'85 Merkur XR4Ti Rally Car

In reply to ¯_(ツ)_/¯:welcome from NZ to Sierraland.... Having sat out my newbie stand down I will be following your exploits with interest! In reply to your issue - those 2.3's in the Merkur are basically just a big Pinto with a hairdryer on the side aren't they? If so your problem may not be terminal - I did quite a bit with rally Pintos in the 70's and 80's and came across three that for no obvious reason spat out the centre cam bearing. All were shut down fairly quickly and sustained no damage below the head. One munched up the cam when bits of bearing got between the lifter and cam the other two just made a lot of noise.

Hope that's your issue !!

Cheers Richard

They are indeed a Pinto engine with a cast iron snail on them- they're also known for eating the distributor/oil pump drive. If it's in the head like you suggest that would be OK too, since I have a complete spare head sitting in storage.

I would love information on the rally Pintos, their popularity in dirt oval racing here in the US means that lots of cheap suspension parts are available, to the point where I've actually considered building one. I'd love to visit NZ some day, although I'm not sure I'd ever return home!

Bad word choice on my part... We never had the Pinto as a car but the 2l OHC engine was used in NZ Motorsport and was almost always called that, even the poms use the term! The team, using the term loosely as we were true grassroots people, I was associated with had several Mk 1 and 2 Escorts that we ran during the mid to late 70's. NZ is a nice place to live and visit but there isn't much wrong with the USA from what I've seen - brother in law is in Wallingford CT and I could live there quite comfortably I reckon!

In reply to RichardNZ:

I see- the early rwd Escorts are very cool cars, I've competed against a few and they're always impressive. I think every single one in the US is either a rally car or tucked away in a collection somewhere.

Where did I leave off? After the parts car explody business I decided to reinstall some bodywork for a bit of a morale boost:

The front fenders are held on with sheet metal screws, have no intentions of welding the on like Ford did:

Interior also went back in, with a new intercom courtesy of "the_wizard":

The nuts for the front swaybar were welded back on through cutouts in the floor and cover plates were made so they can be reached in a hurry if needed:

Hooked up the battery and pressurized the fuel system, seems like my home made AN lines work:

When the headlights went back in I put in some cheap Chinese LEDs to hopefully get a bit more out of them, they throw a lot of light but don't make any real attempt to aim it- they'll work fine for this car but I wouldn't put them in anything that gets driven in traffic at night much:

Then we got the parts car into the garage to be torn apart- if not for the Honda there would be nothing but extinct American brands in here:

Got the exhaust off and the driveshaft and trans crossmember out in hopes of using them on the rally car, but the crossmember is way too wide- apparently there are two different sizes of Merkur trans tunnel, because of course there berkeleying are. It would be simple enough to modify, but a quick search indicates this stupid plate with a couple of bends in it costs $200:

I think I'll just modify the one I already had, then I can sell the fancy expensive one. The stock crossmember for the T9 works just fine with some 1/8" steel welded on and a couple of holes drilled, and takes a stock Mustang transmission mount:

Then on to the driveshaft- it fit the parts car perfectly so it should just bolt up, right? Wrong again! It hits the floor in a bunch of places, most of which were easily moved with a hammer. But it still hits at the back of the tunnel:

Well that doesn't look too bad, I wonder what's on top that might prevent it from being hammered out of the way:

Yep, it's directly under that berkeleying tube

I am yet again on the fence about modifying a 2-piece driveshaft vs using a Mustang one with adapter- I have 2 of each type of shaft now. I either have to notch the underside of that cage tube or go with a 2-piece.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ wrote: Where did I leave off? After the parts car explody business I decided to reinstall some bodywork for a bit of a morale boost: The front fenders are held on with sheet metal screws, have no intentions of welding the on like Ford did: Interior also went back in, with a new intercom courtesy of "the_wizard": The nuts for the front swaybar were welded back on through cutouts in the floor and cover plates were made so they can be reached in a hurry if needed: Hooked up the battery and pressurized the fuel system, seems like my home made AN lines work: When the headlights went back in I put in some cheap Chinese LEDs to hopefully get a bit more out of them, they throw a lot of light but don't make any real attempt to aim it- they'll work fine for this car but I wouldn't put them in anything that gets driven in traffic at night much: Then we got the parts car into the garage to be torn apart- if not for the Honda there would be nothing but extinct American brands in here: Got the exhaust off and the driveshaft and trans crossmember out in hopes of using them on the rally car, but the crossmember is way too wide- apparently there are two different sizes of Merkur trans tunnel, because of course there berkeleying are. It would be simple enough to modify, but a quick search indicates this stupid plate with a couple of bends in it costs $200: I think I'll just modify the one I already had, then I can sell the fancy expensive one. The stock crossmember for the T9 works just fine with some 1/8" steel welded on and a couple of holes drilled, and takes a stock Mustang transmission mount: Then on to the driveshaft- it fit the parts car perfectly so it should just bolt up, right? Wrong again! It hits the floor in a bunch of places, most of which were easily moved with a hammer. But it still hits at the back of the tunnel: Well that doesn't look too bad, I wonder what's on top that might prevent it from being hammered out of the way: Yep, it's directly under that berkeleying tube I am yet again on the fence about modifying a 2-piece driveshaft vs using a Mustang one with adapter- I have 2 of each type of shaft now. I either have to notch the underside of that cage tube or go with a 2-piece.

2 piece driveshafts arent the worst thing ever, the Carrier bearing in the middle is just a slip on piece that goes on behind the yoke. its really easy to service

What Mustang driveshaft are you using, the big aluminum FMS one? I had the same issue with mine.

