MERKUR XR4TI NOTES ================== JVAB Imports 2007 S. 126th St. Seattle, WA 98168 206-431-9696 BoA# 77634301, JVAB Imports (T5 trans rebuild) Hanlon Motorsports 3621 St. Peters Road St. Peters, PA 19470 610-469-2695 www.hanlonmotorsports.com 02/02/2004 PURCHASE 4032748828758882 ON 01/30 AT HANLON MOTORSPORTS ELVERSON PA -$704.90 UPS 1Z1X97360370402262 Matt Lovell - CA? Brian "Kartwheel" Xratty 2.3t Gp5 "BC Boy" Skye Poier Xratty 2.3t Gp5 "Seattle Scott" Koch Xratty 2.3t Gp5 "Spokane Scott" Manly Xratty 2.3t Gp5 Erik Heimke Xratty 2.3t Gp5 Matthew "mothra" Xratty 2.3t Gp5 ? Kevin "the Chin" Håkansson Volvo 2.3t Gp5 John "Sicko" Lane Volvo 3.V6t Gp5 Andrew "Fiasco" Steere Xratty 2.3t Gp5 one day maybe. cats... CATCO at summitracing.com $50.00 to $75.00 87-89 wider trans tunnel, easier conv 89 has different plumbing and wiring bolt pattern 4 x 4.25 wheelbase Ford Sierra (XR4Ti) 2608 (102.7) OMP front strut brace - ESCORTH COSWORTH: ALL MODELS AND YEARS SIERRA/SAPPHIRE COSWORTH: ALL MODELS AND YEARS Part no. OMPMA1660 cage 93 GrpA Escort like Carl Merril's ** find pics for scrut. DONE Between 1985 and 1990 only 64,238 Merkurs were sold. The Merkur came in two models. The Sierra based XR4ti and the large Scorpio sedan. Scorpio (1987-1990) sales only amounted to 21,860 units. Canadian sales figures are not known at this time. (so, XR sold about 42,378) FoMoCo produced 42,464 ........................................................... Fuel stuff: WAL PUMP $136.00 2 Walbro Inline fuel pump-GSL39 3 Pump-128-3039 AN -6 Outlet- 128-3039 AN -6 Inlet-400-920 Fuel filter: Bosch 0 450 905 133 M12x1.5 - M14x1.4 about $15 5000 Turbo (KH) & 5000 (K2) 1985 5000 Quattro Turbo (MC) 1/1985-7/1985 5000 (KX) 8/1986-9/1986 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Porting, rotated intakes, etc Bob Lee www.40bob.com (mothra has one) >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Colour schemes: RMB89 - Ford Sierra Cosworth Texaco - Klaus Ludwig - Klaus ... Ford Sierra - Shell Ultra #18 Carlos Sainz - 1988 37th Lombard RAC Rally, car 21, FORD SIERRA RS COSWORTH TEXACO Stig Blomqwist RAC 1987 FORD SIERRA RS COSWORTH 33 EXPORT Didier Auriol RALLY PORTUGAL 1988 Ford Sierra RS500 Texaco Klaus Ludwig / Pierre Dieudonne Ford Racing 100 Years Special Edition Vitesse 1:43, Ref RAC001 Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth - Piumini Trampio White / Blue Race Colours Tamiya Kit 1/24 New in Box FORD SIERRA SAPPHIRE TEXACO HAVOLINE MANX RALLY 1990 BROOKS FORD SIERRA SAPPHIRE Q8 RAC RALLY 1990 WILSON >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> any SMEC (single module engine controller) from a 88-89 turbo mopar will work, tho the code in the 2.2L computers is a little better match for our engines (i will be making custome code soon so it wont be as big an issue). of course with that you will need the wiring harness, but they use an integrated harness with lights and everything in it, so theres alot that needs to be "weeded out". need the distributor from the same car. can also use the throttle body, but it is smaller than stock ford at 48mm, get one from a 3.3L V6 caravan that is 52mm. the hardest part of the whole deal is making the distributor, since neither one will work by itself. best way is to cut them both in half, weld opposite parts back together, and have the ford shaft turned down to fit the mopar sensors and rotor. I hope to have drawings of the dimensions up some time soon... >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> But hell if'n yer in the NW, get an XR for 250 buckskis and join the growing ranks of cars in progress now: Erik Heimke from Lynnwood Scott Koch from Seattle Scott Manley from Spokane Derek Bottles when he wads the VW to ratsheeet. Me if I ever get paid for anything They are really just about ideal for a beginner car in the NW. You needn't touch the motor. All the torque you need, enough so you don't need to get a gearset and the final drive, so if ou did get this it would be the icing on the cake. Cage, shell, brakes, cooling, suspention, go. and later convert _THE SAME CAR_ to 4wd with bolt on stuff. John Vanlandingham >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> You can make 250 HP with a basically stock engine with lots of boost and good intercooling. Everything stock with mild modifications. Some details......this is very similar to an engine I am helping with in the Detroit area for an SVO Must. Objective, 271 HP (same as 289 HiPo) >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> In any case, an Xrattie owner who progressively upgrades his car can eventually A) upgrade to 4wd powerplant with simple bolt on parts in an afternoon and then later B) Bring over an Escort Cossie shell, shorten the exhaust and rear propshaft by a couple of inches and move all the other components into a car which is fully competitive at any level, and pretty exciting to look at , since that seems important. And those Sub-a-rat warmed over gross gag ya dodge NEONs ain't homley? All you need is a nice 2wd Cossie grille, some hood louvers and a fiberglass 2wd Cos front bumper and you have improved the looks by 500%, chop out the silly double rear side window missgebürt, another 500% better. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 2WD Sierra Cosworth vs. Merkur XR4TI Should you want to, the cosworth engine will go right into the XR4Ti shell. JVL is doing it right now i think..... Saves some weight, but i wouldn't call it much more reliable. The Ford 2.3 can make heaps of HP as well, and parts are everywhere. Neato cosworth drivetrain bits also bolt right up, so 4wd is a down the road possibility for the XR. -- >Should you want to, the cosworth engine will go right into >the XR4Ti shell. JVL is doing it right now i think..... >Saves some weight, but i wouldn't call it much more >reliable. Done mine, doing several more as we speak. And the reliablity is a major factor differentiating the two at elevated hp. Most guys don't have the budget to stress the Cossie motor, we can make worring levels of power real easy in the 2.3. I said power, and power starts with P and that rhymes with T and that stands for TROUBLE, -- >Basically the same vehicle. Stronger shell in USA. Different Trans No LSDin US Much Bigger Brakes and rear discs on Cossie >Cosworth was by no means bullit proof. Problems with cam. Sorry Ray, you're just flat wrong. I cannot imagine a more bullet-proof , even BOMB-proof _stock_ motor, except possibly the Lancia Delta Intergrale 8v and 16v motor which was also a homologation special done for GpA and GpN Wrong on cams as well, see longer note below. -- Well Greg, I'm just north of Sea-Tac so you can come over and I'll show you parts by part what the differences are between 2wd Cossie YBB motors, and it's "205" block, and the 4x4 Cossie YBG with the "200" block. You can also see what the RS200 GpB cars had for motors since there has just arrived a _new_ BDG alloy, nikasil bore, 4 stud main, block and all the ancilleries. But for those that can't come over and see, and only have a comversational relationship with the motors, heres the big differences. Remember, the 2wd Cossie was a homologation special built for European Championship Touring Cars events, so 5500 were built and then, later, 500, or 10% small 'e' evolution cars were taken to Tickfords in the UK and redone with different block, intake manifold with two rows of injectors, headgasket YB0611, T4 turbo, and sold as road cars.) ** Ford Sierra 3 door Cosworth -> Sierra Cosworth RS500 The standard 2wd motors were regularly tuned to 330-350 bhp with completely stock bottom ends. 275 is phase 1 eprom only change, and by now means any kind of reliability limit. The method of retension for the front cam bearing,( which unlike any other motor I have seen is a large ball bearing rather than the heavily loaded front journal riding directly on the head casting), changed slightly, but I have never heard of any issues with the cams, but what do I know, I have just been watching and studying and waiting to see the price come down on these motors since 1987, and bought my first one in '95 and rebuilt it and now have done 5 and have several more in process, including an request for a 550 bhp one. (the upshot being I have to talk with the same people