SwiftyDS's MRS200 Build
 

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!

https://image.ibb.co/mWjGMV/6-C273-F...-A7-D7-AB9.jpg

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).

https://image.ibb.co/i1jGMV/CDB1-E23...17230-C4-F.jpg

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.

Yea those image wheels are always ridiculously expensive, and there have been a fair few customers unhappy with the finish on them.

Miracle wheel deals do happen on eBay sometimes. I got 7 original Aston Martin wire wheels for £80!

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.

Another thread i will be keeping a close eye on, haha
we may have a problem when he brings mine on a crate, ive broke lots of bones, so i can't do much at the moment.

I really wanted a set of 5 spoke dished compomotives but theyre a bit out of my price range. The konigs will do me for now, even if theyre just to get the lines right. The MG wheels are actually very cheap to pick up. Have seen them go with good tyres for £100. Keep an eye on shpock. Lots of bargains to be had, that's where I found mine.

Who are RS Automotive? Do they mass produce the rear screen or was it second hand? I've only seen them on p4p at a cost of about 350.

Glad to see another thread for this kit and look forward to pinching ideas :wink:

Sounds like yours is gonna get pushed off the side :lol:

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.

HaHa

good idea, i will mention it to him

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 (www.evo200.com).

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.

SwiftyDS - So MRS200s are a bit like buses, none for ages, then two come along at once. :icon_wink:

Jokes aside, is the four ring piece in this photo for bonnet spot lights?

http://www.madabout-kitcars.com/foru...&pictureid=864

As I've seen them on original cars, but not Redandy's original.

Good luck, Paul. :)

Will having the same size wheels all round cause trouble with the handling?
the later models have different sized wheels for this purpose, from what i have read on the forums

Wheel suggestions huh....

How's about some......ronal teddy bears?
https://s17.postimg.org/kjccmekbz/c1...c0a3b318e2.jpgadult image

Oh you wanted serious suggestions?

I reckon rota bm8 would be good, something with a bit of dish and offset to make yours stand out

https://s13.postimg.org/4kv1g4mmf/7b...810feba6c8.jpghosting image

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

Exactly what I was going for. 205 on the front and 225 on the back. In saying that, I'm going to have 40mm spacers on the back and maybe only 20mm on the front as the cars not exactly square (as I've been led to believe). Will confirm when I've got some tyres. I don't think it's got any chance of handling like the MR2 that's underneath.

here,s a few pics of my completed mrs200 if any of you guys need any tips/advice on your builds give me a shout ,mick

Retro200 - Welcome to the forum Mick. :cool:

Your MRS200 looks great and I like the full bank of lights on the front.

It would will great if you could start a build thread and add a few more photos.

I've just started a MRS200 section in the useful info sticky.

http://www.madabout-kitcars.com/foru...5&postcount=29

As I know I found it useful to see how other people did things "next door" on the Sammio section of the forum.

Cheers, Paul. :)

cheers paul will post more pics of my build shortly

Thanks Mick for the pictures and the offer of help - I'd seen some earlier pics on the MRS200 Facebook page

Looking very nice,
what are the spots? and were they a easy fit in the pod?
cheers
Lee

mrs200
 

hi wozzy lamps in bonnet pod are 4x hella rallye 1000 spots with 160w bulbs lamps in front panal are hella rallye 1000 fogs i noticed some of you guys are wondering what wheel/tyre combination to fit i used 16 x8 et25 ultralite rs polished rim black centres with225x45 x16 toyo proxes all round , 20mm spacer to rear no spacer to front, wheels line up nice with arches i tried it with 25mm to rear and 20mm to front but it didnt look right tyres where past top of arches using this wheel /tyre combo the rolling radius of the tyre remains basically the same as stock, because the wheel/tyre is wider and the side wall height is a percentage of the width the circumference does not alter that much so gearing / speedo are not affected ie if you fitted 18inch rims you would probably need to drop down to 30 or 35 series tyres to get rolling radius back there are some handy wheel /tyre calculators if you google it you simply enter your wheel/ tyre size and it works it out and shows you what it looks like including radius /circumference/offset etc

Thanks for the info

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 look like different covers to Mick's ones. His have a tab at the bottom. You'd have thought it should still be the same size mind.

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

wheel choice ideas
 

hi guys. just a thought on the wheel choice. i found a company that makes wheel adaptors. think there 25mm to 31mm with correct spigots to order converting the toyota 4x100 to ford 4x108 (and loads of other custom stuff) to run cossy ET25 wheels on the mr2. should be about right on the arches. a set of ford oz's or speedlines might be easier to source.

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.

re - spot lights
 

hi swifty ds the correct hella lights for front panal are rallye 1000 lamps as per original rs 200 availiable with either fog or spot or driving lamp lenses dia 190mm outside cover dia 195mm with tabs top and bottom have a look at ebay item number 131565577764 these are the ones you need keep an eye on ebay cos plenty second hand ones seem to come up tends to get a bit expensive when you need 6 of em at 70-80 quid a pop ,mine where all new old stock i they also fit the lamp pod as well they just need some brackets making and a bit trimming off the back of the plastic tab on the cover at the bottom so they sit back flush with the front of the pod cover i think ford must have desighned the front panal around these lamps because when you look at the black areas on the covers they line through with the lines in the front panal if you see what i mean see pic Attachment 4069

re lights
 

ps lamps in bonnet pod have tabs at bottom only soz for any confusion

In case you didn't see it on my page, these will fit the MR2. I'm lookin at getting some 40mm ones for the rear of mine soon

http://www.freakyparts.co.uk/epages/...rsSpigot_Rings

Thanks Mick for the lamp info

Thanks Nick for the spacer info

re-lamps
 

also these lights +covers fit inside the hole in the front panal i would get correct lights those 3000s you have shown in your pic look too big they should fit inside the hole with covers flush with the front i made some brackets that run down the back top to bottomspanning the hole bolted thru f/glass with a tab coming forward to pick up on lamp bracket at the bottom you can then adjust them up- down +left to right using the original lamp bracket it needs a slot cutting i f/glass at bottom front edge to let the tab on the lamp at the bottom sit back you can just see this in last pic (above) i made the cut out about 4mm wider than lug on lamp each side hope this helps mick

re wheel spacers
 

nick, be carefull with your choice of wheel spacers it all depends on the "et"of your new wheels ,mine are 4x 100 pcd 16x8 et 25 as opposed to the et45 std mr2 ive only got 20 mm spacers in the back none in front any more than this they stick out too far looked a bit "carlos fandango" i understand if your changing the bolt pattern (pcd) then you will need spacers front and rear to alter the pcd, just remember to alter offset on the wheels to suit you may need to go to around 35 to 40 et , try googling "wheel offset calculator" theres some tables you can fill in your wheel tyre size offset dia width etc to see different options it shows you outline images of how the changes look, its very helpfull, mick .

re Freaky Parts hub centric spacers ,i used 50mm on the rear of my 250 GTO and found them to be well made good luck with the build

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.

https://image.ibb.co/jyZ81V/A06914-A...-E13-B9-FD.jpg

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.

looks like your making progress ,thats the easy bit done, now comes the hard (but rewarding) bit, putting it all together < enjoy > ,joking aside you will find its all a pretty good fit andy/chris/tribute did a proper job with the mouldings i was impressed with thek kit, you cant go far wrong fitting it, have fun,:thumb: mick