My Build Thread: Project "Rain Cloud"

[nathankershaw]

Awesome!

Good work!

[cmouta]

Nice job on that exhaust and the vband at the end! Should make dropping the rear end that much easier if you ever need to. Apologies if its been discussed but did you notice better drivability when you switched from BOV to BPV? For instance I get alot of stumble when cruising if I let off throttle say 50%, blow off, then give 60% throttle. Or maybe that's a function of VAM/BOV combo?

[Esteban]

Chris, it's the nature of the VAM and a little bit of BOV. Switching to a BPV wont help much. Switch to a MAP sensor based standalone and you'll never see it again. -=o)

[Esteban]

I always wondered why you prefer more rake on the car for autox? doesnt it make the rear end real light under braking?

[hEaT]

Thanks all! I'll try to throw a few pics up later, but I put 100 miles on the car over the holiday weekend! Car drove fantastic and had a great time, even in the heat. Good shakedown run and building confidence in the car as it sits now.


Chris, ditto what Jeff said. The VAM is causing the issues mostly. If the valve is venting and you're not fully off, you'll be going rich which is causing the stumble. A BPV would help, but then you run into the issue where the air venting can push the VAM door closed and cause a lean condition...and a stumble. Speed density really is the fix, or going with a blow-through VAM or MAF setup.

Jeff, regarding the rake I honestly am not too sure. I really need to get some seat time (AND EXPERIENCE!!) racing the car to see if the back end is too light or not under braking.

[hEaT]

It has been far too long since I updated this thread. Need to organize 3 years of photos and get to posting updates. All the old pictures have been re-hosted the best that I can. Some are gone unfortunately.

Lots of updates to post, which is a good thing

[andyofcolumbusmerkur]

Reading through this thread makes me want to get moving on my cars. Major slacking over here. Major slacking. I do have some nice parts collected maybe I will take a picture of those. Nice build

[hEaT]

STILL need to post pics, but finally upgraded from the MS1/LA3 combo I was running, to go full standalone with the Stinger PimpX. What a difference. I had some wiring issues which I believe damaged the LA3 (still controlled IAC, coil dwell, fuel pump). I fixed the wiring, but the car ran like complete crap. No IAC control, and didn't confirm, but sounded like it was no longer advancing timing.

Ripped it all out, threw in the MS3 with the base map and it fired right up. Drove the car 60 miles last weekend...which is 3x as much as the car has seen in the last TWO years. Felt great and with the car now on Bilstein B8s and stopping with Wilwoods up front...it's fantastic. Feels really well sorted.

If I could do this car all over again, I would mod in this order:

- All bushings & diff mount
- GOOD dampers and springs
- Bigger wheels to fit proper front brakes, and sticky rubber
- Upgrade front brakes to a fixed caliper, and convert rears to discs
- PimpX(s)
- Then whatever power mods you desire

[sayler]

Awesome build. Where'd you get that steering wheel and the gauge panel?

[hEaT]

Awesome build. Where'd you get that steering wheel and the gauge panel?

Thanks! Steering wheel I found locally, as I did the gauge panel. I think the gauges are Lockwood.

[hEaT]

So much time since the last update on this car, so little has been done. I picked up another project car during COVID (2002 SVT Focus) which probably didn't help dedicating time to the Merkur.

Merkur still runs, fired it up for the first time in 2 years last weekend. Changed the timing belt as preventative maintenance, and put on a Racer Walsh tensioner (old one had shot bearings). Pulley is a tad larger than OEM, so tight getting on the new belt. Instead of using the lock bolt to hold the tensioner open, I had to pry it further and hold it with the pivot bolt.

Loudest of lifter ticks/rattles on start after, which quieted down after 5-10min of running. Wonder if moving the cam without oil pressure took the oil out of the lifters.

I have everything here to do a round tooth conversion, also from Racer Walsh, but didn't feel like getting the sprocket off the crank pulley. Didn't have time and look too involved to do it right. Square tooth will work fine for now, as it has for 35+ years on this car. Crazy that I've owned this car for 15 years this month.

A picture to prove it still exists. Can see the alternator bracket from https://bigrmotorsports.com/ (Low Mount Alternator Bracket for non-power steering). Drilled out the pivot bolt to use a bushing from the Merkur bracket (sandwiches the alt case to also hold adjustment and keep it on plane once you shim it correctly, I don't like relying only on the upper bracket). A lot of nice parts on his site, give it a look.

Need to fix the exhaust hangers (snapped at autocross in 2019), swap the leaking oil pan (SVO pan leaks from the level sensor and is the wrong style for the early block, have a good early pan from Jeff that I got 3 years ago to install), then hopefully I can drive the car. Hasn't been on the road since that end of season 2019 autocross.

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