately as possible. (a quick spray through the two holes with a black aerosol is a good tip) Lift the gearbox upwards out of the way and remove the bracket. Make up a pair of plates to the attached drawings ( see Appendix II Link to AutoCAD Drawings) and bolt these to the marked off holes with one plate on top of the chassis and one on the underside, clamping the Floor pan and the Chassis between the two plates. Lock up the plates with a pair of 6mm bolts and a large 12mm bolt in the centre hole. The two 6mm bolts are essential to ensure that the two plates are in perfect alignment. You can now drill through the Chassis and Floor pan in one go with an 8.5mm drill. The two plates acting as both a drilling jig (Check your Mounting Rubber is 142mm cts.) and a support for the thin sheet metal floor pan. Remove the plates, de-burr the holes, lower the gearbox and re-fit the Sierra Gearbox Rubber Mtg. with a single 12mm bolt & 2 x 8mm bolts to the underside of the chassis. Use Loctite on all threads. This method may seem a bit long winded but it works like a dream.

Put some oil on the propshaft drive spline inner and outer and bolt the other end to the Diff input flange with 4 Ford bolts. Note:- These 4 bolts are 10mm x 1.0 pitch ISO Metric Fine.

Once the Engine is in some of the ancillary items can be fitted such as Starter Motor, (Lucas Part Number LAS 543) Alternator, (Lucas Part Number LRA 460) Fuel Pump, Oil Filter, Distributor, Carburetor, Inlet and Exhaust Manifolds. The later should be loose fitted only as it will need to come off for the panel fitting. Once these major, immovable items are fitted we can consider the steering details and pedal boxes with brake lines, radiator and fan. It is starting to look like a real car at last. Spark Plugs are NGK 2922 APR6FS

Note that you cannot get the offside outer panel on without unbolting the 4 branch manifold and also the steering shaft !!

There are at least two types of Starter Motor, one has a 3" register (the bit that fits into the Engine backplate, and a second with a 3 1/2" register. To complicate matters the flywheel ring gear is closer to the engine on the 3" versions. Make sure before you fit the Engine/Flange/Gearbox/Starter assembly that they are all matching parts. It will be very frustrating to find that the Starter gear is spinning in fresh air, or as in my case the starter will not fit into a 3" hole. I was forced to remove the engine and bore out the plate to 31/2" dia. The Pinto uses the 31/2" starter unit.

Distributor

Wiring for the Distributor is covered in Appendix VIII These is also an excellent schematic showing the location of all the vacuum pipes for the Distributor in Chapter 4 - Pg.158 of the later Haynes Sierra Manual. See Carburetor Section below.

Alternator

The Alternator's size and location seems to cause problems by fouling the steering column and the four branch exhaust manifold, but remember it was capable of a large output to suit a fully equipped family saloon. A smaller unit may be adequate for our needs. A Bedford "Rascal" van alternator has been mentioned as it is a lot smaller than the normal Sierra unit and is "supposed" to fit quite well. The standard Sierra alternator will fit, but hangs below the steering shaft. As the lug on the alternator is a long way from the original 8mm bolt on the water pump housing, an additional mounting bracket must be fabricated. This is NOT an ideal solution but is the best I have come up with so far. Form a length of 25mm x 6mm black bar into an "L" shape and drill a couple of 8mm holes at each end. The "L" shape is needed as the bracket must clear the radiator bottom hose. The hole in the middle of the bracket is for a stop bolt to prevent the bracket rotating downwards, this catches on the top face original alternator bracket. For more rigidity this bracket could be made from a piece of mild steel angle. (see photographs and Appendix II Link to AutoCAD Drawings) For the underslung alternator a suitable fan belt is a BOSCH AVX 10 x 960. (37.79" circ) The alternator pulley should be 1/2 the diameter of the engine pulley, this runs the alternator at twice engine speed. (useful output between 700 & 15,000 rpm)

Detail of Alternator Top Bracket

See also notes on Alternator wiring in Section XXII Wiring and Electronics

Carburetor

These are a plumbers nightmare. I counted 11 pipes and 2 electrical connections on my Weber 2V carb and manifold. The only answer is to make a complete note of where all the pipes are located BEFORE they are REMOVED. There are also a number of other types fitted, Ford VV and Pieburg 2V as well as a large number of sub variations. 2 pipes come from the Air Cleaner, 3 from the Inlet Manifold and 1 from the Coolant system. The Haynes manual gives quite comprehensive details of all models. If your carb is not original equipment I suggest you contact Weber for further information.

