Quality
 

Mick, I've been a lot less impressed with this kit over the evo200 kit. Had moulding, precutting and metal support issues. Great to see us all cracking on. We should do a meet / track day when were all on the road.

yes i have heard some others saying the same but how does it compare price wise against evo200 i bet they are a lot dearer to buy after all as andy says its meant to be a budget build we all cant afford £20kto £30ka for a replica have you seen those banham panals on ebay bonnet / doors he wants a fortune for them and they arnt as acurate as mrs are to a original he also has a original f/fumper wants nearly £4k for it i also had to make some alterations to the supplied brackets the rear one i cut up and re positioned lower down on top of rear bumper bar so clam sits on it under where rear lights reccess are much better and out of the way front wasnt so bad but still needed lowering down to get f/bumper right about 25 to 30 mm from memory i just re drilled holes in new front bar to drop it but you can still end up with a nice rep when the hard works done i think i have around £5.5k in mine inc 49,000 mile facelift 04 doner mr2 that will do me !!!1

Price wise there wasn't much in it, his prices are in the back of his catalogue . The quality in moulding and trimming was superior but bill's moulds are for his frame so they would have needed doctoring to the mr2. I was hoping to seriously reduce build time. Karl is well known in the 200 stuff, always got something going on. I'll look at lowering/remaking a front cross bar that supports the bumper after I've looked at why the backs sitting way left.

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!

My rear frame is a bit off to the left too. I think the clam will still sit square on it so for the moment I'm not too worried. I'll be able to tell for sure once my rear wheels are on. Once it's all built, I may look at replacing it with something like Mick has built as it looks fat nicer than a big industrial looking square frame.

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?

swifty i also made a steel frame for the rear clam it comes down from the hinges at the top down each side of rear window and across under bottom edge of window bracketed to inside of clam i also intended to fit gas struts but after buying some (3 sets)strong enough to hold clam up i found that when fitted and clam was closed they had the effect of trying to "stretch" the clam and forced it backwards opening up the gap between the door rear edge where it meets the clam so i ditched this idea and fitted a hinged stay(1" inch box section) centrally using the old rear bonnet catch mounts on the back panal up to the new rear support frame inside the clam so when you lift clam it folds out and locks into position holding it up also it gave me somewhere to route new wiring to rear lights the problem is that the struts have to be so strong to hold the weight of the clam that when closed they exert so much force they try to force the clam apart if you manage to get around this let me know i even considered fitting a electric/hydraulic ram to mine but havnt found anything suitable and yes my build includes paint around £500 quid in 2 pak but i did all prep / paint myself so i probably saved at least £1000 if not more,i was quoted £1200 just to shoot the paint,but i have all the equipment so i didnt make sense another thing i found was a lot of air pockets in the f/glass had to do a lot of grinding out/ filling i went over the whole kit with a heat gun(not too hot) to highlight any defects it has the effect of raising any problem areas that need grinding out/filling and there were quite a few to sort out it took a lot of filler/time to get right from memory i think the roof and "ears"and roof scoop edges were the worst its were there is a very tight radius/corner f/glass dosent want to form into them right check yours i think you will see what i mean

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.

https://image.ibb.co/jpPcTA/21-D7-C0...-B14-CB0-D.jpg

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.

Man that's a long time to wait for the wheels. Pretty cool that they're being specially made for you though and they'll look awesome on the car too. The 20mm spacer should be perfect. When I talked to Andy, he said the rear needs an offset of 0 to bring the wheel out to the edge of the arch so you also shouldn't need a spacer for the front.

