MadaboutKitcars

I know - I was tempted to go bigger offset and use spacers front and back but even Et35/38 were made to order

Rear clam support frame now fitted with some fettling needed to get it true and level with the clam sat on it. Clam taken off again so frame could be painted along with the front bumper support bar getting painted.


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I'd read about pitfalls of using hammerite type paint. In the end I rubbed the frames down and used Fortress metal paint. Two coats (picture below of the rear support was after the first coat but you see final result on the front picture.

I managed to pick up a K&N induction kit with correct inlet pipe which I will fit next along with a sports exhaust that is in transit from the US. I plan to leave engine mods at that for the start and then will complete cutting out the remaining holes for lights, air intakes on the bodywork before starting the fix the sills then the rest of the panels.



I just heard that the TD Pro Race 1.2 wheels and tyres I ordered are in transit so a couple of weeks ahead of when I expected which is good news. I just need to sort out rear spacers then we should be in a position to line front and rear panels up.

I was wondering about an induction kit. I've heard they're not great on the MR2 due to the position and too much heat soak. I thought it might work better on the MRS200 as you could fit it inside the void under the rear screen out of he way of the engine?

* Just for info, if you were thinking of getting spacers from Freakyparts, the lead time was about three weeks to get them made up.

Yes that's exactly what I thought - the kit I've bought places the filter behind the battery and would normally be fed with air from the MR2 side scoops. I was going to look at channeling air from the side scoops in the rear clam and I will also fit some ally panelling around battery area to reduce heat from exhaust

Bit of trivia: I went to John Cradduck's funeral last week. He was a clay modeller for Ford. He was responsible for reshaping the RS200 front arches. Lovely bloke.

I'm amazed the more I look into the history of the RS200 development the more I find a group of dedicated individuals who made something at the time very special happen. Not sure what John would think of an MR2 based replica though.

As long as it's fast he'd love it! Total speed freak

My wheels turned up late Friday and are now on the car. I went for 17" all round ET25 with Toyo Proxes 205r40 on the front and 215r40 on the back.


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I wasn't expecting them for another couple of weeks as I was quoted 6 - 8 weeks from ordering as they weren't in stock given the offset so I now need to pull my finger out and get the spacers ordered for the back; 20mm hubcentric spacers.

Nostromo - were you happy with your spacers when they turned up and did you have to wait a while for them to be delivered?

A couple of weeks back I also managed to source a pair of newly recovered seats in leather and alcantara to replace the red cloth in the donor I bought. I know stuff like this should be lower down the budget list but they were a bargain so they've also been fitted and I just need to replace the red cloth on the door panels with either black leather or alcantara - genuine alcantara is mega money so may well end up going black leather. They are pre facelift MR2 seats but I actually prefer them without the hole to the facelift versions.


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ayup swifty nice wheels + seats i have h+r 20mm spacers in the rear with et25, 225 tyres lines em up spot on you shouldnt need any in the front mine was ok without as pics on f/book keep up the good work, mick

Thanks Mick - yes I trial fitted front bumper again last night and they looked OK on the front but I've only got 205 tyres on the front as I was trying to create some element of "stagger" front to rear so may need to go with a spacer still

Those wheels are beautiful!! Seats are a really nice find too! As you say mate, gotta get things while they're available as they don't turn up every day. Annoyingly, I'd spent my months car budget when a set of lights appeared on fleabay

I was really impressed with the spacers. Really good build quality. They're supplied with the studs and nuts to fit but you'll need to supply your own wheel nuts which you've obviously already got with your new wheels. The studs are loose so will need threadlocking into place. Lead time was three weeks for my ones as they needed to be made to order. You may find that he has a set of 20mm ones on the shelf ready to go.

looking very nice

Thanks for the kind words- will order a set of spacers for the rears tomorrow and then decide on the fronts once front bumper fitted

New exhaust arrived on Monday from North America. I took a bit of a risk on this one in pursuit of making the engine noise a bit more sporty (along with the K&N filter and pipe), it was on eBay from a North American supplier and there are a couple of MR2 Roadster forum owners who've fitted this so I could see/hear it on the car via videos they had made. All in with shipping and import duties it was less than 220 GBP and only took around 5 working days to arrive.



Quality is better than I expected and it comes with gasket and fittings. Plus it feels about half the weight of the stock exhaust.


