Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Pics and Videos My new Car.

No, the contour hasn't gone anywhere, I just needed a winter beater so the cobra could spend the salt-filled Michigan winter in relative comfort.
So, here she is in all of her $400 worth of glory:
My 88 Merkur XR4Ti



Oh, and I'm getting another one as a parts car this week for $350

did I mention its a turbo 2.3L?

Sweet man...hey what years did they have the huge twin level spoiler on them..? I love those cars....

*bling bling*

Those cars are sweet! For a while I was having trouble making payments on my SVT and I almost traded down to one of those. A friend of mine had one back when I was in high school...he used to love embarassing Corvettes! I think it was modified, but I didn't know anything about cars back then so I couldn't tell you.

Hey those are the same bolt pattern as our CSVT's. stick the stock rims on there and see how it looks. we have a white one around here with E0 rims on it. plus it is in the mid 12's. I would love to have one for a beater. If you plan on letting her go next year sometime give me a shout.

Ooooooo white! Me likes!

$400? It had better be rotting away or something to be that cheap. j/k You got a good deal!

how fast are those things...you guys make it out to be a speed demon or something. how much power is it making (HP and torque)?

Originally posted by JonGordo8:

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how fast are those things...you guys make it out to be a speed demon or something. how much power is it making (HP and torque)?

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Stock its rated at 170hp, and a few hundred pounds lighter than the SVT, but seeing as its a turbocharged motor, more power can easily be had by a simple modification to the boost signal line . . . actually, this particular car is pretty fast since the previous owner tried putting in a boost control valve, but I think he screwed up, and now the turbo is basically free to spin all it can, so the car is pretty fast. I just have no idea how much boost its making because the guages are screwed. Thankfully the cold weather and the 93 octane gas I have in it will keep detonation at bay until I can figure out what's up.

Its gonna stay relatively stock for the next few months at least, as I correct some issues it has, and since I want it to simply last me the winter at least.

Ironically, I may push the twin turbo cobra project further back in favor of playing with the Merk's for awhile. It should help me avoid some mistakes on the Cobra project, and save me a lot of trouble and heartache in the long run. (ie blown 5L etc. hehe)
The parts car I am trying to go get tomorrow is identical (same color even) but has no-sunroof (pretty rare for an XR) and it runs good as well. If things work out, I plan to use the parts car shell down the road as practice for body seam welding techniques, and bodywork and paint practice. And who knows, maybe cage welding practice . . . In a perfect world, I would do up this parts car body as a track car, but who knows, we'll see when the time comes . . .

Brian,
like 85-86 had the biplane wing in the us, and in Europe, the Sierra Cosworth of all years had the biplane wing, though a much bigger version. If I get to the point where I'm putting money into the body on the car, I may get the cossie lower wing, and maybe some of the other cossie bodywork. But of course, parts for power will come first like an intercooler, and stuff like that.

A guy I know has a 86 or 89 can't remember which year it was. Anyway he had a boost controller on it and way pushing 22psi. I'm sure this explains why he was on his 3rd block when he wrecked it this summer. The acordian tube on this thing got huge when he reved the engine.