15x24 - 1985 Merkur XR4Ti

[bunniefuu]

The Ford Sierra
Cosworth was a car that

every red-blooded
Englishman salivated after.

It's like sliding into a pair of my
favourite jeans from the 1980s.

They're a little bit tighter but,
you know, it still feels good.

So is this powered by Cosworth?

This isn't a Cosworth. And in
America it's not even called a Sierra.

It's a 1985 Mercure.

Which to me sounds
like a bottle of hard booze.

But the 85 Mercure in
America was actually a

tastier option than
its British counterpart.

A little heavier but
ultimately better spent.

What's not to love?

It's going to need a bit of surgery.

Yes, but once all that's done.

Look at that.

People once again shout
the name Mercure with pride.

Mercure.

The Mercure rolls off the tongue nicely.

It is truly a terrible name.

Sometimes it makes sense for the
mountain to come to Mohammed.

Or for a punter to bring
their car to the shop.

Which is where I'm headed.

I'm on my way to go and see
one of my favourite all-time cars.

And it's called a Ford Sierra.

Well that's what we call it
in Europe and in England.

But over here in America it's
known bizarrely as the Mercure.

One of the favourite flavours of
that car for me has been the XR4.

But here in America it's called the XR4 Ti.

Now let me explain.

One of the most prolific
automotive executives of all time.

A guy called Bob Lutz.

One day had a bit of a brain fart.

Because he didn't want to
call the car the Ford Sierra.

He wanted to call it something else.

So he thought of the
American arm Ford over here.

They had another brand
that they called Mercure.

He didn't think that sounded exotic enough.

So he used a German name
for Mercure which is Mercure.

Which to me sounds
like a bottle of hard booze.

But then he gave the
moniker to the car the XR4 Ti.

The Ti meant turbo injection.

And the name Sierra unfortunately
just didn't punctuate here in America.

And when you think of the prices
as well this car's a bit of a steal.

In Europe they came
for really strong money.

Here they start at about
$3,000 for a tatty car.

They range up to about
$5,000, $6,000 for a decent car.

Now over the years I've
owned tons of Ford Sierras.

Buy a good one and they will reward you.

Good to see you Joe.

Good to see you too Mike.

You know the smile on my face
when I see this car is just like yes.

It's a blooming XR4 I can't believe it.

So tell me a little bit about the car.
How long you had it?

I had it about six months.

Just six months?

Just six months.

I love the panels on the side.

The wheels are slightly different
from the ones that we get in Europe.

From a Focus actually.

And the paint's faded on this front bumper.

That's a bit of a shame.

Can we open the bonnet?

Of course.

The grille at the front and the headlamps
they're different from what I'm used to.

Oh but look at that under there.

Somebody's had a real
go at this haven't they?

Yeah.

Turbo engine all performing
well nice and strong.

Absolutely.

Very good.

Yeah nice and straight down the side.

Door gaps are nice.

Inside.

Oh it's just as I remember them.

And it's got air conditioning.

Well it used to.

You had to take it off
to fit the intercooler.

Drive faster and open the windows.

That's the way to cool yourself down.

That double spoiler at the back.

A real signature of this car.

Nice and straight down the back.

Still got the factory seals on every panel.

So you know that the
car's not been the wrong

side of a wall once
or twice in its life.

Under the carpet.

Perfect.

Well listen I'm sort of 90% there.

I just need to get it out
on the road and try it.

If I get you a nice cup of tea.

Sit in my office.

Something to read.

Do you mind if I take it for a quick spin?

Yeah my pleasure.

Top man.

Right then here we go.

Second gear.

Oh yes.

Look at that.

Do you know what it's like sliding into a
pair of my favourite jeans from the 1980s.

They're a little bit tighter but
you know it still feels good.

Immediately though I
can feel the difference

between this car and
its European counterpart.

It's 300 pounds heavier.

Which is about two of me.

Back in the 1980s of course.

This car with its turbo
package really does deliver.

This car will push out 175 horsepower.

Now the European
counterpart of this car

without the turbo was
down at 148 horsepower.

So I can't believe it.

Our American cousins
got a bad car and we did.

The brakes they're on point.

They're nice and sharp.

The gearbox is brilliant.

It's almost like it's been
rebuilt and perfectly engineered.

It snaps into gear wonderfully.

So mechanically this car seems fine.

It's got some problems.

The inevitable oil leaks you
get from a car of this generation.

There's a little bit of turbo lag.

The exhaust is rattling a bit.

And other than that I just can't
get the air conditioning to work.

Which is a bit of a first world problem.

But I did notice the air conditioning
bits are in the boot of the car.

I'll tell you what makes
this car really special though.

It's what I'm sitting in.

It's the body shell.

