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Hopefully, you have already read ‘How to fit a Pinto ...’ and presumably that has not put you off, so now you want to fit a Cosworth YB engine and T5 gearbox. More money than common sense I suspect. You will also need to upgrade your rear axle to AT LEAST an Atlas and something much better to cope with more than 300 BHP.
Firstly let me remind you of what you intend doing. You want to fit an engine with AT LEAST 200 BHP into an almost 40 year old car with more rust than metal, which was designed to take only 70 BHP. When Ford decided it would be a good idea to fit a feeble 110 BHP Pinto into an Escort, it was deemed necessary to ‘upgrade’ the shell to a ‘type 49’ to handle the extra power. And that was when the body shell was BRAND NEW!!!
So why is it OK to do such a ludicrous conversion then??? Two reasons make it OK, if you are sensible (of course you are not, but try and at least think about it for a while). Firstly, MAKE SURE THE SHELL YOU ARE USING IS VERY SOLID. By this, I DO NOT mean that all the rust holes have been covered up with repair plates. All rusty panels MUST be cut out and replaced, PROFESSIONALLY, with good metal to make it at least as strong as the original. All necessary steps must be taken to strengthen the shell to cope with the extra power. The costs involved with getting a GOOD COSSY ESCORT are high and YOUR LIFE depends on the quality of the workmanship, don’t cut corners.
The second reason that it is OK to fit a Cossy to a Scrote is because most of the power that you have in the engine will be lost in wheel spin and tyre smoke. If you know how to sort out your suspension to get ALL your power down on the road without slip, then bare in mind that the best Escort shell in the world will not cope with more than 300 BHP. It will literally rip
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