MCA Happenings

2002Shadetreetip

Easy cool-air intakeGetting cool air to the en-

gine is a way to easy horse-power. Here’s a solution bymaster mechanic DavePlanakis.

Disconnect Vane Air Meterfrom the stock air cleaner.Remove and disassemble theair cleaner. Cut the hardrubber inlet hose as shownin the photo above.

Cut a 3.25” hole in thebody work beside the radia-tor. Install VAM to the nowcustomized hard-rubberhose. Push the end of thehose through the hole. Frombeneath, install a K&N orsimilar cone filter to thehose.

Voila! More horsepower.

What would you like tosee more of in yournewsletter?

This is a new format forthe quarterly newsletter.We’d like the focus onMerkur owners, their cars,modifications, what worksand what doesn’t, and tipsthat will make Merkur own-ership easier and moreenjoyable.

Send us your Merkurphotos — individual cars orGatherings around the U.S.— along with descriptionsand stories. Don’t worryabout your literary skills;we’ll rewrite and polish asnecessary.

We welcome all submis-sions. Please send to:

Richard CurtisMCA Newsletter6032 Makely Drive Fairfax Station, Va. 22039or by e-mail to:lakehouse@aol.com

For the fourth consecutiveyear In June 2001 Merkurswon the title as largest clubat the All-Ford Nationals atCarlisle. Under the MCAbanner 119 Merkurs wereregistered; the Fairlane Clubhad 117 cars. This is theclosest victory during thefour year period.

There were new peopleand a rising standard inMerkur appearance. AttlaNyiradi’s citrus yellow XR4tiand Stokely Dickenson’s sil-ver XR4 with blue-tintedwindows and custom frontvalence raised the stakeseven higher.

The replica WRC-winninggreen-and-white Sierra cre-ated by Simon Matthewswas outstanding. Thechoice of engines was wideranging: Jim Duberry’s V-8,Hal Clarke’s V-6 Taurus SHOengine, Scott Miller’s TurboCoupe V-6, and all types ofvariations for the trusty 2.3liter four. Dimitri Wittal’sScorpio had a 2.3 turbo.

The number of modifica-tions was truly amazing. Toattend Carlisle is a pricelessexperience.

Carlisle 2001 - A grand slam for Merkurs

Photos by Richard Curtis

Field of dreams: 119 Merkurs were registered under MCA banner for Carlisle 2001, winning the club award.

Customfront endof Brooklyn,N.Y.’sStokelyDickenson’s88 XR fea-tured cus-tom lights,Cossiegrille, blind-ingly beauti-ful silverpaint andblue-tintedwindows.

“No one can own just one” is what Craig Madsen’s T-shirt reads. Craig shouldknow. Right, Attla Nyiradi’s highly modified, citrus yellow XR featuring Cossie grilleand bumper, Euro lights, detailed engine bay and interior took 3rd in High ModifiedXRs.

Pre-register for Carlisle 2002May 31-June 1-2 are the dates, Carlisle Fairgrounds,Pa. is the place. Club pre-registration rate is $25 fortwo adults/one car. Second car is just $20, $15 for athird car. This is 38% savings over regular registrationfees. Download and mail a registration form beforeFeb. 28 at:http://www.merkurclub.com/registration.jpg

and mail to Carlisle Productions1000 Bryn Mawr Road, Carlisle, Pa. 17013January 2002 www.merkurc lub.com

Saul Rivkin’s 1st place Scorpio, above: Won firstplace for Scorpios in the MCA judging. Saul later usedthis car to demonstrate detailing and show-preparationprocedures.

Mark Mandragonas 2nd place Scorpio, below:Judges agreed the Scorpio competition was tough.

Super-nice 89XR: Virginia’s Larry Wayne Davis hasdone a world of work on his red 89XR: from a C3transmission to an A4LD to a T-9; Scorpio rear disks,ported and polished everything, custom hood scoop,custom grille, Euro lights, relocated battery, water-to-air IC, 17” custom wheels, and SDS EM-3F computer.

Gabbing at Carlisle 2001: MCA’sDave Weiner, left, and Phil Marshall,of PM Motorsports, spend some timetogether on the Carlisle show field.Merkurs were the largest club (again!)at Carlisle, as they have been in previ-ous years.

Water-to-air intercooler highlights Stuart Matthews’ highly modified XR enginebay, a WRC replica XR, painted green and white. Exterior photo on back page.

