my other car that most of you have never heard of

[one bad bg]

87 merkur xr4ti
2.4L turbo mustang svo engine
18psi right now
rwd
walbro fuel pump
greddy BOV
tune coming soon
114,000 miles
3 speed vacuum tranny
no good pics yet but heres what i have
no numbers yet either. i bought it in the spring and spent all summer rebuilding the engine and fixing various other things cause the guy before had NO clue what he was doing and the car barely ran when i got it.

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2010/12/20101013111612-1.jpg
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2010/12/20101013111547-1.jpg
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2010/12/SDC10438-1.jpg

[TGX4776]

nice a guy near work has two white ones in his yard. they look mint. i almost bought one instead of my leggy

[one bad bg]

its a nice little running project i have. its in storage for the winter. stock psi is 8 but the a manual boost controller fixed that problem. whats nice about these engines is theyre waaaaayyyyy detuned from what they can handle. bone stock, the engine can handle 22psi. i turned it up to 18 just to be on the safe side. boy what a difference that made. i also did an exhaust on it, forgot to mention that. no cat and no muffler makes for a REALLY loud turbo whistle, like ridiculously loud. and the engine sound from the exhaust doesnt sound bad either, kinda like a srt4 in a way. i love the look i get from ricers when they hear it, cause the car looks like a toyota tercel with a weird wing. i dont even have to punch it to get turbo whistle, it spools at 1500rpm.

[TGX4776]

classy

[one bad bg]

i wouldnt say classy, lol. i hope youre being sarcastic. the paint looks awesome right after i wax it but fades after about 2 days cause its acrylic instead of actual paint....way to go germany. it looked like hell when i bought it. the hood and wings were spay painted flat black but thanks to the merkur forums, i found a guy 3 hours away that had a red parts car, so i drove over to him and swapped those. i dont plan on making it look good. theres no rust on it at all so its solid. i think what im gonna do is clean up the engine bay, get rid of useless hoses and wires, and build it as a sleeper. the only thing i want to do to it aesthetically is wider rims in the back for good traction. from reading on the forums, i learned that for only 1500 bucks, i can get about 325whp out of it. so its very cheap to mod. cheap to mod and cheap to buy, you could get a mint condition one for no more than 2k. one on the forums just sold for 700 bucks, it was mint, all it needed was a clutch. even with the bad clutch it was still drivable according to the guy that bought it. he said it didnt slip until 5psi.

[02_Legacy]

I don't think it would be too hard to be a sleeper. lol
I have to say I have never heard of this car before but it looks sweet and I kinda want one now.
$2000 + $1500 for 325whp... i'll take it lol

[one bad bg]

ya i was surprised at how cheap these were to mod. you cant find a running turbo car for cheaper than these. and 2000 bucks is for a mint condition one. i posted a few pics on the merkur forums and told the guys there what all i had done to to it, just to see what its worth. to my surprise, better condition xr's were selling for 500 bucks. that 1500 bucks to get the hp up to 325 involves: FMIC, fuel pump, MBC, 4 mustang parts, a tune, and the boost can be turned up to 32psi. ya thats right, the stock block can handle 32psi, lol. the only thing you really need to turn the boost up that high is a modified mustang svo head.

[TGX4776]

lol i was bewing sarcastic but it is pretty sweet. is it FWD or RWD?

[one bad bg]

the only thing i want to do to it aesthetically is wider rims in the back for good traction.

rwd. and since the driveshaft and the diff are tucked more than any other car ive seen, the smog check guys couldnt see them with their mirrors so they put the front wheels on the dyno. good thing i was watching cause i told them it was rwd before they ran it. good thing it turns into a historical vehicle next year, i wont need smog check anymore.

there is only one body mod i will do to it, but not for any function other than to make the car look even more weird to the average person. the rs500 wing conversion from the euro cosworth. looks like this.

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2010/12/rs500-1.jpg

[TGX4776]

i want one now lol. it'd be a fun summer car.

[one bad bg]

http://hudsonvalley.craigslist.org/cto/2084920252.html

lol. thats the closest one to you. a running, drivable, turbo car, for 500 bucks. cant beat that.

[TGX4776]

couldn't touch that. it needs to be a manual. i'll be on the lookout though.

[one bad bg]

and thats not the first car ive had that people looked at me or the car and said "WTF!?" heres a past car i had when i lived in FL. im a skinny white boy, you cant even imagine how much i got harassed by the cops cause they thought i was a coke dealer. and now im a cop, haha, go figure. anyway, here is probably the funnest car ive ever owned.....besides my OB of course.
note the lack of jack stands
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2010/12/wagon-1.jpg
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2010/12/wagone2-1.jpg

and since im on an uploading roll here, one more of my vehicles
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2010/12/bike-1.jpg

[one bad bg]

couldn't touch that. it needs to be a manual. i'll be on the lookout though.

i havent done one on mine yet, but the guys on the forums say that this is the easiest car to do a 5 speed swap on. no modifying of anything, as long as you have all the parts. one guy mentioned he did the swap from lifting up the car to dropping it back down on all 4's he said it took about 5 hours and a buddy. and since the autos are vacuum controlled rather than computer, you dont even need to mess with the computer or have to worry about a CEL coming on

[Huffer]

This is basically a ford escort cosworth, right?
http://carthing.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/escortcosworth1.jpg

[one bad bg]

ya. thats a early-mid 90's one though. but ya, thats a cosworth. to us, its an escort on crack.

