Oh, and there were even some 1.8L Pintos in Sierras towards the late 80's/early 90's - these will be unleaded, and probably not much less powerful than the 2.0L.

Around 1991-2, the Pintos were replaced by the DOHC - that would be a much bigger job, although it can all be done. (Although a smooth and more powerful engine, I understand it wasn't the strongest.)

Many thanks for the help.Im thinking of dropping a 2.0 Pinto in in answer to the first question.

I did a gearbox swap a while ago on a friends GCS Hawke from a 4 speed to a 5 speed and now remember the mounts were set further back and we made up 2 plates to do the job.
I havent had time to have a good look under the car and the gearbox mounts at the moment as Ive been replacing all the hoses which were at the end of their lives.
I dont want to get into any jobs which will take time at the moment as I bought the NG as a plaything for summer so I might just leave the 1.6 in and do the business over winter or might just whip the 1.6 out and drop a 2.0 Pinto onto the 4 speed.
As Im also building a Tiger Hawke with a Rover V8 at the moment im a bit busy !!