Fraud RS200

Nostromo · October 20, 2016, 11:05

For me it was because I knew I could make a bit of money back on selling the more sought after parts. Made it easier to justify it to the wife. But also you'd like to think a newer, lower mileage model will last longer and you want the best base car you can get to start.

swiftyds · October 20, 2016, 22:07

Ditto ... my aim is to build a RS200 replica (ok, more of an "homage") that isn't just eye candy but actually drives decently and the aim is to build something, take my time with it, but keep it at the end.

Guess we've all got to blame Mr Toyota for building such a great handling car that pretty much all of the panels bolt of easily

wozzy · October 23, 2016, 19:47

Quote from: "nads1978"Some nice work there, cant wait to get mine back on the road too.
Here are some motivational images taken last year!!!

that looks the dogs nuts haha
what wheels are those?

Nostromo · October 23, 2016, 21:30

Awooga365

Someone on this forum will understand that.

swiftyds · November 1, 2016, 17:04

Red Dwarf fan?

Nostromo · November 2, 2016, 06:38

Yes, but thats not what its about s:)

s:)

A small update on the car. I've not really done a great deal recently as I've been spending a lot of time decorating the house so that's also where most of my money is going at the minute too s:roll: :roll: s:roll: My wife doesn't seem to understand s:| :| s:| One thing this project has highlighted to me is how many things I'm missing in my garage that before now I've not really needed. Big vice, welder, compressor, air tools, clamps, trays for nuts and bolts etc. I've also just realised that to make it a proper workshop, i'll be needing a nudey calendar.

So what have I done? I've removed the rear end, ordered some big strips of mild steel, rose joints, packs of nuts, bolts and washers so that I can start on the hinges at the rear end. I've also started drilling some holes in the side skirts so that I can fit them in roughly the right place to get the rear end in place. Everything will have a small amount of adjustment as I fully expect to get it wrong. I'm borrowing a welder as I'm possibly going to have to re-weld the rear frame as its not centered. I'm also going to be turning the exhaust hanger for the cat 90 degrees to the left as the bodykit sits on it otherwise. I've got a new (second hand) cat coming to me on Saturday which will be rubbed down, sprayed black and also have its hanger turned 90 degrees. Am hoping I can just bend that one! The cat is purely for MOT purposes. I've been eyeing up the mandrelled sections of exhaust available on ebay with the intent of building my own - clamps and putty rather than welded. Oh, I've also cut out the vents on the side and blew up my dremel (actual sparks and fire) in the process. The vents look awesome though! s:bounce: :bounce: s:bounce:

swiftyds · November 2, 2016, 08:27

I know what you mean - I cleared the garage out ready for the MR2 donor and the kit (which is due to arrive in a couple of weeks) and by the time I got the MR2 in I discovered just how little room is there around the car for the build! OK panels are still on which will give me more space when they come off, but I think I'll be need to free up space on the other side of the garage for working on panels.

On hinges I've been speaking to Bill who owns the Evo200 kit - he makes a set of bespoke front and rear clam hinges which are adjustable and seems reasonably priced, so I'm about to place an order with him. I've also been looking at cutting the intercooler pod in half as well as the clam to make fitting the hinges easier to the rear clam itself. Looks to have been done this way on the original and with a lip around the inner edge of the top looks like it would make a decent panel join.

Nostromo · November 2, 2016, 13:30

Can I ask where the hinges mount to? I was going to go with sticking a hinged plate to the roof (inside obvs) of the pod and rose joints mounted on the hardtop. As the hardtop is curved, rose joints seem a safe way of doing it. If there's a purpose built hinge already made then I'm all ears!

swiftyds · November 2, 2016, 14:17

I'm having to put a support bar in that will be either be bolted or bonded to the hardtop for the hinges to mount to

nads1978 · November 8, 2016, 00:51

Quote from: "swiftyds"I'm having to put a support bar in that will be either be bolted or bonded to the hardtop for the hinges to mount to

The rear clam is quite heavy, I also added bracing to mine for rigidity. Originally I made a bracket to mount to the OE hardtop, that resulted in the rear window shattering. It shattered when I was tightening the bracket up, must have pulled it out of shape, pretty much the same forces which will act upon it when opening the clam. Be warned!

Sent from my Atari Jaguar using time travel.

swiftyds · November 8, 2016, 08:49

Yes, I'm also worried about this and saw what had happened with yours on your other posts.

I'm now reconsidering the hard top mounted bar (I've yet to order the hinges from Bill who owns the Evo200 kit) and have been looking at hinging the other way from the back/bumper bar. It seems the first couple of Ford original cars (up to chassis #3) hinged this way until an accident with one of them in transit and the rear clam opened and was ripped off.

