Road Runner SR2 build

[petrol head ash]

Hi everyone, bit of a late reply due to selling my daily driver....

Made a start on my exhaust from where I left off, tacked everything together to make sure it all lines up ok. I decided to weld one end of the silencer then rivet the other then that way I can repack it in the future for track days etc.

I still need to make the lower silencer brackets and finish the tail pipe with a rolled lip,













Picture of the radiator I made this morning........ not really, wish I could though Radtec made it!










Fitting the scuttle,







Started on the dash, I had so many different ways of doing the dash but due to funds and me being indecisive I'v gone for a standard setup,








A picture of the scuttle, areo screen, mirrors and seats fitted

Edited by petrol head ash on Tuesday 18th December 21:52

[petrol head ash]

Steve_D said:

Don't forget the interior mirror.

Steve

Thanks Steve for pointing it out..... just haven't got round to fitting it yet

Picture just for you

[petrol head ash]

MH said:

Life Saab Itch said:

I really like the look of this kit.

It's about the only kit on the market at the moment that looks to be of a top quality in design and finish, apart from maybe the Birkin.

Even with the bodywork popped straight off a Westfield mould

Mike

I understand specsavers are doing some wonderful christmas offer's......

...Similar but different, unlike early Westfields and Caterhams

[petrol head ash]

Done a bit over christmas but haven't felt to well so not much progress....

i'll upload some pics now

[petrol head ash]

Starting cutting the holes for my rear lights,




Rear lights placed in there new home, not bolted up in the picture as I needed to clean the pen marks off the fibreglass first




Due to the supercharger not fitting under the bonnet as well as I originally hoped, I decided to cut the end of the outlet pipe off so the hole that needs to be cut in the bonnet isn't merging into the one on the top and the side... (thats how big it wanted to be)

Cut the first part of the hole then welded an extra piece of aluminium to point the outlet pipe down, across and a bit further out!







You can see in the picture below roughly where the hole will be. Hopefully you can see why I changed the angle? if it stayed in its original position the hole on the side would have joined with the supercharger hole.... wouldn't have looked right I don't think?



I haven't finished the outlet pipe yet, still need to weld underneath then get it powder coated again.

[petrol head ash]

Slow month due to working on other projects... as you do!

I've taken the engine back out to do some work on it, my sump has been sent of to be chemically cleaned along with the baffle plate, since coming back i've primed and painted it.

Im replacing the standard mx5 crank pickup points for a proper 60 tooth trigger wheel, its been sent of to the machine shop to fit perfectly on the back of the pulley.

the centre console is fitted, although I still need to put the gear surround on. after this the side panels will need a final trim then they can be finally fitted for pictures!

I've fitted some heat matting to the other side of the battery now the engines out.

Also fitted a core plug to the back of the engine for the coolant re route.

then some general cleaning with the engine....









scrubbed the inside of the gearbox, fitted new release bearing and slave cylinder

[petrol head ash]

one eyed mick said:

See March ed CKC mag for a cracking Road runner build

I've seen the car in the mag and in the flesh at Autosport in january... very nice car!

[petrol head ash]

lots of little jobs done over the last few weeks...

fitted the engine back in for the last time, front suspension etc all fitted.

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Also painted the manifold and down pipe in heatproof paint, I will look at getting it cam coated soon but I'll need a cat for IVA so won't do it until I know it will pass emissions and noise.

I've purchased an intercooler, Im going to mount it underneath the top bonnet vents then hopefully in the future fit a fan underneath the intercooler that activates when boosting. The intercooler isn't permanently fitted yet but roughly sitting were I'll mount it.

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Cut the whole round the supercharger, this will need a final trim to finish off then the outlet pipe will need painting.

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I bought some 'D' shape rubber to lift the rear panels level with the rest or the car, it also gives it a slightly more finished look. The centre panel in the pic is slightly lower due to panels placed on.

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A picture of my wheels, 'Compomotive CXR' fitted with toyo T1R's

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Fitted an inline high flow fuel filter in the back... you never know with supermarket petrol!
jubilee clips not fitted in the pic

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Specially made carbon effect seat pads supplied by roadrunner fitted.

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Edited by petrol head ash on Tuesday 19th March 22:12

[petrol head ash]

Hopfully the engine will fire into life within the next week...

I've ordered my ECU, I had plans to fit Emerald or Omex as I've had these on previous cars but since talking to 'Canems' at Autosport my mind was made up. Any questions I had were answered with no worries what so ever. Also, out of all the different companies I spoke to (Dave, owner of Canems) was by far the most helpful, and to top it off he had already done a supercharged mazda setup.

Still need to do some finishing here but its mostly in place, the plan is to fit everything, make sure everything is ok then after start up do some final finishing/tidying.

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Next is the water pipes,

Also front indicators in this pic...

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Theres one more water pipe to fit then a few vacuum pipes..... then... hopefully I can turn the key!!

[petrol head ash]

I couldn't resist pushing the car outside for a few pics...









The car looks nearly finished here but theres still a long list of lobs to do yet.

[petrol head ash]

Thanks for the nice comments, I've really enjoyed building the car and hope to be track daying this year!

Thanks steve, I have looked into the front indicators but others have passed with no issues so I think I'll leave it for now then when I take the car back to RoadRunner for it's suspension setup before IVA I can look at it then, see what they recommend.

