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Sacré Bleu! Merkur XR4Ti Project

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  • #16
    Re: Sacré Bleu! Merkur XR4Ti Project

    Long post ahead! Been a while since I updated this thread, ive been super busy with school and just working on the car as I get the chance to so this post will cover the last 3 or so weeks. Alot of my time has gone into research of how to reassemble this thing correctly. This cars been quite extensively modified as far as cooling and little things go. I do have the factory Ford service manual with diagrams but its quite hard to follow when my specific car is so different. So ive been on the Merkur forums a lot reading peoples common mods/deletes and such to try and piece together whats going on with my car. Theres lots of random holes in the head/block that ive finally found the answer to so I can finally put some time into actually assembling the car again! First off I bolted on some accessories like the alternator, power steering reservoir/pump, power steering lines, coolant bottle, overflow and little lines etc.







    Next up I threw the fuel injectors into the fuel rail, and bolted it all down to my lower intake manifold. This car came with the stock intake/exhaust manifolds but theyve now been heavily ported to take advantage of the big cam, valves and turbo! Below shows the porting done compared to the stock unported manifolds from Google images. The first set shows the ported and "knife edged" lower intake, then the "gutted" upper intake, and the porting and gasket matching done to the exhaust manifold.















    Besides the porting, the upper intake manifold has also been chopped, rotated 90° and re-welded. This was done because in stock form the Merkurs are not intercooled, so the turbo plumbs right to the upper intake shown below.





    As you can imagine, this would make for a really messy set of intercooling pipes if youre running a big front mount like I plan to. After bolting up the upper intake however I ran into a problem. The intake manifold no longer clears the alternator. I used some sockets to gauge whether I had the room to make a spacer and space it up to clear but as you can see with the right amount of spacing the clearance to my hood gets dangerously tight, and the throttle linkages interfere completely.









    So thats a problem I have to figure out soon, but it shouldnt be a huge deal. My car has the AC deleted, so if I can source a stock AC compressor bracket and with a little fab work I should be able to relocate the alternator lower down in the bay. With that wall, I decided to start working on modifying the Holset turbo to better optimize it for the 2.3L. Lots of people who run these turbos on gasoline engines have boost creep issues, this is because the internal wastegate cant bleed off enough exhaust flow to properly control boost at higher RPMs. To remedy this I had the divider in the center of the hotside machined down so the wastegate could bleed off exhaust flow from all 4 cylinders instead of just cylinders 1 and 2. Also, I bored out the actual wastegate hole from 7/8" to 1" diameter.









    While it was all apart I decided to throw a fresh coat of gloss black on the cold side as well as it was half primered for some reason...













    The next thing I needed took way too long. For many reasons. It turns out that my factory turbo oil return line was missing an important 45° fitting. Ford doesnt sell these anymore, and its not a generic Home Depot part. After a while of searching I finally managed to track a used one down with an oil return line attached but it was off a Thunderbird TurboCoupe, which has an IHI turbo from the factory instead of a Garrett. This means it does not bolt up to my Holset.





    No big deal (I thought), just gotta take the fitting off and swap it over! Well I tried that, and it didnt budge. So of course I heated it up, cause that always works right? Still nothing. At this point the fitting on the TurboCoupe oil line was starting to strip really bad so I did what I had to do. I TIG welded my wrench to the bloody fitting.







    Well, im pleased to say that it actually worked without tearing the brass fitting to shreds. (Why do I keep buying cars with obscure hard to find parts) With some careful grinding work my wrench actually survived the ordeal as well!







    So, after the better part of 2 hours screwing around with that fitting I finally had a turbo return line on my engine. I also took this time to plug the hole for the turbo coolant feed line in the block, like previously mentioned the Holset is only oil cooled so I no longer needed that port.







    So far so good! I hope to get alot more done this week. The more I work on it the more confidence I have in this thing actually making it to Driven! Hopefully I didnt just jinx myself.... fingers crossed!
    Last edited by GingerBeef; 03-26-2018, 09:07 PM.
    Jason

    "You dont buy a Volkswagen once, you buy it ten times."
    ---Samuel Moore

    Instagram: @Wangtastic
    PM me to get your car detailed! - Brightside Detailing

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    • #17
      Re: Sacré Bleu! Merkur XR4Ti Project

      Car looks beautiful. It reminds me so much of when I lived in England as a kid and I would see the Sierra cossies cruising around town. Always wanted one but could never find a decent one.


      Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

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      • #18
        Re: Sacré Bleu! Merkur XR4Ti Project

        Welded the wrench on... I almost fell of my chair laughing. That’s amazing.

