DarkBuddha

I'd be glad to contribute what I can to help with the project. I'd love to do a lemons car eventually, or a dirt cheap GRM challenge car in the meantime. There isn't really much to know on the XR... ask whatcha wanna know and if I don't, I know the kind of folks that really really do. The horror stories about XRs in general are typically overstated inasmuch as they're the same kinda stuff that goes wrong in every non-japanese car of that era. The good news is that almost anything you encounter has probably been encountered and has a fairly easy (and usually cheap fix). The shell is a good design generally, and because of the extra pillar (that some say make the car so ugly) it is actually more rigid than the "pretty" big-window euro Cosworth 3 door shell. Suspension is stupid simple, though there are pitfalls to it, like non-replaceable ball joints and no real camber adjustment, etc., but replacement and upgrade stuff is pretty readily available... don't forget BAT is right here in Sarasota (5 minutes from my house actually).

BTW, I've got a spare hard copy of the shop manual if you want it, as well as digital pdf copies of:

Merkur XR4Ti Shop Manual
Merkur Scorpio Shop Manual
Ford Sierra Cosworth / Escort Cosworth Shop Manual
Ford Sierra XR4x4 Supplement Manual
Borg Warner T5 Transmission Manual

1987 XR4Ti Electrical & Vacuum Troubleshooting Manual
1989 XR4Ti EVTM

Motorsport Preparation Manuals...
How To Prepare The Sierra For Motorsport
How To Prepare The Sierra For Rallying
Rally Prep Manual - Escort Group A
Rally Prep Manual - Escort Group N
Rally Prep Manual - Escort WRC
Rally Prep Manual - Sierra Cosworth 4x4

Sierra RS Cosworth Service Training Program
XR4Ti Torque Spec Quick Reference



And completely off-topic, but you'll recall my good friends rally XR that I post pics of at the Seattle leg of the Global RallyCross Championship: https://www.tamparacing.com/forums/a...l?daysprune=60 . Well, it met its glory (a tree actually) at Olympus shortly there after:

Before:




After:




So sad.

treekiller

XR ute anyone?

DarkBuddha

XR4TI + Subaru Brat =

treekiller

Factory did a pretty nice job.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]158960[/ATTACH]

DarkBuddha

Yes they did! It's a shame we didn't get that, or the estate... I'd love a turbo 2.3 wagon, maybe like the other car my rally buddy built... his 2.3T Ford + 240 Volvo wagon daily driver/tow rig:




It's got a welded 4.11 diff which helps with towing... and drifting, like so:

Car54

Buddha, maybe try to organize an event at Andersen Race Park. Just dying for another reason to drive down there.

As for events all over...looks like you know about them. Sarasota is a bit removed from the scene as you're seeing. I'm all for social stuff, but as a family man as well, I'd rather combine my socializing with motorsports since I rarely have the luxury of doing both.

DarkBuddha

See... I didn't even know about Andersen Race Park. What a freaking neat place to have locally!

Good to know I'm not alone in the "being a family guy" situation... seems like most folks I meet are a good 10-20 years younger than me (I'm 38 ) and don't have that kinda stuff on their plates yet. I too probably prefer my socializing with motorsports, but I often find that at events there isn't much time for socializing, and/or folks are on as tight a schedule as I am. If you figure 1.5 - 2 hours to get to and get from, plus running most of the day, hang around and pack up and help with break-down, that typically has me out of the house before the family is up and puts me home close to the kids' bedtime. Makes me feel more than a bit guilty both as a father and as a husband, and unfortunately, my kids (4 & 7) really don't enjoy coming to the events... yet. It's just more motivation to try to get something local going on.

Loren

Don't feel guilty about taking a "you" day once or twice a month, dude. You shouldn't be doing it daily or every day of every weekend or anything... but it's perfectly okay for a father to take an occasional day away from the family, an ENTIRE day if that's what it takes. Really. It's healthy.

Just be sure to afford your wife the same courtesy of a "day off".

Formula KZ1000

I am up for a lapping day at Andersen Race Park and I live in sarasota and am willing to help getting this orginized.

So I take it they got the permits they needed to hold events there?, I have been away for awhile and just recently got my project car completed.

Has there been any car lapping days at "Andersen Race Park" since the first one that you put on Loren?

I had a blast that day even though I was mostly doing ride-a-longs.

The Porsche guys put on auto-x from time to time at the Sarasota dogtrack.

Just looked at there newsletter "profile" and there is a Sept. 11 – X-cross, Sarasota Kennel Club not sure why it is called X-cross?

http://www.suncoastpca.org/forum/att...3&d=1306499812

Kind of a small lot but the drive time is just right for me at 10 min.

Eddie

Car54

They have kart rentals at Andersen....that's what I was talking about.