Define Budget!

[BIGKEV]

I bought the mag - which said Budget Build Pinto 2.1 part 1 of 3

 

I missed the next mag as I moved house and in the mean time I also removed a Pinto from a transit Van and stripped it like you said to do in the magazine.

 

So currently I have a Pinto in pieces in my shed and so far the cost has been £ 120 for the engine according to the mag well - mine came in a transit I scrapped so free engine is better than a kick in the teeth

 

I pick up the 3rd installment and I nearly King choke on my tea drank from my classic ford mug!!

 

Total cost £3908.74

 

saving nearly £600 wtf

 

Are you King kidding??

 

what kind of feature do you think you have here? certainly not a budget one!

 

Now I have an engine in bits thinking I would be able to do all the work myself and it would cost next to bugger all but it wont - 4 Grand.

 

What makes you think that the average Kev has £4K to spend on a frickin engine!!

 

I am extremely dissapointed with this mag/feature etc

So much so that I dont think I will order the issue I missed now.......

 

Can you explain to me and other readers who's idea this was and if it really was going to be done on the tightest of budgets how much it would cost?

 

BTW I pride myself on being able to build a car without spending shitloads of money and the term built not bought has no better place than on the bumper on the back on my car.

 

 

 

BIGKEV

[MightySprocket]

lmao.. great pic and good point

 

seems to me the article is not a budget build at all its what vulcan would charge which is fair enough but why misslead readers

[RS2kSX]

agree... i do my own work in a council garage block, not a machine shop or bank...

[Arfur]

The aim of the Pinto build was to assemble a top-spec 2.1 properly, doing as much work as possible ourselves. I think I referred to the build as ‘budget’ once (in a Next Month page prior to the build starting) but this was quickly dropped once we realised that to do it properly involved spending some money!

 

There are areas in the build where you have to shell out – all of the machining needed, and buying the head – and this is where the costs really start to rack up. We couldn’t show you how to modify the head because unless you’re well versed in the art of modifying and flow testing cylinder heads, it’s NOT a DIY job. The essential key to unlocking good power on a Pinto is having a well-modified head, which makes the 700-odd quid we spent on the Vulcan head more than worth it.

 

I could have fudged the final figures and made it look like we’d built the engine up for £2500. Maybe I should have done… but listed are ALL the costs incurred - there are no hidden extras, no favours pulled, or jobs done for cash or a few pints after work!

 

If I was building the engine myself then I’d be calling in all the favours possible but as a magazine we can’t do that – we have a responsibility to be as realistic and factual as possible,

 

I think Jon’s summing up of the build in the final feature does a very good job of explaining the whole ‘budget build’ argument’ – read that before putting the boot in further.

 

Lastly, Steve at Vulcan, and most other highly-respected, professional engine builders, would charge you a lot more to build an engine to this spec. If any are reading this thread, I’d welcome your comments!

 

Simon

[BIGKEV]

In Short - I was a bit miffed realising that the perfectly working engine I have taken out of a van ( cortina engine ) has now been stripped and I thought that the budget feature was going to appeal to me more as I am working to a strict budget of just over bugger all.

 

When I saw the figures I had my head in my hands - I did read the overview a few times and still wondered why it cost nearly 4K

 

As I havent seen the 2nd issue I cant say about the content but I'm presuming that there are details of what to do to what etc. I take it from the response and the costs involved it is only something that a shop can do.

 

Surely you could have saved money buying second hand parts and cleaning them up with a bit of elbow grease etc like the carbs and the inlet manifold.

 

I am happy with your response - thanks very much - I shall however try to offset as much cost os possible with regards to machining by searching for bargains and alternatives in my quest for an extra 100 cc's

[MM77]

the perfectly working engine I have taken out of a van ( cortina engine ) has now been stripped

While I completely agree with >£4k not at all being budget, I do think it was perhaps a bit premature to be stripping an engine before knowing what "budget" meant...

[BIGKEV]

Premature yes - fortunatly for me that I have no job and the car is off the road till next year as a result.

 

This was going to be a nice winter project for me - still will I suppose.

[MM77]

Premature yes - fortunatly for me that I have no job and the car is off the road till next year as a result.

 

This was going to be a nice winter project for me - still will I suppose.

Well look on the positive side, now you can dedicate all that time to your wing and diffuser

[Arfur]

In Short - I was a bit miffed realising that the perfectly working engine I have taken out of a van ( cortina engine ) has now been stripped and I thought that the budget feature was going to appeal to me more as I am working to a strict budget of just over bugger all.