Show field-as-garage: Dimitri Wittal 2.3 liter, Turbo Scorpioexperienced a top end problem, which he fixed while the car wassitting on the show field Saturday. Tip: Always carry tools!

By Peter Cipolla

For those interested inhigh performance MerkurXR4Ti’s:

First a little history onmy ’85 XR4Ti IMSA-IS car.

My hobby has alwaysbeen cars, and finally in theearly 1980s I showed up at aShelby club track event atWillow Springs road coursein California just to see whatit was all about.

I got a wild ride aroundthe 2.5-mile road course inAlan Bolte’s ’65 Shelby 5R-101. If any of you are famil-iar with Shelbys then youknow that would have beenone of the original Shelbyrace cars.

Needless to say, at thenext event I was on the trackwith my ’65 Mustang fast-back and have been to lotsof track events since.

I have liked Merkurssince Day One and finallybought an ’88 XR4Ti streetcar in ’91. I was consideringbuilding an XR for track rac-ing, when I saw an ad forone in Atlanta in November

1996. The car was in excellent

running condition. I left a deposit and flew

home to Kansas City. Ishowed up two weeks laterwith a 24-ft. rental truck,loaded three crates of parts,spare motor, spare bodyparts, two spare sets ofwheels, the car I’d nevereven sat in, and drove home.

The car was built andraced by Bill Topping ofMaryland (and later Geor-gia). He started construc-tion in 1986 and completedit in 1988. He ran it fulltime in IMSA’s InternationalSedan series from 1988-’91.

The car is in some of thephotos in the IMSA year-books for those years. All ofthe entry/tech stickers areon the A-pillar rollcage.

The car ran in the tophalf of the pack at all the toptracks in the eastern half ofthe country and as far westas Topeka.

I started a completeground-up restoration, strip-ped and prepped every inchinside and out, full roll cage,

gauges, Accusump, fuel cell,Tilton/JFZ racing-brake sys-tem, custom shock-towercamber plates, adjustablecoilovers, custom sway bars,

Heim joints, intercooler, oilcooler, and lots of trickpieces. Weight is 2,550 lbs.

The rules were that youcould do all the suspension,

brakes and safety stuff butthe engine was supposed tobe stock.

Now that I’ve run the carfor some time and haverebuilt all necessary parts,my plan is to add horsepow-er and lower my lap times.The club stuff I do is notreally competitive racing,but, hey, you still want tokeep-up with or pass whoev-er is in front of you at least!

Really, I’m an XR4ti nut.I still just love these cars.

How I got an XRfor track racing

Photos provided by the author

IMSA racer: PeterCipolla’s XR4ti was builtby Bill Topping ofMaryland and laterGeorgia for racing inIMSA’s InternationalSedan racing series. Thecar was campaignedcompetitively for fouryears, 1988-1991.Cipolla, from Kansas City,has renovated the carcompletely and races reg-ularly in local club events.

Stickers: Note the entryand tech-inspection stick-ers still on the A-pillar rollcage brace. Cipolla’s racecar weighs in at 2,550 lbs.

How to rebuild an XR engine in your own garageBy Richard Curtis

I started this project onJune 10, 2001 with the pur-chase of an 1989 XR, 5-speed, with 121,878 show-ing on the odometer. The carwas running, but obviouslynot on all cylinders.

It also had a severe ex-haust leak; the TPS voltagewas out of range; the sparkplugs — all the wrong plugs(and they weren’t even thesame kind of plug!), werethe wrong size and were notscrewed in all the way.

The coil was barely deliv-ering a spark. The fuel injec-tors were the wrong ones(green-top injectors at 30lbs./hour instead of the cor-rect brown-top injectors at36 lb./hr).

After doing a compres-sion test (150, 150, 0, 150),we knew the head had tocome off.

Given the mileage andthe fact that this was a learn-ing experience, we decidedto remove the engine andrebuild everything.

PreparationYou’ll need a fairly com-

plete set of tools or else bor-row or rent. I’d advise a fair-ly complete set of metric soc-kets (including deep soc-kets), extensions, ratchets,pliers, screwdrivers, mag-nets-on-a-stick and combina-tion wrenches.

Air-powered tools, ofcourse, make everything eas-ier and much faster. We hadto use a cut-off tool at onepoint to remove an exhaustbolt. I found that a set ofratcheting wrenches was par-ticularly helpful (on sale for$9 at Home Depot!)

