My Mk2 Mexico

[gazzamk2]

First of all thats one beautiful Mex, the right balance of mods and originality IMO. Looks the t i t s

Secondly, a pinto's power is in the head work, get it off and sent to a reputable/experienced engine builder, and tell them where you want to be. Remember though, big numbers don't always mean a better car! One old tip i read in a David Vizard pinto book was changing piston rings on a standard engine can very often give more power with no other changes! Strange but true!

[BlueIn2Red]

Thanks. I'm definitely not after big power, but do want to make sure everything is working as it should. From what you say then 103bhp is not unreasonable for a 2 litre pinto with fast road cam and twin 44s?

[Moose]

First of all thats one beautiful Mex, the right balance of mods and originality IMO. Looks the t i t s

Secondly, a pinto's power is in the head work, get it off and sent to a reputable/experienced engine builder, and tell them where you want to be. Remember though, big numbers don't always mean a better car! One old tip i read in a David Vizard pinto book was changing piston rings on a standard engine can very often give more power with no other changes! Strange but true!

Got to agree with power output mine is a 2.0 pinto with a head that cannot be worked anymore and it's pushing out 220bhp on twin 45's, must admit was toying with the idea of opening it up to 2.1 but as yet I'm not quite sure it's worth it as I doubt the power gain will be that huge.

[lee bishop]

With head work those carbs can fuel to 170-180 BHP no probs. one of the harris boys ran IDF's on a 200+BHP car but they were most likely modded. Just slapping carbs on a stock engine wont see huge horsepower. Job for winter mate. Until then enjoy it.

[Lee R]

keep the sunstrip i got one on my car looks the part.

Me too I'll be fitting one to mine when it's done Looks really nice/retro

[mike77cos]

That is a great looking car

[south west restorations]

tidy

[andyrsx]

hi andy very nice car. i think you should get a bit more power from your engine with a few small mods

[emily]

Fantastic looking car, great to see another mex in good order

[BlueIn2Red]

A small update on my Mex, together with some more pictures while it's clean (nearly finished my winter clean-and-protect) for those that may not have seen it before.

Not a great deal to report really, it's still awesome! It only gets used on nice days, so I'm only averaging a thousand miles or so a year, which is a bit of a shame I guess, but every drive is an event as a result, boosted by the fact the family love going out in it too. I've been very lucky with reliability so far - precisely zero problems. It's kept in a dehmidifed garage on a battery tender, which probably helps a bit.

It's getting to the time where I need to think about some remedial work on the exterior panels; nothing too bad yet, but there are some bubbles in places (mainly the front wings), and the photos make it look better than it is. I'm reluctant to do anything too drastic as it still has all the original panels, but it's a fine balance between maintaining originality (which I want to do more because it feels right, rather than holding value), and potentially having the rust spread and cause much bigger problems. The car seems in good shape underneath from what I can see (when on a lift), and it was fully restored 15 years or so ago, so hopefully there aren't too many lurking horrors. I'm keeping it as far away from rain (and salt) as I can, to help prevent things getting worse. I've bought good quality pattern wings (originals are basically impossible to find), for when the time comes anyway.

The interior is in decent shape, apart from the original fabric seat coverings, which have inevitably gone thin and baggy, and begun to tear, in places. I've bought a replacement set from Aldridge and will fit that when it really begins to fall apart.

(This began to sound like an advert, it isn't! This car is a keeper, hopefully to be passed on to my son all being well.)

[Mk2steve]

What a lovely car,looks fantastic in the pictures don't blame you never selling were would you go to replace it

[Davecos4x4]

Looks great.

[somekindajoe]

Lovely...absolutely Lovely!!

[jonny_bravo]

Lovely lovely car Andy,. I've recently bought the Aldridge covers too,... just wondering whether to have a go at fitting them myself...

[BlueIn2Red]

Yes I thought about doing that, for about two seconds before realising it needs to be done by somebody far more competent than me! I can't find a place I'm sure enough about locally unfortunately, so I'll probably end up taking the seats up to Aldridge for them to do.