Road Runner SR2 build

[petrol head ash]

Hi everyone, I thought I would make a build diary of my car... and try to keep it up to date!

I recently sold my Sylva Striker early this year to fund my new build, After a lot of searching on the internet, spending weekends at different shows, going to different track day events organised by manufactures I’ve decided to build a new seven:

Road Runner SR2

I decided to go the Road Runner route as I’d done quite a lot of 'shopping around', I knew in my head what I wanted.... I did originally think it was the Raw Striker but after having a good look around the SR2 at Stoneleigh 2011, I realised this was the car..... The chassis, the body, everything, I loved it!

I then went to some track day events with Mike from Road Runner (a very nice man) ;-) who let me have a go in his demo car, straight away his car felt so much more 'positive' than mine, (I did have a pretty well set up car) his car quite happily stayed out on track all day long taking abuse after abuse.... every time I used it I liked it more and more!

A few months ago I put in my order for a kit :-)





I have since made the journey to the Road Runner factory to look how progress is doing... all is well, everything is moving quickly. I was always made welcome by Mike and his staff! which is nice.

Mike has really helped me out with ALOT of things through out the order of the kit (thanks Mike), I'm going to go with the new pushrod front suspension set up Road Runner are offering as i love the look of it and I'm planning to make the car quite track focused.


A couple of pictures of my visit (chassis in the jig)

[MG CHRIS]

Nice to see another build thread on here. I also had a look at the road runner before i bought my exocet and was impressed with it just wanted something different to the 7 type kits. What engine are you using the newly developed mazda kit or the older ford base if im right.

[petrol head ash]

MG CHRIS said:

Nice to see another build thread on here. I also had a look at the road runner before i bought my exocet and was impressed with it just wanted something different to the 7 type kits. What engine are you using the newly developed mazda kit or the older ford base if im right.

I can understand you wanting to go a different way to the seven type car as there is a lot out there but for me the SR2 really stood out, Road Runner only ever used the Mazda donor, i think its GBS that have just introduced there new Mazda package?

I'm using a stock Mazda engine with a Eaton MP62 supercharger... should be fun

[petrol head ash]

MG CHRIS - your Mev is looking good! I need to get my engine as clean as yours!

[petrol head ash]

I purchased a MK2 MX5 as it already had a supercharger installed... it was much cheaper for me to buy a car rather than the supercharger and brackets separate!

I used the car a few months before i put the engine back to stock just to see what its like and imagine how well it's going to go when its in a seven!

The MK2 will be sold as a standard car when I'v finished and I'll get the rest of the running gear off Road Runner, e.g. uprights, engine, gearbox, diff etc. I'v chosen to buy what I need separate because the Mazda was such a nice car i didn't want to strip it.


This was at Blyton Park...



Engine bay of the MK2

[MG CHRIS]

petrol head ash said:

MG CHRIS said:

Nice to see another build thread on here. I also had a look at the road runner before i bought my exocet and was impressed with it just wanted something different to the 7 type kits. What engine are you using the newly developed mazda kit or the older ford base if im right.

I can understand you wanting to go a different way to the seven type car as there is a lot out there but for me the SR2 really stood out, Road Runner only ever used the Mazda donor, i think its GBS that have just introduced there new Mazda package?

I'm using a stock Mazda engine with a Eaton MP62 supercharger... should be fun

OOPS yea your right got confused with GBS there was a thread on here not so long ago saying about it. When i looked around it before i bought the mev was impressed with it and the cost wasn't to bad neither not exocet level but a lot cheaper than than other 7 type cars.
With the supercharge fitted aswel that should fly what weight will it be roughly mine should be between 600-700kg im assuming yours will be lighter.

[petrol head ash]

MG CHRIS said:

OOPS yea your right got confused with GBS there was a thread on here not so long ago saying about it. When i looked around it before i bought the mev was impressed with it and the cost wasn't to bad neither not exocet level but a lot cheaper than than other 7 type cars.
With the supercharge fitted aswel that should fly what weight will it be roughly mine should be between 600-700kg im assuming yours will be lighter.

With the cage and supercharger it should be 'about' 550kg, maybe a bit more but we will soon see... ill get it weighed once it's built

Edited by petrol head ash on Tuesday 18th December 22:02

[petrol head ash]

Mike from Road Runner kindly sent me some pictures of my chassis fresh from powder coat!

