Mates Sierra XR4x4 2.9 V6 twin turbo

[Russ_16v]

been off the road for, oh about 2 years ago now, been collecting bits ready for its big build, but for now we decided to get it back together and get a few more miles under its belt before the management change

So spec at the mo is:

1989 Sierra XR4x4
2.9 V6 Twin turbo Turbo Technics Conversion
Rebuilt Bottom end with low comp pistons
rebuilt heads with bigger stronger valves
Rebuilt garrett T2 turbo's
Running 7psi
225 bhp @ the wheels

What it needs is management really, with proper management it should run about a bar of boost happily, and will be around 280-300 flywheel bhp ,with around 320 lb ft torque.

So we had it semi stripped ready, so we chucked it back together:

Rocker shafts back on

turbo's all plumbed in

Dizzy back in

she was running a tad rich, il explain in a bit , here are two plugs, one fresh out, one that iv cleaned

inlet,rocker covers, fuel rail, and plenum back on

And back together complete

now bearing in mind it hasn't turned a wheel in two years, my mate didn't think it would start, i was confident it would, so after fixing a few fuel leaks she fired up first time!

Here is the 2nd time :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrdEeZZBxQw

Its quite tappety, but the oil is like treacle, so will be better after a change and run



to show how long it had been sat, here is the steering wheel :dead:

The overfuelling was caused by the fuel pressure reg, we found out it had been opened up, was running nearly 10 bar of fuel pressure!!

So we bought a new one, i havent got any pics but i fitted it in and did some ghetto bracket making to hold it temp, just to get it running, and Turbo Technics say run at 3.3 bar, we set it to 3.5 for the mo


Next job is to get it out and drop the fuel tank out to fit the uprated fuel pump we have, then fix the brakes and off for the MOT

 

[Guppy]

They are quite tappy top end anyway

sounds quite healthy considering

 

[Jay Payne]

Old skool, love it. Nice to see something different. Ive worked on a turbo technics one before. didnt get to drive it tho.

get the treacle changed then set them tappets again.

Keep us updated

 

[cat171]

I love oldskool fords, is it a TT ex-demo car ?? I can't see the vid here, is the car black ?

 

[Russ_16v]

They are quite tappy top end anyway

sounds quite healthy considering

yeah its not too bad, done approx 11k since its rebuild

Old skool, love it. Nice to see something different. Ive worked on a turbo technics one before. didnt get to drive it tho.

get the treacle changed then set them tappets again.

Keep us updated

Its an animal on the road, because of the T2s there is no lag, 1800 rpm and your gone, runs out of puff about 5500, but these engines dont like much more than 5k anyway and the powers dropped off so much there isn't any point in chasing revs

I love oldskool fords, is it a TT ex-demo car ?? I can't see the vid here, is the car black ?

Nope just a 'normal' (lol) TT conversion by Turbo Technics matey, its dark grey, il drag some pics of the whole car out and put them up, running on 17 inch white comps too

 

[Russ_16v]

Oh and its got the longer 5th gear that TT put in too, means top speed at 6k is now 188 mph lol

 

[Russ_16v]

 

[Ian_182]

I would have no problem driving a mint one of these around.

Bet there thirsty little buggers now though.

 

[Russ_16v]

yeah you will be lucky to get out of the teens mpg with the turbo's, with the old overfueling setup it was running at 4-7 mpg round Combe

 

[cat171]

He so needs a L or a GL badge for the boot !!

 

[Scutch]

Almost identical spec to my mates old one. His was red, and was a hell of a weapon. Very thirsty, though!

Great pics, mate.

 

[jesus]

I would have no problem driving a mint one of these around.

Bet there thirsty little buggers now though.

My auntie had one of those up until about 2002! Sounded feckin great.

Bet it shifts this one!

 

[cat171]

I still loving polished RS seven spokes !

 

[Russ_16v]

Almost identical spec to my mates old one. His was red, and was a hell of a weapon. Very thirsty, though!

