1st Kit Car What Engine

1st Kit Car What Engine

Author
Discussion

Al04

Original Poster:

3 posts

1 month

Friday 30th August
quotequote all
Hi All,

sorry if it’s posted in the wrong area, I did look to see where might be best.

I am in the market for a kit car and I have seen two and reading threads on here before joining up there is no perfect find! This is the dilemma I am in now however it’s mainly engine related rather than looks etc.

One of the cars I have seen has the 2.0 pinto engine which appears the most popular in the fitments bar going to the 2.0 zetec engine however the second car I have seen has the triumph dolomite sprint engine which I have read some issues around with the performance and reliability of it.
Has anyone had any issues with either engines or preferences between the two?

Many Thanks

Alasdair

Skyedriver

18,534 posts

287 months

Friday 30th August
quotequote all
Which model kit are you looking at?
The Pinto is a tall lump and while used a lot, some consider it heavy and a bit of a boat anchor. Can be readily tuned to give decent bhp. The Doly engine is an old design too, parts are not so readily available but it's a technically "nicer" engine some might say.
Horses for course.

Al04

Original Poster:

3 posts

1 month

Friday 30th August
quotequote all
Sorry what is the dolly engine?
I was looking at the Robin Hood sprint or the 2b or there is a Tiger supercat.
Is it worth while looking to spend a bit more and go with a more modern zetec set up for ease on parts etc?
I am surprised the Vauxhall c20xe aren’t a popular choice.

Rushjob

1,948 posts

263 months

Friday 30th August
quotequote all
Al04 said:
Sorry what is the dolly engine?
The Dolomite Sprint, the one you mentioned in your opening post!

Scrump

22,759 posts

163 months

Friday 30th August
quotequote all
The reason the Ford pinto and the triumph Dolomite (dolly) sprint engines were popular for builds is because they came in cars with rear wheel drive drivetrains (gearbox, axle etc). I am not 100% sure but think most of the original applications for the Vauxhall engine were front wheel drive.

Al04

Original Poster:

3 posts

1 month

Friday 30th August
quotequote all
Sorry! Didn’t know it was known as that haha

MK3 Dan

273 posts

150 months

Friday 30th August
quotequote all
Have you considered something with the MX5 engine in it?

MK do a kit as do a few others, with Mazda based running gear as well.

Parts are plentiful and cheap to come by and its easy to look after. Worse case if you break an engine its a few hundred for a replacement.

Get bored and want more power? Bolt a turbo kit on!

shirt

23,184 posts

206 months

Friday 30th August
quotequote all
The pinto and zetec have the intake/exhaust on the opposite side. The duratec has the same layout as the pinto, but alloy block and more compact. Duratec’s are cheap as chips and bolt straight up to the type 9 box.

Skyedriver

18,534 posts

287 months

Saturday 31st August
quotequote all
Al04 said:
I was looking at the Robin Hood.
You sure?

Vizsla

1,005 posts

129 months

Thursday
quotequote all
shirt said:
The pinto and zetec have the intake/exhaust on the opposite side. The duratec has the same layout as the pinto, but alloy block and more compact. Duratec’s are cheap as chips and bolt straight up to the type 9 box.
The Duratec with throttle body injection is a cracker, had one in my Westie 2000 Sport.