This body shell alone is
a competition body shell.

And I'm going to tell you.

I could probably strip this car bare.

Just down to the body shell.

Put it on a ship.

Send it home to Europe.

And in England alone I could
probably sell it for thousands of dollars.

For the money that Joe's asking.

Just four thousand dollars.

Three thousand British pounds.

This car is an absolute steal.

How'd you like it?

Loved it.

Absolutely loved it.

Do you know what?

The extra power you get in
this car over the European model.

I think it's a better car.

I want it.

How much have I got to pay you for it?

Four thousand and give me a ride home.

Hold out your hand.

You got yourself a deal sunshine.

That's absolutely brilliant.

And I just bought myself an XR4 TI.

Let's run you home.

A Ford Sierra.

How good is that?

I have a knack for finding iconic
British cars right here in California.

But you're wrong.

It's not a Ford Sierra.

It's a Mercure.

A Mercure.

Yeah, it's good, isn't it?

Rolls off the tongue nicely.

This is a Ford Sierra.

And better than that, it's a
Friedor Awesome with a spoiler.

Yeah, so look at that moniker on the back.

So it's a TI.

So it's a turbo.

So is this powered by Cosworth?

None of it is powered by Cosworth.

So it's like you've given
me this Cosworth juicy donut.

And no jamming.

Exactly like that, yeah.

But listen, if I hit the
bonnet, it'll all make sense.

Right, now.

See if this makes sense.

In England, we've got
the 2.8 fuel injected engine.

Here in America, Mercure
gave the car a smaller engine.

It's called a Lima engine.

Smaller.

Smaller.

2.3 fuel injection.

But they gave it a turbo.

OK?

So that meant that this car
produced 175 horsepower,

as opposed to the
European version, only 148.

This car, 0-60, 7.1 seconds.

This is a Rapido car.

Yeah, but what's with all
this unnecessary piping?

This is a homebrew turbo intercooler
kit, and we just need to take it all off.

Oh, let's not be too hasty.

It's an intercooler.

That's quite good.

But you shouldn't be on the car because
it gets in the way of the air conditioning.

We're in Southern California.

I'd rather be calling inside the car
than have the engine call on the outside.

See what I did there?

I did, yeah.

What is that?

Right, now, the battery
tray is a bit MacGyver.

The headlamps on the car, they're wrong.

It should be a one-piece headlamp.

The grille is different.

I mean, I want to give it
that European flair, this car.

There you go.

You've got everything you
need is in the boot, including the

air conditioning parts and
the bits to reinstate the turbo.

Do you know what the
rarest thing in there is?

And I can see it already.

Yeah, the passenger shelf.

Exactly.

It's got those speakers in it.

Exactly, right.

Go and seat yourself inside.

You're going to love it in here.

Look at that.

Nice and familiar.

All right.

Well, this is actually really good.

I mean, these are really good
clean, but other than that...

Yeah, it's not bad at all.

There's a few cracks in the dash.

And how much?

Yeah.

Okay, just give it to me.

You want to be sitting down for this.

You are sitting down for this.

You ready?

Okay, four grand for it.

4,000 pounds?

Like 5,000 dollars?

No, no, no, no.

4,000 dollars.

3,000 pounds.

Were you wearing a ski mask?

Ford Sierra XR4i.

Although, actually, it's not.

It's the Mecur XR4 Ti here in America.

Now, unfortunately,
and I'm a little bit

gutted, this hasn't been
touched by Cosworth,

but it's still an incredibly
rare car in its own right.

And it's a car of my generation.

I grew up around the Ford Sierra.

And like a lot of British people,

Americans like to modify
their Ford Sierra as well.

And that's exactly what
somebody's done with this.

They've stuck in an
aftermarket intercooler.

Now, the UK XR4i was fitted with the
German built 2.8 litre V6 Cologne engine.

This car, however, was
built with a 2.3 lemur engine.

Now, interestingly, that exact
same engine with an intercooler

was also fitted in the 1984
to 86 Ford Mustang SVO.

That stands for Special Vehicle Operations,

kind of the fancy arm
of Ford Motor Company.

And what I reckon
happened is somebody's seen

that engine with an
intercooler in that car

and they've simply ripped off the idea.

Now, the intercooler's job is simple.

It's to put cooler air into the engine.

And the reason that's a benefit is because
cooler air is slightly higher pressure

and higher pressure air is jam-packed
with even more oxygen molecules.

And that's it. It's simple.

Now, air enters as
normal via this air intake.

It then goes down to the
turbo where the turbo spins up,

pressurises that air,
making it high pressure.

It then takes the short journey
from the turbo to the intake here.

Now, the problem is that
somebody's fitted all these gubbins.

So instead of taking the direct journey,

it now goes via this
pipe down to this radiator.

