1988 Merkur XR4Ti Best Setup

[JakeMerkur]

Was wondering, I bought a '88 Merkur, since the wiring is so atrocious from prior owner I was thinking of going full Megasquirt while rebuilding the engine (also in horrendous shape with fluid leaks) with everything out of the way and just get it done. What would be the best setup?

My plan is:
Coil on plug (either some old Tundra ones I have lying around or junkyard dive for LS coilpacks)
Electronic Wastegate (parts I have sitting around) with megasquirt controlling ideally so as to minimize cost (external controllers are ~$200 starting out for electronic)
Keeping the EFI setup

Plan to start at 4psi, tune, and slowly ramp up the boost to around 18-21psi. Will be using 3 bar MAP from DIYAutoTune. Could I do this with microsquirt? MS-2? Want to have a daily-able car that can be fun for track days is the idea.

Need as close to PNP as I can get, as I want this car ready for the annual car show here in town July 4th. Thanks for the help, and I promise to post pics (both of work so far - honing block this weekend and putting everything back together, also have pics of the teardown and all the way back to purchase) as I go. Selling my Icom IC-7100 radio this weekend, at which point I will have $$$ for ECU ($900 + accessories, so ~ $1500 hopefully this weekend).

Car is at a friends' in Akron, OH.

[Matt Cramer]

Coil on plug is going to require something like a crank trigger. Toyota pencil coils often get used as a cosmetic upgrade, but aren't especially hot. The features on your list could work with a MicroSquirt (or DIYPNP if you're up for some soldering). Note that the MicroSquirt would need to fire the coils in pairs; it doesn't have enough I/O for boost control, idle control, and four spark outputs at the same time.

[JakeMerkur]

Coil on plug is going to require something like a crank trigger. Toyota pencil coils often get used as a cosmetic upgrade, but aren't especially hot. The features on your list could work with a MicroSquirt (or DIYPNP if you're up for some soldering). Note that the MicroSquirt would need to fire the coils in pairs; it doesn't have enough I/O for boost control, idle control, and four spark outputs at the same time.

Thanks, what I needed to hear. So, how about Megasquirt 2 v3.57, could it run 4 sparks independently? I guess the other option is to use distributor ign with all the I/O, but then really what is the point of using a standalone ECU (besides MAP which is a HUGE bonus in my opinion).

EDIT> forgot, I can still run micro with that and wasted spark ign, correct?

[dontz125]

The boxed MS2 can run the 4 sparks in COP and boost control, as well as 4-channel sequential injection. Yes, the little uS can run the sparks wasted, but apparently one of the few major problems some people have encountered with wasted spark is the possibility of ignition of the 'other' cyl with a boosted engine. It very likely depends on the engine and the amount of valve overlap; I'm fairly certain several of these were bike engines, which have a lot of overlap.

[JakeMerkur]

The boxed MS2 can run the 4 sparks in COP and boost control, as well as 4-channel sequential injection. Yes, the little uS can run the sparks wasted, but apparently one of the few major problems some people have encountered with wasted spark is the possibility of ignition of the 'other' cyl with a boosted engine. It very likely depends on the engine and the amount of valve overlap; I'm fairly certain several of these were bike engines, which have a lot of overlap.

Thank you for that, looks like that's the plan ($100 for 4 sparks vs 2 is worth it, in my opinion). Will order Saturday - just need to email them and ask for a delivery ETA if I order Saturday now.

[JakeMerkur]

Merkur pics, as promised (a few of them, anyway...)

https://goo.gl/photos/2xptqJP5rQYUutCE6
^^ Album Link

Will post more pics (and videos of our initial test runs) later.

[baz-r]

over here in the uk we called this car a ford sierra

we didn't have a turbo version of the pinto like the us cars engine because we had the cosworth yb engine that shared the same "205" block the xr4i we had was ford v6
but we did have a efi version of the late 2.0 pinto engine but i don't know how alike it was the the us turbo

over here is common to use a 36-1 trigger wheel fitted to the crank vr pick up and use either edis (old hat) or go wasted spark with a ford edis 4 post coil and 2x bip373 or bosch ign module (in manual) as this engine was used a lot in modified retro cars and kitcars

there where plenty of trigger kits for the pinto so you should be able to google some info on this

[Matt Cramer]

Thanks, what I needed to hear. So, how about Megasquirt 2 v3.57, could it run 4 sparks independently? I guess the other option is to use distributor ign with all the I/O, but then really what is the point of using a standalone ECU (besides MAP which is a HUGE bonus in my opinion).