 

When I saw the figures I had my head in my hands - I did read the overview a few times and still wondered why it cost nearly 4K.

 

Surely you could have saved money buying second hand parts and cleaning them up with a bit of elbow grease etc like the carbs and the inlet manifold.

 

Whoops!

 

We could have saved a few quid here and there buying second-hand, but only around 30 quid on the inlet manifold IMO.

 

We decided to buy new carbs because it would save time and money rebuilding s/h ones, plus new ones come already jetted to suit a Pinto thus saving set-up time (read money) on the rolling road/dyno - something we neglected to put in the feature.

[Vista]

I can see both points of view, buying shiny new parts that can be sourced second hand and overhauled isn't exactly doing it on a budget. But on the other hand machine work doesn't come cheap and in some instances is necessary to get the right results, what's more few of us have the experience to make a good job of porting when done in our sheds with a dremel.

[caprinerd]

I pick up the 3rd installment and I nearly fooking choke on my tea drank from my classic ford mug!!

glad to hear that i wasnt the only one that did that i called the wife and said to her "thats spose to be a budget build" then she asked if you were in the government and claiming it on house repairs, average jo cant shed out £4k on and engine build im still building mine and its set me back £500 but i aint got twin carbs or real hot cam. If you were to shop about you would have been able to cut the cost ive picked up a 205 complete bottom end for £21.01 of ebay no wear on block and no wear on crank but saying that you had yours bored out and regrind on crank

you also payed £150 for a crank regrind shop about a bit if you run features like this local to me a compny that build race engines would regrind the crank for £110 saving £40 of your budget build some one on here just sold a pair of twin webers with pinto manifold for a lot less than you payed for your carbs alone

it was a high budget build and defo not for the average amature builder it was more for the people with a high income or no kids and wife to support

 

But on saying all this it was a good feature and information in it was good but would be good to see a budget build that would be aimed at the people that have to plan for everything before hand to ensure there is money to afford even decent oil and not for the more money stable.

 

one last thing remember there`s alot of people getting layed off from work and every penny that comes into their homes has to be watched

[MM77]

I think a good follow up article(s) could be:

 

Best ways to spend £500 on your Pinto, YB, etc...

 

followed by:

Best ways to spend £1000 on your Pinto, YB, etc...

 

followed by:

Best ways to spend £2000 on your Pinto, YB, etc...

 

followed by:

Best ways to spend £5000 on your Pinto, YB, etc...

[Arfur]

Fair comment, Rog, but I think it would be impossible for us to do a real budget build like that, since a lot of getting s/h stuff cheap relies on luck. You were pretty fortunate to get a 205 block for 21 quid, and if we printed that, most readers would struggle to find one for that price - 120-150 quid is generally the going rate.

 

Likewise, the machining could indeed be done cheaper, but we have to quote listed prices. Not special rates, mate's rates, limited-offer deals, cash only, or not including VAT. To do that would only serve to pee off machine shops and readers alike.

 

What this series has revealed is just how much work is involved if you want to do it all properly. It's all here, but like we've all pointed out, the individual could go about building it a lot cheaper if time wasn't an issue and you could get stuff done cheap through cash deals.

 

Simon

[caprinerd]

fair comments mate but the regrind isnt a mate and that was inclusive but not to worry

i do realise that not everyone is going to get parts and work done as cheap as others, and being in the right place at the right time has got alot to do with things, i just felt as others that a budget build that reached £4K was a very strange price to have as a budget, would be interesting to see how cheap it would work out to build a 2.1 by the shopping around method, may be a future article on this might show people that it can be done for less by shopping about then compare the two builds and see what difference the power would be, set a limit of say £1K

[petrolhead]

I agree with Big Kev. The article was very interesting and its a cracking engine but it should have been more about keeping the costs well down. eg Taking risks, maybe making your own flow bench, testing your own port shapes applying them to cylinder heads etc. Obviously the results may not be as good as the top professionals but its the have-a-go mentality on a budget that counts.

 

Anyone with a £4k budget would be better off spending the extra £600 and getting Steve to do the whole lot for peace of mind and the guarantee imo.

[vibrating_Cake]

for the 4k what bhp did it make with what torque.... is it money welllll spent?

[over_head_cam]

As Simon well knows, it's hard to please everyone

 

I would take any article like that and use it as a starting price, then subtract all the things I could do myself or get done cheaper etc.

 

Maybe it could encourage people to say "Surely I can do this for less" and give some extra inpetus to their build

[Arfur]

As Simon well knows, it's hard to please everyone

 

 

Phil, make that anyone!

[over_head_cam]

Simon YKT