Merkur turbo

[Kerry K]

My 17 year old son wants to buy a Merkur turbo. (wants me to buy for him!!) I know almost nothing about these cars other than they have a 2.3 liter ford engine. Anybody know anything about these cars. I don't want to but this thing and have to send to germany to find parts.

[85lebaront2]

I believe that the 2.3 liter engine in the Merkur is a pushrod engine and is not the same as the 2.3 liter OHC used in Mustangs, T-birds and Rangers (originally found in Pintos). Do some checking as parts may indeed be an issue. It is a nice, fast car though. My then 16 year old son fell in love with a 1965 Corvair Corsa, at least parts where/are available pretty easily for it.

[JeremyL]

The 2.3 Merkur is basically the same as the one in the Mustangs, Turbo Coupes, ect. With a few mods they are pretty quick.

[afsautoworx]

The Merkurs had hydraulic lifters not pushrods. engines had 175hp(manual tranny), 145hp(auto) and 195lb torque(manual), 180lb torque(auto). Ford 2.3 motors are very strong. One of my friends had a Merkur XR4Ti and we did a bunch of research on them, some guys out there are making 600whp on stock bottom end! I wouldnt worry about getting parts for the drivetrain its the rest of the car id be concerned with.

[justafor]

Ahhh, someone after my same project I see, from what I read/ learn, very doable with the same money spent on our TD's. How can you turn down a fairly powerfull motor and still take the kids to school. And yes, nothing better than about 300whp in an empty school parking lot with no kids around.

[DOG-DID-IT]

My first post....I'm such a Virgin!:whip:

I use to have a 1987 Merkur XR4TI untill I sold it over a year ago to make room for my 87 Shelby Charger GLHS. I know all about the Merkurs and I probably buy another one down the road. Merkurs are rear wheeled drive vehicles!

Here is some info for you :thumb:

1. Replace transmission with a Mustang T-5

2. Replace rubber drive shaft doughnut or have a custom one piece drive shaft made

3. Merkur dash boards are known for cracking and trying to find one thats not good luck!

4. Coolant bottle leaks

5. Because the AC hose goes directly over the turbo/exhaust manifold it usually has a hole in it and coolant leaked out...Hummmm how do I know about this :rolleyes:

6. Rear tailights gasket is most likely cracked and leaks water into the spare tire wheel well.

7. Parts are hard to find and usually when you find one at your local junk yard it's stripped to the bone...but parts do show up on Ebay!


With the right set up you can produce from 200 to 500hp


Links:

http://www.merkurdesktop.com/desktop.php
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The Guru on these cars: David Godfrey

Check out the Duratech 3.0 V6 engine KurTwo2 Project that he's been working on putting in his Merkur for the past 3yrs.

http://www.key-ideas.com/DavidGodfreyPage.htm

http://www.merkurtech.com/merkurtech/picturepages/main.php
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Merkur 2.3 with 16 valve volvo head!

http://www.merkurtech.com/merkurtech/techarticles/item045.php

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/150867/6
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Merkur with a Mustang 5.0 engine.

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/407298/2
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http://www.merkurtech.com/merkurtech/picturepages/main.php

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/367859/1

http://projecthp.ford23.com/stingerperformance.html

http://www.wilcoxengines.demon.co.uk/cosy.yb.htm


Hope this information helps you out!

[TrrboJeep]

I piroted my turbo off of a Merkur! :nod: (with a bad tranny) The Mustang T-5 swap was a common upgrade on these cars.
The post above pretty much says it all. The Ford 2.3L is a jewel... OHC setup, cross flow head, lots of aftermarket support. Pretty easy to get 250-300 hp out of one. :thumb:

[Kerry K]

OK guys, Just bought the Merkur! For $150.00. Runs and drives ok. New tires Turbo in good shape was making 12psi no smoke. Desperatly needs timing belt and power steering pump has blown seals. I see a t-5 swap in the near future as the tranny kinda groans in first gear. The main reason I decided to buy this car is that it has a spearco front mount intercooler. Sorry son, Thats going on the Lebaron. He will have to make due with my old Saab intercooler

[TrrboJeep]

Good score on the Sperco. :lol:
That was a heck of a buy actually. I hope after a few mods to the Merkur, he doesn't show you tailights! :faint:

[Kerry K]

Unfortunatley I am used to seeing my oldest sons taillights. He is a Saab mechanic and owns a 900SPC that runs low 12's. Hopefully the spearco will help close the gap.lol

[DOG-DID-IT]

Unfortunatley I am used to seeing my oldest sons taillights. He is a Saab mechanic and owns a 900SPC that runs low 12's. Hopefully the spearco will help close the gap.lol

$150.00 ....Nice Find!

