Got the Merkur....here's pics

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They were originally a Ford Sierra Cosworth over in Europe, but in '85 (the same guy who designed and put together the first SVO, also the Turbo/Super Coupe Tbirds) brought them over here and marketed them under the name Merkur (German for Mercury). It's a Merkur XR4Ti, and basically the same engine as the SVO/Turbo Coupes, it has a T-9 5 speed (similar to the T5, only a little weaker, and reverse is up and to the left of 1st), and it's got an IRS/RWD car which really sets it apart from the SVO/SC. They were made from '85 through '89 here but i believe also a '90 was made in Europe. My car has a manual in the glove box that says it weights a tad over 2900lbs dry weight, so they're relatively light and with the IRS they handle like they're on rails. At their time of production they were in the same performance/quality class as the BMW 3 series and some other Volvos/Audis/Saabs and other German luxocoupes. The engine is rated at (if i remember right) 170hp, but i don't recall torque specs. The automatics were set at 10psi and the 5 speeds were set at 12psi after 4k RPM.

Oh how I wish we got the DOHC turbo Cosworth motor in these cars stateside...
 
I'm going to a guy's house today who paints cars...i'm gonna see about having him do a good high speed buff job on it and he's going to give me a hand installing a manual boost controller. So, by the time i post in here again, it'll probably be on about 18psi I'd run more but it is my DD...lol

think again homie, you have NO ic, 18 psi on a svo with an ic and its going to ping a little, I telling ya its going to pop a hg, with that much boost and no ic. the first thing to do is put a ic on it, at the least a turbo coupe unit, then add some boost, go up in little increments not 10psi at a time!!! im just warning you.
 
Wow ... never knew all of that about Merkurs before. I always just assumed that they were the same as Saabs or something - FWD and whatnot. Kinda makes me wish I'd taken a closer look at the ones I'd seen drifting through the Craigslist ads in the past few months...

Good catch, man. :nice:
 
Just wait until you get to go to the parts store asking for **** for these cars...The people there usually give you a "wtf" look or they think you said Mercury.

The engine can take lots of abuse....just get rid of the stock tranny as quick as you can because it's a POS.
 
Oh how I wish we got the DOHC turbo Cosworth motor in these cars stateside...

Oh tell me about it....but i've read that a DOHC head from a certain Volvo will bolt on....but that's way too extreme for me right now.

think again homie, you have NO ic, 18 psi on a svo with an ic and its going to ping a little, I telling ya its going to pop a hg, with that much boost and no ic. the first thing to do is put a ic on it, at the least a turbo coupe unit, then add some boost, go up in little increments not 10psi at a time!!! im just warning you.

Yeah definitely, i actually put off on the MBC today for that very reason. Like i said it's gotta be reliable before it's fast so the intercooler is first. Now i have to find one and figure out how i'm going to plumb it.

Just wait until you get to go to the parts store asking for **** for these cars...The people there usually give you a "wtf" look or they think you said Mercury.

Yeah, been there twice already. I'm putting a new clutch in it because it's slipping a little, and i had to order it but they did get it in over night. It'll be ok until something specific to the CAR itself needs replaced....i'm pretty confident i can find parts for the engine pretty easily since they were used in other cars.

The engine can take lots of abuse....just get rid of the stock tranny as quick as you can because it's a POS.

Yeah i've been reading that 500-700hp isn't unheard of on the stock block, but that's way out of my league. As for the trany i'm fine with it...i've got some T5 hook-ups so i'll drive it until it pops. Don't fix what ain't broke ya know? Besides i don't plan on any clutch drops or anything like that...i'm more worried about busting out the IRS than anything.
 
I blew a diff and a T9 in mine :D

And I was only running low 15's @ 88mph getting low 2.2 60' times (which isn't bad I guess for an open diff). That's how crappy they are.



Yeah i'm really worried about the diff.....but unless i find a limited slip unit here in the states and get it for a decent price, i probably won't mess with it unless i have to. Shipping alone from Europe is about as much as i paid for the car!
 
jeff(7t9cobra) bought a merkur and pulled the motor for his 79 cobra, if you need any spare(cheap) driveline parts shoot him a PM, it's at the junkyard now but he has full access to the car at no charge(he already bought the car), Hope this helps and nice merkur! BTW i dont know if it was LSD or not, but i think it was(he never drove it), it's also a 5spd

~Mark~