Carlisle 2015 (NOW 2017) Build or Bust - My 87 XR build

[lowered86]

This is the story of my 87 XR4Ti build. I have owned 9 XR4Ti's over the last 19 years and ever since I owned that first one, I've wanted to do a big performance build. But, as some of you may know, life can get in the way. Well, after 3 different jobs, 4 kids and years of collecting parts, I'm ready to build my version of a performance XR4Ti.

My original platform was an 88 I picked up in NY. However, after hauling it from the Midwest to the East coast and finally to the West coast, I decided there was too much rust and I got rid of that one.

88 from New York


Bad rust and holes in the A-pillar


I then found a clean 86 in Carson City, NV that I felt would make a good candidate. I hauled it home and proceeded to tear it down.








The progress was slow and the car ended up sitting untouched for a while. At this point, my daughter was 15 and it wouldn't be long before she needed a car. I decided to reassemble this one and give it to her for her 16th Birthday.





My daughter drove that car for more than 4 years but it was just retired about a month ago. (relentless electrical gremlins) She's now driving a 97 Lincoln Mark VIII.


There's a good reason I decided to give the 86 to my daughter....

I finally found my dream car . . . . a Mono White 87.


I hauled this one home, 12 hrs from Seattle to Nevada.

It cleaned up pretty good.




The gray interior and auto have to go.






In the meantime, my son was soon turning 16 so I put my build on hold so I could find him a car. This time I found an 89 in Vegas that looked like it would be a good first car for my son.


The car had a bad auto trans so I pulled it out and put in a T-5. I also installed a new timing belt, water pump, radiator and replaced several coolant lines. It needs a little more work but so far it has been a good car.

And of course along the way there were a couple more orphans that found their way to my house. I currently have 5 XR's at the house plus an 85 SVO and an 88 TurboCoupe. It's not just an obsession, it's a sickness. However, I am parting out 2 of them and sending them to get scrapped.

Stripping the hood on the SVO. This one will be for sale soon.


My 88 TurboCoupe (my 12 year old wants this one)


Bought this 85 comp shell with a bad motor. I may do a stock build on this one......


And finally, back to my car. I've wanted to go to Carlisle for many years but I just haven't made it. Well, it was my goal this year to make it there(2015). I have a lot of work to do but I think I can make it.

This is what I have planned for my build

Engine/Trans:
Built bottom end with CP pistons and Esslinger ultra lite rods
Esslinger Billet intermediate shaft
Round tooth timing setup
Boport stage 3 head
40Bob ported intakes
Wessk MS-3
Stinger FID1000 injectors
Beanman Center mount header
Precision SC50 Turbo
External gate
Full 3" Stinger exhaust
Rebuilt T-5
B&M Shifter
Merkur Depot radiator
Forge RS500 intercooler
Modified Stock driveshaft
Euro posi diff
Timxr8 chromoly 33 spline axles
Chuck's engine mounts
MerkurDepot Alternator mount

Front Suspension/Brakes & Steering:
Powerflex bushings
Rapido swaybar
Rapido Koni struts - converted to coilovers by MC2
David Godfrey camber eccentric kit
DG T-Bird MC adapter
DG caliper brackets
PBR calipers
Contour SVT rotors
MC2 steering rack bushings
*working on acquiring DG's camber plates

Rear Suspension/Brakes:
Powerflex bushings
Rapido swaybar
Rapido Koni shocks
MC2 Diff mount
DG caliper brackets
92 Lincoln calipers
TurboCoupe rotors
*(may swap to Timxr8's rear brake setup)

Misc.
16" MSW Wheels with Nexen Nfera SU1 tires, 205/50-16 front and 225/45-16 rear
DG sub frame connectors
DG hood struts
Rapido aluminum Cossie hood vents
Cossie fender flares
255 in tank pump
DG Clutch quadrant
and I'm sure a few other things I've forgotten.......

OK, OK long story short, I made the 2200 mile trip to Carlisle in 2015 but not in my Merkur. I drove there in a rented Camry. So, fast forward to 2017, I'm trying one more time.

I put my snowmobiles in storage, cleaned the garage and pulled the cover off my 87.

Engine


This is my starting point for Carlisle 2017. I painted the engine bay 2 years ago and got the engine and trans back in it. The suspension is done and the brakes are about 90% done. I need to paint the car, finish the brakes, finish under the hood and reassemble the interior. I'll go back to the beginning of my build and post the work I've done to this point. I'll then continue posting my day to day progress and hopefully, on May 30th, the car will be complete and I'll be heading to Carlisle.


