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1987 Merkur XR4Ti Build


99StockGT

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Picked it up early last year, plans are to rebuild and race. When purchased she barely ran having sat for nearly 2 years. The previous owner had worked on it several times but never managed to get it running properly. Having drained all the fluids from her, got her cranked up and moved to my garage where the story continues..What will the end result be?

http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/cc415/cbusphotoaustin/Dragon/IMAG0152.jpg

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Definitely going to be an interesting project. It's just at that right cusp of old school/computerized. Chris and I are already talking, the community for these cars is pretty tight and oddly very Ohio based.

 

There is a LOT of potential in the platform, only limits are time and money :)

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Definitely going to be an interesting project. It's just at that right cusp of old school/computerized. Chris and I are already talking, the community for these cars is pretty tight and oddly very Ohio based.

 

There is a LOT of potential in the platform, only limits are time and money :)

 

http://www.nopcommerce.com/images/thumbs/0001173.jpeg

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All good builds start with some homework. Also managed to pick up a full factory service manual. (Not pictured here)

http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/cc415/cbusphotoaustin/Dragon/IMAG0151.jpg

 

After draining all the fluids and taking her around the block she decided to die and not recrank. After much cursing and standing around in the cold we discovered the problem.

http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/cc415/cbusphotoaustin/Dragon/IMAG0167.jpg

 

http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/cc415/cbusphotoaustin/Dragon/IMAG0166.jpg

 

The process begins with figuring out what the previous owners have done, and fixing their redneck work. Wiring is a mess, veaks in vacuum lines, cracked headers, improper timing, etc...

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Pick up a third yet?

 

Maaaaybe :) Just haven't gotten them together for a group photo yet. Spent about 20 hours this weekend under the newest addition to the team replacing rear axels, shocks, springs, swaybars...

 

German built fords rust just as much as American built fords...so needless to say after almost 30 years there are a few frozen bolts. :mad:

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  • 2 weeks later...

Update sans pictures...engine work is all finishing off. Ended up having to upgrade the stock 65A alternator to something a little more muscley in order to maintain spark at the high revs. Piping all done for the intercooler set up and nicely hidden away. Ran her down the road and an old vibration came back...

 

Unfortunately when the vibration came back it was right before the carrier bearing blew up :( So, new Carrier bearing goes in today and the process continues... Amazing how a car you got on the cheap can cost 3x its value in parts

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  • 2 weeks later...

Alright SO...new carrier bearing in and car buttoned back up. Currently running on an LA2 ECM out of a thunderbird turbo coupe. With the various frankenstein parts from all sorts of different 2.3 cars there are a few electrical issues and programming that need to be worked out but she's on the road!

 

We are running a bit rich throughout the entire band and have an odd idle issue which is part of the computer problems which will be worked out but she should be ready to do some driving this weekend!

 

http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/cc415/cbusphotoaustin/Dragon/IMG_20140328_100929_836.jpg

 

http://i1210.photobucket.com/albums/cc415/cbusphotoaustin/Dragon/b8196fb0-a776-4e64-8419-9287aaac89d0.jpg

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  • 2 months later...

 

Working through the issues. Still fighting the cold idle problem but that is something I can deal with at this point. Blew out the manifold to turbo gasket under boost the other day so had to replace and reseal with some copper gasket and the felpro part from the store. Leak there seems to be resolved.

 

Now we are fighting some power issues between 3 and 6000 under heavy boost she seems to either losing fuel or air and we get a poof of smoke out the pipe. AFR does bounce around a bit in the higher revs so now we are battling this little challenge.

 

Project continues!

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Well what a productive week! Went through all vacuum lines replacing as we went, all clamps and such replaced as well as t-fittings. Still have a bit of a leak somewhere which is throwing off the idle however she is MUCH happier.

 

Pulled and replaced plugs, went to a slightly hotter plug as she seems to be running rich and hoping to compensate for a bit of that. Replumbed in a manual boost controller and turned her down to about 12lbs for diag purposes, took it out and we are feeling much happier.

 

Still running into a breakup in the higher rev range so swapped in a Motorcraft ignition control and we are seeing much much better response and power through the rev range. Upon further homework these motors apparently through ghost knock codes when they see larger than stock amounts of air flow....which is certainly a problem when dealing with a larger turbo and higher boost.

 

So.... worked our way around THAT issue and took her out...WHOLE different beast! Runs happily up to 6500 with no knock, AFR stays well inside of the safe zone and she's back to being fun to drive!

 

Did a quick oil change to pull the old stuff out, though only 300 or so miles on that oil with all the sputter/missing/etc I thought it best to start fresh. Drove her to work today and everything seems to be moving in the right direction to start bumping up the boost a little here and there to see where Happy / Fun / Safe intersect..

 

Stay Tuned!

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I feel the hair on the back of my head growing down towards my shoulders every time I order more parts for this thing...at which point is enough enough?

 

New walbro fuel pump incoming... so far 20lbs sustained with no break ups or problems all the way to 6500, AFR staying comfortable in the rich/stoich.

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unplug the knock sensor it will not save the motor and just sends false knock. a ranger roller cam does wonders for $50 get your fuel pump and a kirban afpr(@43psi before vacuum line attached..i.e. base pressure) on there before running boost like that too much.

 

and then increase plenum volume.. turbo motors want it to be as close to 1:1 with displacement as possible..stock is 30% this will get it to 80ish% look into a ported turbocoupe intake

 

http://www.stinger-performance.com/Pics/RotatedIntake1.jpg

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I guess at this point I should post the list of Mods on the car. It's just a tiny bit above stock but I trust you all to keep my secret.

 

Ignition :

Autolite APP104 plugs

ACCEL 300+ Ignition

BWD C212P Dist Cap

BWD D188P Rotor

Repinned LA2 computer from 88 t-bird turbo coupe

Motorcraft Ignition Wires

Fuel :

42 LB Injectors

Hypertech Adjustable Fuel Pressure Regulator

 

 

Drivetain:

Ford 2.3 Pilot Bearing

MS Clutch Duel Friction clutch

Rabido T5 w/ short throw shifter

 

 

Air:

Big VAM w/ 76MM intake

Turbonetics T3/T4E/SPR Hybrid Turbo "S-V/STG III/ 48 A/R DRY/DYN/Polished

Throttle Body Adapter Kit

Larger Lightning Throttle Body

Mustang SVO Intake manifold ported and polished

 

 

Internals:

Ford 2.3L Race Master x 4

APR Head Stud kit

Cam Kit M6252A230(Clean and Magnaflux Cylinder Head. Install Bron-El Valve Guides, 4Cyl. Head. Serdi 3-Angle Valve Job, OHC 4 Cyl. Head W/ Cam Assembly. Mill 4 Cyl Head W/ Valve Job. Install Hardened Exhaust seats. Clyinder head porting.)

Head Studs

 

Exhaust:

Ported E3 Log header

OverBoosted 3" XR4Ti Exhaust System

OverBoosted 3" High Flow Catalytic Converter

APR Turbo studs

 

Misc:

EFI Fuel Pressure Gauge Kit

Auto Meter Boost Gauge

Auto Meter AFR

Manual boost controller set @ 20lbs

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