sorry i didn't know where to put this. i wasn't sure here or the restoration and modification. sorry if it was supposed to go there.
here it is. i thought you guys might want to see it. it is a 1971 Volkswagen bus with a 1974 2.3 pinto. thanks to your guys help that is what i narrowed it down to.
i wanted to go to a turbo some time in the next five years for the extra power because this vehicle i would think is heavier than a pinto. i also would like the turbo for better gas mileage with the gas prices going up. every one says to go to a merkur but i don't know what it is and if it would work. i have a special adapter plate for the pinto already. i don't know if i could get one for the merkur.
these pictures are without the rear engine compartment door and it's stop plate off. they are off because I'm gonna be taking out the motor so i can get to the transmission. i should actually say transaxle because it still has it. the transaxle is 3 months old and is leaking. the guys i bought it from rebuilt covered up a hole with the silicone gasket stuff and painted over it to hide it. now it is leaking and i have nine days before i have to start driving it almost everyday. so i get to fix it because they are in san jaucinto and i am almost as far north as you can go before Oregon. I'm also very close to Nevada. we can drive maybe thirty minutes and get to were one of the episodes of i shouldn't be alive actually happened in real life. the one that they were trying to drive to a funeral and a highway snowed out on them so they took a different way and ended up on a dirt road.
well now you know my situation with this car. any comments, suggestions, and harassment is welcome.
The Merkur has the same ford 2.3t, it will fit on there.
Kool.
Bill
what car is it in? im not sure what it is. thanks for the information.
The car is a Merkur, the engine is a ford 2.3t. They are like a euro-styled t-bird. I think ford imported them and dropped the 2.3t in them, or something like that.
Bill
In 1976 I built a 1968 VW squareback with a 2.0 pinto engine in it. I used a dodge dart radiator and mounted it up front in the spare tire area. I cut a hole below the front bumper for air flow and ran square tubing under the car to/from the radiator. Most people I know still ask about that car today. I think its a great idea and I would build one again if I could.
i forgot to show you guys that. mine is on the front of the bus. on some of the buses they mounted the spare tire there. they have a round mount that makes it look like a tire and it has a cover that goes over it to disguise it. i just need to fix the cover.
I owned a 67 double window buss several years back. John Perry (Another FP.com Admin) is a real VW Buss geek & he has been telling me about people doing this.
This is really neat, I only wish I could have seen Brads...
It's like takiing the best of both worlds..
Keep us updated!
i sure will. i plan to restore it. it is like the best of both worlds. also sorry about the whole merkur thing. i googled it and found out a little about it. so this would swap right in with the motor mounts and the bolt holes being all the same. the most important thing though is how long is the motor. because i can't go any longer in the engine compartment. i would have to just drive around with it like it is in the pictures and that wouldn't be very good like that.
what i think would be cool is putting a pinto into a little vw bug. in the dream car post somebody put they would like herbie. i would take herbie and put a pinto in it. it would fly. you could modify the car to handle the performance since they are used every where. just the problem would be if you could close the engine compartment door. or you could just take it off like the baja.
i now have the engine just sittiong on a wood block and the jack right now. i also have the transmission out. i think im gonna get it welded. i was gonna try epoxy. i don't know if it would quite hold. it is supposed to resist most oils, gasoline, and engine coolant mixes.
The Merkur 2.3t is the same Ford engine; It IS a Ford 2.3t, same block, head, pistons.... Anywhere the 2.3 will bolt/fit, the 2.3t will (except hood clearence issues). There are different intakes and valvecovers for different year 2.3t's.
Bill
There were 2 Merkur cars imported for Lincoln - Mercury Dealers.
The 1985-1989 XR4Ti is the one that is 2.3 turbo fuel injected.
alright thank you very much. i will be looking for one between those years. Do you know how to tell the difference between the years for the merkur? thank you very much.
Bummer your all the way up at the border. I have a complete Merkur engine with harness i will sell. But I really don't want to ship. I am way south of you just below Santa Barbara.
Jake