FWIW, the Pinto engine (the 2300) was worlds better than GMs dime-store Nicasil attempt. Best-man Steve was going to put some euro go-fast stuff on it before discovering that Hooker made an engine swap header for a Windsor, and the rest was history.
Fun fact: Ford used a single progressive Weber carb as well as that crossflow head on the Pinto. My '73 Opel Manta (purchased for $50) used the same carb. My senior engines project was to get the Opel running in top kit. Day 2 of class, I unbolted the carb from best-man Steve's 2300 (up in the pallet racking by then) on the Opel, plugging every vacuum line except the distributor advance. I spent the rest of the semester sitting on the hood of that car eating an entire bag of Dolly Madison powdered sugar donettes (washed down with coffee from the percolator I brought in) every day.
I got an "A".