1986 Merkur XR4Ti

Started on July 18 by Raze

Ride Rating

28

1986 Merkur XR4Ti

230WHP / 292TRQ @ 22psi

Upgrades to date (Engine):

  • Holset HY35w ~20-30psi (depending on our mood)
  • 3" Exhaust w/testpipe or cat & Magnaflow
  • 28"x6"x3" Intercooler w/2.5" pipe
  • Gutted upper & knife edged lower intake
  • 255lph fuel pump
  • 75 #/hr injectors
  • Power steering delete
  • A/C delete
  • Heater delete

    • Upgrades to date (Transmission):

  • T5 Transmission swap w/1-piece driveshaft + diff adapter (460 Machine)

    • Upgrades to date (Suspension):

  • Front: Koni Yellow + Ground Control Coilover 7" 350#/in springs
  • Rear: KYB + 8.5" 600#/in Black Magic springs

    • Upgrades to date (Brakes):

  • Gutted Proportioning Valve
  • TurboCoupe rear disc brake swap

    • Upgrades to date (Wheels and Tires):

  • Mustang turbine rims w/Toyo R888s 205/50-15 - RACE
  • Mustang turbine rims w/BFGoodrich GForce Sport 205/55-15 - STREET

    • Upgrades to date (Body):

  • Interior Gutted and stripped
  • 4 point roll bar
  • Rear tower strut brace
  • Bomz seats
  • 4-point harnesses
  • Mustang fuel tank replacement
  • Lexan rear windows and sunroof
  • Vented hood

    • Upgrades to date (Electrical):

  • Megasquirt-I V 3.0 w/3 Bar MAP (DIYAutoTune)
  • Wideband O2 Reader (PLX M300)
  • Wideband O2 (Bosch)
  • Odyssey PC680 Drycell w/relocate

    • Upgrades to date (Cosmetic):

  • $35 single stage poly paintjob + $12 duplicolor wheel paint and $9 truck bed liner wheel well and underbody coating

    • Road Legal Status:

  • -Tagged, Titled, Insured, Smogged, and 100% street legal

    • TO DO LIST:

  • Swap 3.64 diff for 3.34 + Eaton Clutch LSD
  • Upgrade pads to full race (Porterfield)
  • Paint and body work
  • external electrical cut-off switch
  • install 2 tow eyes
  • install brake cooling ducts where front fogs used to be
  • install 5-point FIA harnesses
  • install FIA fixed back seats
  • Lexan windshield
  • Upgrade 4 point roll bar to full cage
  • install fire suppression system
  • install ported E6
  • install test pipe

    • SPARES:

  • 2.3T longblock
  • starter
  • oil lines
  • coolant lines
  • accessory brackets
  • exhaust manifolds
  • rear diff

    • 3 comments on this ride

    Latest updates

    Aug. 01

    Koni Yellows, 350lb/in springs, lexan windshield

    The more we track the Merkur the more weaknesses surface...our 250lb/in springs just couldn't stand up in hard cornering and the old Koni reds couldn't control rebound and the car would dramatically unload the drive wheel in the corners...the windshield ...
    March 06

    Jzilla track days at AMP 3/2/14 (3)

    Session 5 over
    March 06

    Jzilla track days at AMP 3/2/14 (2)

    Main straight 120!
    March 06

    Jzilla track days at AMP 3/2/14

    Merkur running the big course at AMP, found out our pcv is bad and we were blowing oil out the dipstick, ran like a champ!
    July 16

    Merkur Dyno Video
    July 16

    Merkur Dyno Sheet

    Nuff said...
    July 16

    Merkur got Dyno'd

    Went to an MX-5 meetup down in Peachtree City at Allspeed Autoworks and got to dyno the Merkur on their Dynojet, 230HP/292TRQ running base timing and 22psi. We learned alot about our setup and all sorts of things we need ...
    June 26

    AMP SCCA Circuit Cross

    Had a blast, Merkur held up well, really need to turn up the boost so we can get it into 3rd gear, bouncing along the limiter in 2nd is only so much fun. Luckily dyno day is in July.
    June 26

    AMP SCCA Circuit Cross Video 6/9/2012
    Jan. 06

    Ground Control to Major Turn...

