My 89 Merkur XR4Ti

airmenair

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 18, 2005
Messages
2,556
Location
Arlington, Texas, USA
Well here it is, another of my cars. I blew the headgasket about 2 years ago and have essentially just parked it since. It's been on the back burner of late because of my other project, the mustang. "Restoring" multiple cars is sure a chore. I have made a little headway on it including getting a parts car and tearing down the motor. Soon I'll begin putting it back together. I have most of the parts already to do so. So onto the pictures.

As it sits
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Quick shot of the interior, which is loaded down with parts right now. It's actually in very good shape. Could use a cleaning at this point though.

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This was the previous owner's answer to a sagging headliner. Actually looks like it belongs, haha. Gives it a...boatish feel.

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Engine all torn down

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Some more pics

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Also, what my desk looks like :lol:

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The plan for now is to get it running and driving. That way I can maneuver it around wherever and won't have to call a tow truck. I think the motor is going to need a rebuild. Good news is I already have a spare motor (which I'll probably rebuild). Later I want to put a T5 behind it, add an intercooler, bigger turbo, better flowing aluminum head, performance cam and megasquirt it. Also I want make some exterior improvements including a Cossie front bumper and grill and some euro spec lights. Maybe even a whale tail?? :p Suspension needs some work too, far too lofty.

There, happy Posmo? :p
 
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Yeah :) Finally you posted a picture of the front aswell, which makes me feel good about how my car looks :p

http://img504.imageshack.**/img504/2664/pakoputki006.jpg

You REALLY need to remove the inner high beam lights, and cut a cosworth type hole in the front fascia,

The engine differs a lot from the pinto ohc on EU cars. Infact, I cant really spot anything that looks the same as the engine in my car :shock: Does you car have 9" or 10" drums at the rear?

In short, things you should must do to the car:

-Get it running
-Fit an intercooler and up the boost (bigger turbo?)
-Lower it, about 40mm should do the trick
-Fit the biplane spoiler from your parts car
-Cut up the front fascia
-Relocate the rear licence plate lights
-Get a new steering wheel, the one currently on it is hideous.
-Fit 16" wheels (the wire ones look a bit lost in the bigger wheelarches..)
-Get thicker anti roll bars (I believe yours are ~20mm front an 10mm rear, my car has 28mm front and 18mm rear, and even they feel a bit soft at times.)
-Get an LSD (if you don't have one already)
-Get new seats (Sure they are made by Recaro, but they are not "really" traditional Recaros.) A nice set of buckets would do the trick. Be thankful that you don't have the common US-Spec leather sofas :lol:
-Plasti-dip/flock the dashboard
-Clearcoat your rear indicators red:
http://img59.imageshack.**/img59/684/kokopuna001.jpg

Can't think of anything else right now, let me get back to you :)
 
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Really! You rarely see those anymore here, I think the winters were not very kind to them. Also, they used the 2.3 turbo engine, right? If so, those engines can take a beating! :blink:
 
I miss driving it.
 
So basically they created a brand (Merkur) just to sell the Sierra in the US? Did they sell other European Fords as Merkur as well?

Anyway, I hope you can put it back on the road soon ^^
 
They also sold the Scorpio here as a Merkur too.

None sold too well. Neither did Lutz career at Ford either.
 
Yeah :) Finally you posted a picture of the front aswell, which makes me feel good about how my car looks :p

You REALLY need to remove the inner high beam lights, and cut a cosworth type hole in the front fascia,

The engine differs a lot from the pinto ohc on EU cars. Infact, I cant really spot anything that looks the same as the engine in my car :shock: Does you car have 9" or 10" drums at the rear?

In short, things you should must do to the car:

-Get it running
-Fit an intercooler and up the boost (bigger turbo?)
-Lower it, about 40mm should do the trick
-Fit the biplane spoiler from your parts car
-Cut up the front fascia
-Relocate the rear licence plate lights
-Get a new steering wheel, the one currently on it is hideous.
-Fit 16" wheels (the wire ones look a bit lost in the bigger wheelarches..)
-Get thicker anti roll bars (I believe yours are ~20mm front an 10mm rear, my car has 28mm front and 18mm rear, and even they feel a bit soft at times.)
-Get an LSD (if you don't have one already)
-Get new seats (Sure they are made by Recaro, but they are not "really" traditional Recaros.) A nice set of buckets would do the trick. Be thankful that you don't have the common US-Spec leather sofas :lol:
-Plasti-dip/flock the dashboard
-Clearcoat your rear indicators red:

