Hi everyone - having been encouraged by Nostromo's MRS200 build thread that I've been following previously on Mr2roc.org I thought I'd take the plunge and start a build thread for my kit.
It's early days as the kit only arrived from Tribute yesterday, but all good things have a start and hopefully over the coming weeks and months my little 80s rally replica will start to take shape.
I thought it would be a good idea to get Chris at Tribute to crate up the kit and have it delivered on a pallet - well easier than hiring a van, driving down to Dorset and getting in/out of the van. What I didn't realise is that the lorry bringing the excellently packaged kit would arrive without a fork lift not even realising they were delivering a kit car to a domestic address. Me and the driver managed to get most of the panels out whilst the pallet/crate was still on the lorry but we then had to unload (for that read drag!) the pallet off the side of the lorry complete with the rear clam/roof panel in situ! It was certainly heavy and I had visions of us dropping it with the rear clam breaking into pieces!
Progress so far has been limited to dismantling the crate and unpacking the kit contents and then working out how to store it in about 2/3rds of one side of the garage. The MR2 Roadster base is on the other side whilst I run this for the next couple of weeks and check for issues.
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Whilst I've been waiting for the kit to arrive - I managed to convince Andy and Chris at Tribute (ok twist their arms) to add me to the last set of 4 panels that were being moulded now the kit/moulds themselves are up for sale by Andy - I've been amassing various Sierra/Ford parts from the 80s, Golf MK2 headlights, hinges (I will be hinging the rear clam) and the MR2 Roadster base car itself. Oh and I treated myself to a replica RS200 rear screen complete with louvres and in a nice bronze tint with black edging (thank you Bill Watson and RS Automotive, now the home of what was the Mercury/EVO 200 kit).
The plan is to run the MR2 until Christmas and then commence the panel removal. In the meantime I probably won't be able to resist starting to remove the flash lines and mould wax/release agent from the panels and drill out the grills/vents. I will also be fitting original Ford door handles and locks so need to refine the linking mechanism.
Deciding on wheels is leading me to spend countless hours on eBay waiting for that set of OZ or Speedline alloys to come up at a crazy price - needless to say that hasn't happened yet. The last set of original RS200 Speedline alloys and new tyres on eBay went for £850+ and when I contacted Image Wheels who do a replica wheel I was quoted £1800+ for a set. Needless to say they are not on the Christmas list to Santa.
I will try to post regularly even if it's just to share my sense of achievement at drilling a hole.
Thanks for reading.
What a fantastic bargain - I'll keep looking! I've now taken to looking at Oz alloys, although Andy recommends using MG ZS/ZT 17 "Straights" which do look good painted/powdercoated in white and are relatively cheap.
I'd also heard mixed reviews of Image Wheels although to be honest I sort of assumed if you are paying that much for a handcrafted product you'd have plenty of justification to get them to rectify any finish issues.
In the meantime I'll welcome any suggestions on retro/rally wheel alternatives either in white or silver that you think would look good on an RS200 replica.
Wozzy, get Chris at Tribute to let the transport company know before he ships it. They may be able to put it on a lorry with a tail lift or fork lift - once it was off the lorry and in the ground it was relatively easy to dismantle the crate and I managed to lift/manoeuvre the rear clam/roof panel myself by standing in the screen area and lifting it under the door jam area.
RS Automotive are run by Bill Watson and thy took over the original Kara then Mercury RS200 kit which was developed in the early nineties ([url]www.evo200.com[/url]).
He's a really good guy and did me a good deal on a screen with louvres and tint cheaper than P4P. Don't be put off by him charging £15 for a brochure on the website.
Andy, yes it's the 4 lamp bonnet pod. I was surprised when it turned up in the kit as well! Andy did fit one later on but a nice add on.
Thanks for the wheel ideas.