I did have to buy somesockets not normally foundin most collections: a 22mm,21mm socket, 6mm and8mm 12-point sockets and a5.5mm 6-point socket (forseparating the TPS from thethrottle body.) I also boughta cylinder ball hone, a cylin-der-ring compressor, a packof Sawzall blades, and a car-bide burr. I was fortunateenough to be able to borrowa Sawzall, a valve-springcompressor, engine hoist andengine stand.

In addition to the normalliquids/aerosols you’ll havearound such as WD40, brakeclean, engine oil, etc., you’llneed some gasket sealer.

• An engine hoist isstrongly recommended forremoving the engine. Youcould rent one of these forjust the couple of hours ittakes to remove the engineand then move the engine toan engine stand, then rentthe hoist again when it’stime to replace the engine.The engine spends little timeon the hoist.

• You will also need anengine stand. Luckily, I wasable to borrow both the hoistand the engine stand. Youcan buy an adequate enginestand for about $40 + ship-ping from various mail-

order/online sources.Renting an engine stand isn’treally an option since theengine could wind up onthe engine stand — as minedid — for up to severalweeks.

• Get a box of self-sealplastic food bags and amarking pen. As you disas-semble things, if you cannotput the screws/bolts/nutsback into the holes theycame from (recommended),put them into these bags andmark where they came from,i.e., pressure plate-to-fly-wheel, flywheel-to-crank-shaft, timing belt cover,lower intake manifold, etc.This will make reassemblingmuch, much easier. Trust meon this.

• Use masking tape and amarker pen to label variousconnections so you’ll remem-ber correctly when you rein-stall the engine (vacuumlines, electrical connections,etc.)

• You should keep largeassemblies in separate placesor in separate boxes (thingssuch as turbo-exhaust mani-fold assembly; break it downlater into smaller parts; theupper and lower intakes; in-jector rail with the injectors,etc.). Again this is to speedreassembly and make findingrelated parts much easierand quicker.

• A good, clean, welllighted place to work. Ofcourse, I know that not all ofus are blessed with a biggarage. But the better placeyou have to work, the easierthis will be. Provide as muchwork space around the carand/or engine as possible.

• You’ll need at least onework light on a long exten-sion cord and a flashlight ortwo comes in handy also.

Since the condition of thecar was largely unknown tome (despite $13,000 worthof repair receipts from theprevious owner), we

replaced all the sensors andignition system, belt, etc.

• Put the beer in the re-frigerator for afterwards,pick up the phone and callseveral of your closest Mer-kur friends to help.

Getting startedOn the first day, I spent

five hours alone disconnect-ing and removing varioussubassemblies. I neededDave Compton’s experiencedhelp when it actually cameto removing the engine andto tearing it down and put-ting it back together. But alot of the prep work can bedone easily by one person. Itried not to waste his time.

Before starting, give seri-ous consideration to washingthe engine compartment,both top AND bottom. Re-move as much grease/goop/old stuff as possible. If not,eventually you will remove itwith your hands and yourclothes. Several pairs of dis-posable gloves come inhandy,. plus a lot of handcleaner, a big supply of shoprags, and several rolls ofpaper towels.

The Smart MerkurOwner will follow the shopmanual, but here’s what Idid:

• Block the rear wheels.Set the hand brake. Put thecar on jackstands as high aspossible (you’re going to bebeneath the car a lot). Dis-connect the battery.

• Drain oil and coolant.Remove oil filter.

• If possible, get some-one to help you remove thehood (two bolts on eachside; disconnect the under-hood light and ground). Besure to scribe the bolt loca-tions for replacing andrealigning the hood.

• Disconnect all coolanthoses. Remove radiator fanafter remembering to discon-nect the electrical connec-tion. Remove radiator.

• Remove the turbo hose,throttle body, throttle linkageand upper intake. DisconnectIdle Air Control harness. Dis-connect coil wire. Disconnectwiring connector to TFI. Dis-connect ECT harness.