Great pics, mate.

cheers fella, il keep this updated as we do more, and once its back on the road we will make some vids

The noise these make is fantastic, V6 wail with the whistle and chatter of two turbo's

 

[Ian_182]

I still loving polished RS seven spokes !

One of the best wheels they ever did

 

[scott1205]

on the other video its sound nice i think

 

[Russ_16v]

yeah it sounds alot better in the flesh, sounds alot tappier in the vids than it actually is

 

[16v_paddy]

I remember my dads old XR4x4, back in 92-93, fuel pressure regulator went mental & used £20 of petrol in about 7 miles we had to push it to the petrol station

good times I also helped him fit a K&N cone filter and when a spanner went missing it was the fault of the 10 year old boy

 

[Daz.]

my uncle used to have a white one with blue strips. I LOVED that thing!

 

[Russ_16v]

seems like alot of love for the old XR's lol

Il have some more pics this weekend, going to drive(woohoo lol) it out the garage

 

[Alex_X93]

Best m8's bro had a white xr4i when was alot younger 2.2 I believe he had some fun in it back then always mud all over it even the roof etc, especially remember the pepperpott alloys, blue/grey stripped trim and the little blue/red centre console led display showing if doors were open.

 

[Hawkeye]

Best m8's bro had a white xr4i when was alot younger 2.2 I believe he had some fun in it back then always mud all over it even the roof etc, especially remember the pepperpott alloys, blue/grey stripped trim and the little blue/red centre console led display showing if doors were open.

XR4i are 2.8's iirc, mate used to have a white TT XR4x4 when we were younger, was fairly new at the time and went like a missile.

 

[Leeshez]

Sweet.

 

[Russ_16v]

XR4i are 2.8's iirc, mate used to have a white TT XR4x4 when we were younger, was fairly new at the time and went like a missile.

correct the XR4I'S are 2.8, supposed to make 150 bhp but never seem to, usually around 140 bhp

the early XR4x4's were 2.8 also, the 2.9 came in in 1987, and on average make between 150-160 bhp with 160+ torque to match

 

[Russ_16v]

UPDATE



Guess whats rolled out the garage for the first time in two years....

these is about a 1 inch layer of dirt on it lol

See earlier in this thread for a catch up





Next stage:


Get new ABS valve block, due to the n/s turbo cooking the one thats on the car


Drop the petrol tank out and fit the uprated fuel pump ( doing this Sunday)


Sort an oil leak out, then off to the rollers for a quick set up then off for its MOT!!

 

[Russ_16v]

Further update!

A quick bit of info, there was a limited run of XR4x4's called the Minker, this was a 280 bhp twin turbo XR4x4 completely stripped and rebuilt, and known as the Minker 323.

They were called this as they had 323 bhp, and a monsterous 350 lbft of torque at 2,800 rpm!!!

0-60 was 4.7
1/4 mile was 12.8
top speed with lengthened gearing was over 175 mph

So where am i going with this?

Well Stu has just bought an ECU for his Sierra, as it is still running the original TT managment which was little more than a piggy back ecu, the Minker had a fully custom made ECU

There were only 7 Minkers ever built,9 engines and and not many more ECU's (10 in total iirc)

And guess what Stu's got?

Which included this lot:

So the plan is to strip the engine loom, cut out what we don't need (the Minker ecu uses less sensors) and make up what we needed.

Well last Friday it took me and Stu 11 hours but we cracked on, took out the dash and stripped the engine wiring loom

We also had to fit stronger head bolts, as standard Stu is running 7 psi at the moment, but will hopefully be running around 1 bar once we have finished, and at around a bar with standard head bolts the heads can lift off the block!






So once we had the loom stripped, we took it out to the car and with 3 different wiring diagrams, Stu cut all the wires and we worked out what pins they should attach to on the Minker ECU, then we pretty much hand made the rest of the engine loom, which was interesting to say the least!







