Raj and Harminders (Dad) Sonic 7 Build

[dhinsayjunior]

Hello my name is Raj and me and my Dad have been thinking of building a car for one year now, initially we were considering to do up a Mini into a rally car because we both love the Mini. When we visited the Stoneleigh kit car show (May 2014) we saw two cars that we thought would be an interesting and enjoyable first build; these two cars were the Cobra and the Mev Rocket. But we quiet liked the Rocket as we thought it would be a better suited first project. As we decided upon building the Rocket we contacted RTR inquiring if we could visit there workshop. When we visited RTR's workshop and saw a Sonic 7 being constructed and we were in two minds on whether we should build a Sonic or Rocket  but finally we came to the conclusion that the Sonic 7 we be a better car for us as we wanted more weather protection.

 

Decision made! We placed our deposit on the Sonic 7 (27th June 2014).

The project begins! The first job was to search for a Ford Focus MK1 so that we could use it as a donor car. Me and my Dad created this list to explain what we needed from the Ford Focus...

Parts needed from donor car:
Things to check:

-Engine running
-Test the breaks and steering
-Engine
-Gearbox
-ECU
-Steering column
-Rear discs and callipers
-Manifold and cat can be used but are not expensive to buy if they are damaged.
-St170 engine(SVT)

Donor car found! (June 2014). Although an estate it is still well equipped for the job. The only problem they have rear drums not discs, although a setback an easy resolution.

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Oh no! We aren't ready to move the car into the garage. Due to our garage been previously used as my mums beauty room.

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That's better; we are able to move the car onto the garage, with some cleaning up and re designing the garage it is ready.

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You sure can't be scared to get you hands dirty because stripping the engine is a dirty job!

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Me and Dad had to make a trolley to wheel the engine into the back garden to clean.

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I would recommend using some De Gunk solution and old toothbrushes to clean the engine thoroughly. Cleaning the engine will take a couple of hours I would also recommend using hot water so that the solution comes off and gives the best end value.

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In between all the chaos we visited the Curborough Kit Fest (July 2014) to get some inspiration and to ask Sonic owner how they did certain things and what they recommended doing.

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After cleaning the engine we had to respray so that it looked new and meanwhile respraying the engine we had to remove the ECU wiring loom having already bought the engine loom as an optional extra from RTR. We also replaced the clutch which was a reasonably quick job.

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The day we have been waiting for... The kit arrives! 10th August 2014!

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[Deleted]

Good luck with the build it was our old rocket at the stoneleigh show so glad it inspired you to build a mev you should get plenty of help in here

[daydreamer]

Hi Raj & Harminder,

I look forward to seeing another sonic on the road and I see that your making good progress with the preparing the donor parts.

Keep the updates coming and remember there is no shame in asking questions. You'll see plenty of folk on here asking questions. You can also get a lot advice from the Rocket builders as the Sonic and Rocket share a lot of mechanical components.

Are you planning to fit an ST170 engine or stick with engine from the donor you have ?

Good luck

[BobN]

Hi Guys

You making good progress.

I am not too far from you if you want to check anything on the Rocket. I cannot see your pics for some reason. Most of us use photo bucket as its easier I think.

See you at Donnighton maybe?

Bob

[Raj'sDad]

Thanks Guys. Yes, Raj and I definitely plan on coming up to Donnington this Saturday. Raj is away this week and we were away on vacation last week so not much has been done since our kit was delivered. We will look into "photo bucket".

[Raj'sDad]

Well, where do I start.... we have made some good progress but not as much as I had hope given some personal circumstances and work being crazy as always and a lot of travel...I will provide more of an update with pics over the Christmas period when I can catch a breath.

To date, we now have the suspension in, steering column extended and all fitted...we have engine temporarily dropped in so we can figure out where the location of wiring and all will come in.
So the big plan now is to work on our wiring so we can get this major task completed as frankly speaking we've no idea where really to start.

We bought the RTR loom and plan to use the focus ECU and engine loom/fuse boxes where appropriate...I have received the RTR wiring diagram from Paul which has helped me to label all of the RTR loom this evening, its a start.

I have been studying the build guiding wiring sections and to be honest none of it really makes sense, it could all be in French

Some guidance here/pointers as to where to start would be awesome…our plan is to locate the battery just behind drivers seat or inside the engine bay IF we can find a clean and tidy way of doing so. We plan also to have our petrol tank behind the driver seat.

Still a little unsure of the best place to locate the ECU as I see others have chosen the side void on the side of the car and that approach is currently the way we'd like to go.

So, question is what should we do next ? I know we need to remove all not required wiring from the focus ECU loom but I cannot work which to remove?

Also, when studyng the diagrams in the guide it references PIN no.'s but I do not know what pins these are referring to…I am sure once I understand the highlevel we’ll then begin to work it out.


Thoughts?

[nigel]

Wiring.... I remember that one before anyone can give you any advice it's important that we understand your configuration, components you are intending to use.

So please can you list and show using pictures where you are intending or have already placed them. Picture worth a 1000 words, you know the score.

Nigel

[Raj'sDad]

Thanks Nigel

Do you mean you want to know what I have planned for dash and internal instruments?

I have a design for the dash which I can upload if that helps? What other components do I need to confirm? Sorry if that's a stupid question.

[nigel]

No stupid questions hear we are all learning. Yes are you intending on using the focus donor clocks and switches or are you using after market one?

Are you using the donor ecu, I think your donor is a mk1 2001 but what engine? Details please.

That sort of thing. Upload as much as possible so that we know what your intending, only then can we advise accordingly.


Nigel

[Raj'sDad]

We are not planning to use the Focus donor clocks OR switches. I am planning on by after markets one's see picture here:

Using Focus ECU.
Donor is MK1 Focus - 1.8L 2001 plate.



Once we have all of the basics wiring/dash etc completed, we will plan to add wiring for some of the following additional items:

1) demister (as we do intend in the future to have a windscreen (not for phase 1) so for now I will just wire.
2) heater
3) power for satnav
4) USB for ipod
5) additional 12V point on the central tunnel
5) some additional lighting - for instance storage box and inside car passenger/drivers foot well

[Raj'sDad]

The image insert did not work.
let me try this :



or failing that : s1376.photobucket.com/user/hdhinsay/media/R97V6ZW/Dhins-F1/Dashboard%20and%20lights/DraftDashboardDesignandlayouts_zpsfa68462d.png.html

[Raj'sDad]

You will see that I have adopted the same design as the Typhoon as i really like the way they had it.

[mawdo81]

Where are you getting the housing from? Did RTR supply it?

Check the IVA manual re exempt area, I think it may only apply if you have a roof...

[Raj'sDad]

I will need to build it most likely myself. I will check to see if RTR can make..

[Raj'sDad]

REAR BRAKE CALLIPERS / HANDBRAKE CABLE FITTING

Wanted to check if we have the rear brake callipers the right way around as it feels incorrect having to feed the hand brake cable through the back?


s1376.photobucket.com/user/hdhinsay/media/R97V6ZW/Dhins-F1/Brake%20Callipers/IMG_1050_zps7cc4f9bc.jpg.html?sort=3&o=2

s1376.photobucket.com/user/hdhinsay/media/R97V6ZW/Dhins-F1/Brake%20Callipers/IMG_1051_zpsdeace3a9.jpg.html?sort=3&o=1

s1376.photobucket.com/user/hdhinsay/media/R97V6ZW/Dhins-F1/Brake%20Callipers/IMG_1052_zps7932f9df.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0