• Disconnect fuel linesfrom fuel rail (they are held

Shopping listTaps for chasingthreads

8m x 12.510m x 156m x 10

8m x 12.510m x 10

Ford list prices:Ranger head bolts $28.00 Timing belt 13.48Tensioner 44.78Plug wires 32.62Front crank seal 7.71Rear crank seal 7.29PCV valve 6.00BAP sensor 118.30TFI 109.58Rod bearings 32.00Main bearings 40.00

Non-Ford partsThermostat/gasket 7.00Clutch kit 195.00 Temp sender 28.45Fan sensor 50.00 Ignition coil 37.00Paint 5.00Rings, bearings, gasket

set 175Felpro head gasket 50Cam kit 289Turbo bolts, gasket 7.00Valve job 288.00Cutting flywheel 40.00Injectors (4) 200.00Ignition parts 14.00O2 sensor 33.36Spark plugs 4.00Misc. 233.00

The famous Dave Compton: was invaluable withhelp and advice. If you’ve never rebuilt an engine,you’ll need a pathfinder like Dave.

in place by small plastic clipsthat can be removed using ascrewdriver). Remove FuelPulse Damper.

• Disconnect EGR vacu-um line.

• Disconnect alternatorwiring. Remove alternator.Remove alternator bracket.

• Remove power-steeringpump. Remove power-steer-ing pump bracket. Don’t for-get the ground wire thatattaches beneath the powersteering pump bracket.

• Unbolt air conditioningcompressor and safety wireout of the way as far as thea/c line will allow you. Ifound out later that remov-ing the entire VAM/air clean-er assembly will provideeven more room.

• Remove air condition-ing compressor bracket.

• Disconnect wiring andremove starter.

• Disconnect turbo-elbow-to-downpipe (2nuts/studs) (upon reinstalla-tion, be sure to reconnectthis before installing starter.This will give you lots moreworking room.)

• While under the car,remove ALL the engine-to-bellhousing bolts. All of thesebolts save two are visible andrelatively easy to access. Thetwo top-most bellhousing-to-engine bolts, however areneither easily seen nor easilyaccessed. There might be aneasier way to do these but . ..

Dave Compton suggestsan 24” socket-wrench exten-sion from behind and overthe transmission with a uni-versal joint on its end. Hesays it works for him. Wecouldn’t make it work on thiscar.

We used a 13mm combi-nation wrench one-eighth ofa turn at a time. Whew! Youmight be advised to discon-nect the transmission at thedriveshaft and tilt theengine-transmission down-ward just to get to thesebolts. One alternative wouldbe to remove engine-bell-housing-transmission as aunit, if that’s possible or ifyou’re going to remove thetransmission anyhow.Reinstalling these two topbolts are even more of apain. Eventually, I even re-moved the heater controlvalve for just a bit more

room.• Disconnect vacuum

lines from boost control sole-noid.

• Disconnect hose fromVAM to turbo.

• Remove all coolanthoses/lines.

• Removing the air filterhousing will provide moreworking room.

• Remove engine mounttop nuts.

• Support engine withfloor jack or hook up to en-gine hoist.

• Support transmissionwith a jack or jackstand.

• Hook up engine hoist.We hooked one hook intothe bottom of the downpipeelbow and the other to theengine hoist point on thecylinder head near the tim-ing belt.

• Remove three bolts oneach side that connect the

engine mounts to the enginemount brackets on each sideof the engine block.

• Separate engine fromthe bellhousing. This willinvolve a lot of hoisting, tug-ging, shoving, pulling, etc.,until the engine is free of thebellhousing.

• Gently hoist the engineup and out of the engine bay.Be careful of the a/c com-pressor, other wires, vacuumlines, etc. This is where sev-eral friends come in REALhandy.

• Once clear, separate theclutch/pressure plate fromthe flywheel. Then removethe flywheel. Remove allthese bolts in the same pat-tern that you will use toretorque them upon reinstal-lation, especially the pressureplate bolts if you plan toreuse the pressureplate/clutch.

Be sure to keep thesebolts separate from all oth-ers; put them in a clearlylabeled bag, one for the fly-wheel and one for the pres-sure plate.

• You can now bolt theengine to the engine stand.

Removing majorsubassemblies:

• Remove the lowerintake (6 bolts). If you’regoing to replace the injec-tors, first remove the two10mm bolts that secure thefuel rail to the lower intakemanifold. You simply pull theinjectors out; they’re held inby O-rings. If your injectorsare leaking, it’s most likelyfrom bad O-rings.

• Remove exhaust mani-fold/turbo support bracket.Remove exhaust manifold/turbo (8 bolts). Be sure tolabel all parts/bolts.

• Remove oil-filter adap-tor and oil cooler. Keep partstogether in a baggie.