What year & color is it?

Dashed is cracked up corrcet? LOL

Once you invest some money into the Merkur you will blow his doors off!

These cars are sooo easy to work on!!!!

Ahhhhhh....I miss my 1987 Black Merkur XR4TI....:(

[DOG-DID-IT]

Here is a link to venders of Merkurs that has been selling parts for these cars for years.


Opmd an excellent source for Merkur parts and upgrades

http://www.opmd.com/


BAT is an excellent source for Merkur parts and upgrades.

http://www.batinc.net/merkur.htm


Esslinger Engineering

http://www.esslingerracing.com


RAPIDO - YOUR MERKUR XR4Ti AND SCORPIO SPECIALISTS SINCE 1985

http://www.rapidogroup.com
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The Merkur Information Center

http://members.aol.com/mc2racing/

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T-5 Info:

http://www.merkurencyclopedia.com/
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Here is the Fast & Furious European: SIERRA COSWORTH RS500 :D

http://www.rsownersclub.co.uk/car_info/Serrs500.htm

http://www.motorbase.com/vehicle/by-id/-787306169

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/237931/2

http://www.wrc-cosworth.org/tech/tuning/tuning.html

http://www.cosworth.com

BTW...You can buy the Sierra Cosworth Body Kit/Wing $$$ or Replica parts!
and they also pop up on Ebay!

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Sapphire RS Cosworth 4WD:

http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/7389/

http://members.cox.net/schaff70/cosworth.htm



Enjoy :thumb:

[87 charger]

I don't know a lot about those motors.I can tell you this ford book I got here at my house says they used the same forged rod as a 302 boss motor with 3/8 inch rod bolts and they are really tough motors.This guy at our local track had a svo turbo stang and he ran 8.70s with nothing other than cranking the boost up.I can see them being worthy motors to play with.

[5sp. mini]

old guy came in at work with a clean one this week to air up his tires he does not drive it much. sweat car .but a auto and he has unhooked the waste gate said his wife was to scared to ride in it, AL

[turbo xtc]

would one of these engines work in a ranger?

[DOG-DID-IT]

Yahoo & Google is your best friend :thumb:

Yes the 2.3 will work in a Ford Ranger.

http://www.fordforums.com/forumdisplay.php?f=279&daysprune=365&order=asc&sort=title

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ford23t-dp/

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/375939

http://www.cs.colostate.edu/~tiemesse/home.html

http://www.davecompton.com/Listservers/23turborec.htm

[Mom'sTurboVan]

OK guys, Just bought the Merkur! For $150.00. Runs and drives ok. New tires Turbo in good shape was making 12psi no smoke. Desperatly needs timing belt and power steering pump has blown seals. I see a t-5 swap in the near future as the tranny kinda groans in first gear. The main reason I decided to buy this car is that it has a spearco front mount intercooler. Sorry son, Thats going on the Lebaron. He will have to make due with my old Saab intercooler
congrats! you bought a great car for an outstanding price. i know a great deal about 2.3T Ford motors. parts are readily available. put a T-5 in for sure. swap info can be found here http://www.stinger-performance.com/howto.html i dont think turbo coupes and mustang tranny swaps are too different from Merkur xr4ti's. http://www.stinger-performance.com/ is a great resource. no web page is better than http://www.turboford.net/index.shtml register on the techboard! also check cardomain for xr4ti's. if youre interested in swaps, stangnet, corral, http://www.ringsurf.com/netring?ring=ford23;action=list, http://www.allfordmustangs.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=2 are all top notch forums with great people. for rangers the best site is http://www.rangerpowersports.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=51. my friend you have just inherited the Bible of 2.3 Turbo Ford's.

PS I've found that Volvo IC's work the best.

[Avenger]

The parts aren't impossible to find, but good luck if the rear hatch glass breaks. That piece cost a friend over $600 just for the glass, and the only place you can get new ones is ENGLAND, since it's a British Ford. Shipping was pretty steep too, I have NO IDEA why he didn't just replace the piece with a Lexan one, other than he does drive the car occasionally in winter (rear defroster).