Merkur V8 swap

I came across a Merkur with a cage and no powertrain, what is a cheap/ easy way to a V8 car? Installing an LS engine is the first thing that came to mind or maybe a supercharged GM 3.8 sawp?

The seller has been easy to deal with so far and seems to be motivated but the car is rather far away. So I am a bit apprehensive about buying a car I have almost no experience with.

Thanks, Paul

In reply to Donebrokeit :

The GRM way is to buy it first, and figure out these details later.

Indy-Guy said:

In reply to Donebrokeit :

The GRM way is to buy it first, and figure out these details later.

There, that takes care of that. 

Waiting for the build thread...

IIRC, there has been a 5.0l Merkur challenge car.

3.4l SHO V8!

I saw a 5.0 XR4Ti at a car show last month. I bet a whole lot of it was done with Ford parts.

Edit- a proper 5.0, with only one camshaft.

There's a bunch of stuff online.  Here's a 5.0 swap: http://forums.merkurclub.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=23235  Here's a Coyote swap: https://engineswapdepot.com/?p=26576

I think Bondurant had some 5.0 cars put together for classes when these cars were current. I would think that this sort of thing is pretty well documented. The magazine talked about challenges getting an lsd into the factory 3rd member. 

I recollect that Ford offered a XR8 Sierra built in South Africa. Essentially a XR4ti with a 302 cubic inches v-8. That might be the easy way, as all of the engineering has been done.

5.0 swaps are fairly common, I think. The GRM way would be to go completely off the beaten path and put in an old flathead V8 or something, I suppose. 

My vote for yota power. 4cylinder or 8. 

3.4 SHO sounds fun.

But I like the idea of 2.3 Duratec from a Ranger, transmission from a NC miata, Mazdaspeed 3 MZR turbo bolt on parts, and Megasquirt.

But lets be honest, a 5.0 and T-5 would be pretty awesome, even if its "been done before".

Gpz11 has a really nice 5.0 swap. Surprised he hasn't seen this thread yet.

Maybe you can contact him directly if he doesn't respond?

Other oddball ideas:

DOHC 4.6 from a FWD Continental, make a custom transmission adapter b/c it has a weird bellhousing pattern and thus should be cheap compared to RWD DOHC 4.6 engines.

300ci inline-6 truck engine , turbocharged because lol why not.

Ford 400 V8 with 351C parts to make it actually not a turd. I've read up on this a fair bit but not many people go this route.

Thunderbird SC 3.8 V6, 4.2 stroker build. Because you hardly ever see this engine in anything other than a Thunderbird SC.

Entire FWD Continental DOHC 4.6 drivetrain, cut and welded into the back of the Merkur for a mid-engine beast. Custom solution to swap in a manual transmission somehow????????????????

Oh wait the first post said cheap/easy. Whoops 

I did a Merkur Xr4Ti V8 swap with a Ford 302 out of a Mustang back in the early 90's I think it was 1992 when no one even knew what a Merkur was and lets be honest people still don't.... The swap itself is pretty straight forward.  You just need to build the engine mounts that connect to the stock motor mount bushings to the 5.0 block.  Also, you need to move the radiator forward and use an electric fan.  Luckily, there are 2 bolt holes on the frame rails that will allow you to move the radiator forward.  You will also need a 1 piece driveshaft to be made.  I used a mustang driveshaft and had a machined adapter made for it.  You will need a T5 trans and there are 2 ways you can go with mounting the trans.  You can fab one or you can just order the Rapido T5 transmount for the Merkur.    Here are a few old pics..

There are also LS swap Merkurs running around...YouTube :)

This Lemon has a 351 and the turbo from a 7.3 PSD. Very quick but destroys Merkur diffs

I know I'm late to the party but I've been very happy with my 302 swap.

I miss DoneBrokeit.  Insert sad face

I'm still selling one of anybody wants an easy button: https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/cars-sale/xr4ti-or-maybe-xr302na-7600/185020/page1/