I picked this up today as another hobby. The guy rebuilt the head and thought it had a rod knocking. I listened to it and think he put the head back together wrong and panicked. He never even put the radiator back in so he didnt even run it long enough to pump up the tappets. I'm not sure what turbo that is though. It even comes with a spare motor/trans and 2 factory service manuals. It's ugly but I only bought it to flip it.
couple more
Hey I actually like it
Congrats, Phill and enjoy your new ride dude. :headbang:
That's the stock T3 .60/.48 turbo...
Those are the sweetest 2.3T cars EVAR.
I have always wanted an XR4Ti, but I tend to shy away from the turbo 2.3 after owning one.
Wear your seat belt when you do that.
this car is sooo light, i cant wait to drive it. it's even got an independent rear. the t-9 thing is weird, the reverse is opposite the t-5.
Rear ends and T9's don't hold up well to much abuse. You can convert it to a T5, and I heard somewhere its possible to use one of the older supra rears in them.
Always thought they were neat little cars myself.
BTW, what the hells wrong with the 2.3T?
Nothin' if they're decent...but they kind of sour on you if they have a ton of probs.
But that's just a general statement, I'm sure he has good reason to dislike 'em ;)
Always wanted one. Secretly I want to make an XR8Ti.
If you like different, then this is it. They only made 2200 or so. Car and Driver revoked it's 89 car of the year title this year, but nobody reads that stupid mag anyway.
I'm sure his main problem with them is getting repeatedly beaten by them. :poke::hick:
That engine was, by a very wide margin, the most finicky and maintenance-intensive engine I have ever worked on.
The thing ran smoothly maybe 5% of the time. When it ran well, I'd get into it and something else would break. I think I turned every single bolt in that engine bay before I sold the car. Finally, it really didn't move the car all that well.
I knew my way around that engine, too.
For me, it was fun for about a month or two. Then it just became an unreliable burden.
Nice Merkur, though.
Uh...no... Try about 45,000 from 85-89.
There were only about 28,000 of the Scorpios brought over in the 2 years of their run.
Not really. I agree with cougarcragar. Been there, done that.
I also agree to an extent, I have learned to speak 2.3t pretty well.
[HTML]Uh...no... Try about 45,000 from 85-89.[/HTML]
Uh...yes. Now granted I didnt specify my 89 but this is from Hemmings. Add in the manual and it's even less.
http://www.hemmings.com/hsx/stories/2008/08/01/hmn_feature24.html
"All of the good press, whether it was later rescinded or not, helped the XR4Ti get off to a strong start: nearly 26,000 units in its first two years in the States. Those numbers came close to Ford's intended sales goals of 15,000 units per year. Only the most minor physical changes came--changing wheels, the biplane rear spoiler, and painting the lower cladding to match the body--and sales started to droop: 7,300 in 1987, fewer than 6,300 in 1988, and less than half that number in 1989. A total of 42,464 XR4Tis made it across the ocean from 1985 to 1989."
Uh, yeah. I've been around the Merkur scene for a while, I know the numbers.
Nice. A friend of mine once had an '85 xr4ti. Hellaciously fast car, though you need to watch the temp. His always ran hot (could make the exhaust manifolds glow cherry red), and his tranny caught fire a couple of times. Of course, he always drove it to its limit and he used to grenade turbos every once in a while.
I have TARBO FEVAR again.
If I beat on it I could do that with my '84 TC, too.... yeah... Tarbo Fevar!!!11
If you know the numbers, then why be condescending when 2200 was near enough correct?
Anyway, thanks for the responses. Those guys have some hellacious 2.3T's over at the Mercur club if anyone's interested. They have some stuff i havent seen here.
http://forum.merkurclub.com/forum/
You didn't clarify your initial statement with a model year, thus the "correction" of the production numbers. There's SOOO much mis-information floating around about these cars that there is no need to add to it.
The 89's are the oddball year. They have a slightly different cooling system layout, which makes it harder to find some parts (hoses, etc).
I am trying to read up on them and it's pretty amazing that only 800 dealers signed up to sell them. Check out this dude's 2.3T...
http://www.key-ideas.com/DG_KurTwo.htm
I had a '88 & the best part is, I sold it...
Godfrey is running a TT 3.0 Duratech in his car now IIRC.
Only 800 dealers signed up to sell them because Ford mis-marketed the brand and tried to sell them through L-M dealerships. Then they never supported them.
Had they been built "properly", instead of how they were built (read: So as to not upstage their retarded cousin, the 5.0 Mustang), they would have run rings around the Mustangs. The Scorpio (Granada overseas) was by far and away a better car than the Taurus ever was.
The more i read, the more i dont understand why Ford does stupid things like that. Take the Focus. I drove a Euro focus and loved it so i bought an American version and it was the biggest POS i've ever owned. Imagine if Ford brought Cosworth over here to pimp up their line-up. They'd put Saleen and Rousch to shame i bet.
BTW i wonder what he did with that intake...Hmmmm.
I was always more impressed with my buddy's Scorpio than even my 91 SHO. Sure my SHO was fast but the Merkur was quick enough in it's own respect and looked different while doing it. There is a guy who lives in my town that has a Scorpio on one side of town and a woman with an XR4Ti on the other, and I live in a small town so that suprises me.
The Scorpios could have used a better powerplant (even though I like the Cologne engines).
Imagine a "domestic" SHO based on the Scorpio(which is also RWD) instead of the Taurus. It would have literally SQUASHED the Mustang. They had a "Cosworth" Scorpio in Europe/UK around the time of the Gen 1 SHO. It was a DOHC Cologne-based engine.
As a side note, the XR4ti program and the racing was what birthed the Sierra Cosworths. Late 80's there was nothing that could touch a Cosworth in the Touring Car arena.
I had heard of Cosworth Scorpios but never really knew much about them. Merkurs really interest me, I have wanted one for so darn long. You know there is a guy who made a SHO 3.2 t-5 combo in his XR4Ti, I saw a few photos a few years back. I'll have to see if I can dig up a pic somewhere.
this one will be up for sale soon;)
Unfortunately as much as I want one, I have my Cougar to finish or at least get running and I have about a million "special interest" cars I have always wanted and the world is full of temptations. I think I will have to pass on this one.
i hear ya...i dont even have it home yet! who knows, i may end up liking it so much i'll turn it into my DD.
I have always been turned off by the rear window situation of the car. But black and tinted it looks better. I do like them, dont know much about them other than 2.3t and they are odd balls.
Chuck do you have any pics of your Scorpio? I remember seeing pics once or twice but it was a while ago.
No kidding, lets see some Merkur love up in here!
i will get some more pics up on Saturday. Chuck, do Mercur's share the same wheel bolt pattern as our t-bird's? I have some extra snowflakes that i can put on to see what they look like.
The XR4's stare the same bolt pattern with the 4-lug Fox cars. People have used the Fox wheels with appropriately shorter tires on the XRs.
OK...just a couple recent pics (after replacing the bent up pass fender)
(http://www.turbochuck.com/images/ScorpioV2/5_4_09_4.jpg)
(http://www.turbochuck.com/images/ScorpioV2/5_4_09_2.jpg)
Chuck, did you do something to the front end on your car? The headlights look odd.
Gotcha! Looks awesome.
Chuck,
I found the turn signal indicators in the front fenders interesting... was that standard? It was a mandatory mod when you imported an American car to England.
Those are found on the euro/UK cars. I added them recently while I was replacing the pass fender.
I didnt think you still had it. I have come across 2 or 3 in the yards by me. Mostly complete too. Since I dont know too much about them and what is worth looking for I never pay too much attention to them.