As a "guide" a brief list is given below for the Weber 2V 84HF DB unit as fitted to a standard 1.6E Pinto c/w standard Ford inlet manifold.

The large diameter water pipe on the manifold goes to the heater input, the output from the heater, lower pipe, is routed to the small pipe on the water pump.

Smaller union on manifold, hard pipe, goes to the Brake Servo.

The medium pipe at the front goes to the Crankcase breather valve, situated directly below.

The small pipe above this goes to the Air Cleaner sensor. (may not be needed on a 2B)

Medium dia. vertical input union left rear, Fuel supply and fuel filter. Give the filter a clean.

Ported Vacuum Switch on the base of the manifold. There are a number of variations for this vacuum pipework depending on your chosen Carburetor and Ignition module. See Haynes Pg. 158. These schematics assume you are using the Sierra Air Inlet/Filter. Which you are not, I hope !! The 3 port valve is used on 1.3 & 1.6 litre cars. Connect the middle port D to the vacuum source. The valve can be checked in boiling water. When cold port 1 is open, port 2 is closed. When hot port 1 is closed port 2 is open. Vacuum is at D from Inlet Manifold. Ports 1 & 2 go to the Distributor or ESC Module.( not so on automatic models, dia 3 ) Diagram 4 is probably the most common for 2 litre cars with a 2 port valve. See Hayes. dia 4.

Some Manifolds may have an inlet manifold heater.

There is a cold start enrichment valve, this is also vacuum operated, but has a link to the cooling water. The valve switches the vacuum off as water warms up.(low vacuum enrichment device) This valve is located on the inlet manifold water jacket and has 2 pipes. One from a vacuum supply and one to the cold start valve.

Some of these pipes may not be required on a sports car, where less sophistication is required. You will however need to get the jets correct for some semblance to an MOT pass and of course fuel economy.

Use the original Ford vacuum pipe unit as there are valves, tees and loops in the pipes.

The single electrical connection on the side is for the choke, supply comes direct from an output on the Alternator (Blue/White) which is ONLY live with the engine running, this may have 2 water pipes as an alternative. You are advised to fit the Weber manual choke as the electrical unit is known to cause problems.

The single electrical connection at the front is for a fuel shut off (anti run-on) valve. This is supplied from the Ignition Module (Black Pin 2) This is only live with the Ignition switched ON. See also Section XXII Wiring and Electronics

For those of you who like reading Weber do an excellent Tuning Manual. Go to http://www.webcon.co.uk or try Demon Tweeks.

The small low profile Air Cleaner shown below was obtained from Coach Trimming Supplies nr. Birmingham, but the base will need cutting out to suit the Weber. Make sure the 4 screws holding the base to the body of the carb cannot come loose under any circumstances. Use a thin gasket. Use bolts with a small hole in the head and a twisted wire loop linking all 4 bolt heads. A bolt getting into the engine will wreck it in seconds. For details of a DIY Electronic Injection System builders may care to visit MegaSquirt

Small Air Cleaner fitted.

Manual Choke Conversion

The Choke fitted to the above carburetor was an electric unit with a heater and a bi-metallic coil. As this did not seem to be working, although there are no obvious faults, it was decide to convert it to a manual unit which will hopefully be 100% reliable. At one time these manual choke conversions seemed quite easy to obtain, but have of late disappeared. As I last saw a manual choke in 1965 I have designed the unit shown in the photographs from scratch. Replacement "turn to lock" choke cable assemblies are readily available at most good car spares outlets and the control knob was positioned inside the SVA exempt area behind the steering wheel. The knob does need to be identified as a choke for the SVA. The choke butterfly is held open by a spring, so in the event of a cable break etc. it returns to the normal running position. The control knob pulls the choke into the closed (starting) position, and as the knob is pushed home the choke, in effect, opens itself into the normal running position under the control of the spring. This mode of operation is required as you cannot reliably push with a stranded cable. Fabrication of this simple little unit was a bigger job than I had anticipated, requiring the manufacture of nearly 40 individual parts. I am sure there are less components in my watch !! At least it seems to work well, but as it was designed and built as I went along there will be no drawings. At least not until it is stripped down sometime in the future