Although technically it's not
a radiator, it's an intercooler

because it's dry inside there.

It then cools the air down,

sends it back via an even longer
series of pipes into the intake.

And if you think
about it, this should be

win-win because you've
got high pressure air

now colder entering the engine.

But the problem with
this setup is the volume.

This contributes to turbo lag.

On top of that, this work
has been done really badly.

It's all very wobbly.

And Mike's point is this also
sacrifices the space needed

for the air conditioning system.

Look at that.

That's a lot of real estate
inside an engine bay.

And to add insult to injury,

whoever fitted this
intercooler did it with cable ties.

And this is the intercooler.

And what's great about
this project is Mike's

managed to buy a car
with a boot full of bits.

And I've noticed earlier
this little puppy here.

Now, this is the original
item that joins the turbo

to the inlet transferring all
that lovely compressed air.

Now, you'll notice that
it's made of aluminium,

a metal that's really
good at dissipating heat.

And then on top of that,

it's got all these extra fins
increasing the surface area,

making it even better
at getting rid of heat.

But what I noticed the most is the size.

See, this is, what, seven, eight inches,

compared to the pipes, about four feet.

And that's only one half of it.

Fitting the original item is just simpler.

Now, I've got hold
of a bit of silicon hose.

Connect the silicon hose to the throttle
body and the fins connected to the manifold.

Couple of hose clamps and tighten it down.

And there we have it, a direct line
from the turbo straight into the inlet.

And yes, we lose the cooling element,

but this is exactly how
the factory intended it.

And on top of that, it's
left up all this free space

for the air conditioning,
which is in the boot.

Now, having a boot full of parts can
be seen as either a good or a bad thing.

On one hand, you've got access to the parts

you need for the car,
but on the other hand,

those parts might be broken.

After all, they're in
the boot for a reason.

And that applies to this, the
air conditioning compressor.

And straight away, I can
see that the clutch is missing.

Now, it needs the clutch
to work because this

pulley here is driven off
the engine by a fan belt.

When you want the air conditioning to work,

you press the button
on, the clutch engages,

takes that rotation and puts
it inside the compressor itself.

That's then driving
refrigerant all around the air.

Seven missed calls. Seven.

So something really is urgent.

And I've been out there
busy buying stuff for our car.

I gather it's a problem with this, is it?

That's missing the clutch, isn't it?

Leave it with me. I can sort that out.

It's no problem at all.

It's quite easy to fix.

You are going to be so delighted with
some of the stuff I've got for this car.

Look at this. RS500 headlamps.

Genuine article.

They're going to look great on the car.

Oh, well, bear with me.

Let me just put the other one
in the boot for the rest of the bits.

Now, whoa, whoa, whoa.

Wait for me. Don't get too excited.

How cool is that?
That's going to look great.

Yeah, I like it.

Yeah, very nice.

And I'll get the grille, tie all that up.

Ah, the intercooler.

It is no more.

Did you track down the oil leak?

I was about to get onto that.

Okay.

And what are you going
to do about these bumpers?

They're all faded and pitted.

Why don't we paint them white?

Because on later cars,
these will... No, no, no, no.

This isn't a later car, though.

This is an earlier car.

It's supposed to have grey bumpers.

Okay.

If you're so obsessed with
bumpers, why don't you do it?

Yeah, you take the bumpers off.

But grey. Make sure they're grey.

Also, do you see this little red bit here?

Is it a bit dull?

It is.

You know what?

On the European and UK
cars, that was much brighter.

I think it was called cobra red,
if my memory serves me correct.

So, yeah, you get the
bumpers off, get the panels off.

I'll get them painted up,
and I'll get that much brighter.

It'll make the paintwork pop.

I'll also sort out the air-con pump.

And you've got to track
down that tricky oil leak.

So good luck.

Now, this is the air conditioning
compressor off our Mecure.

Now, this was just dumped
in the boot of the car.

The clutch is missing.

I don't know if it works.

And most people would
simply throw this away,

go on the Internet, click a
mouse, and buy a new one.

But not me.

I want to see if I can
save the original part

and build it back up again.

So I've come down to see my friend Mike,

who reckons he can help me.

So here we go, Mike.

This is the compressor
I was telling you about.

We can check the coil,
see if that's good on it.

We can also check to
see if it has pressure,

but we'll have to replace the
clutch before we can do that.

But we can also pull
it apart and make sure

everything's good inside,
and then we can go from there.

Cool. Yeah, let's pull it apart.

All right, so we're going
to pull out the clutch hub.

Start with that.

Unless it's toast inside.

Mike has already taken
the, what is the clutch housing

off, and underneath you
can see there's evidence

that this got very hot in
the past, possibly melted,

which means this might not be salvageable.

