MadaboutKitcars

A couple of other MRS200 builders have asked for the 4 pin relay pin outs for the headlight wiring. Here’s a better wiring diagram with the pin outs labelled - note that you need to split the main beam positive/12v feed into pins 86 and 87 on the relay.



Just shout if it’s not clear or you need any further help on this.

Cheers

That makes life easier. Thanks for sorting this Dave.

Steady progress over the last couple of weeks - as you will have seen from previous posts I decided to line all of the bodywork up and bolt on to the various front/rear support bars plus various fashioned brackets along the way before going back around the car and bonding everything on. This gave me chance to line things up first.

I’ve now started with bonding panels on - headlamp surrounds are done with the brackets holding the Golf MK2 lights glassed in on the inner side of the surrounds.



Bonnet hinges adjusted and to get a better fit and alignment where the bonnet joins the sill each side I’ve made a couple of supports out of 8mm Perspex that also serve as a mounting point for the front edge of each sill. They basically push the outer edge of the bonnet out each side just behind where the locking pin is. They still need to be painted Matt black to match the rest of the under bonnet area.



Next was bonding this sills on. They were already lined up with the new Perspex supports and I’d used the MR2 rear wing mounting point and door jam points so this was just a case of unbolting, drilling the holes for the dummy jacking point covers, bonding and then bolting it back on each side. Whilst off I also drilled holes and glassed in a couple of 3mm thick 200mm spreader bars that I’m using each side to bolt the clam to the top of the sill just in front of the rear wheels.



In the picture above the clam is only loosely bolted to the sill area. When fully tightened up it pulls the clam down nicely to the top edge of the sill.

I’ve also gone back round the rear of clam and added a couple more 3mm thick right angle brackets, glassed these all in and these now bolt the back of the clam down to the rear support bar. I will eventually go back and hinge the clam but for now I’m happy to have it bolted in and it’s not too long a process to unbolt it and lift it off. I need to that to paint the inside area Matt black.

All the wiring of the lights is now completed. I decided to wire the Hellas in as the front fog lights which works fine with H2 55W bulbs.



.....



Next things on the to do list are to tidy up the filling around the rear lights and then put aside a couple of free days to bond the door skins and roof panel. I’ve got original Sierra MK1 door mirrors which seem to line up OK but obviously follow the MR2 door profile so are angled up more than the original. I also need to strengthen the window area of the door skin before bolting in the perspex side windows.

I’ve decided to fit an inter cooler and piping into the roof area - one day I’ll get a turbo on it, plus it fills the void quite nicely. I also want to remake the door handle rods before I bond the skins on and use thicker stainless bar as I’m not happy with the action on the handle right now.

That should hopefully take me to mid-November when I’m trying to get it to the point where I can MOT it, and then finish off all the little jobs like painting the inside of the bonnet/clam, fashion and fit under arch plastics and finally do something about lowering the suspension and ride height. My MR2 was on standard springs and original shocks so I’m toying with fitting BC BR Coilovers which I believe can get me 50mm+ lowering on the front and the rear which is really needed to avoid the Baja Bug styling I currently seem to have!\

I’ve decided to focus on getting it ready for MOT and use it a bit on the road before thinking about paint. Nostrommo has done a fantastic job of painting his so I’m toying with giving it a go myself. I’ve already got a quote for 80s themed Ford RS stripes but it needs a base gloss white coat before the wrapping company will do it.



I keep watching videos on YouTube of camper van owners roller painting their campers using Rustoleum. Even found a nice Davrian painted using the same technique in bright white. Just not sure roller painting a car will even look good from 10 feet away! Anyway, that’s for another day.

Super! Love that livery.

Car's looking great, Swifty



Have you seen the thread on here for the Jag XKSS (the one which uses an old WW1 helmet as an exhaust shield)? He painted that, outside in his garden, using rollers, and then wet-sanded it down to a gloss finish. He covered how he did one of the panels in quite a bit of detail (boot lid, IIRC), and from the photos it looks great. Takes a bit of effort to sand it down afters, but for the money, it definately seems worth it, and is what I'm planning to do.

Thanks for that - not seen that yet but will take a look now. It does seem like you can get a good finish with rollering if you do 3-4 coats, sanding back each coat. Mixing Rustoleum with thinners seems to be the trick although it can then take quite a while for each coat to dry. Probably a couple of weeks work but may give it a go on some off cuts of GRP from the kit to see what finish I can get.

Paint, thinners and rollers to do the whole car is £100 so less about wasting the money but more having to then get it all off if it looks pants at the end and needs a professional spray job!

If it looks pants but there is a good depth of paint, it can usually be sanded and polished back to give a good appearance.

My attempts at spraying cars have always relied on that.

http://www.madabout-kitcars.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4553&page=124

Regards, Mick

Thanks Mick

IanA - I think if I lay on 3-4 coats rubbing down in between I should be able to get a decent finish. Just not sure about the bonnet and clam panels being such odd shapes I may get runs more with the roller but will give it a go.

A bit slower progress this week. Tidied up the filling around the rear lights and valance where I’ve used MK1 Sierra lights and started to work on the doors and roof.

I’m making a rear piece for the roof where it was cut off from the clam so it can be bonded at the back as well as the windscreen edge and the door sides.