• Remove crank pulley,timing belt cover, tensioner,timing belt, inner timing beltcover. See shop manual forinstructions. Keep all theseparts together (even better,put all bolts back into theholes they came out of)(later, you’ll want to chaseall bolt holes with a tap toclean them out).

• Remove valve coverand inspect the gasket todetermine if you can reuse it.A new one comes with aDetroit Gasket engine-gasketset; so does a new cylinderhead gasket. I, however,used a FelPro cylinder headgasket.

• Remove cylinder head(you’ll need a 12-pt. 13mmsocket for this). Removethem in the proper sequence.

• Check for damage tovalves, valve train, cylinders.We found two burned valvesbut no cracks.

At this point, we couldhave fixed the valve problemand reinstalled everything.Actually, we could’veremoved the cylinder headwithout removing theengine.

• Remove oil pan.Remove oil pump (you’llneed the 6mm 12-pt. socketfor this). It’s the only placeon the engine that you’llneed this socket but nothingelse will do. Trust me on this.

• Remove pistons by re-moving rod bolts/nuts. Becareful not to touch thecrank journals with the rodbolts. In fact, place a piece ofrubber or vinyl tubing on therod bolts to prevent this.

• Check condition ofrings (we replaced all rings;it’s cheap at this point). Pis-tons were still tight in theirbores.

• Remove main bearingcaps. Inspect main bearings/journals for damage or signsof heat/friction. Mine hadvery little sign of wear out-side of what might be con-sidered normal. Luckily, wefound the cylinders to be inexcellent condition (no ridgeat top of cylinders, someslight hone marks still evi-dent, no blueing anywhere,no signs of excessive heat, noexcessive wear noted on thebearings). Now remove thecrank and inspect it closely.

Clutch instructions• For reference, the new clutch friction surface was0.322” thick; the old friction surface was 0.287”.• The notice that came with the clutch offered this:“Ford has used an aluminum bearing retainer on manypassenger car applications. The aluminum bearingretainer is prone to severe wear and will result inerratic clutch action including hard pedal, no releaseand chatter at take off. Ford recommends that thebearing retainer be replaced at the same time theclutch is replaced. Failure to change the bearingretainer may void your warranty.”

Cylinder-head bolt instructions—These instructions came with Ford’s with cylinder-head bolts: “Install cylinder-head bolts in sequence pershop manual. Tighten in sequence to 70 N-m (51 lb-ft). Retighten in sequence to 70 N-m (51 lb-ft). Turnall cylinder bolts an additional 90-100 degrees insequence.”

Instructions These are the instructions that came with my rebuilthead:• Consult a reputable repair manual.• Clean thoroughly and check all mating surfaces forwarpage.• Check all bolt, studs, holes and threads — clean andreplace as necessary.• Check all freeze plugs, cover plates, temp senders,etc. — replace as necessary.• Overhead cam engines — set cam timing beforeinstalling unit to avoid bending or damaging valves.• Torque all heads, manifolds, etc. to specs, usingproper sequence in three stages. Retorque after warm-up, if necessary.

Crankshaft install procedures:• Clean shaft, oil passages in shaft, block and allengine components.• Compare tag shaft size with bearing sizes stampedon back side of bearings.• Check main bearing saddle bores & connecting rodbores for size, roundness and misalignment. Align boreif necessary.• Examine all journals for nicks & burrs.• Check front pulley & compare with crankshaft pulleyhub. Compare crankshaft flange with flywheel and/orpilot shaft to determine correct match (on exchangeunits).• Install main bearings. Observe proper oil hole &locking lip location.• Prelubricate all bearings, install shaft, torque bolts tospecs & check end thrust.• Check oil clearance. Crankshaft must rotate freely.• Install bearings in connecting rods. Do not strikecrankshaft journals with connecting rod bolts.• Check oil clearance. Rotate engine & check con rodsfor free side clearance.• Oil prime engine before starting.• Check flywheel and flywheel housing installation forproper alignment.• Replace oil cooler element if engine has had a metalfailure.

Several knowledgeablemechanics told me thatMerkur XRs have stout bot-tom ends and rarely needwork beyond just replacingbearings, if that.

Cylinder head work:The head we removed

had several problems. Oneburned intake valve, oneburned exhaust valve. Themachine shop checked forcracks then did a three-anglevalve job, replaced the valveseats, seals and guides. Theyalso replaced the two burnedvalves and installed new cambearings and cam seals.

