Cam timing with an adjustable gear

[Chazmerkur]

Hi everyone. New member here and new to merkurs.

I recently acquired a 1985 merkur xr4ti rs500 replica from a friend that passed away...and his dad said he couldn't get it running because the timing was off but that's all he said.

Me and my father who was a ford mechanic in the 80s-90s worked on these apparently.we for the basic timing done. But we are having trouble getting the cam timing set? There was no mark indicating anything on the gear to where tdc should or would have been..

Any insight is appreciated.

[my8950]

pics of said cam gear? maybe its marked but you're not sure what the mark is?

Did you check timing with a light? What does it read?

[merkurdriver]

Sorry to hear of the loss of your friend.
The gears usually have a 0° mark to bring them back to where the stock cam gear would normally be. Or if there are just a bunch of unmarked lines on the gear it is most likely the mark in the center. If there is nothing at all on the gear then I would try to center the bolts in the middle of the adjustable slots.

[andyofcolumbusmerkur]

Hi everyone. New member here and new to merkurs.

I recently acquired a 1985 merkur xr4ti rs500 replica

Hey Chaz do you still have this car? DId you get it running or do any work to it yet?

[andyofcolumbusmerkur]

It's also worth mentioning that these cam gears are not ready to use out of the box. You really need to place it over the original non-adjustable gear and line things up.