Wozzy, from what I've worked out you need at least a 20mm difference to rear tyres than front. Plenty of MR2s on 16 and 17" all round but you need say 195r40 fronts then 215 or 225r40 rears for tyres
Thanks Mick for the pictures and the offer of help - I'd seen some earlier pics on the MRS200 Facebook page
Hi everyone, I finally made some time to make a start on the kit today. Nothing major to ease me into things, so made a start on the front bumper, drilled out the holes behind the number plate with black mesh panel to fit behind, cut out and fitted the front indicators (I removed the clips from Sierra units and filed back the bottom inside edge of these so they are a snug fit but removable and once painted I will add a bead of silicon to the rear so they can be removed if needed later.
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When it came to fitting the front spot lights I discovered that both the lights and the Hella 3000 covers are about 1/2 inch too wide in diameter so they are not flush to the edge of the bumper (see pics).
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I'm trying to aim for an authentic look as possible - Mick (Retro200) were your lights and covers smaller or did you make the recess in the bumper larger to fit them flush? Any other views on the flush versus proud look here would be appreciated.
They have tab at the bottom as well but I measured last night and it looks like the Hella 3000 are about 3/4 inch bigger in diameter so looks like I need to swap these for the Hella 1000s
Luke, I've been looking at PCD adapters as well. I thought you had to keep the number of studs/bolts the same but looks like these can also be used to go 5 x which opens up Evo and Subaru wheel options too.
There aren't many wheel choices at ET10 or lower so this is a good route as it gives you a spacer as well as the PCD conversion.
Which company have you been looking at to source the adapters ? I'd been looking at Superforma but then found something on another forum about one of their adapters cracking on a car.
Thanks Mick for the lamp info
Thanks Nick for the spacer info
I finally got round to starting to remove the MR2 panels this week. Surprised me how painless it was to remove the front end (bonnet, wings, bumpers and lights). Back wings were a bit more work but all panels are off now so that just leaves the soft top and door mirrors then I will start with the front and rear frames to support the bodywork and start to trial fit the panels.
I ended up swapping the Hella 3000 driving lights for Hella 1000s (thanks Mick).
Need to source a set of wheels before I do final fixing of the panels particularly rear clam. Think I've settled on gloss white Team Dynamics Pro Race 1.2 in 17 inch with a 20mm stagger between rear and front tyre width.
I've been impressed so far with the quality of panels, return edges and thickness etc. I've built a couple of kits now of varying styles and there are far worse out there!
Andy did keep telling me when I was going through the process of buying the kit to think twice about splitting the clam so it lifted, saying that it was easier to line everything up if it was permanently fixed.
This is part of the fun for me to find ways to make this as close as possible to the original, and have started to look at putting a support frame within the clam itself - something like this is going to be needed to allow for gas struts to be used to raise/support the clam on opening. Not sure if this is what you've done Mick as can't quite see close enough from your pics.
Very impressed Mick that you did your build for £5.5k - did that include paint?
Thanks Mick for the pointers on the paint prep - was going to try to do as much prep myself as possible but have budgeted a decent amount for a paint shop in the build
If you get chance when you're next out in the car would you mind taking a couple of pics of your clam frame for me?
Will let you know if I find a way round the gas struts in terms of enough force to open but not so they force the clam when closed.
Thanks again
I removed the final parts from the MR2 donor yesterday so everything is off now and I've made a start with fitting the front bumper support bar. As expected it needed a bit of fettling to get the height right and to level it up on both sides.
Offering the bumper up it's clear that it will need some additional support in the arch area and, as I think Mick has done, this should also allow for the inner arches to be extended / supported.
Next on the plan is to fit the rear clam support frame and then paint black the two frames and tidy up a couple of areas of the MR2 frame.
I finally bit the bullet on choice of wheels/tyres and ordered a set of Team Dynamics Pro Race 1.2s gloss white in 17" with offset/ET 20 wrapped in Toyo Proxes T1Rs, 205 40s on the front and 215 40s on the rear. With ET20 the plan is to use 20mm spacers on the rear only, but will confirm this once they arrive as unfortunately there is a 6 - 8 week to have them cast.
More pics to follow when the weather improves.
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.
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