[wh1pple]

Well, because I've been too poor to do anything major to the truck lately (like work on sas), I decided to invest the few dollars I do have into a second vehicle....

... That becomes another project. :lol:

I bought a 1985 Mercury Lynx, that's right, the more "luxurious" twin of the rally-bred Ford Escort (yes, I know that was more the European models, but nonetheless...)

For a $450 investment, I couldn't really pass it up for a fun eco-box rally beater. Plus, I think I'll be able to learn a lot from this car from a mechanical stand-point. Plus it had only 91k on the clock!

Plans currently to just fix up the few flaws it does have. Thank god old domestic vehicles have cheap consumable parts. Also get it rally-ready for small grassroots rallyX and be able to run a few of the stages up here that they have for LSPR (obviously not during the actual stage rally).

Current issues:
-Slight tick
-leaking gas tank, needs replaced
-better carb tune, maybe rebuild
-observing for potential oil loss (loses oil a lot of ways...)
-electrical gremlins when starting (kinda solved)
-shitty seatbelts (don't wind tight)
-gangsta leaning driver's seat
-sagging passenger door
-few rust issues, hole in passenger floor
-leaks in cabin area
-fix heater blower
-get cassette player to not eject every time a cassette is put in
-fix handbrake
-Horn button on steering wheel falling out constantly
-Windshield washer fluid container has HUGE hole
-Driver door only opens on outside

Planned Upgrades:
-lighting (put on 6" LED bars from truck)
-gravel tires (need 15" wheels)
-snow tires
-basic skid plates
-custom livery
-Heart transplant or Heart Surgery or Heart Pacemaker aka Rotary Swap, Engine Rebuild, or Turbo (while on carburetor).
-Small Lift (approx 1" or so via strut spacing)
-Lancia Delta Integale style or Sierra Cosworth style spoiler

The issues list seems long, but most things can either be done for cheap or free. Most upgrades are going to be cheap or free as well (gotta love having a major rally team in the area, thanks FY racing for the free gravel tires!). I think that covers it for the main introduction of the car, now time for pictures!

Also, my friends and I have started an assroots rally team called Rekt'Em Racing.

[Insert pictures here, mobile app is being an :ghey:]
[Using Underline because don't know how to do strikethrough...]

 

[ahelm3]

Expectations:

Now get to work :lol:

 

[wh1pple]

[Placeholder]

 

[wh1pple]

Expectations:

Now get to work :lol:

This guy gets it. :lol: if I can keep it once I graduate/commission in spring, I am going to cage it and try to enter it in at least 1 stage rally

 

[wh1pple]

I have taken it down one of the stages they use for LSPR, and I must say, this thing handles so well in the dirt, even with eco tires. The understeer is so easily countered with a small press of the brake to induce the perfect amount of oversteer to slide around a corner. The only downside was that it went into runaway mode like the old diesels after that stage... :lol:

Plus I'm an expert about rallying now after playing DiRT Rally on my computer (loljk).

 

[08Canyon]

Mine was an '83 that I drove when I lived in MI. If you had an '83 I'd accuse you of having the one I owned.

They must have learned from mistakes because my 4-speed, AM radio, manual controls was far from Luxurious!

 

[wh1pple]

Mine was an '83 that I drove when I lived in MI. If you had an '83 I'd accuse you of having the one I owned.

They must have learned from mistakes because my 4-speed, AM radio, manual controls was far from Luxurious!

:lol: they didn't learn much. Still 4speed and manual controls, but it does at least have FM radio! Lol There was an update halfway through the 1985 model year, if I remember correctly, but mine wasn't one of them.

 

[wh1pple]

Figured I'd add another update to this post since it's been a while and a few things have happened to the lynx (err... maybe lack thereof?)

Back in mid-December, my buddies and I decided to go out for a rip in the middle of a gnarly sleet-ice-slush storm. While running the stage, the car decided it wanted to be straight-piped and it jettisoned the muffler somewhere in the first 25% of the run. The car has never sounded so... loud. It's actually pretty comical :lol:. I've also never felt secure driving on glassed over, icy roads in a car until this lynx. Little terrifying when you think about it.

Also on the same stage, I encountered a bit of snap oversteer and the the car headed straight for a 4' deep culvert. Me and my codriver at the time admitted defeat and figured we'd end up ass down facing straight up in the ditch upon sliding in. To our surprise, the car actually did a 50-50 grind on the edge and jumped backed out. The other cars in our group were way back and when were extremely perplexed at the tracks that disappear into the culvert and started back up on the other side. :lol:

Then I went away for a month for winter break, and the poor girl disappeared, buried beneath many feet of snow. She would get dug out, but frozen gas lines would leave her stranded there for another month... to get buried again. Last week Wednesday would turn into another Jurassic Park-Esq excavation to find my dinosaur of a car. Even with the warmer temps out, the lines were frozen. After a can of ether, 5 gallons of gas, half-can of MAF cleaner, a bottle of HEET, and a fire extinguisher later... she started and proceeded to shake off the cold. With no muffler and an obscenely high cold idle setting, she awoke the whole neighborhood at midnight, screaming "Hey world! I'm still alive!"

Now here's the ultimate reason she was awaken from her winter slumber... err... hibernation. A buddy was holding a bonfire out at his lake in northern Wisconsin. The ice was thick enough for us to hold some "ice racing". We loaded up the Lynx on a trailer and took her down, unsure of her capability for a 2 hour road trip. Due to high temps (40+) the snow on the ice was very wet and slushy. It made for a difficult time for the lynx to run, especially while still on the bald eco-tires. Still did very well and outlasted my buddy's heavily boosted WRX. He cooked 'er bud!

Guess what this means? Yup, the WRX needs the trailer now to get back, and the Lynx needs to get home under it's own power. So at the end of the weekend, we begin the excursion back to Houghton. This will probably be the longest trip that this car has ever taken in one stretch. The Yoopers up in the Keweenaw tend to not stray very far from their northern peninsula, so yes, a 2 hour drive is very far. The first 2/3 of the trip is easy going flat ground, even hit a new high speed of 80mph... that Grand Prix didn't even know what flew by it. The hills of Ontonogan were of concern to me due to their length and grade. Through all of this, the Lynx survived its trek back to Houghton. I'm definitely proud of the old girl.

Now the Lynx is currently on loan to my buddy with the roasted WRX. He's covering rental costs by fixing up some of the shit that's broken on it like the washer fluid container, efan wiring, etc.

Now for the pic dump....

Now onto the upgrades/repairs list:
Heater now works properly.
Washer fluid container is fixed.
Carb has been "roughly" tuned.
Gremlins while starting have been defined. Solution is new battery, waiting until I find a welfare battery. Currently starting car with jumper pack.
Tick has gotten a little better actually.

New Upgrade ideas:
-Heart transplant or Heart Surgery or Heart Pacemaker aka Rotary Swap, Engine Rebuild, or Turbo (while on carburetor).
-Small Lift (approx 1" or so via strut spacing)
-Lancia Delta Integale style or Sierra Cosworth style spoiler

Anyone got a fuel cell about 5-12 gal laying around for cheap? :lol:

[updating OP lists with fixes/upgrades]

 

[wh1pple]

More pic dump

 

[1BADI5]

I've been looking for a Chevy Chevette

 

[wh1pple]

Any of the old eco-boxes from the late 70's-80's are so hard to find up here as is between having to survive driving through harsh winters, neglectful owners, and rust. The fact I found this with "minimal" rust issues was a miracle in itself.

Many people have complimented me on owning and operating this old fine piece of machinery. Their surprised to still see cars like that on the road. Most people forgot they existed.