After running the 1.6 crossflow for a couple of years it was time for a change... Click on the images for bigger versions - the quality is not great because digital cameras were not so good back then.

thumb Christmas '97 saw the kitchen full of valves, valve springs and grinding paste as well as the more traditional Xmas fare. After a week or too of TLC the old 2 litre Pinto that had been lying around since I don't know when was back (I hoped) in an operable (standard) state. Unfortunately the Webber carb didn't look quite so good, so a replacement was ordered.

Nosecone off and here goes !

The main problem with this swap is the differing inlet-exhaust layout of these two engines. The upshot being that the exhast needs to be moved tomthe other side of the car. This in itself is not a problem since the joints can simply be rotated and the silencer etc reused. More irritating is the engine loom wiring which ran along the upper chassis rail - just a bit too close to the exhaust for comfort. It was moved to the other side. Not difficult, but a fiddly job since the indicator connectors if simply plugged back in will cause diagonal paris of lamps to flash instead of left and right. The modifications to the loom were all solder jointed and the whole section re wrapped. The hole left by the old exhaust exit was covered with an aluminium plate (subsequently removed when the car was resprayed).

A heater was also fitted - not only to keep me warm but more essentially to keep the windscreen demisted in the colder weather. I used the car as a daily driver for the next 3 years. Ducts were fabricated from GRP to direct the air through slots in the scuttle (removed in the piccies). I'm confident my car probably has the best westfield demister in existence !

At this point I forgot to take any more photos - suffice to say the engine mounts from Westfield aligned perfectly with the engine and chassis and those 4-1 exhaust joints would try the patience of a Saint. The Ford 5 speed Sierra gearbox bolted straight on the the engine as expected. As I remember the old engine was removed and the Pinto bolted in before lunch. Getting the electrics and engine plumbing took longer particularly because some head scratching was associated with the routing of the heater and radiator hoses to avoid sharp bends which might lead to constrictions etc. Even so by lunchtime of day 2 it was time to fill with oil, water and turn the key. Click. Nothing. One Sunday afternoon trip to Halfords and 35 quid poorer I have a shiny new exchange starter bolted on. More luck this time and it fires up almost straight away. Once the greasy fingerprints have burned off the exhaust all seems well except... except for a small water seepage from the water pump gasket. After refitting wit a smear of Instant Gasket all really is well...almost.

The sump is only a couple of inches off the road. And the bonnet which wont fit over the air filter. Actually I knew about both of these problems in advance but it isnt till the engine is in the car that it is possible to figure out how much to shorten the sump by, or where to cut the bonnet and attach the 'bonnet bulge' to clear the air filter. Both of these jobs took far longer than I'd have liked. The sump was shortened by nearly 4 inches by making the bottom of it wider, like an 'inverted T' shape so it holds the same amount of oil. The pickup tube needs shortening too. Fortunately the upper lip is quite rigid and MIG welding on the bottom didn't seem to distort it. I took several goes to get it water tight !

When it came to change the front suspension springs for slightly heavier ones I discovered that the heavy ones were already fitted ! One less job then.