I had a GTM Libra kit in the past which hinged this way and was pretty heavy itself so may be a better alternative.

Either that or just bond the clam in and accept I need to remove the rear screen to get engine access! To be honest, the GTM Libra rear clam was secured by 5 - 6 bolts that looked fine and probably wasn't that much quicker than removing the bolts for the rear screen would be .

Decisions decisions ......

Nostromo · November 9, 2016, 03:16

Nads, I did wonder how you managed that! I assumed you'd just lent on it or something. What you've written is now making me think along the same lines as swiftyds now. I really like the idea of the rear end lifting up, it looks cool more than anything but as he's written, would it be a terrible hardship to just remove a few bolts to get access? I'm also now thinking of bonding the supports instead. I want to try to save as much space under the inake pod as possible so thinking of making up a frame that will spread the load. Not sure if its a bit dodgy sticking it on rather than bolting? Could always put a couple of small bolts, nuts and washers at each end as well as glue.

Swiftyds, what sticky stuff would you suggest?

swiftyds · November 9, 2016, 07:58

I think there's a couple of options here that I'm still contemplating - when the kit arrives (hopefully next couple of weeks) I'll be able to see how much strengthening the rear clam needs which will have a bearing on which route I end up going:

1 - Bond/permanently fix the rear clam leaving the only access to engine, rear lights, suspension being either under the car or through the rear screen which would be bolted in and removable (Nads I understand your rear screen is bolted in as are the other MRS200 kits built today). I suspect this isn't a great route in terms of the durability of the rear screen as it won't stand up to constant removal, and will be a pain for checking the oil etc, but the kit was originally designed that way with the fuel filler flap being retained.

In terms of bonding/bolting then I would use Sikaflex to bond it down to the hardtop edge and then tekbolts into the sill area and rear bumper area.

2 - Bolt/fix the rear clam to the car but not hinge it - if you look at some of the Evo/Rally versions of the original car you will see bonnet / retaining pins on a number of them on the rear bumper area (below the number plate but above the grill areas. There's also a couple where the bonnet pins are on the top of spoiler on the clam. With the frame that comes with the kit I believe there is scope here to have a clam which can lift off for maintenance/access that is bolted/pinned with a set of four - six bonnet pins/bolts - two - three across the bumper area and the same under the intercooler pod. You would need to fabricate a set of stricker plates for the bonnet pins to lock into on the hard top again or a frame but the load would be less than with the hinging it from the top, also the intercooler will need cutting from the roof so this is removable to access the bonnet pins (otherwise these will look a mess if they are visible).

3 - Hinge from the roof and opening upwards .... Nads has shown how to do this properly with a frame and achieve a result that's pretty damn close to the original, but I think this goes beyond my welding skills to be honest.

4 - Hinge from the rear bumper and opening backwards ... this would need a frame fabricating at the back of the clam to install the hinges on but there won't be such a load on the hardtop this way. I need to see the clam to check where it would lock into

In options 2 - 4 I believe the rear clam will need strengthening itself - I was going to go the route of fibreglassing support struts on the underside of the clam itself and then paint black or with the special paint you can get which protects underside of GRP panels from stone chips and creating crazing. Needs to be something flexible if going this route, and in the past I've used various sizes of rubber hozes to do this - sounds crazy but you can get quite some strength going this route without too much weight. I spoke to Andy when I was considering buying the moulds and the original plan was the clams would be provide would strengthening along these lines as well as the more expensive screen when the KIT was originally priced at > £3k.

Hope this makes sense ... as I said I'll get more of an idea of the route I'm taking once the kit arrives. I may go with option 2 first given option 1 is a lot of work once the car is painted to reverse. Be interested to hear from Nads how his clam was originally attached before he went the route of hinging it given it was the original prototype car and whether this was option 1 or actually option 2 or a combo of both.

Going back to the point I made about how the GTM Libra clam worked, here's a link to a picture of the fastenings for that - stainless hex bolts that actually looked pretty good but achieved the same principle as bonnet pins albeit you got a pretty tight fit (second picture from bottom where you can see the captive threads and then on the clam you see the recess for the bolt/washer ... m http://www.drawmer.net/libra/stringing.htm m )

Nostromo · November 10, 2016, 01:10

I'm taking this as an omen. was just checking out the scrap metal bin at work and found these right on top. Lovely bits of aircraft spec alloy just waiting to be stuck to the top of the inside of the pod. Nice big footprint that I can make a little wider with some stainless. I'm going for hinged roof, decision made. Think i'll stick them on.