that Ford farms their engine build and development to) In the 2wd motor the chamber is larger, and the dish in the piston crown is smaller, and in the 4wd the chamber is smaller, and the dish larger but stock both have 8:1 compression. The flywheel weight is less on the 2wd, but for rally everybody use the 2wd flywheel so the difference applies only to road cars. The turbo is fed differently, again not an issue. The oil pump cover and under piston crown oil spray manifold is slightly different but dimensionally identical to the old 2.0 Pinto pump or for that matter my ol' V4 Saab. The exhaust manifold on the 4wd is a simpler log type manifold rather than the 2wd cars very long elaborate 2 piece manifold, since to quote Ford it's no longer need since "outputs in excess of 400 hp are not anticipated". For our purposes there is no big advantage to the one or the other. >How dependable and >strong are the 2.3's in the Merkur. About as reliable as a brick sheeeeeethouse. It ain't sexy, but it sure is stout due to it being just a big ugly growed up version of the 2 liter Pinto. the crank, and flywheel are cast iron but big and ugly so they are reliable, the only thing I worry is the flywheel having only 6 bolts (vs 9 on the Cossie YB family and 12!! on the BDG RS200 thang!!!)and it's iron rather than steel. (JVAB will be doing a run of steel flywheels for the guys that want a margin of safety and the option to use an uprated 228mm clutch cover) As an example of just how sturdy they are I got afriends XR which had been run for a couple of monthe with a huge crack in cyl 2 and this thing had roasted the headgasket to the point that it was kinda carbonised, yet the gasket didn't fail. Something to be said for block and head in same material, in the case IRON (ugh for weight). Approx 90 lbs difference between the two. >XR4TI's are alot easier >to come by over here, but I really like the reputation of >the Cosworth. Is it feasable (expense and difficulty) to >drop the cossie into an XR4TI? Easier than I first thought before I did one because as it turns out both were small run cars, both have stand alone management system looms, all the holes are either drilled already or dimpled for drilling as needed >I realize that these are a >lot of questions, but I'm just looking for some info. >TIA, Just remember the YB family has as stock a whole bunch of things which are there for reliablity at high HP levels, things which in order to have a similar margin of safety, the poor sods who are following the Sububitchie and Mitsuburu herd will have to pay extra for especially: cranks, rods and pistons, and then a turbo sized for reality, and a management sysytem which might maybe work. Maybe. PS Ray, the normal single overhead cam motors had a big problem of loosing the noses of the cams, but so did that generation CIH Opels, MB SOHC,so clearly the fellows in Köln, Rüsselheim, and wherever the Benz things were designed got something wrong, but I have never heard 1 thing about Cossies cams and that includes talking to loonies making normal aspirated 10,000 rpm YB motors. I might gently suggest that since '68, and the BDA and DFVs , nobody has more experience at making reliable competition multivalve heads; that might explain why when Mercedes and Opel wanted heads for GpA motors they went to Cosworth, cause they couldn't be certain they could do it themselves. John Vanlandingham >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Since the last posts were deleted. I try again. I am interested in trying an XR for rally. I am concerned about availability of parts and the cost of parts. My original intentions were to run a G2 VW Golf and use lots of scrap yard parts to fill it out. My understanding is that the XR is very competitive and can be oufitted for every class. The XR shares at least some parts with the SVO mustang and the turbo Tbird. How many parts? Brakes? Suspension? Control arms? etc.? The XR is very popular in the UK as a racer. How difficult/expensive to get the performance parts to the US? Available in the US? Particularly the 4wd conversion I keep hearing about. Is this a simple bolt on