See right here how the
clutch is all melted right here?

Yeah.

That's from the clutch hub
engaging and disengaging,

and that's from a
high pressure problem.

So that's the only way they melt
like this, so we'll find out more.

It's probably going to be seized up inside,

but we're going to know
as soon as we get open.

Okay, right.

So probably it's been
apart before, hasn't it?

It could have been.

Let's pull it apart and let's
see how the inside looks.

Oh, yeah.

And this little one here, this comes off?

Yep.

And these are the little pistons, are they?

Yep. Yeah, it looks all right.

They're not seized up.

We can check the underside
of them, make sure that's good.

We're going to change
out this seal right here too.

This is one of the K-seals.

Yep.

And then there's a couple bearings in here.

This is a shaft bearing, and there's
also the thrust bearings on the inside.

And we're going to change those?

Correct.

That one comes off? How's that?

Yeah, the back looks okay.

The last thing we're going to do

is just split the case all the way.

We're going to check the pistons,
check the cylinder walls, seals inside,

so we're going to have
to change those anyways.

So once we take this apart,
you're going to have to open

and put it back together
because it's going to fly apart.

Okay, no worries.

Whoa, look at that.

That a pistons, are they?

Yep, and everything doesn't look too bad.

It's not seized up.

It's complicated, isn't it?

I mean, that is complicated inside.

I can see once it comes apart, no
way that's going back together, is it?

Nope.

So we can salvage this.

It's just going to take
a little bit of puzzling.

We're going to pull it apart, put some
new thrust Springs in it, reseal it all.

Once we get it back
together, you'll be in business.

I love the way that works.

That shaft with this on there,

that acts as a cam that moves
those pistons up and down.

That's so clever, isn't it?

You got it.

And the next thing we're
after is the little thrust

bearing that's back in
the corner right there.

All the way deep inside there.

That's it.

Good luck.

All right.

Might have to tap it out.

Whoa.

Okay.

Now this is a thrust race bearing.

There's two of these
inside that compressor.

One of them's at the top of the shaft,
the other one's at the bottom of the shaft.

The first one, this one, just fell out.

The other one, unfortunately, is
buried deep within that housing,

and it means that poor Mike here
has got to take the whole thing apart

to be able to get to
that thrust race bearing.

And then what he does,
somehow we've got to replace them

and try and put the
whole thing back together,

all in the pursuit of saving a few pounds.

When you go to your air
conditioning compressor guy and he

says, yeah, I can do that, but
it's going to cost $300 or $400,

you go, God, that really sounds expensive.

Now you know why.

Because not anyone can do this.

Old thrust bearings, boom, over there.

Brand new ones at the packet, very nice.

So thrust bearing on first, yeah?

Yep.

Washer on after.

There you go.

I never thought I would see
that go back together, honestly.

So now it's the new clutch.

that's going to go on top, correct?

Correct.

Now we're going to test the coil,

and we're looking for a
rating between two and five.

So now we've got 2.9.

Perfect.

So the coil's good.

So now we're going to energize
the coil to make sure it works.

So when I give it power, just suck it in.

Yeah.

And it's working fine.

Sucking in just like it's supposed to.

There you go.

All we've got to do is clean
it up for you, give you some

new ole rings for the top,
and you'll be ready to go.

Lovely.

Do you know, I've really
enjoyed doing this today

because I know we've
saved the original part,

and I've managed to save
myself over $100 doing it.

And I really appreciate your time.
Thank you.

I appreciate you coming in.

Right, well, there you go.

Look at that.

Our pump started life in the boot of a car.

But now it's going to
live on in the front of a car

where it's going to blast
chilly ice air over me and Ant.

And we certainly need it
when the weather's like this.

You know, pretty much every
car from the 1980s has an oil leak.

And an oil leak on a car like
this can mean one of two things.

Either you're going to be
in a whole world of pain,

or it's going to be something
simple like a gasket or an o-ring.

Now, luckily for us, it's
pretty dry under here.

But it does get wet around this
area from the oil feed to the turbo.

I'm actually looking at it.

And give it a little bit of a
clean with some degreaser.

I'll be able to monitor it.

That's us done.

You know, it's no surprise that fittings
like this have worked their way loose.

With the changing temperatures and
the vibrating engine, it's bound to happen.

So it's worth checking
your car every now and then

and just tighten up
the ones that are loose.

Now, that's sorted.

One thing I'm not happy
with is this exhaust.

Now, it looks to be factory
fitted, but look at the path it takes.

It comes from the right-hand side of
the engine down to the catalytic converter,

crosses over at the cat,

and then diagonally
back again to the sil*ncer.

