85 XR4Ti Build - Finally Ready to Rally
Posted by jbass
James Bass Elite Moderator Location: Jefferson County, MO, USA Join Date: 11/01/2011 Age: Midlife Crisis Posts: 60 Rally Car: 2x 1985 Merkur XR4Ti |
So, I've been working on this XR4Ti for a while, and it is finally rally-ready. First rally will be Perryville Farm and Forest Rally in October. Some life issues prevented this from being done a year or more ago, but - hey - finally! The "Still To-do" list includes a Supra diff (oh yeah - John - that guy in STL wanted to keep his diff! ...only part of the frickin' car he wanted! Still looking locally.).
John's been prodding me to post pictures, and I'm lame, so I haven't until now.  I had already started the build before I talked to him, but I wish I had talked to him before hand. I got some great advice, nonetheless. Either way, everything turned out pretty good. It handles well, goes well, etc.
I'm pretty bad at remembering to take pictures and shit, but here are a few... Figured I'd put a few pics up for posterity before I roll it into a tree 
I'd been working rallies for a few years (100AW and more recently PFFR) - and finally decided to do it. Bought the car on Craigslist in Iowa for cheap (conveniently - picked it up driving back from a family member's wedding in CHI!): 
It ran 'okay', lots of stupid issues (unsurprising), whatever - it was cheap and rolled, wasn't stolen, had a title, etc. (You'd be surprised how many I've seen around here with no title for sale... Odd.) I got the MO state ID/OD done, since it was in 'stock' condition, etc. Got a title. Licensed it as historic. Bam - time to work. Everything on the car was pretty much junk - every bushing was perished, every seal leaky, etc. The plan at the time was to strip it anyway - so: 
Did I mention this thing was filthy? Since I wanted to strip it completely - I did. Here's a nice clean engine bay. 
Basically, at this point, I had decided I was going to just redo everything anyway. I hate to admit it, but I actually kinda like building shit, so... Pulled the engine, etc. 
...checked it out - surprise (not really)- cracked head. Lower end was 'okay', but - hey, while I'm in there, might as well refresh everything, right? RIGHT?? Got a new head, had the machine work done on the block, put in all new internals, etc. I'm kinda stupid - but I'm a fan of "reliability- above all else". Fuckit - it's apart, and not that expensive to pop in some new shit. DO IT. Trolled ebay for lots of "expensive parts now cheap because someone got sick of fucking with their project" - pennies on the dollar in lots of instances. Yaknow - other peoples' projects that are now languishing, they need the cash, opportunity knocks. ANYWAY. Chassis completely stripped, except enough to roll it around. Took it to Izzy's Custom Cages in St. Louis MO. Scott's an awesome guy - and has done a lot of the rally, chump, RR, etc. cages around here. He caged it, and while it was there, he cut out the rockers (what was left of them) (The next four pics are his, by the way): 
...and put in boat sides. I figured - fuckit - add some strength there, and give me a nice jackpoint on either side. (Scott's idea.) 