ceonversion or does it require a merchanical engineer? If their is a better route for a first rally car please let me know. But I like rear wheel drive alot. Matt Smith -- >Since the last posts were deleted. I try again. I am >interested in trying an XR for rally. I am concerned about >availability of parts and the cost of parts. My original >intentions were to run a G2 VW Golf and use lots of scrap >yard parts to fill it out. My understanding is that the XR >is very competitive and can be oufitted for every class. > >The XR shares at least some parts with the SVO mustang and >the turbo Tbird. How many parts? Brakes? Suspension? >Control arms? etc.? ¤¤¤They share motor, management system EEEK!4, although some ECUs are waaaay beachinger giving 205 HP stock vs the XRatty 175 hp, and thats it. >The XR is very popular in the UK as a racer. ¤¤¤¤ Not really as a racer, in the rest of the world a 'race' car is strictly a 'road race car' you know something for guys with limited attention span, can only handle 8-9 turns a day maybe, never go sideways with spinning out completely, or talk endlessly about 'brilliant save' if they squirm a bit teee heee,. The various versions Have been popular as Rally cars, but popular enough that the things you need don't show up so often or are a pain to ship. To that end JVAB in Seattle is in the midst of remanufacturing a number of the parts needed to make the car into a gravel car. Ford motorsport Sierra/Saphire/Escort Cosworth parts are numbered 909¤¤¤, so JVAB is calling things 606 for easy reference. Some of the junk inprogress right now are: Sump gaurd mount front, sump gaurd, sumpgaurd center support in 'Safari' spec, diff gaurd is next, front Chrome moly strut tubes are in process, although they may be upgraded to 50mm before we are out of prototype stage. These thing are worth doing new as there are enough guys starting out with the car right now to justify short runs of each thing. >How difficult/expensive to get the performance parts to the US? >Available in the US? Particularly the 4wd conversion I keep >hearing about. Is this a simple bolt on ceonversion or does >it require a merchanical engineer? Far easier if you AREN'T a mechanical engineer! everything in te world is easier! All the parts for 4wd bolt straight in allthough to mate the box to the 2.3 takes a bit of fiddling with sumps, and a bit of welding on the sumps, it can be done. RWD is easier and the class is cool, Gp5. >If their is a better route for a first rally car please let >me know. But I like rear wheel drive alot. Well between Brian 'Kartwheel' in Pepsicola, Andrew 'Lefty' Steere in Nude Hampster, 'Haulin Colin' Mccleery in Michojaucan, and here in Washington Miller in Everett, Billie Milligan in West Sleezattle, Scott and Jason the 'Merkurboys' in Spokane and very probably Vance Walker in Portland there is sufficient numbers to generate some interest and specific parts. Maybe you and Kartwheel can share shipping on a couple of JVAB Fia spec cage kits. Better call JVAB in Seattle. PS you will want bigger brakes, bigger wheel studs 14mm, strengthened rear trailing arms, rear discs, real motor, trans and diff mounts, and all these things are also in early stage of reproduction. Pictures to follow. John Vanlandingham -- If you are looking for XRatty's, go to www.merkurdesktop.com. At the top of the main page is a link to their for sale/wanted page called "e-market". There you will find lots of XR4Ti's listed all over the country, many of them have "Make offer" as the price, those are the ones you want. This is where I found Sanborn's car advertized. You really dont care what year it is, but 87-89 is preferable because it has the wider trans tunnel to make the 4X4 swap easier, or if its 5 speed or auto since the T-9 5 speed that came stock is junk and you will have to replace it with a T-5 anyway. T-5's are the 5 speed that is in most Moostang 5.0's. They are not supercheap, but they will be indestructable behind a turbo 2.3, which can not be said of the T-9. I just found a great running '87 that is in near perfect condition save for a broken transmission for $200, you just cant beat