From the sil*ncer, it goes
to the back right wheel

and then crosses the whole side
of the car to the rear left wheel,

up around the corner
and out the back of the car.

I mean, it takes this kind of
unnecessarily complicated,

wavy route when really, all I want
to see is the gases from the engine.

escape quickly and as efficiently
as possible out the back of the car.

I mean, look at it.

The path this exhaust
is taking is ludicrous.

Before I start cutting and welding, I want
to come up with a simple plan of attack.

And for me, it's actually
quite straightforward

because I've kept the front
section of the exhaust in place.

Now, the first thing I
want to do is put a bit of

tube here just to clear
this chunky gearbox mount,

raise it up to this cavity here, a perfect
place to put the catalytic converter.

Then from the cat, a straight
bit of pipe to this larger cavity,

a perfect place for the sil*ncer.

Then instead of diving
back to the left-hand wheel,

I'm going to take the shortest route
here between the suspension and the diff,

turn the corner, and exit the car.

And then when you look at
it, it's simple, straight lines

flowing the gases as quickly and as efficiently
as possible out the back of the car.

Now, the first bit is
this little bit of pipe here.

I've got my trusty tube bender.

I'm so lucky to have that bit of kit.

And then because I make
an awful lot of exhaust,

I usually have a little bit of spare exhaust
tube laying around so I can use this.

Now, when making an exhaust from scratch,

it's easier just to take it
down into bite-sized chunks.

Simply cut it.

I'm just going to put two very
small 10-degree bends into this tube.

And that way, I'm going to change
it from a straight tube into an S.

Now, these two little bends, perfect.

They've taken the line
of the exhaust, raised it up

closer to the floor, and
improved ground clearance.

The cat's going to live
somewhere around here.

Now, I want to start my new
exhaust by joining it onto the

front section, the part that
was originally in the car.

And I'm going to join it
to this flange fitting here,

which means I need to flare this
end open so it fits nice and snugly.

Using hydraulic pressure, I flare the end.

and introduce the flange.

Now, this little laser-cut flange
here slides onto my new part.

And then it bolts directly
to the original exhaust.

Now, it's always best to build the
exhaust in component form on the car first

before locking it down
and fully welding it.

Now, in simple terms, an exhaust
system is just a series of pipes.

But here in America in
1975, that changed forever

because it became mandatory
to fit catalytic converters.

Now, what goes on
inside a cat can be a bit of a

mystery, but actually
it's quite straightforward.

But in really, really basic
terms, when an engine runs,

it produces harmful chemical
gases like carbon monoxide.

All those harmful gases come into the cat,

it gets cleaned up in here, and
it goes out the back less harmful.

Now, the cat just
slides on nice and easily.

And the next part of my
exhaust is a simple straight tube

from the cat to the cavity where
I'm going to put the sil*ncer.

See, the flow of gas is now
way more direct from the engine

in a straight line all
the way to the sil*ncer.

And next up, I want to
come away from the sil*ncer

and dive between the
differential and the wishbone.

And again, I've taken
the shortest route

possible, dive between
the diff and the wishbone.

If you consider the engine
as a simple air pump,

it's got to suck in air through the
inlet and blow it out via the exhaust.

All that breathing takes effort.

Add back pressure and it just
increases the amount of effort.

Free it up, though, and take
the extra burden off the engine

and that adds energy elsewhere in more
important areas like spinning the wheels.

So when aftermarket
Gary fitted the intercooler,

undoubtedly because he wanted more power,

what he could and should have
done was sorted out the exhaust.

I'm just rubbaging through my scraps bin.

I've got a bit of half-inch solid,

which is going to be perfect
for knocking up a bracket.

And there you have it.

My exhaust system is done.

And for me, it's something of an upgrade.

The thing about this
new system is it's simpler,

it's straighter, it's shorter.

It's got none of those complicated curves
that all the gases can get caught up in.

In my opinion, this is
way better than that.

I'm just removing all these grey panels

that Mike has kindly agreed
to go and get sorted for me.

Now they're off as well.

The car looks
completely different in one

colour and we absolutely
have to keep these grey

because that two-tone is of a period.

It's how I remember the Ford Sierra.

Hey up, fella. Nice one.

Oh, you got all the panels off? Lovely.

Take these away right now. Perfect.

Help me get these in the car.

Right, well, with Mike on the road,

I can now get back to it and
I'm going to go straight to the

business end of things and
get on with the air conditioning.

See, now that that intercooler in
all the gubbins is out of the way,

I've got the space to fit
the new air conditioning

and I'm going to kick things
off with this new condenser unit.

Now, this frontal area here is
the best place to put the condenser

because the air flows through
the grille and passes over the fins.

Now, it's held in place
by some fixed brackets,

but for some reason,
someone's cut them off.