• We installed DaveCompton’s Hot Street II camalong with dual springs andnew followers. Follow thedirections that come with thecam and be careful not tonick the new bearings.

Porting• Compton ported my ex-

haust manifold. I had neverdone any work like that butin watching him, I think Icould do it myself next time.He spent a lot of time on theNo. 4 exhaust port and thedifference is visible andremarkable. You need severalcarbide burrs, at least one ofthem with a long shank.This took about 90 minutes.

I gutted the upper intakeusing a Sawzall with a longblade to cut away the web-bing (about 20 minutes),then smoothing off theremaining ridges with a car-bide burr (several hours).Tip: Keep a saucer of dish-washing detergent-water mixnearby and dip the burr intoit for lubrication and to pre-vent the burr from clogging.I also knife-edged the lowerintake.

Clean the exhaust/intakemanifolds thoroughly afterall the porting; you don’twant any metal particlesinside your new engine.

We also honed the cylin-ders, following advice bymaster mechanic DavePlanakis. I bought a “dingle-berry” hone for $65. UsingMarvel Mystery Oil in aspray bottle (you can useother lubricants), I coatedthe hone with the oil andusing a 18v portable drilland turning the hone at afair clip, I rapidly went upand down each cylinder with

the hone. Planakis says youmust go quickly (the up-and-down part) in order toachieve a 45-degree hatch-mark pattern.

While the engine is torndown is a good time to re-paint items. It only takes afew minutes and a couple ofbucks for spray paint. Theresult is that the engine lookslike new.

ReassemblyNow is not the time to

get lazy. Don’t leave out anysteps. Bolt up everything cor-rectly.

Buy the requisite tapsand dies and clean all thethreads, especially the cylin-der-head bolt threads. Thiswill yield more accuratetorque readings and, ulti-mately, a stronger engine.

Then either take theblock to a machine shop andhave it cleaned professional-ly, or take it outside with abucket of hot, sudsy water, acollection of brushes includ-ing bottle brushes, and cleaneverything thoroughly. Thendo it again. And again. Afteryou're convinced that theblock is clean enough to eatoff of, blow it off with com-pressed air and then coat itimmediately with WD40 toinhibit rust.

On reassembling the en-gine, follow the shop manu-al; it will be difficult to gowrong.

Thoroughly oil the bores,pistons, rings, bearings, etc.before reassembly. Follow theshop manual’s specifications.

When reinstalling the

exhaust manifold, be sure tostart all the bolts beforestarting to tighten them. Youwill swear the exhaust mani-fold has shrunk and that theholes won’t line up. But theywill. Install turbo, etc.

Now is a good time toclean the EGR valve pintleand passageways in theupper intake manifold. Minewas clogged solidly. Do nottake the EGR valve itself offits mount (those three littlescrews are tempting); thoselittle screws are almostimpossible to get back in.

Install a new PCV valve.Be careful in reassem-

bling the fuel rail. Moistenthe O-rings on the injectorsbefore reassembly.

After the engine is com-pleted, and before youremove it from the hoist(duh!), bolt on your newlyresurfaced flywheel (be sureto use the right bolts), andthen using the clutch toolthat came with your newclutch kit, bolt on the clutchand pressure plate (againusing the correct bolts).

Don’t forget to install anew pilot bearing in the endof the crankshaft and a newclutch release bearing in thebellhousing.

The engine should nowbe ready to drop in.

Installing the engine wasa lot easier than taking itout, but still no walk in thepark. It took a couple of triesto get the engine to mate upwith the bellhousing.

While the engine is stillon the hoist but in the en-gine compartment married

to the bellhousing, you’llneed to attach the enginemount “ears” and bolt themto the block. Install themotor mounts but don’ttighten them all the way(leave the top nut only a lit-tle tight). (After cam breakin,drive the car around theblock a couple of times —lefts and rights — and let theengine find its natural centeron the mounts. Then torquedown the nuts.)

But first, let’s bolt in theengine. Be sure you’ve re-placed all the bellhousing-to-block bolts, and attached theengine brace that hangs be-neath the oil filter. I wouldsave replacing the oil filterfor almost last. It gets in theway of a couple of bellhous-ing bolts, and it’s easier tohook up the engine-fan tempsensor with the filter not inthe way. The two top-mostbellhousing bolts are simplydifficult.

Now it’s just a matter ofhooking up everything . . .Again, follow directions inthe shop manual.