I bit the bullet on lowering the MR2 and ordered a set of BC BR coilovers. I got some good feedback from a couple of folks on the MR2 Roadster Owners Club forum about how low you can go with these. To my surprise they arrived today when I wasn’t expecting them for another week!



Went for slightly softer springs at 4kg front and 6kg rear.



Need to order some new drop links now and a set of hub to strut bolts / nuts then I can get round to fitting them.

Very jealous! The BC coilies are really nice! Look forward to seeing what the drop is like if you can go for the full 75mm... or more? Think i'll only be able to afford some new springs and a 30mm drop for now. Are your current shocks any good? Mine are quite sad looking.

Thanks Nick. Going for 50mm first all round and mocked that up for what it will look like and looks a lot better. Not sure I will get the rear of the car down to 70mm lower.

My shocks look to be originals and there was an advisory for misting on one of the rears. You’re welcome to them when I get them off if you want to see if they are any better than yours.

Only managed an hour over the weekend so decided to paint under the front bonnet in satin black.



I’m still not happy with the filling around the rear lights which I tidied up earlier in the week. UPol GRP filler first then fine filler. Got to the point where it looked great, felt really smooth then I put a couple of layers of white primer on and it looks like the dog has sunk his teeth into large parts of it.



Will have to come back to it and tidy up before final prep for painting later.



Onwards and upwards

Went back and spent a couple more hours on the filling around the rear lights. Happier with these now and will do until final prep and paint which is some way off yet.



Whilst I had the lights out I gave the insides of the lenses a good clean. The outsides I had already cleaned and polished up. Oh and I couldn’t resist putting on the RS200 decal and Ford Badge - I know I’ve wasted the decal as it will need to come off for painting but feels worth it looking at the back end. It also fooled a delivery driver at the house opposite who thought it was the genuine article apart from the 06 reg plate. He spent 1/2 hour talking to me about what it was after I disappointed him by telling him it was a replica.



I also primed the petrol filler flap and the Sierra mirror caps whilst I had the rattle can out.

Back to bonding the roof, screen pillars and doors now which will be a good few days but hopefully after that it’s just the coilovers to fit and few odds and sods before I can get it MOT’d.

Removing the flash lines from the panels, filling in the rough areas and cracked edges can happen once I’ve got it back on the road.

That's looking good Dave,
Like the rear lights, i managed to get a pair of brand new ones for mine but not sure which i am putting them on.
keep the updates coming

Thanks Wozzy.

Did you manage to get the new set that was posted up on the RS200 replicas FB page a couple of weeks ago? Beat me to it if so ! Mine have polished up ok and I’m convincing myself the patina on them adds to the illusion of it being a 30+ year old car :-)

Yes mate, didn't know they were new in the box.
well pleased with them.

haha
good way to look at it

Before I bond the door skins onto the MR2 doors I wanted to go back and revisit the door rods connecting the Ford handle to the MR2 rod. The action wasn’t great and a bit hit and miss from when I did this last year so I ordered some new 4mm 150mm length stainless rod and redid them.

Trying to make this as robust as possible I used a couple of central locking rod connectors drilled out to accept the 4mm rod and the existing MR2 rod.



Action feels much better and that’s even without putting a cable tie around the rod on the Ford handle which I will get round to today when the rain stops. Thanks Nostromo for the help here.

Can get on with the doors now.

Hi
I will put some pics up on my new build thread when i get round to sorting this out.
I have found a very simple way to do this, but you need to do a little welding (or i suppose you could cable tie it if you do not have access tom a welder)

Thanks Wozzy. I had gone the cable tie route originally but wasn’t happy with the action. It’s also a bit of a pain to get the MR2 rod out of the lock mechanism - that can also be bent into shape to fit the Ford handle directly but again it’s a pain to get behind the plastic anti theft housing round the lock.

Be interested in how you’ve done this

PM me your number

Got round to sorting the roof panel this week ready for bonding to the MR2 hardtop. Also trimmed the windscreen edge to tidy this up where the Sierra windscreen rubber sits. I glassed in a piece at the rear of the roof panel where it was cut away from the clam to both tidy this edge up and provide a lip to bond to the MR2 hardtop.

Before bonding it all down I modified the intercoller and piping I had bought. The intercooler was a universal kit and about 5cm too tall to fit in the roof void. I know another MRS200 builder fitted the same one and sunk a support plate into the MR2 hardtop to create the space. I didn’t fancy doing this and as this is for show right now (at some point I will sort out a turbo kit for the MR2) I cut the top two cores off and welded some ally on the top of the end pieces to make it air tight.



It’s bolted through the hard top and I think looks OK piped up.


.....


Whilst I was sorting the roof panel out I made a start at removing the flash lines and also painted the inside of the rear clam.





I will bond the roof and screen pillars over the next few days and then make a start on bonding the door skins and tidying them up.

Looks good Dave, I like it! Any chance you could pass on an ebay link for the intercooler and hoses? Did it come with a fitting kit of sorts as you say you bolted through the hard top?

Any chance of some bigger pics Dave, as i can't quite see them haha.
looking good
the mini intercooloer is a very nice size to put in there