XR4Ti build, possible future Rally car?

Anything I should pick up from Merkur Midwest that I can carry on an airplane while I'm up here?

Quote
dunhamr1
Anything I should pick up from Merkur Midwest that I can carry on an airplane while I'm up here?

Anything you need? A lot of the engine specific stuff you can pick up at parts stores, amazon, rock auto, etc.

Building the car for stage or Rallyx you will remove a lot of the merkur specific parts.

You should probably grab a spare Guibo, and a Motorcraft TFI if you dont already have them.

Luckily he had a guibo, he thought he had sold them all but I picked up some things I needed:

-Brand new Guibo
-Mocal silicone turbo to intake tube
-2x transmission stud bracket slider
-3 groove pulley (for water pump)
-Big VAM tube (no big VAM to be had unfortunately)
-Factory Ranger VC gasket (reusable, no leaking)
-Throttle body IAC and plug

I'd probably get some other things bit I need to be able to carry what I have back with me on the plane.

Also talked with Jeff about the engine removal and it'll probably be a lot easier to take it out through the bottom. I.E. unbolt the front crossmember and strut top mounts and lift the body off of it. A lot easier than bringing the engine and trans together out the top (even though the radiator is out).

Quote
dunhamr1
Also talked with Jeff about the engine removal and it'll probably be a lot easier to take it out through the bottom. I.E. unbolt the front crossmember and strut top mounts and lift the body off of it. A lot easier than bringing the engine and trans together out the top (even though the radiator is out).

Really not that hard to bring it out the top, just disconnect the trans and take the hood off. Then use an engine hoist and pull it forward and up. Then getting the trans out is easy and the car can still roll.

Quote
Thomas Kimsey

Quote
dunhamr1
Also talked with Jeff about the engine removal and it'll probably be a lot easier to take it out through the bottom. I.E. unbolt the front crossmember and strut top mounts and lift the body off of it. A lot easier than bringing the engine and trans together out the top (even though the radiator is out).

Really not that hard to bring it out the top, just disconnect the trans and take the hood off. Then use an engine hoist and pull it forward and up. Then getting the trans out is easy and the car can still roll.

Unfortunately I don't have a lot of extensions and I'm trying to avoid having a frustrating dance with the bellhousing bolts when reassembling.

I've heard three major recommendations: 1. both engine and trans together out the top, 2. unbolt the trans and take just the engine out the top, 3. and take the engine and trans out the bottom.

Realistically I could do any of these three, I just don't want to be beating my head against a wall when I start trying to reassemble. In any of the cases, the trans x-member bolts will come out, as well as the sway bar. The only additional bolts to get the engine out the bottom is 2 bolts on each side and the strut top nut (see attached photo). Then you have a lot of access to get to the bellhousing as well as the motor mounts, with the body out of the way.

I'm still going back and forth about what I should do. I could probably take it out by myself out the bottom but need help to take it out the top.

With the engine bay mostly cleared out you can reach those top two bellhousing bolts with a wrench from up top. I've done the transmission myself a few times. Longest part of the job is usually fiddling with the shifter torx (For some reason mine never want to come out). The only way I see dropping the subframe easier is if you have a lift.

Quote
Thomas Kimsey

Quote
dunhamr1
Also talked with Jeff about the engine removal and it'll probably be a lot easier to take it out through the bottom. I.E. unbolt the front crossmember and strut top mounts and lift the body off of it. A lot easier than bringing the engine and trans together out the top (even though the radiator is out).

Really not that hard to bring it out the top, just disconnect the trans and take the hood off. Then use an engine hoist and pull it forward and up. Then getting the trans out is easy and the car can still roll.

That is what I did. After pulling my motor I don't think I would ever want to try it with the trans attached. I took out the radiator and intercooler also. The only trick in putting the motor back onto the trans is to make sure you leave the two top bolts in the bell housing because those can be a pain to get in because of the closeness to the firewall. Otherwise it is relatively easy with a hoist, jack, and 1 person.

Quote
MarkHille

Quote
Thomas Kimsey

Quote
dunhamr1
Also talked with Jeff about the engine removal and it'll probably be a lot easier to take it out through the bottom. I.E. unbolt the front crossmember and strut top mounts and lift the body off of it. A lot easier than bringing the engine and trans together out the top (even though the radiator is out).

Really not that hard to bring it out the top, just disconnect the trans and take the hood off. Then use an engine hoist and pull it forward and up. Then getting the trans out is easy and the car can still roll.

That is what I did. After pulling my motor I don't think I would ever want to try it with the trans attached. I took out the radiator and intercooler also. The only trick in putting the motor back onto the trans is to make sure you leave the two top bolts in the bell housing because those can be a pain to get in because of the closeness to the firewall. Otherwise it is relatively easy with a hoist, jack, and 1 person.