The intercooler will have a fan underneath to pull air through, then an aluminium plate from the top or the rad to the back edge of the intercooler to reduce heat soak. If it works I don't know but it was the only way I could see it keeping the charge as cool as possible... unless its fitted at the front but its pretty tight under there and I didn't want the long pipes, plus, I quite like looking at the intercooler from above through the mesh.
The same engine in the Mazda made 200BHP so I'm hoping by running a stand alone ECU and an intercooler I hope to achieve 220. but to be honest Im happy with 200BHP! Its just nice to say I've got a supercharger when filling up at the petrol station, most peoples jaw dropped when I said I had a 2.0l in my striker! Funny really.

[petrol head ash]

chuntington101 said:

Ash have you concidered using a pusher fan under the intercooler? Just thinking the vents in the noce are probably in a low-ish presure area and it will therefore be easier to push air through the intercooler and out the top and pull air in the top vents?...

I can see what you mean but I think I'd be a bit concerned what the engine bay temperature was getting pushed through the intercooler? although the heat from the rad will hopefully be ducted under the cooler I thought the colder air from outside the car (through the vent) would be better pulled through?...

...but, this will be a future mod, just something I thought about to get the most out of the motor.

Edited by petrol head ash on Thursday 21st March 22:27

[petrol head ash]

mikesalt said:

Great build Ash, been following this one with much interest since a colleague is considering an S2000 powered SR2. He is currently in talks with Mike regarding the modifications required to take the Honda lump over the more traditional Mazda engine. As for myself, this is looking a likely candidate for building to commence in about 2-3 years' time. It just looks so purposeful, and the inboard suspension system is just a work of art! Good luck with the remainder of the build.

Hi, thanks for the compliment.

The S2000 engine will be such a good setup in a light weight car, I almost decided to go that way myself at one point but couldn't turn away the supercharger. I don't think there will be much trouble getting the S2000 engine in the SR2.... Mike's a great fabricator, he managed to get a V8 in there so the Honda should be a walk in the park!

[petrol head ash]

chuntington101 said:

Ash what v8 did mike fit? Would love to see a GM Ls engine in something like this!

GM LS1....

406hp, 425ft lbs, bit of internal tweaks running a Canems ECU, engine built by Tim Adams Racing engines,

T56 gearbox..... I Love it, I want one!!





The second 'nutter' put a LS2 in his car, I saw the cars when I picked up some parts... The green car sounded amazing....

[petrol head ash]

jeffw said:

I'm not sure how effective that intercooler will be. If you pull the air up from the nose it will be heated via the radiator and, as has been said, the top is a low pressure area. I guess you will need a scoop to make it work at all (like an Impreza).

'If you pull the air up from the nose it will be heated via the radiator'

Not sure what you mean by this, the plan was to 'pull the air down from the nose'. I have looked at molding a scoop in each vent to set it off a bit but that will be a mod for the future, If i'm totally honest I'm not too bothered if it makes any difference or not, as far as I'm aware it will be more affective than forcing hot boost straight into the inlet?

It made 200hp with no intercooler and standard piggy backed ECU so any improvement over that will be a bonus as far as I'm concerned.

I just want to get the build finished now to get some track days in this year!!

[petrol head ash]

GarethGTR said:

Hi

Okay some pics and things coming up soon.

Without wanting to hijack this thread....

I have so much left to do, it seems never ending. Spent a whole day today just fitting the headers!

The car will not have a single fuse, relay or even a single rivet! I get involved in a lot of seven type cars and must say that the quality of these RR kits is just absolutely top notch ... And my last build was an ultima gtr which was pretty good but....

Anyways enough said and I will put some pictures together...

Hi Gareth,

I'd love to see some pics... It is a SR2 build thread after all.

I've been finishing lots of little jobs off, doesn't seem much of an update but they need doing. I'll get some pics up soon!

[petrol head ash]

mikesalt said:

Hurry up Ash, I'm dying to see the latest updates on this project

haha... to be honest I haven't done much since Stoneleigh, (more projects) Theres a few jobs left to do then the car will be going back up to Roadrunner for a pre IVA check, suspension setup, and an emission friendly map on their rolling road.

Then all being well the dates will be booked and the car will be out on road and track

I'm trying to get a week of work to speed things up, once I've got some worth while updates I'll get some pics up.

[petrol head ash]

mikesalt said:

Ash,

What offset are those Compomotives? Am I right in saying that the standard MX-5 offset is 45mm, but due to the zero scrub radius, it is worth using wheels with, or spacers to effect an offset of 35mm to give a little more steering feedback?

Hi Mike, to be honest I can't remember what offset the wheels are, I would check but my car is at Roadrunner having the suspension setup, mapping and some additional IVA jobs

I'll sort some pictures tomorrow night.

[petrol head ash]

Lots of updates, There's a few projects on the go all at once.... I'll try to finish off from where I left off!

[petrol head ash]

The exhaust...

For the IVA test I needed to fit a cat for the emissions, rather than doing a permanent cat I've used V Band clamps to give me the option to remove it for track days etc.




The cat is from a corvette so shouldn't have much trouble with the emissions from my little 1.8







The de cat pipe that will replace the cat.




Just need to paint my exhaust again now!