Here’s one tip: Be sure toinstall the turbo-elbow-to-downpipe bolts BEFOREbolting on the starter. Thebolts will be more accessible.

Recognizing that my XRhad at least 121,000 mileson it, I’m sure I saved a lot oftrouble later by replacing allthe sensors and filters. Anew TPS, ECT, purple-ringsensor, engine cooling-fansensor, PCV valve, O2 sensor,Barometric Air Pressure sen-sor, plus a thorough cleaningof the EGR valve, the Idle Air

Control valve and the throt-tle body. I also installed anew thermostat, air and fuelfilters plus a new coil. Thecoolant hoses were almostnew as was the radiator. Ialso flushed and refilled thepower steering fluid, brakefluid and transmission fluid.

StartupFirst fill the oil filter and

install it. Then fill the enginewith 4 quarts of petroleum-based oil. Synthetic oil isNOT advised for breakin.

Before cranking theengine, remove the distribu-tor, and using a long exten-sion with an 8mm socket onthe end and a power drill onthe other end, spin the oilpump until oil shoots out thehole and gets all over every-thing. Actually, you shouldjust spin it a few revolutionsuntil the oil pump is primedand oil is distributedthroughout.

Reinstall the distributorand rotate it enough untilthe rotor is pointing roughlyat Number One (roughly 4p.m. as you look at the topof the distributor). Leavethe distributor hold-downbolt about finger tight; you’llbe setting the timing eventu-ally and you can tighten itdown then.

Before cranking the car,check the TPS voltage (set itbetween 0.90-1.0 volts).

Once cranked, unlessyou’ve installed a roller cam,you need to get the rpms to2,000 quickly and run theengine for 20 minutes. Beprepared for a lot — repeat,a LOT — of smoke as youburn off various liquids, oil,manifold dressings, etc. After20 minutes, change the oiland filter. This will clean theengine of any grit and otherbad things you might haveleft in the engine.

Drive the car gently forthe first 600 miles varyingthe speed. Keep rpms below3,000 during this first 600miles. Then change oil andfilter again. Retorque thebolts you can reach and thehead bolts.

Check all nuts and bolts,hose connections, belt ten-sions, engine mounts, fluidlevels, etc., often during thebreak-in period.

My new engine runsgreat. Hope this helps you.

Reinstalled and running: Rebuild took about 80 hours of time and cost about$1,600 not counting almost all the labor. Exhaust and intake manifolds were port-ed. Next: an intercooler, big VAM, LA3 computer and 3” downpipe.

An MCA interview withRyan Mattson.

What did you hope toachieve with the "dyno run”at Carlisle in 2001?

I decided it was time I putmy car up on the dyno. I haddebated doing it every yearI’ve gone. This year I hadmore mods than I’ve everhad. On the way to Carlislethough the car felt wrong, it’sfelt off all year. I had an oilleak begin on the drive toCarlisle, 4th gear power (highrpms) felt WAY low the wholedrive.

Saturday morning I signedup for the dyno. I aimed lowwith my power expectations. Iwas hoping to make some-where around 220 hp and260 lb.-ft. of torque.

As we put the car on therollers the guy that runs thedyno test asked me what Ithought it would make andall I said was “It better makemore then that last guy.” Theprevious car was a late ’70sV8 Mustang that made 195hp. I had a pretty bad feelingabout how things were goingto go. Even with my lowexpectations my first runshowed only 200 hp and 130lb.-ft. of torque. The next tworuns were both worse.

Looking at the power andair/fuel curves I could seethat power peaked about3200 rpm and was level until4000 then it fell off. The air-fuel ratio started real lean andthen fell just slightly wherethe power is made, then getsricher and richer as the powerdrops.

What caused your prob-lems?

The power problems on thedyno and driving to Carlislewere all due to my own un-der-education with the EECTuner. Probably the most cru-cial part of using the Tuner isknowing how to load files/modifications correctly. Nowwith the Tuner loaded correct-ly I have an ever-nagging pin-ging/ detonation problem.I’ve had this problem for thelast year and a half. I “band-aided” it last year by justbacking off the timing.

When the problem began

still eludes me. I’ve gone overand over it. Next to every-thing is new on the motor asfar as electrical stuff goes.

My current plans to fix thepinging is to get new higher-flow injectors. My mod list byall means should not requireinjectors but these injectorsare stock and are also a mixand match from differentparts cars. I won’t know if itworks till next spring.