EDIT> forgot, I can still run micro with that and wasted spark ign, correct?

Yes, but you will need to either modify it yourself for extra spark outputs or special order one with mods.

[JakeMerkur]

Thanks, what I needed to hear. So, how about Megasquirt 2 v3.57, could it run 4 sparks independently? I guess the other option is to use distributor ign with all the I/O, but then really what is the point of using a standalone ECU (besides MAP which is a HUGE bonus in my opinion).

EDIT> forgot, I can still run micro with that and wasted spark ign, correct?

Yes, but you will need to either modify it yourself for extra spark outputs or special order one with mods.

So do I just put that in the notes that I need it special ordered that way (for the MS2)? That wouldn't add too much money, would it?

[dontz125]

4-channel spark is straight forward. Sequential with a Hall Cam sensor is pretty easy. A VR Cam sensor involves extra parts. Sequential fuel involves extra parts on the main board and careful jumpers on the daughter card.

Not looking to spike someone else's sale - if Matt and the guys can do 4+4 sequential for less than what I mentioned in PM, I've overthought the design and I need to try again - but I don't think what Matt's suggesting is what you were talking about.

[JakeMerkur]

4-channel spark is straight forward. Sequential with a Hall Cam sensor is pretty easy. A VR Cam sensor involves extra parts. Sequential fuel involves extra parts on the main board and careful jumpers on the daughter card.

Not looking to spike someone else's sale - if Matt and the guys can do 4+4 sequential for less than what I mentioned in PM, I've overthought the design and I need to try again - but I don't think what Matt's suggesting is what you were talking about.

Sounds good, going to go semi-sequential injection and maybe wasted-spark ignition, unless we can figure out how to set up a cam sensor, shouldn't be too tough though. MS2 sounds like my kind of setup, everything I need now, and the possibility of adding more features for later.

Lots of in this, but it will be worth it when I have the Lima with BOV/MAP and cruising the town with people going WTF is that. Thanks everyone for the help! Will post pics of my car and vids of me messing with the fartcannon civics around here once it is running. Can't wait to go Pro or MS3X on my T/A, but it needs to wait until I have $$$ for parts.

[baz-r]

4-channel spark is straight forward. Sequential with a Hall Cam sensor is pretty easy. A VR Cam sensor involves extra parts. Sequential fuel involves extra parts on the main board and careful jumpers on the daughter card.

Not looking to spike someone else's sale - if Matt and the guys can do 4+4 sequential for less than what I mentioned in PM, I've overthought the design and I need to try again - but I don't think what Matt's suggesting is what you were talking about.

Sounds good, going to go semi-sequential injection and maybe wasted-spark ignition, unless we can figure out how to set up a cam sensor, shouldn't be too tough though. MS2 sounds like my kind of setup, everything I need now, and the possibility of adding more features for later.

Lots of in this, but it will be worth it when I have the Lima with BOV/MAP and cruising the town with people going WTF is that. Thanks everyone for the help! Will post pics of my car and vids of me messing with the fartcannon civics around here once it is running. Can't wait to go Pro or MS3X on my T/A, but it needs to wait until I have $$$ for parts.

your not going to get any more power with cop over wasted spark but you do get a bit more plug cleaning and wear just run a platinum tip plugs if you can get them for this engine? you would only need to add 1 extra bip373 that is not really too much work or use 2x external or edis4 even
you may get a slight improvement in cruise economy with fully sequential fuel but cant see the benefit over semi for the work required and you get 2 inj channels as std

[dontz125]

I believe the advantages of sequential fuel are improved off-idle and cracked throttle response.

I agree most engines don't care about COP vs wasted, but a few people have reported backfires with wasted spark and turbo, fixed by going to COP.