Pinto Pinking like a mad man

[neil parsons]

Question about the infamous pinto boat anchor engine , although the engine is not in a Dutton.

The 2.0 litre engine pinks link hell when gradually accelerating  and given the noise you would think the engine is about to self destruct. The engine is 202 block pinto that has been uprated with head / cam work .

I have tinkered slightly with the timing  slightly as the engine did run on and on when ignition turned off , and the only solution I can find to get rid of 95% of it is to use Premium grade petrol with a little octane booster. The engine is unleaded head but was told lead substitute  helps ?

Anyone else solved this problem , great engine these pintos are mind buckets of torque and keeps up with modern day traffic (in my escort) when coupled to a 5 speed box

Neil

[Steve Kerswell]

I hope this gets a result, I've spent a fair bit of time getting and rebuilding a Pinto engine, plus making it look pretty :-). Now I'm hearing horror story's, what have I fallen into? Now it seems I may have gearbox to prop shaft woes. :-))

[Brian (up north) Morris]

thanks for that big vern i had become a little lost.....not hard...:-)

[02onf3xslc483]

Sorry for butting in but I can see a problem no one has discussed. OP says that it's had head and cam work done but not what so I can only assume it's had a bit of porting work and an aftermarket cam.

All aftermarket cams will have a longer valve open duration and probably some overlap which will make the engine sound like an old transit Diesel engine at low revs with a lot of throttle. Could you be mistaking this for pinking.

Second point is there has been no mention of lambda readings or a rolling road in the thread. An engine with cam and head done will not run on standard carb settings so it will need to go on the rollers with a lambda stuck up its 4rse to see how much fuel it is getting through the Rev range and the jets adjusted accordingly. It will be running lean at the top end when the engine comes on song and this will produce extra heat as is being experienced but more seriously, it will burn valve seats and melt Pistons.

Timing for a modified engine would possibly need to be over 12 degrees at static but it may need more advance further up the range so a comp dizzy with heavier Bob weights would be in order.

First job with any modified or performance engine is to get her on the rollers or you will blow her sky high.