The chassis will have all the wishbones fitted for the weekend... ready for collection!

I,v decided to have the full cage option as it adds to strength and I think it will help with trackdays/hillclimbs etc, also i think it looks really aggressive with the extra height and the side impact bars giving the car some width

Side impact bars not fitted in picture!

[petrol head ash]

Some more pictures of the chassis.... this was another trip I made to Roadrunner, I collected some bits so I could make a start on refurbishing some parts.






A picture of the floor, personally I think this looks a work of art!!! If the rest of the kit has as much attention to detail as the floor I'll be one very happy person
All the holes were predrilled before the panel was powder coated, there is two perfect 19mm holes towards the back so if for any reason I need to take the rear wishbones off I can with ease as a socket will fit perfectly through... I know I'm easily pleased and a bit sad but I thought the details were a nice touch!




My shocks were fitted for a quick picture... RoadRunners pushrod option!





For the people with keen eyes out there, yes.. there is a tube missing on the bottom right of the last pic, chassis's still in the jig at this point, the shocks were loosely fitted so I could take a few pictures.


Last picture before I made my way back home... loaded up with my engine, gearbox, driveshafts, propshaft ready to be reconditioned/painted.

[MG CHRIS]

Looking good always nice to see the car in it's bear bones with nothing on it. When will you be picking it up.

[petrol head ash]

I picked my chassis up Saturday, really really pleased with it, just need to recondition some of my parts and get building

I'll upload some pics soon

[petrol head ash]

Started putting my car together, I reconditioned my driveshafts... did a before and after picture.




Stripped and cleaned my engine, had all my aluminium parts chemically cleaned in an acid bath (look like new) sent my rocker cover off to be powder coated. I decided to paint the block orange as thats the colour of the car and paint the writing on the rocker cover orange. Whilst working on the engine i'v fitted a new cam belt, gaskets etc etc




RoadRunner Racing supply some custom billet aluminium diff mounts that they fitted in my diff for me (made in house)
Ready for a few runs at Santa Pod! :-)

[dom9]

Lots of interesting triangulation in that chassis...

Looks like a good project - will follow this one

[petrol head ash]

A few more pictures of the SR2, I've fitted the engine with most ancillaries bolted on...... It's a bit tighter under the bonnet than i thought!

Petrol tank and fuel pipes fitted,

Brakes painted and fitted, just waiting for some handbrake brackets from RoadRunner,

Prop shaft fitted,

Pedal box fitted and adjusted,






Placed my bonnet on to check everything is clearing, its so close!
I've slightly off centred the engine to give a bit more room around the supercharger... I'm trying to avoid cutting a hole in the bonnet. With the engine finally mounted the bonnet just sits over the engine but is very close, when the side panels are fitted it should lift the bonnet up a bit more as i've currently got it resting on the chassis tubes.

[petrol head ash]

dom9 said:

Lots of interesting triangulation in that chassis...

Looks like a good project - will follow this one

Thanks Dom, the chassis with the full cage is one of the most appealing things about the car for me... I look at it and think it looks really purposeful!

can't wait to get it built and on the track next year! :-)

[petrol head ash]

I forgot a picture of the pedal box,

I've ordered some anti slip tape for the pedals, once this arrives and its fitted I'll put up a better pic.





.....And just because I think it looks good, my supercharger (that I thought was pretty big) next to another slightly bigger one!

[Woody]

Looks a cracking build!
Which supercharger have you gone for?

Chris

[rdodger]

Hi. Looking good!

You are using a similar setup to me with the BRP MP62 Supercharger on the BP 1.8.

Have you looked into the coolant reroute? Basicaly helps with the cooling of cylinder 4.
Like this http://mazdafield.wordpress.com/2012/01/22/test-fi...
though I have done away with the front thermostat housing and used a core plug.

What size pully are you using? Intercooler or charge cooler?

[chuntington101]

petrol head ash said:

.....And just because I think it looks good, my supercharger (that I thought was pretty big) next to another slightly bigger one!

If thats the Magnuson M112 then its just a tad biiger than the engine in terms of displacement! Think you should give it a try

[petrol head ash]

Woody said:

Looks a cracking build!
Which supercharger have you gone for?

Chris

As rdodger says it's an Eaton MP62, I thought about going mp45 (smaller) but then decided to go the 62 route for the extra power potential it has... not that I need anymore!