that. You can find deals like that if you have time to wait. Brian -- Oi, Oi, Oi! XRatty dogma leaps forth! Tran-X and Quaiffe say the Typ9 is good for 275 ft/lbs. It is used by many many Opel and Volvo guys in Sweden cause its good enough for their 190-230 bhp cars and the close ratio gearsets are only 1/3 the price of their gearsets. The myth comes no doubt from those onanistic drag racing boys who feel compelled to rev it up to 4500rpm abd side step the clutch. Again and again. Problem with the box or with the obsessive neurotic compulsion of the owners? Be careful of some of the Thunder-chicken and some 2.3 powered Moosetang boxes, they have atrocious ratios ,horrible really. Best are up to 85 Mooostang V8 box with the 2.95 first -- You need to start searching for someplace that will be willing to do the installation unless you are going to try it yourself, not the done thing for most people, especially if you're not a welder fitter by trade. You should start looking for cheap 15" wheels, I reccomend 85 and later SAAB 9000, 6x15, not so strong but they don't break, right offset, good caliper clearance. And you ought to be able to find them cause the cars are hitting the wreckers. Exsquirt GT have OK wheels also, and they're 6x15, too. All the brake kits I will invent will be for 15s. Ask who you talk to if the can do the 'notches' and welding if you get a more or less complete cage kit. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Ok, ongoing "Death by Merkur" project questions here.....please bear with me. I've found a lead on a nice and cheap (my main concern) XR4. Only problem, police seizure, and no keys with which to start/drive it. How hard would it be to hotwire / how would i go about it? Also, it's a 1989. I've heard this is an odd vintage for the XR4Ti, what changed? Anything that would make me stray away? Lastly, this is to be built for Grp 2, meaning the turbo has to go, and the HP's/Nm's need to get up there. I've heard milling the head to up compression will help, but how much? Where can i get shorter belts etc for the new size? Carb or stay EFI? If so, which/why? Headers should be simple enough, but what else will be needed to make, say, 175HP? Any and all input comes appreciated as always. -- Hi Paddy- Gp2, are you in Canada? Several things about the 89'. First off, The plumbing is different, coolent hoses are, well, backwards. This is no big deal as you can replace them from a different year( I believe that the 89' hoses are not available anymore). Also there is some differences in the wiring. None of this should be any problem if building it for rally. You need to change out the radiator anyway, the stock ones have plastic end caps and like to fail. I'm using a Saab 900 Turbo radatiator. And they come with a nice twin fan setup. As for wiring, you're going to take that out as well. Just save the harness. The Merkurs have a stand alone engine wiring harness and you can sell it online. Heck if you're converting to Gp2, There's all sorts of stuff you can get rid of. Keep the bottom end as the turbos have forged pistons, stock. If you get the car on the cheap and don't plan on going turbo in the future, you'd probably make back your money selling parts. As for carb or efi, I really don't know. The roundy round guys use carbs because they have to. Actually I was just thinking, it would be better to switch to the V6 if loosing the turbo. That's what the XR4i had in Europe. 2.8 or 2.9 Cologne. A carb motor from an old Capri or an efi from a Ranger. But is that too big for Gr2? Just some thoughts. Let me know if you want to sell anything. -Scott Merkurboys www.merkur-xr4ti.com -- Paddy- If you stick with the 2.3 you might want to do rebuild and swap in some high compression pistons. Stock 2.3T is like 8:1. Without the turbo it'll run like a slug. Just some thoughts. -- Stay with the 2.3, the 2.8 V6 is a bad choice. I already asked John V. if the 2.8 in a Grp 2 car would be an advantage and got the usual scolding. Bottom line is the 2.3 is capable of more HP and tourqe than the 2.8 and it is already in the car. Brian -- Paddy, it's cause I have sporadic access now