I'm hoping to fit along with the induction kit over the next couple of days so I can get the rear clam on for a better trial fit and then get on with the sills.

Rear spacers on order now that I've got the wheels.

I received the mats I'd ordered today from Ambassador Mats - they managed to take the RS200 logo and create the stiching pattern to put these on the mats in a similar place to the MR2 logo on the original mats.

I wasn't too sure when they sent me pictures through of the finished article (I'd also ordered them black piped in red) but in the flesh they look great and rather pleased with them.



Now that they've created the stiching pattern with the software they use they can reproduce the design if any other MRS200 builders are interested.

I was thinking about mats the other day so definitely interested in these. How much were they? The photos don't seem to be working... or is it just me?

*they're working now, they're ace, I want some!

£67 delivered but I would expect you should be able to get some off that price given that included setting up the stitching pattern first time around.

Lewis was the guy I dealt with via [email]info@ambassadorcarmats.co.uk[/email]

Saw a good selection of rally cars at Retromobile in Paris last weekend so thought this might be of interest:



and detail:

Many thanks for sharing the pics IanA

rs200

i think that is a ex graham hathaway rallycross car that was rebuilt from the ground up around 2004-05,going by the reg number, looks superb, think i need a few more stickers for my mrs200 lol

Hmmm- a rallycross car in showroom condition?

The rally car exhibit at Retromobile comprised over 20 cars on a bridge between exhibition halls. Bit of a pinch point for pedestrian traffic but the extra natural light made for better pics than in the halls themselves.

it was re-built from a rally-cross car i think the original car was reg number c200khj but somehow 2 cars ended up with same reg number so after a lot of wrangling with dvla it was allocated c471rjr if you g@@gle it "ford rs 200 c471rjr " there is a interesting article on it seems a lot of 200s had dual identity back in the day after being accident damaged or stripped for parts etc

New exhaust fitted along with the K&N induction kit. Induction kit was easier than I expected, old air box and piping came off straight forward. I did a before/after compare of the exhaust/engine sound before I started on the exhaust and there was a noticeable improvement, also seemed to rev a bit easier.

Fitting the new exhaust was a pig - both removing the old one particularly the bolts to the cat and getting the new one to line up, but got there in the end and must say both the sound and the looks are spot on.


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I ran the car up to temp and managed to check it was idling ok once warmed up as I'd heard reports that due to reduced back pressure it could affect the idle. All OK and the combo of exhaust and induction kit really make a difference to sound and responsiveness of the engine - OK it may be more the sound and the rest is my brain making it seem to rev better!

I decided not to put the exhaust heat shield back on as the new one looks so good and with the clam on I think there will be plenty of air circulating.

I'm still waiting for the rear wheel spacers to arrive (should turn up next week) so I've held off from making a start on fitting the rear clam. To keep me busy there's a few jobs left on the interior including replacing the door card trim with alcantara and red piping to match the new seats, and I've decided to mount an old Android tablet on the dash top so I can run Torque Pro via an ODBII Bluetooth connector. Mock up below but will be permanently fixed using a Nav Pod which is on order and should arrive next week.

Still waiting for the rear spacers to arrive but managed to get the rear clam on for a trial fitting earlier today. I removed the 4" either side of the rear crash bar and the good news is my measurements were spot on with trailing edge clearing the top of the pipes from the new exhaust but it is catching slightly on the rubber hanger holding the cat - that may be as the clam is too far forward on the car (see below).


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Front edge where it meets top rail of windscreen looks less good with a big gap. I know there is a void to the hardtop that will need filling but I suspect I need to shift the whole roof/clam back a couple of cm to line it up and get the pillars anywhere near close (mine are separate due to getting the kit couriered).


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Will fit the sills first so next job is to remove the two doors and do the mods to the trailing edge of those. Alongside that will make a start on cutting out the various holes and light fittings on the rear clam.

clam

hi dave looking good i also had to alter the hanger on the cat i moved it towards the engine with some 8mm rod thanks for pic of clam on that eases my mind about the tail pipe clearance, took my old pipe off yesterday ready for new one ,wot a b@s@ard had to remove rear crash bar to get it out, at least the bolts came out ok, as a matter of interest the bottom edge of my clam is 130mm down from top of crash bar, mick .