        I think I saw about 4-5 cossies ever, across sierras and escorts in my entire life!! Limey, You must have been in Essex lol.
        Nick

        I love hatchbacks

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        • #19
          Re: Sacré Bleu! Merkur XR4Ti Project

          Lol nope, I grew up in the Lake District in north west England and they used to hold the WRC so my dad and I would go watch when we could. Quite a few fans would drive their cossies up to watch


          Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

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          • #20
            Re: Sacré Bleu! Merkur XR4Ti Project

            Thanks Limey!

            Gotta do what you gotta do Nick haha.

            Little update today, but I got pretty much everything I need to assemble the car now (untill I eventually realize that I forgot something extremely obvious and critical). Again, what a pain in the ass it is to try and find the little random missing parts for this car. First thing was easy, got some brass fittings, AN fittings and assembled a little turbo oil feed line. Im using this contraption and a braided stainless lime to replace my broken and half missing factory hardline.The 90° goes into the cylinder head, and then into a -4 AN fitting on the turbo. Also had to drive 30 minutes to a Lowes all the way across town just to pick up a stupid little deep 5.5mm socket. Because for some reason my ignition control module is held on with 5.5mm bolts. (I didnt even know sockets were made in this level of precision)







            Then after a week or so of searching I found a guy locally who had a distributor hold down clamp, which is specific to the Merkur/SVO/Turbo Coupe for some reason. I was mildly annoyed when I found out that the NA 2.3s which are redily available at Pick N Pull had different distributors.
            Also picked up a factory turbo support support bracket from the same dude. Theres a debate on the turbo ford forums whether or not this bracket actually does anything with the factory turbo, but with the weight of the Holset I figured its probably a good idea...
            The forums also let me know that the factory exhaust manifold bolts suck and always break off in the head. Since mine were missing anyways I decided to go all out and get class 12.9 bolts to avoid that.





            Also miraculously found a factory Merkur AC compressor bracket in town to relocate my alternator! Just gotta modify it a bit so the alternator bolts up to it. Then, fabricate a little tensioner out of these spherical rod ends and 1/2" OD tube.







            Finally, of course I cant end a post about my car without disaster. Because theres always disaster in my life. I noticed a few days ago that my tires are from 1991 and are... well... ill let the pictures do the talking.









            Im not sure how it took me this long to notice the level of dry rot on the tires.. but I guess that means I need to add new tires to the list! Or perhaps some new wheels all together... now where to find 4x108 wheels... -insert thinking emoji-

            Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk
            Jason

            "You dont buy a Volkswagen once, you buy it ten times."
            ---Samuel Moore

            Instagram: @Wangtastic
            PM me to get your car detailed! - Brightside Detailing

            Comment


            • #21
              Re: Sacré Bleu! Merkur XR4Ti Project

              This could do for now until you find what you like and pretty sure you could sale them close to what you paid....

              https://www.kijiji.ca/v-tires-rims/c...ationFlag=true

              https://www.kijiji.ca/v-tires-rims/c...ationFlag=true

              Nice job by the way!
              Last edited by syncrovan; 04-01-2018, 10:22 PM.

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              • #22
                Re: Sacré Bleu! Merkur XR4Ti Project

                Originally posted by syncrovan View Post
                This could do for now until you find what you like and pretty sure you could sale them close to what you paid....

                https://www.kijiji.ca/v-tires-rims/c...ationFlag=true

                https://www.kijiji.ca/v-tires-rims/c...ationFlag=true

                Nice job by the way!
                Ive looked into focus wheels already. The fwd 4x108 wheels are completely the wrong offset . Those cheapo wheels would need not so cheapo spacers haha, id need 4 bolt mustang wheels. I was just gonna grab a cheap set of tires off kijiji for now. Been eyeing up a nice set of aftermarket wheels, but theres no way theyd arrive before Driven [emoji14]

                Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk
                Jason

                "You dont buy a Volkswagen once, you buy it ten times."
                ---Samuel Moore

                Instagram: @Wangtastic
                PM me to get your car detailed! - Brightside Detailing

                Comment


                • #23
                  Re: Sacré Bleu! Merkur XR4Ti Project

                  Originally posted by GingerBeef View Post
                  Ive looked into focus wheels already. The fwd 4x108 wheels are completely the wrong offset . Those cheapo wheels would need not so cheapo spacers haha, id need 4 bolt mustang wheels. I was just gonna grab a cheap set of tires off kijiji for now. Been eyeing up a nice set of aftermarket wheels, but theres no way theyd arrive before Driven [emoji14]

                  Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk
                  Might be hard to find the right thing anyway. The wheels you have with it looks they need spacing and with your skills you could modify some used spacers to have them fit rims holes and hubs size.