View of the Manual Choke (1)	View of the Manual Choke (2)	View of the Manual Choke (3)	View of the Manual Choke (4)

Throttle Cable Assembly

The throttle assembly is a complicated unit, which sticks out quite a way from the carburetor body on an ugly custom bracket. This I assume, is to get it out from under the large Sierra air cleaner. (which most of us are not using anyway) Your donor throttle cable may also be too long, and due to its moulded nylon ends, shortening it would not be easy. A shorter cable would give a better bend and make a neater job. There do however seem to be quite a number of cable variations, the CVH cable for example, is much shorter, ideal in fact, but the ends vary as well. One solution would be to fabricate a new end and solder it on to a shortened cable. This new end is an exact copy of the moulded nylon item, but in brass. It should have plenty of strength if done properly. (See Appendix XIII Pedal Box and Steering Assembly) I have reduced the cable to 750mm and fitted a fabricated brass socket which fits onto the ball end top of the accelerator pedal. When constructing the pedal assembly make sure that the full weight of your foot can never pass through the cable to the carburetor linkage. Something will break sooner or later. Fit solid adjustable stops to limit the pedal travel to just full throttle. Some later cables have a sprung end, at full throttle this should be just starting to compress. Never lubricate the stranded inner, as the oil or grease dries out the movement will become stiff and jerky, it also attracts dirt and grit. It slides in a hard nylon inner and should be wiped clean before fitting the new end. As your only direct connection to the engine it should be silky smooth at all times. A sticking throttle can be lethal. As with the clutch and speedometer cables keep away from heat and clip securely so it cannot chafe or rub. Allow for engine shake etc.

Having now driven the car it is apparent that the space in the footwell between the Throttle and the Brake pedal is insufficient, or perhaps I have big feet. I have now fabricated a totally new throttle pedal unit from 6mm Stainless Steel rod with a nylon roller at the "foot" end. This has been designed to fit hard over to the offside (see section on Interior panels) and gives the maximum space possible. It is of course essential that as the foot operates the brake it is well clear of the throttle pedal. I will add a photograph of the finished unit ASAP. All the above conditions in the preceding paragraph do of course apply, particularly the note regarding passing the full weight of your foot through the wire cable. Fit an adjustable stop.


Throttle Assy, Carb end.

Tip. When cutting stranded cable, tin the wires first, then cut. The tinning stops the wires unwinding. Use LA-CO flux paste. This is the only flux that will solder Hardened steel springs, Piano wire etc.(try your local plumbers merchants)

Fuel System

Fuel is supplied from an engine mounted pump (Pinto) and this feeds directly into a vapour separator/pressure regulator, one outlet goes direct to the carburetor and one returns to the tank. Once the float in the carb rises and shuts off the fuel, any excess fuel returns to the fuel tank maintaining a constant fuel level in the carburetor. This unit is mounted on one of the chassis side rails, the brackets suitably bent. I used a modern vapour unit from a CVH model which seems to work fine. (See photographs) Use proper reinforced fuel hose and decent clips. The Automec "Minaba" Stainless Steel clips are expensive but superb. (13mm dia required)

As a matter of interest a recent search on the web for "4 Star Leaded Petrol" showed a considerable number of garages still selling this fuel. It was never made illegal, but phased out by the big distributors.. There are for example 2 garages in Cheshire still selling it, (at £3.00 per gallon) and there is almost certainly a garage near you. Try a search on www.leadedpetrol.co.uk where there is an up to date listing.