Cage during fab: 
No antics ensued, but here's a pic of Scott in his contortion mode: 
Cage is done, car is home, that "tar" sound deadening shit removed, cage, interior, and engine bay cleaned, primed and painted: 
Moving back to building - to paraphrase the old addage "Give a boy a powder coat gun and everything gets powdercoated." - yeah - I powdercoated everything. Don't laugh too hard. Ok, I'll make an excuse - maybe it'll be easier to hose off? Yeah, there ya go! Anyway - painted the now-freshly-rebuilt-and-overbuilt-hopefully-reliable engine, installed, got a T5 - M-7003-Z, had the input shaft ground down to 0.590", installed everything. Every fastener was replaced, every bushing new/poly, every bearing replaced, yadda yadda. ...and more importantly - proper ( JVAB ) suspension: 
I mentioned gutting everything - well I did - wiring and all. I'm an electronics/computer nerd/dork so - I rewired it with proper wire, mounting, etc. Circuit breakers for everything. Again, I figure yaknow - at least *I* know all this shit is never going to fail on its own accord (or WHEN it does, I will know WHAT THE FUCK is going on). Not the final pic, but it's at 80% here: 
Oh yeah - you can see the frame for the new dash in that pic. Yeah, like I said - the stock shit was shit. In retrospect, maybe I should have bought a better example from which to start, but everything turned out just fuckin' dandy as far as I'm concerned... The stock ECU/VAM shit was fucked up, so I said fuck it- and put in a Megasquirt. Hey, I'm a computer nerd. Got everything ready to rock, and it fired right up - first try. (Of course, test, test, test, test, THEN try.) Anyway - everything worked to this point, and it drives great. I guess time for some new paint, since that old shit was -- yeah - shit. Maaco specials don't actually look half bad on a rally car - it's really amazing what a lick of some shitty paint can do for the look of a car. Used some U-Pol bedliner I had for the bumpers - they look like new. I have proper wheels, but - they have gravel tires mounted, so ignore my old Saab wheels I had laying around - I'm driving it on the roads with these. Here's the 99% completed product (I just put on the driving lights last weekend, not in pics, and who can forget the Merkur logo...): 
 Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/21/2013 09:12AM by jbass. |
Jay Anderson Super Moderator Location: Chicago, Il Join Date: 01/30/2013 Age: Settling Down Posts: 29 Rally Car: 1983 Toyota Celica |
Kirk Coughlin Junior Moderator Location: Saint Paul, MN Join Date: 01/08/2006 Age: Possibly Wise Posts: 493 Rally Car: Dreaming of escorts and xrats |
Sharp lookin car! Can't wait to see some pics of ya in motion!
 Kirk Coughlin Woodbury, MN and River Falls, WI Quemadmodum gladius neminem occidit, occidentis telum est. |
James Bass Elite Moderator Location: Jefferson County, MO, USA Join Date: 11/01/2011 Age: Midlife Crisis Posts: 60 Rally Car: 2x 1985 Merkur XR4Ti |
Sean Medcroft Junior Moderator Location: Edmonds, Washington Join Date: 02/12/2009 Age: Possibly Wise Posts: 1,802 Rally Car: Building a Merkur |
Robert Gobright Infallible Moderator Location: White Center Seattle Join Date: 04/27/2008 Age: Possibly Wise Posts: 1,292 Rally Car: 91 VW GTI 8V |
James Bass Elite Moderator Location: Jefferson County, MO, USA Join Date: 11/01/2011 Age: Midlife Crisis Posts: 60 Rally Car: 2x 1985 Merkur XR4Ti |
During install (not completed) - only pic I could find: 
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Robert Gobright Infallible Moderator Location: White Center Seattle Join Date: 04/27/2008 Age: Possibly Wise Posts: 1,292 Rally Car: 91 VW GTI 8V |
Mike Lindenfelser Mod Moderator Location: Minnesnowta Join Date: 10/17/2012 Age: Midlife Crisis Posts: 154 Rally Car: 1995 Impreza L |
Matthew Conte Elite Moderator Location: St. Louis, MO Join Date: 06/27/2011 Age: Settling Down Posts: 257 Rally Car: 1991 Subaru Legacy Turbozzzzzz |
So how can I convince you to let me take it for a spin during the 100AW shakedown stage? Curious to see just how magical these things are.
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Wilson von Kessler Mod Moderator Location: Lookout Mountain, GA Join Date: 02/28/2006 Age: Possibly Wise Posts: 1,127 Rally Car: Colts are in Finland; now '87 325i, '89 325i |
James Bass Elite Moderator Location: Jefferson County, MO, USA Join Date: 11/01/2011 Age: Midlife Crisis Posts: 60 Rally Car: 2x 1985 Merkur XR4Ti |
Banned Mod Moderator Location: La la land Join Date: 01/25/2006 Age: Fossilized Posts: 3,740 Rally Car: Not a Volvo |
Scott Creech Godlike Moderator Location: Jane, MO Join Date: 12/02/2012 Age: Possibly Wise Posts: 415 Rally Car: Audi 90 Quattro (WIP) |
Dan Norkus Mega Moderator Location: Goldsboro, NC Join Date: 01/10/2010 Age: Midlife Crisis Posts: 290 Rally Car: 94 Integra |
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