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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.
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
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.
Sounds like yours is gonna get pushed off the side
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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