    Awe yeah, Ground Control coilovers up front, time for some corner weighing and balancing ;)
    Nov. 02

    Wheel arches!

    Original arches truck bed lined and reinstalled over rolled fenders...
    Nov. 02

    ARSCCA AutoX 10/4/10 .....

    .
    Aug. 24

    ARSCCA AutoX 8/22/10

    Took the Merkur out for it's first AutoX, learned quite a few things: #1: too little boost for the track, forced me to stay in the top of 2nd and hampered my times beyond a point since I couldn't use ...
    July 27

    Stickers

    More stickers!
    July 27

    Yellow Fogs

    Krylon stained glass spray paint does wonderful things...
    June 15

    Slammed, vented front

    Closeup
    June 15

    Another slammed, vented

    Side
    June 15

    More slammed, vented

    Front
    June 15

    Slammed, Vented

    Got the Merk dropped about 3-4 inches, and the hood vented to help keep the heat down while driving through traffic to the track.
    Nov. 23

    $35 Marine Paintjob 4

    More...
    Nov. 23

    $35 Marine Paintjob 3

    More...
    Nov. 23

    $35 Marine Paintjob 2

    More...
    Nov. 23

    $35 Marine Paintjob

    Not bad for how cheap and easy it is...
    Jan. 29

    Front 2

    Another lower shot, buck-toothed to say the least, hoping to swap out the front bumper for a MK3 Jetta bumper when time/money permits...
    Jan. 29

    Front

    Here's a pic of the front all put together...
    Jan. 29

    Merkur updated Interior

    After adding new seats, (that's a T5 shifter for you guessed it a T5!), dash with switches for lights, wipers, hazards, rad fan, power kill, start button on dash (push button arcade style), MegaSquirt, 4 point harnesses, fuse box, relays, ...
    Jan. 29

    Lexan rear windows

    Came out better than expected, lost a bunch of weight...
    Jan. 29

    Intercooler

    Good old eBay special, works well, cheap, simple...
    Jan. 29

    Intercooler pipe...

    After adding intercooler for the Holset HY35w...
    Jan. 29

    Stripped interrior, including the sound deadening!

    Original interior as we got it after scraping/grinding out all the tar/sound deadening material, took 2 of us a full day, but we lost close to 10 lbs!
    Jan. 29

    Front Facia Opening

    Opened up the front facia, helps alot keeping the coolant temps down...
    Jan. 29

    Merkur window removal

    We removed the rear windows for plexi at first (didn't know how crappy it was)
    Jan. 29

    Merkur Interior upon Arrival

    This was the interior, no dash, a semi-working tach, the stock seatbelt with a fordescort seat sitting on 1" square tube tack welded to the frame, I pulled it up by hand! 4 point roll bar in. Exhaust manifold cracked, ...
    Jan. 29

    Merkur Arrives

    This is how she looked when she arrived...
    Join Free Join our community to easily find more Merkur reader's rides.

    Comments

    Jan 16, 2009 4:23 p.m.
    alex:
    Vote up for turbo 2.3 goodness. I'll hopefully be joining the ranks of XR owners soon enough...
    Jul 6, 2009 11 p.m.
    Foreign Car Parts:
    Go to www.merkursport.com there are a ton of us on there! -Tim
    Nov 17, 2009 7:57 a.m.
    Raze:
    I'm over there Tim, believe me!

    You must be registered and signed in to comment.

    See all 36 pictures
    Grassroots Motorsports Magazine

    Subscribe Today

    Also get your instant access to the digital edition of Grassroots Motorsports Magazine!

    Learn More
    zabQ58vHaV3xiMjJpBqm8IMLOMbZQB2NEkT9NIZAsLzRqNuB454vTk2FS8EKd6oD