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Post by brettlawrence on Nov 30, 2014 22:05:44 GMT
Hi, Ordered my Replicar back in September and am hoping to collect in December or January. I've started stripping my donor which I've driven and loved for 6 years. It's a '94 Mk1 with some suspension and engine mods. I've got some initial questions and I though I'd post a couple of pics of the donor being ripped apart as well. Currently taking the loom out. The loom is in good shape, all the excess wires are from datalogging and megasquirt stuff I've added over the years. Half the loom will be redundant, and I still need all the things I've added so I expect I'm going to have to modify it extensively. Engine bay. It's been standing for 10 months, but it runs and will be cleaned up. Those who have fitted new poly bushes, is the ride not too crashy? I've heard of people getting crashy rides on stock fives, but with the much lighter Replicar I thought this might be more likely. Not sure whether to go for stock bushes instead. Harnesses - every picture I've seen shows harnesses and I've currently got lotus elise seats with an integral headrest and no harness slots. Has anyone fitted standard 3 point belts? Will a four point on seats without harness slots get through an IVA? I can't see any mention in the 2012 IVA and seems that if the tester feels they belts are in the right place on his torso then it'll be ok. Any thoughts? Happy to get new seats if I have to, but would rather get it built and passed without. Is the Replicar fuel tank mounted lower than in the MX5? I can't really tell from the pictures I've seen but it looks like it might be 20cm lower? Many more questions to come I'm sure, I did step back from the car today and think "Oh darn, what have I done". Cheers, Brett
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Post by gwnwar on Nov 30, 2014 22:59:30 GMT
Brett.. Welcome to the forum.. Like your cold side setup..have you dinoed it what HP is it putting out.. Were are you located.. It helps if you put that in your profile tag line at bottom of each thread, along with year and engine your donor is.. Keep the build and pics coming.. If you are going to replace control arm bushs loosen the rear axle nuts before removing body and e brake system.. Use 6 point sockets on rusted bolt/nuts.. Get it running and all lights working before cutting into the wire harness.. Labels and pics are your friends in the long run.. Have fun be safe..
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Post by brettlawrence on Nov 30, 2014 23:08:46 GMT
I learnt about proper hex sockets the painful way I wouldn't have thought to loosen axle nuts first - thanks, you probably saved me a lot of hastle there. I think most of the harness in the cockpit is alarm and heater stuff, it will be hard to keep the loom intact until it's running but that sounds wise. I'll try Location and sig updated, cheers.
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Post by brettlawrence on Nov 30, 2014 23:16:07 GMT
Oh, forgot to say it dynoed at 160rwhp with the stock ecu and a bipes acu for retard and powercard for fuel. With the megasquirt, WI and an aggressive tune I 'think' it's about 180. Not dynoed with that setup though. A lot of fun and great throttle response. It's a very old Fast Forward Superchargers kit that was 3rd hand and incomplete when I got it. Obviously I can't intercool but I have all that space on the exhaust side to fit something else eventually ....
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Post by snowbird1 on Dec 1, 2014 19:55:20 GMT
Hi Brett, great to see another Replicar build. I hadn't thought about it but I think the tank is in about the same position as original,I used the original fuel lines from the tank to filter and return, replaced all the rusty ones from underneath.
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Post by R2S on Dec 1, 2014 20:16:03 GMT
Brett, if you haven't already read through the replicar and the exocet builds as all the problems you are likely to encounter will have been picked up. On the bushes front I don't have a runner yet but have done quite a lot of reading, on this site and others, and I think 'crashy ride' is usually a result of poorly fitting bushes (low quality) and hard set up on shocks/springs. After much deliberation I have bought SuperPro bushes for everything other than the diff mounts and Gaz Gold Pro shocks to allow me to soften the ride, another factor to consider is what sort of tyre 'profile' you are going for. A traditional 80 profile (period) tyre will give an additional element of 'softness' to the ride. And reading other threads high profile tyres may also be a requirement to get the rear of the body/lights at a height above the ground to pass IVA.
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Post by brettlawrence on Feb 1, 2015 15:36:10 GMT
Collected my Oxford Blue on Friday and am very pleased with the colour choice. Everything went smoothly with the collection. Fitted the first new item to my donor today, new diff mounts. Every other piece of rubber is being changed so I figured I'd change those as well. Shiny repainted sub frames in the background. Changed my rear SF for a cleaner MK2 one. Once the paint is dry I can refit the SFs and then drop the chassis on top, after fitting the floor.
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Post by gwnwar on Feb 1, 2015 19:19:25 GMT
Like the color.. How are you going to run the fuel and brake tubes to the rear..Might want to do this before installing the frame to subs and floors..
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Post by brettlawrence on Feb 2, 2015 15:24:00 GMT
Oh good point thankyou, i'll look at that first.
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Post by brettlawrence on Feb 3, 2015 23:42:17 GMT
I made a video of my teardown, it's 7 minutes and actually really dull. Posting for posterity.
Has anyone thought about making the whole front of the body removable? I'm thinking the small bonnet and wide front are going to make engine work a little painful, especially track side. I'm toying with the idea of eventually cutting the whole front end just behind or towards the back of the arches up to near the back of the bonnet and making it removable. Getting ahead of myself I know, but is this a terrible idea?
Oh, and for p-clip fitting, is everyone using self tappers? I want to tap threads but am not sure the box sections is thick enough for that?
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Post by gwnwar on Feb 4, 2015 0:45:16 GMT
You could go with rivnuts to secure the P clips.Or install short metal brackets (1x4) pointing up into the tunnel to bring tubes up higher and more room to mount them..Are you going with hard tubing or braided lines front to rear. Check out the Exocet section for ideas..
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Post by brettlawrence on Apr 26, 2015 16:35:48 GMT
I'm using a MK2 rear subframe as upon inspection mine was not worth cleaning. The top mount bracket is making contact on the subframe preventing the chassis mounting : Is this a difference in the subframe shape or have I missed a spacer between the chassis and the subframe?
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Post by gwnwar on Apr 26, 2015 23:10:34 GMT
Looks like the shock brackets are off a little.. Could be the curve on the bottom or welded wrong.. I would put a couple of large thick washers or a piece of bar stock under frame. Or see what Stuart has to say..
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Post by brettlawrence on Apr 27, 2015 17:29:49 GMT
Thanks, I'll send Stuart a mail. I was thinking about attacking the brackets with a die-grinder to make them fit, but I'll see what Stuart says.
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Post by alanc on Jun 2, 2015 13:30:59 GMT
Hi Brett. I am in Farnham, Surrey. Where in Hampshire are you ? Alan
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