There is decent access to those top bell housing bolts with the head off of the motor, my concern is how much of that goes away when you're trying to attach it to a motor with the head still on it? It's pretty bare in there, the only connection still on the engine is the PS line coming off of the PS pump, and the motor mounts. I might just place the head on it in position and see what it looks like.

Really I just need to pick one method and get on with it. I'd like to avoid taking the trans out if I don't need to (nothing needs to be done with it, other than attaching it to the other motor) but having easier access to the bolts may be preferable..

If you have an engine leveler, you can pull the engine with the trans attached pretty easily IF you have a hoist that can lift it high enough (The engine and trans combo come out at a 45-60deg angle or so)

Pretty easy to do with one person.

Quote
Robert Culbertson
If you have an engine leveler, you can pull the engine with the trans attached pretty easily IF you have a hoist that can lift it high enough (The engine and trans combo come out at a 45-60deg angle or so)

Pretty easy to do with one person.

I've got the leveler on hand, but I'm not sure about the height on the lift. If I extended the arm all the way out (there's absolutely nothing on the motor right now), it could work; I'll have to check how high it gets.

Originally posted on the Merkur Club forum, but someone may be able to help here.

Turbine housing bolts are stuck. I've tried copious amounts of PB blaster, and heat. I recently upgraded to a Map gas torch to get it hotter but to no avail.

Today I started by grinding down a wrench to be able to get the box end on the bolt, because the regular end is just bending open. I added more PB blaster but it still jumped up and skipped. I was using a piece of pipe over the wrench and trying to give it a sudden jerk to pop things lose, but it would either pop off or bend the wrench open (it would pop back after you got it around the bolt).

So the heads are sufficiently rounded now, there are three that are giving me trouble and the rest are already loose. I just spent about 10min with the map torch heating everything up, until it was almost glowing. I'll come back once it's cool and add more PB and try again, but I think they're too rounded to be able to use a wrench.

I'm thinking I'm going to start cutting the bolt heads off (I'm not planning on using this housing again) and I'm already going to need another set of bolts for the Cossie housing that's heading my way (right John?) but I don't want to damage the retaining rings.

I'm almost at a loss what to do next other than breaking out the dremel on those bolt heads. Someone please stop me before I break something...

Those bolts are basically made out of diamond now. Surprised you were able to round the head out and not just spin the head off the bolt.

Try using a 6 point, 12 point for anything rusted or stuck is just asking for trouble. If it does work with a 6 point you can weld a nut or a socket onto it and try again. More penetrating oil, more heat, give it a few taps with a hammer.

Quote
Thomas Kimsey
Those bolts are basically made out of diamond now. Surprised you were able to round the head out and not just spin the head off the bolt.

Try using a 6 point, 12 point for anything rusted or stuck is just asking for trouble. If it does work with a 6 point you can weld a nut or a socket onto it and try again. More penetrating oil, more heat, give it a few taps with a hammer.

What's harder than diamond? That's what the bolts are.. I killed a couple of end mills, TiNi coated end mills and only managed to flatten one of those bolt in a housing with 3 broken off.

Its fawkin Kryponite!

---

John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

Quote
Thomas Kimsey
Those bolts are basically made out of diamond now. Surprised you were able to round the head out and not just spin the head off the bolt.

Try using a 6 point, 12 point for anything rusted or stuck is just asking for trouble. If it does work with a 6 point you can weld a nut or a socket onto it and try again. More penetrating oil, more heat, give it a few taps with a hammer.

My biggest problem is that these are the ones underneath the bosses on the turbo center section, so there's no direct access to them, hence the grinding of the wrench.

I would have rather had the heads break off, as I'm not going to use this turbine housing anymore. That's probably what I'm going to end up doing, is cutting the heads off of the bolts, because I don't have access to a welder to try and weld anything else on.

I've been using tons of penetrating oil, the next step may be to literally submerge it, and plenty of hammers.

The unfortunate thing is that the workbench I'm using isn't solid (it's made of mostly plastic) so even though it's clamped down, it still shifts a bit when you try to yank on it. The other problem which probably got me where I am today is that I was using a rubber hammer before...

Quote
john vanlandingham

Quote
Thomas Kimsey
Those bolts are basically made out of diamond now. Surprised you were able to round the head out and not just spin the head off the bolt.

Try using a 6 point, 12 point for anything rusted or stuck is just asking for trouble. If it does work with a 6 point you can weld a nut or a socket onto it and try again. More penetrating oil, more heat, give it a few taps with a hammer.

What's harder than diamond? That's what the bolts are.. I killed a couple of end mills, TiNi coated end mills and only managed to flatten one of those bolt in a housing with 3 broken off.

Its fawkin Kryponite!

I shouldn't worry about these bolts being stuck because there's a cossie housing heading this way yes....?