Hi there,
I've got a 2 door mk2 escort when we first purchased it, from memory it used to move pretty bloody quick.
Had a few issues with ignition and induction which meant the carby got checked over and rebuilt a few times. As well as that I got a quieter exhaust put in it to attract less attention. Haven't had a lot of time to look at it so it would've been over a year between tests. From all that it seems that it doesn't have as much poke as it used to. 

I've just replaced the Weber 32/36 with a new set of Weber Twin 45 DCOE's that'll get tuned professionally. Hopefully that eliminates the carby issue, it's now on accuspark with a new coil so should run nicely. 

How much of a difference does exhausts make with the pintos? Are they particularly fussy with backpressure etc?
I'm considering getting the exhaust redone again for performance reasons before it's tuned. 

SETUP:
Pinto Stock apart from
Unknown Pistons (Flat tops but may have come flat from factory? No grooves for valves etc
Kent FR32 Cam
Twin 45 DCOE
Some kind of extractor (Maybe pacemaker?)
Vernier Cam Sprocket
Accuspark, Bosch Coil and new plugs 

what is your exhaust at the moment?
for a pinto, 2.25inch seems to be the go, unless you have done a lot of engine work, then 2.5.
NO BACKPRESSURE!.......EVER!!!!
pacemakers make a big bore and a non big bore size for the escort. the big bores are a better size IMO.
 
i ran genie extractors for a while and found they gave better low end response than the tony law set i replaced them with. i suspect that exhaust changes will not make much difference to that spec engine unless what you have is restrictive or poorly designed.
 
2.25 with 1 quality muffler at the back and a resonator/hot dog in the middle would be fine i reckon.
in fact, i might still have my old 2.25 system that i upgraded from if you interested?
 
getting those webers tuned correctly is going to give you better results than the exhaust system....
 
shoot us an email if you are interested in my old system. mk1_gaz@hotmail.com im in adelaide.
 
Gazz
 

My engine has compression, head work and cam, running a 350 Holley. I fitted big bore pacemakers and run a 2.25 system with a fair size single flow thru glaspac muffler. No restriction and not too much noise, just a nice note. Extractors are designed to give you better exhaust scavenging and flow, if the gas is exiting faster then you need to let it escape faster, too many/ restrictive mufflers doesn't allow the engine to breathe properly.

I agree with getting the carbs tuned, they could be out of balance or blockage. . Exhaust size 2.25 on anything over stock and try to have the mufflers (oval muffler with centre inlet and offset exit ) as far back as possible, 1 just before the diff and the other under the boot ,mufflers being the same type. avoid hotdog mufflers. ..they were good in the 80s !!