Now, I've just knocked
up a pair of metal brackets

and I'm using some of this
padding to protect the fins.

and then it's a simple
case of sliding it in position

and using my new
brackets to hold it all in place.

Now, that is much better than cable ties.

To get on the next bit, I
need to remove this grille,

which is nice and easy
because it's only four bolts.

It's actually handy that
I'm removing the grille

because I'd have to have it
out of the way to tackle the lights,

but for now, it's going
to help me fit this.

This is a dryer.

Now, the thing about an
air conditioning system.

is as it's running, it
naturally generates

moisture and we don't
want moisture in the system,

so what the canister does
is it takes that moisture

out and stores it safely
in the bottom here.

Now, I've got a little bit of oil here
and I just lube up these little O-rings

and then this simply
slides behind the brackets.

like mixed up with these pipes
and this one's particularly fiddly

because it passes through
this tiny little grommet here.

Now, if I just take this
little rubber grommet off,

slide that in situ, like so.

Now, these pipes are deliberately designed.

for high pressure and
the varying temperatures.

I'll feed this down here.

so it's just a case of screwing it on.

Now, next up is this, the expansion valve.

Now, it sounds like a fancy bit of kit,
but actually when you break it down,

it's basically two holes
with a pin in the middle

and it works automatically
based on the temperature

of the refrigerant
that runs through it.

In some ways, it's kind of like
the thermostat in a cooling system.

As things heat up, the pin
moves opening the valves.

As it cools down, the pin
also moves closing the valves.

It's really that simple.

Inside this box here,
there's an evaporator.

It's basically like a
condenser or a radiator in that

it's got loads of fins that
increases surface area.

Only thing is the evaporator's now cold.

In fact, it's so cold, it's freezing.

What it's doing is it's drawing all
the warm air from inside the cabin.

Now, the added bonus of this
unit is there's a fan on this side.

Turn the fan on.

It blows warm air over those cold
fins, pushing cold air into your c*ck.

And there you have it.

Boom, cold air-conditioned
air inside your car.

Now, I've only got one more hose to fit,

but before I do, I've got the
compressor bracket here,

which was also in the boot.

Then there's the last hose here.

And this goes from the expansion
valve down to the compressor

and then from the
compressor to the condenser.

And there it is.

They're the components of
our air conditioning system,

minus the compressor pump, of course,

which apparently Mike
says he's sorting out.

And when he does and it comes,

I can fit it into that
bracket, and then it's

powered by a belt from
the crankshaft pulley.

While I'm waiting for Mr. B,

I'm gonna do a little upgrade,

which means removing this 10-inch fan,

which, of course, is
held in by a cable tie.

I'm gonna lose our single 10-inch fan,

and I'm gonna replace it with these,

a pair of 12-inch fans.

Now, the double fan is
gonna have double the impact,

with one fan dedicated to
cooling the engine, same as before,

and the second fan dedicated

to cooling the air conditioning system.

These metal brackets are gonna
hold the fans nice and secure.

Now, if you think about
the back of your fridge

at home, in some ways,
it's the same as a car.

The fridge needs to dump heat the
same as a car needs to dump heat.

And the fan increases the
flow of air over the condenser,

which is perfect if your
car's stuck in traffic.

It's sat still, like a
fridge in your kitchen.

Now, the thing about fans like this,

there's an electrical curiosity.

Now, the motor that drives the fan

can also unintentionally work
backwards as a generator,

and the easiest way to
describe it is, if I spin this one

fan, that moves freely,
while the second fan sits still.

If, however, I use these clove's pegs,

join the wires together,

and then spin just one fan,

you'll notice that the
second fan's also moving.

It's creating electricity.

Now, this can be a problem if the fans
are spinning after you turn your car off,

because what they're doing
is they're energizing the car.

and they're giving
energy to the ignition

system and the car
can run a little bit longer.

Now, the only way to
avoid that is to add a diode.

Now, the diode is like a
one-way valve for electricity.

It stops the flow in one direction
to prevent that from happening.

You just have to make sure
it's fitted the right way round.

First, fit the upper mounting brackets,

cut the old plug, strip the wires,

solder in the new plug,
add a little heat shrink,

and plug her in.

Now, the final connection is this
one here into the compressor pump.

That yellow box, there's the diode,

and this is the benefit from splicing
the new fans into the existing loon.

You get all those
original factory settings,

so the cooling fan turns on
based on the coolant temperature.

The air conditioning fan turns on

based on the air conditioning being on.

It's really that simple.

Unfortunately, that is as far as I can go
until Mike gives me the blooming pump.

But there is something else
in here that catches my eye.

You know what?

Mike's really knocked it out the
park with these XR4i headlamps.

It's a nice touch.

It's really going to
help our car stand out.