Exhaust Manifold and Silencer

The exhaust manifold simply bolts to the cylinder head with 4 individual gaskets and 8 x 8mm bolts, note that the front gasket is a slightly different pattern. I used stainless bolts with a thick washer under the head and coated all threads with copper anti-seize grease prior to fitting. All the threads in the cylinder head were cleaned out with an 8mm plug tap at the overhaul stage. Due to welding distortion you may need to "spring" the manifold into exact position. The side panels need to be fitted at the same time as the manifold as you need to position the pre-cut aperture exactly to suit the manifold. The manifold will not go in once the engine and side panels are fitted. Before fitting the silencer spring in the crab shaped baffle so it is held in place by the silencer pipe, when fitted. You may also care to put a couple of stainless steel pan scrubbers up the pipe as well. All this will reduce the noise for the SVA. Secure the Silencer to the Exhaust Manifold with a 2" (50mm) clamp. The normal "U" bolt and saddle seems to fall foul of the SVA and a MIKALOR Stainless Steel Hose Clamp has been suggested as an alternative. See page 254 of the 2005 Demon Tweeks catalogue. Use the SupraPro Part No. 47/51SPRO The silencer has a welded bracket on the rear pipe (2 x 8mm bolts at 75mm CTS) And this is secured to the side panel via a couple of insulating rubber bobbins and a custom stainless bracket. Watch these nuts regarding the SVA, although they should be covered by the heat shield as in the photographs below, I also fitted a piece of 3mm x 25mm flat stainless bar on the inside of the panel for additional reinforcement. There is not much else in this area to bolt the silencer to so a bit of extra reinforcement will not go amiss. See noise problems.

Heat Shield

The silencer will need a heat shield fitting and the kit comes with a suitable semi-flanged blank. The beading at the ends must be metal, a clip-on non-metallic edge protector is no longer accepted by the SVA for this application. There are a number of ways of doing this. The ideal way, although virtually impossible for the amateur to do well, is a wired and rolled edge. A simpler way is to split some 1/4" stainless tube down the length and slip this over the cut ends of the sheet while it is still flat. Do not attempt to fit the split tube AFTER you have formed the heat shield as the slit will close up. Tack braze or weld on the inside and then form to the required diameter. This gives a perfect solution. Failing this you can buy 1/2 round beading which with care could be rivetted in place. To keep the heat shield cool a 25mm air gap is recommended.

I have not adopted the RH design. The folds on the existing blank were flattened and drilled for 4mm mounting screws it was then re-folded 90 degs x 25mm inwards. The 4 corners were radiused 6mm and 5 x 4mm setscrews brazed to the flanges. The split wire was then spot brazed to the insides of the two end edges and the completed assembly folded into a U shape round my local lampost. Just the right diameter and SOLID. This gives a heat shield that sits about 20mm off the silencer and with care can be fitted to cover the rear silencer mounting bobbins. Remove the plastic film before brazing as it melts and is a b***** to get off. Brazing or welding will cause oxidation which can be polished off with very fine emery paper. 10 x 4.5mm holes were drilled in the side panel and the heat shield bolted on once the silencer was in position. Using brazed on studs it can be fitted from the inside of the car. Photographs below.


Slitting the Edge Tubing	Front View of Heat Shield	Detail of Heat Shield

Clutch Cable

Due to the location of the pedal box and the clutch operating lever the cable must pass through the 4 branch manifold, probably between No.2 & No.3 pipes. The heat at this point is extreme, to say the least, and an unprotected cable will not last very long. The cable at this point has been fitted with a heat insulating jacket, made from a space age type of wool that resists heat flow almost 100%. This is wrapped inside a knitted sheath and clipped onto the cable. The cable is also clipped to a bracket sprung off the engine mounting, which doubles as a clip for the alternator cable. This clip positions the clutch cable in the middle of the manifold pipes. A couple of small clips prevent movement of the sheath. The same applies to the Speedometer cable to a lesser degree. Another solution would be to buy, if available, a longer clutch cable that could, when suitably clipped, pass to the offside of the steering shaft. This would keep it well away from the manifold for a much safer solution. (Part numbers for a longer Sierra cable anyone ?)

Running

The engine finally ran on 11th August 2004, about 18 months after starting the build. A couple of minor water and oil leaks plus an awful squeal from the fan belt, but otherwise no problems. Another hurdle over. I can now at least drive in and out of my garage. The head bolts will be finally pinched up to full torque after about 20 mins. running and that's about it. The squeal was traced to a loose fan belt and the water leaks cured by nipping up one of the hose clips. The bad oil leak on the Rocker cover will be cured when I nip up the head bolts


Engine inverted showing my new sump, a shorter one was fitted later.	The lower pulley needs to come off to fit into the chassis.	On the hoist ready to go into the chassis.	Into the chassis, but a tight fit.