that I havent written. The ignition swithch is secured with a small allen and you ought to be able to get it off the left side of the column, so then look at the beeeeg fat wires color escape me now, Scott should know. Once you figure out "key on" you can jump the solonoid at the pass side strut tower. Forget the V6, Ford did. Too heavey,m no poop. Cracks heads, 2.8s demolish cam sprockets. I have built 60 degree Fords for 20 yrs, but I build the nice stiff short V4. Forget the V6. If youre going go for compression, and you should, shoot for over 10.5:1 so get a normal aspirated head with the smaller chamber volume and mill it around 1.5mm or .060. I believe Esslinger has a shorter belt. Go Carbs. For cost and simplicity. New Weber 48 DCOEs cost 175 pounds english, a manifold around 160 US dollars. You really have to call at some point. 206 431 9696 John Vanlandingham >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Most people seem to be using the computer and VAM from the late '80's thunderbird to upgrade the standard XR. But the mustang SVO gives you more HP and Torque than the standard XR or the thunderbird. IS there something I don't know about that would make the thunderbird computer an advantage over the SVO mustang other than availability? -- Most of the SVO's are the same as the stock XR's, the one that is good is VERY rare. The TC has an additional Air Temp sensor and is a faster proccessor, but the main thing is its vairly common. -- Right the one that would be best is the 1985-1986 SVO which gives you 205 HP and ???torque verses 190 HP for the 87-88 thunderbird. So are you planning to use the thunderbird setup? -- Yup, I've already got it. They are on eBay all the time, search for an LA3 computer, thats the 87-88 5 speed one. I got a computer and the VAM air meter in a junkyard for $15 for both. There were only like 5000 SVO's made of all years, so the PE (85.5-86) computer is too rare to make it worth the trouble to find it. -- Right now I have a Volvo IC, but I have not put it in yet, but I am going to get a Cossie 2WD IC from John V. to go with the Audi/SAAB radiator. Check out the pictures at Merkur-XR4Ti.com. http://www.merkur-xr4ti.com/modules.php?name=Pictures&&mode=album&dispsize=640&a=29 Lots of good pictures of John's stuff and you can see how it all goes together. -- Hey Mothra- Your going to see more power from better exhaust and intercooling, then from the computer swap. I'm not saying not to by one though. I'd concern myself more with the exhaust. A decent 3" system. Mine is home made and the downpipe( not mandrel) cost $30 from a muffer shop. Also, if you have access to a die grinder, try hogging out the turndown( where the downpipe connects to) on the turbo. You can open it up to 2 1/2"(65mm). You could go further than that, but you'll run into sealing problems with the downpipe. -Scott Merkurboys >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> JohnV, Kevin and all the XRatistas- Jason got his XR running this morning using the Dodge SMEC computer. No ACT or idel control, but it ran. Timings a bit off. I was there with fire exstiguisher. He drove off and hasn't come back yet, so maybe that's a bad sign. Maybe I should go find him. Um, Bye. >Programmable, map sensor based injection and ignition comes >to the huddled masses! And all for just $20. -- yeah, had some timing issues; overheated it and popped the head gasket. oh well, gives me an excuse to throw in this custom camshaft i had ground over a year ago i did manage to get the timing sorted just before the head gasket went, and i must say i was impressed with how it was running; at only 10 psi it felt like the eec-iv at 15, and was much smoother and responsive. tonight it gets 25 psi when i take it out to the local 1/4 mile (i know, its not rally, but its only $5 and i at least get to go fast in a straight line). ive got some pictures up here if anyone is interested. also, i havent mentioned it on here yet but i have another website www.turbocars.org that is meant to be a free photo albums site for owners of all turbocharged vehicles, if anyone is looking for a free place to host pictures.