                  Or as you said, cheap tires would give you the time to find exactly what you want.

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                  • #24
                    Re: Sacré Bleu! Merkur XR4Ti Project

                    You could use some Saab wheels with a spacer maybe?

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                    • #25
                      Re: Sacré Bleu! Merkur XR4Ti Project

                      Originally posted by limey View Post
                      Lol nope, I grew up in the Lake District in north west England and they used to hold the WRC so my dad and I would go watch when we could. Quite a few fans would drive their cossies up to watch


                      Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
                      That explains it! That’s a beautiful part of the world. I grew up in South Wales and we had the WRC go through the forest really close to my house. More Novas than Cossies in the car parks though
                      Nick

                      I love hatchbacks

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                      • #26
                        Re: Sacré Bleu! Merkur XR4Ti Project

                        Originally posted by jacktown View Post
                        More Novas than Cossies in the car parks though
                        Now that's a blast from the past!
                        You were the big man if you had a GSi, damn near king of the village if you had a laguna front splitter and a set of speedlines under it (translation required for Canadian folk).

                        A guy in school had a red GSi with a turbo red top in it when were were only 16-17. Nuts.

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                        • #27
                          Sacré Bleu! Merkur XR4Ti Project

                          Originally posted by e30mclow View Post
                          Now that's a blast from the past!
                          You were the big man if you had a GSi, damn near king of the village if you had a laguna front splitter and a set of speedlines under it (translation required for Canadian folk).

                          A guy in school had a red GSi with a turbo red top in it when were were only 16-17. Nuts.
                          Lol. All true. A buddy of mine had a black GSi replica based on an SRi I think? Had the chip immobilizer but we were able to pull the drivers side window down from the outside with our hands and bypass the immobilizer and start it with any key. Lol. We’d always move it around the car park in our college so he couldn’t find it. Thing was still really fast even though it wasn’t a turbo. My car at the time? A blue cinquecento sporting with a massive sub woofer and a copy of trance essentials ‘99. My buddies nova would blow it away haha.

                          Just found this pic of an identical Nova. Actually still looks good today!


                          Sorry to derail your thread, Jason!
                          Last edited by jacktown; 04-02-2018, 03:58 PM.
                          Nick

                          I love hatchbacks

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                          • #28
                            Re: Sacré Bleu! Merkur XR4Ti Project

                            Originally posted by GingerBeef View Post
                            Ive looked into focus wheels already. The fwd 4x108 wheels are completely the wrong offset . Those cheapo wheels would need not so cheapo spacers haha, id need 4 bolt mustang wheels. I was just gonna grab a cheap set of tires off kijiji for now. Been eyeing up a nice set of aftermarket wheels, but theres no way theyd arrive before Driven [emoji14]

                            Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk
                            The late 80's and early 90's Audi 90 and Coupe Quattro had the 4x108 wheels too. The 90's had a 45mm offset and the CQ was 37mm. A nice set of CQ speedlines would look interesting on the Merkur!
                            Dave

                            1994 Audi RS2 Avant 2.2 20VT
                            2000 Audi S4 Avant 2.7T *Sold*
                            2002 Audi Allroad 2.7T *Sold to MIL so technically still mine*
                            2004 Audi RS6 Avant 4.2TT *Waiting to turn 15 before coming out to play*
                            2008 Audi S4 Avant 4.2 40V
                            2011 Audi S5 Coupe 4.2 32V

                            Follow me on Instagram @blau_RS2

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                            • #29
                              Re: Sacré Bleu! Merkur XR4Ti Project

                              Hopefully they aren't metric rims like my old GT Turbo. impossible to find tires for.
                              Jay

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                              • #30
                                Re: Sacré Bleu! Merkur XR4Ti Project

                                Originally posted by jacktown View Post
                                Sorry to derail your thread, Jason!
                                Not a worry! Always awesome learning about new weird cars haha. Ive never heard of this Nova thing before... they look dope though!

                                Originally posted by Tuna View Post
                                Hopefully they aren't metric rims like my old GT Turbo. impossible to find tires for.
                                I have never ever ever heard of a metric rim before haha. Thats ridiculous and is now on my list of "Things I hope to never have to deal with in my life"
                                Jason

                                "You dont buy a Volkswagen once, you buy it ten times."
                                ---Samuel Moore

                                Instagram: @Wangtastic
                                PM me to get your car detailed! - Brightside Detailing

                                Comment

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