And I love the fact that
they're made of glass

because the lights on the
car at the moment are plastic.

The problem with plastic is it's faded.

It's gone yellowy.

But what do you expect?

It lives under the Californian sun.

Unfortunately, it's not a simple swap.

It's going to need a bit of surgery.

Hey, Mike, how are you?

I'm all right.

Yeah, good to see you.

Working on your muscle cars?

Yeah.

That's the sort of red that I want for the
insert, the bumpers that I sent you down?

Yeah, we could do that.

So what did you think of the
bumpers and the cladding?

The bumper and cladding
had a lot of grime on it,

road dirt, a lot of
protective coating on them.

But now we're at the point
that they're ready for base coat.

Oh, nice.

So here we are, get them all set up.

Lovely.

All stripped down as well.

Stripped down, cleaned
up, ready for base coat.

They looked different already, didn't they?

They look fantastic.

They're nice.

They're nice.

So we've just got one more to do, have we?

This is the last one.

Just giving you a heads
up what it looked like.

Do you know what?

It's not until you get them
off the car that you can see.

When you strip everything down, then
you see what you're dealing with here.

Basically, they've
suffered years of dirt, grime,

all kinds of polishes and
products been pumped into

these bumpers, and now
the job is to strip it all back.

That's right, clean it right
down to the bare plastic.

To do that, we basically
just use good, strong soap,

scratch pad, water, and elbow grease.

Is that it?

Good old-fashioned elbow grease.

Let me help.

Let's get stuck in.

Okay, let's do it.

Just get right in there.

There you go.

So the cleaner we get it, the easier
it's going to be in terms of the paint.

Yes, absolutely.

You're going to get rid of all the debris,

and your basically
base coat will stick to it,

and you won't get any fish eye
when we're doing our clear coat.

Well, here we are, Mike.

We got them all prepped,
clean, set up on the

stands, ready to put in
the booth for base coat.

This is the finish we got, ready for paint.

Okay, well then it's time to paint.

Time for base coat.

So what are we doing here, Frankie?

What we're doing here,
this is our final step for prep.

We're using this water-based degreaser.

that will take off any impurities.

that are in the plastic from our fingers,

from anything that was in
the air as we brought it in.

Let's get the painter,
Jose, in and get painting.

What's he laying down, first of all?

He's a promoter, which we put on
everything we're painting that's plastic.

So on top of that, we could put our sealer

and our base coat, everything
hangs in from that point on.

And I know if I've ever tried
to paint any kind of plastic,

it just falls off or peels off.

Peels off eventually, yeah.

A little bit, a few car
washes and it's off.

So this stuff actually
bonds itself onto the plastic.

That's right.

And then the paint bonds itself onto that.

Exactly.

We need to choose a color for this.

I want to go for
something really poppy red,

like your Dodge.

Yeah, we can find a
nice color that'll meet.

We'll look at different samples.

Yeah.

Tell me which one you like.

Show me some samples.

Let's go.

Right, well, okay, well, that's close.

I mean, that's maybe a little bit too red,

that one, Frankie.

And that one's maybe a bit too pink.

So it's sort of in between those two.

We'll do a 50-50 mix.

I think we'll get the
color you're looking for.

Okay, that'd be perfect.

Now, I've seen people give up on bumpers,

throw them away and go and buy a new set.

But you don't have to.

Go and find something like Frankie
who can turn them around for you.

And I'm going to be
delighted with those bumpers.

Once they're painted and put back on the
car, they're going to look like brand new.

Now, we are waiting for
the bumpers to be cured

and for the red inserts to be
painted up before I can get them back.

And if you think about it, we're
not painting the rest of the car.

So they're going to play an integral part
of making this car look complete and whole.

I found us a 1985 American Sierra XR4 Ti.

Yes, it's a blooming
XR4, I can't believe it.

Otherwise known as the Mercure.

Mercure.

Mercure.

A schizophrenic car
whose styling screams boy

racer while the performance
whimpered somewhat.

This car, however, was
built with a 2.3 Lemur engine.

But it is loved, and this
one was worth rescuing.

This car with its turbo
package really does deliver.

It now runs as good as it looks
and better than the name sounds.

I bought the car for just $4,000.

The headlights were $400.

Rebuilt air conditioning compressor, $100.

New cat, muffler, and exhaust pipes, $300.

Restored body cladding and
bumpers came in at $1,500.

Wheels, $450, which gives
us a grand total of $6,750,

which is around £5,200.

And all done in 17 man hours.

You know what?
This is bangin' your era, Grandad.

And that's just been cruel.

I know you were a very young
man when this car was around,

but I was a boy about town.

This year, I was 21 years of age,

and this is the car that
changed the face of car design.