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.

https://image.ibb.co/dvTzaq/10267-AE...4-D588-E23.jpg
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https://image.ibb.co/hd95Fq/E5-FE869...-B7-B34157.jpg

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.

https://image.ibb.co/bPyhvq/97-A36-B...207-A27122.jpg

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.

https://image.ibb.co/j8rVgV/BCAF51-F...DFB4330-C7.jpg
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https://image.ibb.co/fmObMV/AB0-BB91...-EC906-D89.jpg

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.

https://image.ibb.co/ipBhTA/F3-A174-...-BFE499-C7.jpg
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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.

https://image.ibb.co/cMDhdA/E92964-F...1-A442-FEB.jpg

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

https://image.ibb.co/dyVjrV/5-A123-B...-DCC7-F3-E.jpg
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.

https://image.ibb.co/j4UzQq/22-DB520...F6-CB00-FF.jpg

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.

https://image.ibb.co/fu1Dkq/15-F29-A...E9270-F373.jpg

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 info@ambassadorcarmats.co.uk

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

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d6.../DSCF2456a.jpg

and detail:

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d6.../DSCF2457a.jpg

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 :eusa_dance:

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.

https://image.ibb.co/eXy7vq/5-EC6-D0...FD79-DBAAC.jpg
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https://image.ibb.co/kaf98A/57-AED8-...E9676-E802.jpg
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https://image.ibb.co/gKvFgV/114-B862...618-D21-F8.jpg
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https://image.ibb.co/eGT1MV/CE4-D9-E...ABA252-EC1.jpg

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.

https://image.ibb.co/evFsTA/46-A50-D...-AE697-E67.jpg

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).

https://image.ibb.co/bHsd1V/0-F8-BE0...-A33-A0152.jpg
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https://image.ibb.co/mTCBMV/7839-AD7...-B432738-D.jpg
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https://image.ibb.co/kiRcvq/6-AD9-C0...B7-F4553-C.jpg

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).

https://image.ibb.co/depmoA/0-E6-FAA...B4276645-A.jpg
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https://image.ibb.co/d8HHvq/43988322...-FE7-D3-CD.jpg


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 .

Cheers Mick - I also need to work on the inner area of the roof panel so it sits lower onto the hardtop itself. I did wonder about how true my rear clam support bar was that came with the kit and whether that's sitting too high causing the whole clam to be too far off the car but I'll go and check the measurement to the top of the crash bar and see how it compares to yours.

I know what you mean about getting the old exhaust out - it also weighs a tonne compared to the new one so a bit of performance improvement coming there :-)

I put a bar over the top of my exhaust hanger and bent it 90 degrees then did the same on the cat. Worked very well!

Here's a quick update on progress over the last couple of weeks - many thanks to Mick and Luke for all their help in sending through pictures of the roof/clam measurements and where to cut the doors (that's the next job on the list before putting them back on the MR2).

Rear clam has now been separated from the roof panel and the return edges around the door shut area have been trimmed. Both doors are off the car and the sills have been loosely fitted using the MR2 top rear wing captive nut on each side for alignment. In the pictures below the front bumper and bonnet are just loosely fitted/clamped into place to check alignment.

https://image.ibb.co/jq1cvq/C1-C5-B2...F9-E7-FF05.jpg
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https://image.ibb.co/iEOe8A/C28-DAB2...D8-CDD4-C0.jpg

My roof pillars had to be separated from the roof/clam panel as I had the kit delivered from Tribute so they need to be bonded back to the roof panel before final fixing and my plan is to fit a sunstrip with a "fake" windscreen rubber surround the screen area to give the effect of a taller screen. Still need to mock up what this will look like and may involved letting the screen rubber into the roof panel at the top.

https://image.ibb.co/fZDwoA/65-AE766...6-A91-F9-E.jpg

Wheel arch liners are now off the car and the clearance from wheel top to arch looks massive now. I'll fashion some new liners and fit these next, along with the cut down doors to get the door skins lined up.

https://image.ibb.co/ekBGoA/096-ACCD...DB93-CA904.jpg

Plan is to do complete trial fitting of all the panels before moving on to hinging the clam, cutting out the remaining holes/light apetures and then bond/bolt all the panels on with a final alignment.

I think the front bumper may still be sitting to high in the pictures here so may need to move the front bumper support bar down (it's already lower than it was with the original holes as supplied).

That's coming along very well.
keep up the good work

Cheers Wozzy