Stu's 'adjustment' to the power steering bracket so we could tighten up the stronger head bolts lol

This was what i started with when i attempted to tidy up the BSE-motorsport engine loom lol

Getting there slowly

Bit more

Looking alot better now

Last bit of soldering on the inside

So 11 hours later and she fires up on the Minker ecu!!


Really chuffed with this, as like i said we hand made most of the engine loom, as well as cross referencing the wiring diagrams to get the thing wired up correctly, so to here it fire was really great







So we have got up to the point where we need to finish off a few points like blockingb the ICV, fit the boost hoses back, set the timing etc, then i will be taking it to work for its MOT and its booked in for its setting up on the rollers in 2 weeks!!

 

[W17GLE]

Thats one cool car i really love cars from that era

 

[Englebert]

Nice work, i wouldnt fancy messing with a loom!

 

[The Big Yin]

Nice wee project gonna keep updated with this one - my mates owned a BBR (Brodie Britton Racing iirc )4x4 back in the day nice wee car til he hit a lamp post side on with me in it even with 4 wheel drive lol

 

[Russ_16v]

Nice work, i wouldnt fancy messing with a loom!

Yeah it was a bit daunting mate, but its ok if you look at it in steps a nd not a big pile of wires lol

 

[Russ_16v]

New fuel pressure reg

 

[turbo_stew]

Hi all, im Russes mate with the sierra. Well today the old girl went through its mot without to much trouble in no small part to Russ.

we have had a bit of a problem with it running a little rich

we finaly got everything sorted on it last night about 11.30 after working on it for 3 nights running, i think in the last 3 weeks we've probubly spent well over 60 man hours on it!!

I'll let russ tell you the rest as the lucky sod got to drive it to and from the mot as i had to work.

Oh and Russ, Thanks alot mate i couldnt and wouldnt have been able to do it without your help and support :clap:

 

[Russ_16v]

Lol no probs matey

Its been so long sinse iv driven it, and its fantastic, took it very easy, due to it not being on the road for 2 years, but got it on boost a few times and its a right animal!

Here is a very short speedo vid, this is unmapped, and at approx 7psi, and also it was only to approx 4500 rpm (gotta take it easy with the old girl till she gets a fe wmore miles under her belt and mapped proper lol

 

[Russ_16v]

Latest update:


Well after passing it's MOT, and being taxed and insured, it took a trip to the rollers yesterday!


Now my RR guy has all his data logging equipment away, so he could only have a basic play with the timimg, boost and fuel pressure's, and it only had about 1 1/2 hour on the rollers too, i will put a pic up of the graph later but for the figures:

(im doing this from memory so if im 1 or 2 bhp out compared to the graphs pls forgive me)

1st run (nothing changed)

204 bhp

2nd run (Timing changed)

220 bhp

3rd run (Fuel pressure changed and boost upped to approx 10 psi)

250 bhp

And final run ( Fuel pressure changed and boost upped to 13psi)

284 bhp!!!

It also has 274 lb ft of torque and a near perfect torque and power curve!

The RR operator says the guage is massivly wrong on the FPR, so we need to get that sorted, and it still needs more tweaking, in fact he thinks with his equipment back he is confindent to see anything up to 320 bhp!

Stu is over the moon, and the thing goes like a flippin rocket, full boost is from 2000 rpm and it holds its power right upto 6000 rpm, though Stu hasn't really taken it over 4500 rpm, as he still wants the motor to loosen back up after not being used for so long.

We are both really happy, makes all the hard work and 60 odd hours we have put into it in the past 3 weeks alone worthwhile.


Graphs to come tonight!!

 

[ClaneO]

great project, old cracker, would love a go!

 

[jon_r]

Cracking project. Keep us updated chaps

 

[Russ_16v]

Its soooo much fun, it boosts really low and the operator was suprised how hard and long the turbo's kept boosting, bearing in mind they only baby T2's, just rebuilt.

 

[Dan 172]

Lovely project this with great results.

Top work!!

 

[Ian_182]

What a great effort.

 

[Russ_16v]

Cheers guy's, we getting there lol

Il get some more pics up, iv been tidying the wiring inside