Might be useful for fitting the piston for lifting the clam too!

swiftyds · November 10, 2016, 08:53

Wow they look pretty industrial and what a fantastic place you must work at to have this floating around in the scrap metal bin!

Looks like the dimensions should work ideal for mounting on the clam itself .... let me know if you have any spare once you've done yours as I'd be more than happy to buy a pair of you even if I end up hinging from the rear, as these would ideal for that too.

Nostromo · November 12, 2016, 10:16

Aircraft parts! Very light and well made... makes me wonder why they were in the bin. They'll be from a scock cock scock pit of a 320, 737 or maybe even a Herc or an Atlas. Will check the part number for fun. Interesting bits and pieces turn up every now and then. They came out of a bin so would be pretty unfair to charge for them! I'm sure I could pass a set your way s:)

s:)

Got the car out and into the daylight for the first time since I bought it yesterday. Daylight really shows up how much work there is to do. Have temporarily bolted the side skirt on . There's a tapped hole near the door light switch which is perfect. Have oversized the hole as no doubt I'll need to adjust the skirts. It's very difficult to match them up. I think all body parts will need to be temporarily attached then adjusted to fit right at the end.

swiftyds · November 15, 2016, 08:03

That would be great if you're OK to pass on - will PM you my details, and of course happy to pay postage and a donation to a suitable charity of your choice.

I've built a couple of kit cars over the years and restored a couple of old classics, including a 1966 TVR Grantura. I tend to enjoy the body work more than mechanicals (hence the MRS200 choice), but there are always times in the build where you wonder why the heck you bothered and you just want to throw the towel in. That's usually a good time to give it a rest for a couple of days/weeks, wheel it back into the garage then take a look at pictures of the finished article to renew your enthusiasm.

As for lining the body work up, it will be a bit of trial an error and trying to find some parts (sills ideally) that you can use as reference points. Don't know if it makes it harder splitting the rear clam - I was going to look at trying to line sills/roof/clam up first, secure the sills and possibly the roof part and then cut it/split it. I also think copious amounts of gaffer tape can help line things up.

Hang in there ... it will be worth it in the end!

Nostromo · November 16, 2016, 20:20

The problem with lining all that lot up first is then you've still got the doors which will also hopefully line up with everything else. My plan is to make everything so that it has some level of adjustment until I'm ready to stick / bolt it down for good.

Just picked up a set 17 inch of old school Konigs for £60!! s:)

s:) they'll do... for now s;)

s;)

Essex2Visuvesi · November 16, 2016, 21:07

m http://www.imagewheels.co.uk/rs200-alloy-wheel/ m

I was going to go for these until I found out the price s:shock: :shock: s:shock:

Nostromo · November 16, 2016, 21:23

Yeah I saw them too, ridiculous price! How about a set of knackered rs200 revolutions for £900?
Look at this on eBay http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/252606794461

Nostromo · November 16, 2016, 22:53

Dent

Hydraulic press

No dent s:)

s:)

Best get it checked before I drive on it...

Essex2Visuvesi · November 16, 2016, 23:20

Quote from: "Nostromo"Dent

Hydraulic press

No dent s:) s:)

Best get it checked before I drive on it...

We must deal with it!
m https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcMDMo ... wi5-MeiQgw m

swiftyds · November 17, 2016, 07:58

I also got a quote for the ImageWheels RS200 replicas ... wow, I expected them to be expensive but not that much!

Great bargain there with the Konigs - I'm struggling to find something that is a fair price but in keeping with the 80s. If I can justify new I'd probably go for Team Dynamics Pro 1.2s in white at 17" but that eats a large part of the build budget so I suspect I'll wait for a bit a keep checking eBay!

Nostromo · November 18, 2016, 02:39

As nice as the replicas are, this was always going to be a budget build for me. Maybe i'll be able to afford a set when I retire... can I wait 30 years?

Remember to factor in that you'll probably be needing a set (or two) of spacers to get the wheels lining up nicely in the wheel arch. There doesn't seem to be many wheels out there with an offset of less than 25 (or is it more than?) but you'll need an offset of 0 to not need spacers. The konigs, if I stick with them will need 40mm hubcentrics. They're gonna look beautiful in a coppery bronzy colour and I think ought to suit the car! They're fairly well beaten up, the worst being that dent which isn't there anymore but they'll need a lot of work to get them looking nice. A friend of a friend does hydro dipping so I may see what he can do rather than spraying them myself.

wozzy · November 18, 2016, 20:43

Are you guys dooing build threads?