Screamin' Yellow Zonker
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MCA Annual General Meeting, May 31, 2002 during All-Ford Nationals MCA Happenings The club’s annual general meeting will be held in con- junction with Carlisle this year. The meeting will be Most bang held at the Radisson Penn-Harris hotel on the evening for your bucks of May 31. Exact time and place to be announced at the Everyone who has desired Carlisle showfield on Friday. to improve the performance of an XR has always wondered which is the “right” way to go. 2002 Ask 10 people and you will get 12 opinions. Everyone be- lieves they know the best way. I can speak from experience and by “wasting” a great deal of money by not understand- Screamin’ yellow zonker ing how to approach the sub- ject. Just about every often self-appointed “expert” gave me the scoop, nearly all of it What turned out to be wrong. wavy, cracked, chipped, full Based on experience, here’s of air bubbles, seams on what I’d recommend: happens them were poorly joined 1. Buy Corky Bell’s book together, and the arches “Maximum Boost” and under- needed to be cut and stand how to improve perform- when you ground to fit. We ance in a turbocharged fixed all of the engine. strip down imperfections 2. Aftermarket parts. Learn what aftermarket parts are in the fiber- available; get information from and start glass parts the manufacturers including which was dynamometer sheets. Make very time sure their product was the only over consuming. addition made to the test vehi- Then we cle otherwise you won’t know primed and how much improvement the wet sanded product was worth. them also. To 3. Big exhaust. Next, install a full 3-inch exhaust system, By Attila Nyiradi install the preferably in stainless steel Euro lights, we with a performance catalytic My car started had to cut out converter. The difference as a $300 dent- the old head- between my Borla 2.5-inch ed up used and light brackets dual-exhaust system and the abused Merkur. and welded in full 3-inch literally was night When I handed the new ones, and day. over the money it which also need- 4. Intercooler. Next, get an was time for the ed some modifi- appropriate sized air-to-air intercooler not mounted in the fun to begin. First cations. engine compartment or behind we took the car up to The car was the radiator. As Corky Bell where I work to rip out that now finally ready points out, a small intercooler old tired engine. From there where it was needed. for paint. is not better than no intercool- we took the car up to our My intentions were to Originally the er. Make the connecting shop “Dreamin’ Xtreme” make it look like an original car was going to tubes as straight as possible where we first had to clean cosworth, or as close to it as be yellow but while and eliminate turns and con- out and then paint the whole possible. We started by weld- looking through the nectors wherever possible. engine compartment. After it ing up all the rivet holes for paint book for different 5. An improved boost con- troller would be next. was painted, we dropped the the cladding and shaved the color alternatives, one color 6. An air fuel meter to see if brand-new engine, including rear license plate lights by cut- caught my eye: citrus yellow. the car runs rich or lean. the full 3-inch exhaust, T3/T4 ting them out and welding in This was probably the most 7. A dyno test to determine hybrid turbo, ported intake a piece of sheet metal. obnoxious and brightest color how the car is running and if and exhaust manifolds, pol- Since we couldn’t get an welded up to accommodate in the whole book. it’s running rich or lean. It is ished all aluminum pieces, original Cosworth hood at the the fiberglass RS500 wing. The shell and fiberglass critical to ensure that the chromed pulleys and other time we had to go with fiber- The front bumper support had parts were then painted and engine is receiving enough miscellaneous parts. We fin- glass louvers. We cut holes in to be removed to make room readied for reassembly. fuel. By the way, dyno test ished bolting it all together, the hood for the louvers and for the RS500 front bumper. After the body was put back after every major change to determine if it was worth and with the engine finished, did the body work to to fix Then it was time for the together we moved on to the spending the money. moved on to the body work. any cracks and air bubbles body work to begin. We fixed bare interior. We started off 8. Sky’s the limit: Roller