We bought our first xr. Autox/street machine in the making.

[Ray]

Compared with stub axles and springs, it's the least worst alternative, but i'm sure you can make it better.

[catapultkid]

I'll play around with it some next weekend hopefully.

OK so this weekends work...

I finished swapping out the LCAs with the longer scorpio units. Along with new ball joints and also new bushings.

Started making new bushings as I didn't realize the bushings where bigger in the scorpio units vs the old xr ones. Luckily I found a block of nylon I had lying around that was thick enough.



The block it came from



While I was making stuff I also made some caster bushings. Everything helps.





New inner tie rods where needed. Here are the comparisons. I'm not sure where Mike at merkurdepot got the middle one but it was prefect. The longer of the 3 was a tad too long and I had to move the steering wheel a hair to the right and realign.



Everything buttoned up.



Better view of the caster adders



Took some "persuasion" to get the sway bar back in place with all the changes (longer arms/caster adders)



Finial camber, can't find our camber gauge so I'm not sure where it is lying right now. But it is better than before and the front track is noticeably wider. I feel I will have to clearance our wheels now.



On the way home there is definitely a change in feel. My rear toe is off right now and the front alignment was done by myself and is around 0-1/8" out? Next weekend I'll have extra hands and I can do a proper alignment all the way around in perpetration for the upcoming events.

Issues to attend too next weekend.

1. Rear main seal is leaking and I can't find a level plug on the diff. Which is really confusing as I looked all over the place for it. Does anyone know something I don't about this and these covers?

Right side



Left side



Cover pic. See the fill? That can't be level right?



2. Hits boost cut (20psi) at 4k-4.5k (wastegate isn't opening all the way/too much preload or there is some other issue at hand)

3. Removing the rear tar should drop a little more weight out, plus clean it up back there some.

4. Oil cooler, car is still getting hot in traffic.

[catapultkid]

Another weekend and more work done. I didn't document everything as I usually do but I will hit the highlights.

Things fixed:

1. Rear toe by adding back the rubber spacers above the rear springs. Toe at 0 maybe a 1/32 in.
2. Aligned the front, was at 1/4" in (super spongy) now at 1/16" out. Nice and tight feeling.
3. Fixed the over boost issue with less preload on the wastegate. Now boosts to 15psi and no further, time to get the EBC working
4. Rear driver side seal in the differential and new fluid.





Started making a aluminum water tank.



This little guy ran into the arc when I was welding. Never had that happen before.



Just need to finish up a few little things. These may be available for the public soon.



Next two weekends are full of autox. 2-day events. Wish us luck.

[GPz11]

So you must have found the oil level plug for the diff somewhere?

Also what's the bike against the wall with the scrambler pipes?

[catapultkid]

I never found a plug unfortunately. What I did was pull the axle (had to do the seal anyways) and fill until the fluid came out. Then put it back together. So far so good.

Bike is my brother's old project. I runs but lives in the shop most of the time.

[DAReese]

So you must have found the oil level plug for the diff somewhere?

Also what's the bike against the wall with the scrambler pipes?

At first I thought it was the same as mine. I have a Kawasaki KZ-650SR, which is probably rarer than a Merkur. The Kawasaki dealers were only allowed to sell 2 for every 50 bikes they sold.

But if I had to guess, I'd say it is a Suzuki.

[catapultkid]

Nope. It is a KZ-450. Sorta rare

[GPz11]

Huh, I've got a KZ650B1 in progress on the lift right now.

What should have been a simple intake manifold swap turned into pulling the engine to get a broken bolt, drill bit, and screw extractor removed. That was not a good evening. Luckily I did not have to pull the head to get it fixed.

[DAReese]

Huh, I've got a KZ650B1 in progress on the lift right now.

What should have been a simple intake manifold swap turned into pulling the engine to get a broken bolt, drill bit, and screw extractor removed. That was not a good evening. Luckily I did not have to pull the head to get it fixed.

The SR is a D model 650. It came a from the factory with a little bit of the custom look to it.

Mine has been sitting for several years now. I've been thinking about getting it back out again. I'm pretty sure I'd need to rebuild the carbs. I know I need to replace/rebuild the master cylinder, and the points probably should be replaced as well.

Since it sounds like you work on them, anything else I need to worry about?

[GPz11]

I can't think of anything on them different than any other old bike / car.

Check the fluids and such. Give the master cylinder a once over / bleed the brakes / make sure they don't leak or stick. Give the carbs a once over. Sometimes you get lucky and put some fresh gas in it and it run just fine. Other times, not so much.

catapultkid, that's a very nice looking coolant tank.

[Ray]

Nice tank are you going to thread the front plate or weld bungs on?

[catapultkid]

That is the plan, it is 3/8" thick. That way I don't have to buy a bunch of bungs. I'm going to try it out on the first one first before I make a bunch. A little testing will be in order.

[catapultkid]

Ok another weekend and another event in the XR. This thing is starting to come together now.

This weekend was a autox on day 1 and a test and tune day 2. First day was a tight course, two places I used 1st gear. Second day was more open, stayed in 2nd.

With the scorpio arms our setup up front. Looks to have increased the camber and track width quite a bit.



Before grid



Issues we had to deal with.

Over heating as always. Here is the XR with it favor flavor of cooling. It was mid 90s in VA.



Fender clearance was also a issue. Hammer won't fix this so we will have to raise the front of the car a bit.



At the end of the second day the steering rack went to $#!%. 3/16" toe in and out and a bad wobble on the passenger side. It was a new autozone rack. I'll have updates on this hopefully soon. Next weekend is also a two day event so I got to get it fixed before then.

Other additions before Saturday.

There is a new firmware for Megasquirt I'm going to try in order to stop this start kick back issue we have.
Pressure test the MAP sensor line. Getting boost shutter around 16psi
Raise car in the front
Re-align after rack replacement
Fan relay sticks on so we will need to get a new relay
Make some clearance for the brake pads in the sliders as they are sticking and getting the pads hot = not the best hot braking.

Going to be a busy week...

[DSPXR4ti]

Going to be a busy week...

This is why I love autocross, you do one thing and find out it changes 5 other things.

The only thing I have to ask is what is the off set on your wheels, do you an 1 to 2 inches before you hit the strut.
1. can you machine the inside of your wheels
2. what is your rotor hat thickness
3. can you get a better wheel off set

raising your XR is going to change thing, lose camber for one, make your XR push a little more. So try the other thing if you can.

Ben

[catapultkid]

In short.

1. Wheels can't be machined, they are mustang stock pony wheels
2. Rotor hat thickness is close to stock, not sure that exact number however.
3. I can get better wheels with more $$. $$ I don't have right now. Actually, looking forward to see how your car is done and drives before I invest in the wrong setup. I have a bit of room between the wheel and strut. I'll have to look and see exactly how much again. I'd love to run 15" wheels with a wide short tire. Options are few and $$ is high.

I may just add a 1/4" or so to the ride height. I will hurt some, but hoping it gets outweighed with the lack of drag on that wheel. We will see.