Can't think of anything else right now, let me get back to you :)

Haha. I'm not sure of the drum size off the top of my head. As far as the rest of it goes, most of what you've mentioned I plan on doing already. I'll probably wait to do any interior modifications. Right now mechanical things are the priority, then exterior, then interior. And hey, if you can find me some euro-spec lights, I'll buy them from you, finder's fee included. :D

Really! You rarely see those anymore here, I think the winters were not very kind to them. Also, they used the 2.3 turbo engine, right? If so, those engines can take a beating! :blink:

Yep, 2.3L is right. They can take a beating. Although I drove it around for about 6 months with a broken wastegate actuator so I was hitting 20psi pretty regularly. I don't think i did the headgasket any good with that. The overheating finally killed it. It does have a neat 20psi buzzer on it though :D. I think I have seen 2 others in my life. They are pretty rare.

I miss driving it.

Hell, ditch the architecture work and help me put it together!
 
Haha. I'm not sure of the drum size off the top of my head. As far as the rest of it goes, most of what you've mentioned I plan on doing already. I'll probably wait to do any interior modifications. Right now mechanical things are the priority, then exterior, then interior. And hey, if you can find me some euro-spec lights, I'll buy them from you, finder's fee included. :D

Im sure I can find some EU spec lights, but shipping is going to rape you big time :( Btw I wouldn't fit a cosworth whale tail. AFter all, it's not a Cossie and it never will be.
 
Yea that's why these cars are so expensive. I may be able to find some in the US, but it's pretty hard. Most of the good stuff you have to ship from overseas. Is there a dramatic difference in shipping from Finland than say from England? A whale tail isn't going to make it a Cossie anymore than a Cossie bumper/front grill/headlights will. I don't see the big deal. It just looks cooler that way :D
 
Very nice! I like the retro colour coded bodykit and the wheels. Should be a great car when finished.
 
You REALLY need to remove the inner high beam lights, and cut a cosworth type hole in the front fascia,

Thats a horrible idea. Ive seen it done before and it looks hideous :barf:

The engine differs a lot from the pinto ohc on EU cars. Infact, I cant really spot anything that looks the same as the engine in my car :shock:

Thats because its an entirely different engine. :wall:
 
Thats a horrible idea. Ive seen it done before and it looks hideous :barf:



Thats because its an entirely different engine. :wall:

AHEM.

iphonepics119.jpg


And yes, I know it's a different engine <_<, but it is still heavily based on the EU pinto, I was expecting atleast SOMETHING to be the same, I can't spot a single thing, that's the same, not even the engine mounting points or the alternator, etc.
 
AHEM.

iphonepics119.jpg


And yes, I know it's a different engine <_<, but it is still heavily based on the EU pinto, I was expecting atleast SOMETHING to be the same, I can't spot a single thing, that's the same, not even the engine mounting points or the alternator, etc.

Thats not a cut grille. Thats proper cossie one. And im not a big fan of the base headlights either.
Its not based on the Pinto.
 
Thats not a cut grille. Thats proper cossie one. And im not a big fan of the base headlights either.
Its not based on the Pinto.

You can make a good cosworth grille replica if you know how to weld plastic. Those headlights still look 10 times better than the ones currently on the Merkur, didn't you see them? Also, the Lima engine was built after the EUpinto block with alterations. Parts are not interchangeable, but they have a VERY similiar design, and since the Merkurs were made in Germany, I woukd have expected some parts to be similiar.
 
You can make a good cosworth grille replica if you know how to weld plastic. Those headlights still look 10 times better than the ones currently on the Merkur, didn't you see them? Also, the Lima engine was built after the EUpinto block with alterations. Parts are not interchangeable, but they have a VERY similiar design, and since the Merkurs were made in Germany, I woukd have expected some parts to be similiar.

You would have to be REALLY good at welding plastic too make it look like a real.
The Lima-engine is called Lima because thats were its built.
But i think we maybe should take this discussion elsewhere. Where clogging up airmenairs thread with silly discussions :p :blush:
 
I'm thinking the Lima blocks for the Merkurs were assembled in Brazil. Or something to do with the motor and the car happened in Brazil.
 
Well, if wikipedia is to be believed, it seems you are right:

The XR4Ti was manufactured by Karmann in Rheine, Germany, with a turbocharged Ford Lima 2.3 L 4 cylinder engine from the Ford engine plant in Taubate, Brazil
 
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