The car was stripped down they might have,. Then we all the dings, dents and weld- with new black carpet, redid cam, big-valve head, larger to the shell, including glued and molded the louvers ed any imperfections in the the headliner, painted the injectors, larger fuel pump, bumpers, cladding, interior, into the hood so there were body. After that the shell was dash and all other plastic mass air, EEC-tuner, etc. lights and so on. From there no seams. On to the hatch, all primed and wet sanded. pieces black. As for the seats I — Dave Weiner we took the car down to origi- of the original double spoiler The fiberglass pieces we got chose, Corbeau Targa RS rac- nal primer and bare metal mounting holes also had to be were hideous. They were ing seats in dark and light grey to match the original rear seats. Then we reuphol- stered the door panels with black material and with inserts to match the light grey in the seats. We didn’t want crank win- dows so we also installed power windows in the car as well. Keeping the 3-hour drive to Carlisle in mind we installed a Pioneer stereo Before: Hillsborough, head unit and new speakers N.J.’s Attila Nyiradi’s all around. early-model XR, right, Then we added a set of 17" before he began work. Enkei RS6 wheels with Approximately $10,000 Yokohama 40 series tires. later, his car is winning Over $10,000 dollars, we trophies at car shows. finally made it to the 2001 All-Ford Nationals in Carlisle. Citrus Yellow: Paint was sprayed by Steve Novak. Plans for 2002 Carlisle Nyiradi says he looked for the most obnoxious color We are installing Ford he could find. The engine Sapphire tail lights and High compartment is detailed Intensity Discharge head- with the same color. lights. We also will make custom door panels with molded in speakers. In addition, there will be insane engine work by PM (Phil Marshall) Motorsports including a custom intake, intercooler, blow-off valve and other goodies. We’ll also install a few engine dress-up pieces, bushings and some other pieces from Phil Dorsey at OPMD. Super clean and one of a kind: You’ll find 17-inch Enkei RS9s shod with Yokohama 40-series rub- ber all around. Note that the cladding has been removed, the rivet holes filled, and a Cosworth RS500 wing plus Cosworth grill added. Fiberglass hood louvers exhaust all the hot air underhood generated by a much-breathed on engine by PM (Phil Marshall) Motorsports featuring a custom intake, 3-inch exhaust and inter- cooler. Miles of Merkurs: You won’t find anyplace with more Merkurs than the All-Ford Nationals at the Carlisle Fairgrounds in Carlisle, Pa. How to prepare for Carlisle From the perspective of a imagine extra points being judge at two past Carlisle What is so special about Carlisle? awarded if anyone still had Merkur gatherings, here are their original inner fender some tips on how to prepare The All-Ford Nationals is one of the goals. They are not able to put personali- liners. Or even part of them. for the Saturday show-field largest car shows in the USA. It is of par- ties aside and celebrate their own marque. judging. ticular interest to Merkur people, since I remember what a Fairlane club official 9. Bring back the original Ford made our vehicles. said two years ago. “You,” he said, mean- black of things like door For low-key competitors Carlisle gives the Merkur community ing Merkurs, “have no right being here or handles and mirror sur- the opportunity to show the world and winning, Ford doesn’t make your car any- rounds, etc., by using a prod- 1. Wash the car. Or, if you Ford Motor Company that we are still a more.” I replied “Do they still make Fair- uct made for that purpose. have a long drive to Car- viable group of enthusiasts. lanes?” He never answered, just sputtered You can also use it on the lisle, bring your car-cleaning Unlike other Ford brands, notably and walked away. body cladding. materials. You’ll find a car Mustangs, T-Birds, Continentals, and oth- We hope that the Merkur community wash area upon entering the ers there has always been a special unity will never reach that stage. It would be a For all competitors fairgrounds. They provide when coming together at Carlisle. shame to lose the camaraderie that exists hoses, water, etc., you pro- Whether under the IMON banner or MCA where ever we get together. Carlisle is the Do the judges a favor: vide suds, cleaners, elbow banner the main thing to remember is special event that makes us the envy of leave the car unlocked, the grease, etc.