Since Carlisle I have driventhe car twice. I parked it assoon as I got home because ofthe oil leak. The front mainseal was SHOT and at thesame time it looked like theoil pan was leaking so Ireplaced that.

Took it for a drive abouttwo weeks later and then theoil pan was leaking at theback and my oil pressure wassuddenly lower.

I parked the car again anddecided it was a good time todo a block rebuild. So untilrecently the engine was out

and totally apart. The current plan to comple-

tion is a new lightened andknife-edged crank, new bear-ings and new rings.

The block has zero ringwear so nothing major isneeded. I also plan to put in anew oil pump and pickup, aswell as seals and gaskets.

I have a Race Engineeringround-tooth timing belt toinstall as well. Then as I saidnew injectors.

What intercooler do yourun?

I originally purchased aModern Performance inter-cooler kit. I wasn’t all thatfond of the configuration ofthat kit though, so after a lit-tle over a year I decided toconvert it to my own setup.

About the only thing I keptwas the core and bypassvalve. I went to a local radia-tor shop with my stock radia-tor and the intercooler andtold them what I wanted was

a radiator the same width asstock but short by the size ofthe intercooler.

They recommended usingbrass over aluminum andgoing with four rows approxi-mately 1/2” thicker.

Total cost was (eeep!) $500but now my intercooler is upout of the way, RS500 style(mounted above the radia-tor).

Initially we were not certainthat this little radiator wouldbe able to keep the systemcool but actually it’s doing atleast as good a job as thestock unit; temps are usuallysteady at 190°.

Do you run the stock com-puter?

At present I have a PK1 EECin the car with the EEC Tunerinstalled in it. Installing thetuner into the EEC is a pieceof cake when you use thePK1. Just pop some screws,remove the shielding, dropthe board in and connect the

ribbon cable. Then reinstallthe shield and screws. Expectto learn a few things whengetting familiar with thetuner.

Suspension modifications?My XR has ARE Spyder

wheels with Yokohama Par-ada 205/45-16 tires.,Sachs/Boge turbo gas shocksand Spax 25mm springs, andCosworth 28mm front and16mm rear sway bars withPowerflex bushings every-where. I made upper stiffen-ing braces.

How long have youowned your XR?

My XR is the first car I’veowned. I’ve had it for almosteight years now.

I went out looking for newcars with my dad who waslooking for an Escort. Wespotted the XR4Ti on the sideof the road actually thinkingit WAS an Escort or the oldEXP.

Once we got up next to itwe had to drive it. The XRhad this strange attractionwith the bi-wing and threewindows down each side.

Coincidentally, a fewmonths ago I had a guy pullup next to me in the drive-through at the bank. Hewanted to know if I wanted aspare XR engine.

We pulled over to the sideand talked a little about thisengine he had and he gaveme his card. That’s when I re-alized that this is the guy weoriginally bought the carfrom. I said “Hey, recognizethis car? I bought it fromyou.” He was amazed at thechanges it had undergone.

Personal dataI’m, 23 and live in Roths-

child, Wisc. I own three Mer-kurs. I owned another XR thatI bought, fixed, drove for awinter and then sold so that Icould purchase a Scorpio. Iplan to drop in a 5.0 V8 and,very likely, twin turbos.

Ryan Mattson is the listadministrator for theInternational Merkur OwnersNetwork. He can be reachedat:

rmattson@merkur23.comwww.merkurdesktop.com

XR owner interview: Ryan Mattson

Back in the hotel parking lot: Ryan Mattson’s XR after his three runs on theCarlisle Fairgrounds show field dyno.

FIRST CLASSPOSTAGE

GOES HERE

WRC replica (above) by Stuart Matthews(see engine photo on Page 2), featuringEuro headlights, Cossie grille, hood vents,distinctive paint scheme.

Stripped interior (right) in MohammedSaoik’s XR. Note extra gauges, white gaugefaces, matching red custom steering wheel,four-point seatbelt harnesses.

Screaming yellow paint is an attention grabber, as are clear tail-light lenses and a huge 3” exhaust plus the RS500 rear wing. Boththe fairgrounds and the hotel parking lot were great places to seecustom Merkurs up close and personal.

Four round headlights are another option for improved lighting. Notethe custom-made Cossie-style grille on Brad Anesi’s XR.

MERKUR CLUB OF AMERICAc/o Richard Curtis6032 Makely Drive

Fairfax Station, Va. 22039