Pinto -- Move engine back or front wheels forward

[nimblemotorsports]

I have a 71 Pinto, and was planning to make a roadracer out of it.
I see a basic problem with these cars is the engine is located very far forward relative to the front wheels.
Particularly if I go with the 5.0 iron v8, i don't want this much weight up front.



I could cut the firewall and move the engine much further back, which is my first thought, but then I plan to replace
the front suspension with that from a Rav4, which has 12 inch disk brakes and 5-lugs, and thought why not relocate the front wheels.
I can redo the fender bodywork no problem, and this seems easier than creating a new firewall, which can be more problematic
for tech inspection.

Any opinions or something I haven't thought about?
I realize the firewall can be moved back a lot further than the wheels can go forward, so that leans to the firewall direction. Of course I could do both..

Here is the front wheels moved forward about 8 inches.

[cornfedbill]

I am doing both. I moved the front wheels forward 2 inches and the motor back 4inches. I guess I’m undecided. Both work. I would still set the engine back in the Pinto whether or not you move the front wheel. Unless you move them forward dramatically like a foot or so like this Monza.

[Rod]

a shorter wheel based car handles well on the autocross and longer wheel base handles the road course better, corvettes do well on both so that's the wheel base I wanted to be close to, the wheel base on the car I built for suzy was 100 inches close to a corvette so for me it was move the motor back for better weight balance, and I ended up with 49/51

[andrewb70]

I have a 71 Pinto, and was planning to make a roadracer out of it.
I see a basic problem with these cars is the engine is located very far forward relative to the front wheels.
Particularly if I go with the 5.0 iron v8, i don't want this much weight up front.

I could cut the firewall and move the engine much further back, which is my first thought, but then I plan to replace
the front suspension with that from a Rav4, which has 12 inch disk brakes and 5-lugs, and thought why not relocate the front wheels.
I can redo the fender bodywork no problem, and this seems easier than creating a new firewall, which can be more problematic
for tech inspection.

Any opinions or something I haven't thought about?
I realize the firewall can be moved back a lot further than the wheels can go forward, so that leans to the firewall direction. Of course I could do both..

Here is the front wheels moved forward about 8 inches.

I like the way this looks and this build is screaming for a 2.3L EcoBoost engine.

Andrew

[Protour_Pinto]

I moved the engine back on one of the Pintos I built. I figured with a big lump it just made more sense to move the weight back.

[brawls43]

The wheels moved forward give it a pretty cool look. I'd move the wheels forward, and the firewall back however much is needed to fit your engine choice. An ecoboost 3.5L V6 might fit nicely too, with the V6 being a little shorter than the V8.

[nimblemotorsports]

I think I have a plan to deal with the pinto weight distribution issue.. I acquired a 944 that can donate its transaxle setup for the pinto.
This allows the engine in front but not have to push back the firewall too much, and by moving the front wheels forward, it should give
pretty good weight distribution.

[brawls43]

Good find on the transaxle! Was thinking about that with C5 parts, but tougher suspension to alter. 944 should work sweet. The car still would look great with the wheels moved forward.

[nimblemotorsports]

I moved the engine back on one of the Pintos I built. I figured with a big lump it just made more sense to move the weight back.

My 63 Falcon I did something similiar, entire floor and firewall was cut out and redone in sheet metal, I had stroked 460 in it.
That is a lot of work, more than I want to invest in this Pinto, which is a $500 project.

How did you fit an intake in there? doesn't look like any room under the cowl area!

[nimblemotorsports]

The Pinto has a 94 inch wheelbase, the C4 corvette is 96.2 The C4 also has rear wheel steering that helps a lot in parking lot racing I would think.
The 944 has a 94.5 wheelbase. I'd of thought the pinto was even less. sure looks like it when I look at my C4 in comparison.

a shorter wheel based car handles well on the autocross and longer wheel base handles the road course better, corvettes do well on both so that's the wheel base I wanted to be close to, the wheel base on the car I built for suzy was 100 inches close to a corvette so for me it was move the motor back for better weight balance, and I ended up with 49/51

[cornfedbill]

The 944 transplant idea should work great. Have you looked at http://www.renegadehybrids.com/ for adapters to mount the engine of your choice to the torque tube?

The 944 has the differential in the front. The C5/6/7 has the differential in the rear. The 944 setup will fit much better in a Pinto where the Corvette setup might interfere with the seats.

This sounds like it will be a cool project.