See, up until then, cars
were a free box saloon.

Think of the Mark 5 Cortina with
its chrome bumpers front and rear.

Then this came along
with plastic bumpers

front and rear and a
driver-focused interior.

This car changed the
face of design forever,

and it got the famous
nickname, the jelly mold shape.

I was worried about the wheels.
Where'd you get those?

Right, I'm going to tell you,

to track down a set of
telephoned wheels for

this car isn't an easy
task here in America.

Yeah, that's a nice
touch, but also, headlights.

Yeah, the American two-piece
headlamps were nasty.

They were yellowing, and they were pitted,

but this is a one-piece,
and it's made of proper glass.

You know, I had to cut the
front of the chassis to make it fit.

I'm sorry.

No, no, don't be sorry. I was happy
to do it, because look what it's done.

Yeah, how about these though?

Yeah, all right, but listen, we could
stand here gawping at the car all day.

The truth is, I just want to drive it.

So do I.

No, no, I should be driving.

No, I should be driving this one.

No, no, no, you always drive.

Yeah, but I know how these drive properly,

because I've bought and
sold thousands of them.

Well, that's the end of the argument.

You've driven more Sierras than I have.

No, I knew this was going
to happen, so I bought a coin.

Let's decide on the toying cost.

What are you going to say?

That's what I don't get to say.

What would you have said anyway?

Probably heads.

Look at you.

Easy, Tiger.

No need to be a joy rider.

I'm sorry, I'm sorry, but this is
boy racer extraordinaire for me.

It's literally like I'm seven years old
again, but this time, I'm in this scene.

It's incredible, isn't it?

You think about it, at the time, right,

this car across England
would have been found

in car parks alongside cars
like Renault 5 GT Turbo.

I know, the list of cars is endless.

You've got Peugeot 205, the Golf GTI,

the Astra GTE.

The Astra GTE.

With the body kit.

Yeah, and of course, the 40 era XR4.

Yeah, this was the car
that people wanted to have.

It's the boy about town car, just like me.

When I got the car, obviously,
the previous owner, not the

guy that I bought it off,
but the guy he bought it off,

had obviously gone to the parts store

and bolted on as many shiny, different
colour pipes as he possibly could.

I mean, look, I understand
why some people put an

intercooler on a car, but
this one certainly didn't, either.

No, this wasn't an intercooler car.

It's already got that amazing turbo,

and the bit that you're
going to love the most

is that you didn't have
to spend a single penny.

I love that!

That's because when I bought the car,

all the parts were in the boot.

Boom! Perfect.

So now we've got an intercooler-less,

Gary-less, turbo-driven Sierra XR4.

I know we're not going too fast today,

but I can already feel the difference.

There seems to be a little
bit more punch to this car.

Well, now the turbo's
breathing properly, part of getting

power into the car is actually
having it exhale properly.

And the problem with this
one, the exhaust system on it,

it was like the London Underground map.

It just went up, down, round
the corner, round the bend.

It was just endless,
endless waves of pipes.

All I did was drop it
off, throw it in the bin,

and then I made my own one.

Lovely.

So it's just a straightforward exhaust?

Well, it's not exactly straight.

I mean, it needs to
avoid some bits of the car,

but it's simpler, it's
smoother, it's faster.

It gets all those gases away from
the engine, out the back of the car.

So the car is now sucking properly

and it's farting properly, which is
exactly... Yeah, I mean, there's more sort of

particular ways to put it, but yeah.

Today is a different day than yesterday
when it comes to selling a used car.

No longer do you have to sit there
and write out copy for an advert,

take a few pictures,

and then send it to your local paper in
the hope that somebody's going to call you.

No, today, with a few clicks and a mouse,
you can reach a much wider global market.

And that's exactly what
I did with our Mercure.

You see, the problem is
with the car in America,

it's a little bit, well, underappreciated.

But elsewhere in the world,
particularly in the motherland,

this car is really sought after.

And remember what I said earlier
about this car having a competition shell?

Well, guess what?

The person who's bought
this car, I've got a funny feeling,

is going to run it in competition,

and that's back in England.

He even paid me the full asking
price of $7,500, that's 5,800 pounds,

and even paid to ship it as well.

Now, me and Ant are delighted
with the way this car turned out,

and we know that the new owner is
going to enjoy every mile he puts on that.

When I found the Mercure
and bought it to Ant,

we were both really excited.

It's the car that every Englishman
of our generation grew up with.

All we needed to do was to turn it
back into the 40 era it always was.

Guess what?

We sold it all the way back to the
UK, and we managed to make a profit.

You can't say fairer than that, can you?

If you want to see more iconic cars like
that one being turned around by me and Ant,

then join us again soon
on Wheel of Dealers.

Tala!