THANKS to the following who support our community
Jeff at Merkur Midwest
Mike at Merkur Depot
David Godfrey
Chris and Chris at MC2
Stinger (Shannon)
Russ at Rapido
40Bob
And to all the others who have provided unique one off parts over the years (Phil, Bo, Chip, Bean)

[lowered86]

The Early Days:
I got the car home and discovered some bad rust poking through around the windshield. The car obviously had a windshield or 2 installed by some lousy shops over the years. The car needed a windshield so I had the local mobile shop come out and remove the bad one. I then prepped it and applied POR15.

Starting the cleanup


More along the bottom


A little on the A-pillar


I stripped out all the old urethane and cleaned it up as best I could


I then applied the POR15. I guess time will tell but I'm impressed with that stuff.






I was finally ready to have the windshield shop come back and install a new windshield.





THANKS to the following who support our community
Jeff at Merkur Midwest
Mike at Merkur Depot
David Godfrey
Chris and Chris at MC2
Stinger (Shannon)
Russ at Rapido
40Bob
And to all the others who have provided unique one off parts over the years (Phil, Bo, Chip, Bean)

[John Brennan]

Great post! Enjoyed reading it-- looking forward to more.

[lowered86]

Rear Suspension:

I think one of the first things I did after the windshield replacement was to build the rear suspension. I acquired a brand new Rapido suspension kit from a guy in San Francisco.


I pulled the rear end out, disassembled it and cleaned it.


I then sanded it, wiped it down and painted it with Epoxy frame paint. Here it is ready to be reassembled.


Powerflex black bushings from MC2 Racing in the STA's.


Powerflex beam mount bushings.


Assembled rear beam with Euro posi diff.




Close up showing MC2 diff mount (new style installed now) and aluminum spacer.


Ready to go back in the car.


650lb/in springs from MC2 Racing.


In place and ready to be bolted down.




New MC2 Racing Allen head bolts.


Koni's installed
Left




Right

[merkurdriver]

Great stories, pics, and builds!

[lowered86]

Thanks Mike and John. It has been a love hate relationship!

Dan

[mopman93]

Are those the adj. Koni reds?

FWIW I have those on the back of my car, must be at least 15 years old and have probably been on 3 different cars, but they still adjust fine and work great.

[grampy666]

And of course along the way there were a couple more orphans that found their way to my house. I currently have 5 XR's at the house plus an 85 SVO and an 88 TurboCoupe. It's not just an obsession, it's a sickness. However, I am parting out 2 of them and sending them to get scrapped.

you just described my driveway. the project cars and orphans live inside and the daily drivers suffer outside year after year in the snow and rain.

Great story! I thought I'd make it to Carlisle 2015 for the 30th anniversary of my 1985 XR4TI. but it was not to be...doesn't look like 2017 is do-able either...at this rate, I'll be too old to drive the car when it's finally done...

[lowered86]

Michael,

I know your pain. I finally just made the decision to finish it. Everything else is on hold.

Dan

[grampy666]

I then applied the POR15. I guess time will tell but I'm impressed with that stuff.

A couple of things I've discovered about POR15...pour what you need out of the can, then apply. If you brush it on directly from the can, the left-over crusts over in a hurry and becomes unuseable. POR15 also seems to need a topcoat of some kind or another. When left exposed to sunlight, it peels. And finally, don't get it on your hands; it takes a week of scrubbing to get it off.

[lowered86]

OK, another update.

I bought a pair of DG subframe connectors, frame stiffeners, whatever you want to call them, and they sat wrapped from shipping for many years. When I decided back in 2014 to try and make Carlisle 2015, I kicked the build off by installing them. Installing these subframe connectors is not a quick and easy job but I'm glad I did it and I'm really happy how they turned out.



Prep work.


I procrastinated for many years because I knew this was going to be a big job.

More prep work.

Finally, cleaned and ready.

Fitment time.




My friend Larry welding them in.



This is how they turned out.


Left inside.

Right outside.


This is the rear end on the right side.

Close up of the front.

[Turbo]

Very nice, do those have to be fully welded the entire distance?

[lowered86]

Turbo - I chose not to weld them the entire length. As you can see in the fitment pictures, there are holes in the sides of them. I had them welded every few inches along the length and then plug welded all the holes. I used seam sealer on both sides to seal up the areas that didn't get welded. I haven't had the car on the road yet but just jacking the car up I can tell it's much stiffer.

Dan

[Mike McCreight]

Great post, and NICE build! Thanks for this.
One day I'll get my #### together and post mine.

[DPDISXR4Ti]

Still on track for a Carlisle 2017 appearance with this car? Less than 6 weeks to go!