I had 3" diameter shaft made up instead of the 3.5" FMS one.

In reply to GPz11:

It's a stock steel one, 3" diameter

Well, I also had to attack the bottom of the car with a bfh but without the roll cage

I found a local shop that can add the proper weld yoke and rebalance the 2-piece shaft; as long as they don't tell me to take my weird Euro crap and berkeley off when I actually bring it to them, I think I'll go that route. Then I won't have to worry about exceeding the critical speed of the long one piece shaft when I go to the 4.3 rear end.

I doubt it. Fairly sure a driveshaft is a driveshaft to most of these shops. My local place didn't bat an eye when I had them shorten and balance a Spitfire driveshaft. Nor a 40 year old 2-piece Volvo 1800ES driveshaft.

If you have the yokes, the shop I go to (Speed Equipment in Bensalem) could just make one for you. Sometimes it's cheaper.

In reply to Ian F:

Thanks for the recommendation, I'll give them a call if the first place turns down the work.

Well, the shop sat on it for a day then left me a message saying they couldn't do it- "you said this was a Ford but it's an import driveshaft, we don't have fixturing for it"

I dropped it off at the shop Ian recommended, they're going to measure it and get me a quote...

You have so much helmet room!! Why the hell do you need sway bars? :)

In reply to fidelity101:

No rear bar, but it needs a front because that's the fore-aft link for the front struts on these things!

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ wrote: Well, the shop sat on it for a day then left me a message saying they couldn't do it- "you said this was a Ford but it's an import driveshaft, we don't have fixturing for it"

Wimps!

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ wrote: Well, the shop sat on it for a day then left me a message saying they couldn't do it- "you said this was a Ford but it's an import driveshaft, we don't have fixturing for it"

You should clarify to them that it's a "Mercury"

I apologize for not updating this thread more- we've been taking care of our neighbor's farm (and living there) for the last couple of weeks. I've been going home and working on the car but have neglected to take pictures.

The shop is still sitting on the original driveshaft, so last weekend I cut the floor and the tube and welded in reinforcements. The plan is now (again) to use the Mustang driveshaft.

Long time, lots of cold days in the garage, and finally a post!

Floor chopped, tube clearanced, Mustang driveshaft in:
One of these days I need to go get the stock driveshaft back from that shop that never quoted me a price.

All of the engine plumbing and wiring got reinstalled, including the much better alternator from the parts car- I should get some new belts and probably some of those spiral wound hose guide thingies:

A very cheap adjustable blowoff valve made its' way in there, eliminating the check valve setup I had previously and saving a little weight:

Peeking out of its' little fresh air shroud, a fancy filter which was on sale- we'll see what the "dryflow" koolaid tastes like:

Shift lever and boot- the boot is adhesive backed neoprene sealed with butyl tape, hopefully it won't leak:

Some hammertime had to happen in order to give the clutch pivot room to move:

Mudflaps, big ones:

A new skidplate was made from a piece of 3/16" 6061 scored on eBay with some free laser cutter and press brake time from a friend, it should be a lot tougher than the old thin plate (which may have been a stolen road sign):

Tucks up under the bumper nicely, hopefully I don't regret putting the cooling holes in it:

Out of the garage and ready to roll!

The good:
-The hydraulic handbrake is excellent
-The T5 transmission shifts nicely
-The rear disc and proportioning valve combo works very well, I can just spin the knob and pick which wheels lock up first
-No leaks from the fuel and brake lines I made
-Better idle with the replaced IAC
-The BOV works well and sounds silly
-No nasty vibrations from the new driveshaft arrangement
-More oil pressure thanks to Lucas oil stabilizer mixed in with my usual Rotella

The not so good:
-The clutch feel sucks more than it did before, although this makes sense given that the T5 linkage has more of a reduction than the T9
-The brake pedal feel still sucks just as much as it did with the old drum brakes
-The clutch slips if I'm too aggressive with the throttle, hopefully it just needs to be broken in
-The exhaust is now touching in at least one place, making interesting buzzy sounds
-Fuel pressure isn't rising linearly with boost like it should
-It still leaks enough oil that the EPA has changed its' classification from "automobile" to "rolling superfund site"

I think I'll try to break the clutch in since the only other option for that is to remove the transmission to replace it (bleh). It's a new friction disc with the flywheel and pressure plate the car came with, so it should work just as well as before the transmission swap. I'll probably limit boost to keep it from slipping in the meantime.

I'm currently working on the fuel pressure issue, I swapped regulators which did very little, and checked the inline filter which had nothing in it. The next step will be replacing the in tank filter, it wouldn't surprise me if it's full of poo after letting the tank sit dry for a few months.

Last time I did a brand new clutch it really did take every bit of the suggested 700 street miles to really feel right. Good luck getting yours to be happy :-/

Good progress. I need to update mine too, though with less interesting stuff. What is your competition schedule looking like for the next few months? Other than rallycross I think we're gonna do the NJ rallysprint next month and then STPR.

In reply to irish44j:

If I get the fuel problem worked out in time, I should be at the two day DC RallyX- but I'm still not sure what the issue is, since swapping regulators and all new filters have done nothing the next step will probably be swapping in the higher capacity fuel pump from the parts car. Chief needs a radiator and the RV work has begun so we'll see if I get that worked out or not.

Then hopefully the NJ rallysprint, possibly followed by STPR- but our STPR budget may or may not be eaten by the RV trip in May, so we're going to hold off on registering.

On the fuel pressure- does anyone think it's possible that my new larger feed and return lines could be the issue? Maybe the regulator needed a certain amount of restriction on the return line in order to function properly?