[StatGSR]

also the *pictured* Cosy was AWD.....

*Edit*

[one bad bg]

not my body style. i think they started doing that in 91. but yes, awd turbo escort with a whale fin on it, lol. what german genius thought of that i wonder?

[emsalex]

this was almost my first car! i love them.hmmm now i have to talk my wife into another car she is going to think is ugly.

[RS MN]

i love these cars. ive been trying to find a nice one for a long while now.

[anothernord]

How does the vacuum transmission work? Google search yielded nothing.

[one bad bg]

im not exactly sure. all i know in that area is most auto trans are controlled by an ecu of some sort(depending on the car). well the merkurs dont have a computer for the tranny, just a few vacuum lines that run to it. in the last body style trans am, it was a popular mod to switch from the computer controlled tranny to the vacuum controlled one. theyre a lot more accurate on shifting if youre using a shift kit....which i have.

[one bad bg]

lol, i know this is a subaru forum. but, i just ordered a tuned computer, coupled with the VAM to go with it. picking up a built block in 2 weeks, and since i already have a steel valve cover gasket and head gasket, i should be able to turn my boost up to about 28psi safely when i get the new block and a big intercooler in. for the track i could bump it up to 32psi which is just about the limit for the stock rebuilt head. ill be estimated at around 300hp but well see what the dyno numbers show. guys on the xr forums are showing between 290 and 315whp with almost the same setup. a few variances here and there but mostly the same. with a megasquirt system and some injectors, ive been told i could get to about 350whp at about 25psi. also on a side not cause i like to brag, i got 2 spare perfectly good turbos for free.

[DarkPhoenix]

Nice little Merkur. Those things are scary rockets when tuned. Just so ya know, wheels and I think the brakes from an SVT focus are a nice upgrade for the Merkurs, since none of the Fox body or T-Bird Turbo coupe suspension bits work, aside from the wheels, engine and trans.

[one bad bg]

brakes from the svt focus yes. but the wheels from the svt contour work a little better. im also going to be picking up a mustang 5 speed to swap in. theres a guy that make a driveshaft adapter and the tranny itself bolts right in. these cars are so easy to work on and have swappable parts from all the way as new as 05 fords. i cant wait till summer, the engine and tranny work should be done by then and on the road. im hoping to hit at least 300hp.

[b5a4]

Nice Merkur, I've always wanted one... I think it needs a holset turbo from a Dodge cummins diesel :P

[one bad bg]

Nice Merkur, I've always wanted one... I think it needs a holset turbo from a Dodge cummins diesel :P

HAH! i wish i could push 60psi through my engine.

[Okin DaVanh]

http://boston.craigslist.org/nos/cto/2174718540.html

[one bad bg]

http://boston.craigslist.org/nos/cto/2174718540.html

thats why i love these cars. its so cheap to buy one in decent condition and the aftermarket parts for them are cheaper than honda parts

[Okin DaVanh]

Exactly.



I grew up with these around me, so I know what they're capable of. A friend had 1 that he had to get parts from overseas, before anyone was doing swaps and big boy mods. Always liked these, but wasn't much of a fan of the Scorpio

[Okin DaVanh]

http://nh.craigslist.org/cto/2186242576.html


This 1's ready for a Cosworth already

[TGX4776]

I wouldnt mind that

[one bad bg]

ive seen that car before. i think hes on the forums. it looks familiar

[R98LGT]

Nice car I love the XRT4i!

[subyfanatic]

I remember the XR4Ti and loved the looks, that was before I could drive but I always had the latest car magazines and read up on every car religiously. Unfortunately, I grew up in the hood and the few of these I saw were repainted in terribly bright colors, interiors reupholstered with white leather/vinyl, weighed down with too many speakers, and destroyed with cheap deep dish chrome wheels. No one back then knew the performance potential :(

[92justy]

a friend of mine used to have a Merkur xr4ti 5speed it was pretty sweet! good luck with it and have fun.

[one bad bg]

it went under the knife. getting built up a bit, 5 speed swap going in. i have almost all the parts i need for the build and the swap, everything just needs to go in now.

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2011/03/SDC10470-1.jpg
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2011/03/SDC10471-1.jpg
battery was here. its being relocated to the back. this will all be cut out and fresh metal put in.

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2011/03/SDC10472-1.jpg
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https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2011/03/20110227173035-1.jpg

mockup of the intake
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2011/03/20110227161248-1.jpg
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https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2011/03/SDC10483-1.jpg
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2011/03/SDC10485-1.jpg

[02_Legacy]

looks like its coming along nicely.

[one bad bg]

so far, yes. everything has gone smooth. just before i ordered parts for it, my DD started leaking coolant and power steering fluid(gotta love ohio salt) so i have to hold off for a week or so on the project. i can finished getting the engine bay de-rusted and painted though for now.

[SVO1]

Nice to see a Fellow 2.3T owner around these parts! My 87 LX 2.3T was well into the 12's with not much money in it at all.

[SVO1]

I just saw you are in Cleveland. Do you know Gator or Lew or any of the other Cleveland area 2.3 guys?

[one bad bg]

I have only seen one svo in my area and it was just passing by on the street. I've only had this car for about a year and its been in the garage most of that time. This summer it will be out more. Is there a 2.3 meeting spot I haven't heard about?