So to start this thread we at RLM Racing recently purchased a crash damaged SR1 that was in need of some care!
We picked the car up partially stripped, with the engine and diff already removed, this showed the full extent of the damage.
A car strip down was the start.....
Looks like a big job. Are you going to straighten the chassis, or re chassis it? What Chassis number is this car?
im looking forward to following your progress.
Charley
So we started by stripping the car right back to a bare chassis:
Thankfully Radical agreed to have it back in the jig and redo the back end of the car, the front was all straight:
It has since been away for blasting and powdercoat, more pictures to follow. Engine build underway.
I will confirm the chassis number.
After this the chassis comes back from powder coat:
So we then start with the rebuild of the car:
Nice,
that jig looked very elaborate, the fact it is the factory unit, explains it. Gonna be a new car.
Can you share the plans/expectations for the car when it's done? Going to convert it to a Gen II ?
Planning on making it as nice as we can without getting too carried away!
All the wishbones etc have now come back from plating.
We will be fitting a 'stage 2' 1440cc engine that we have built for the car and will add big brakes, diffuser, wing etc and see what we can turn it into. Plan is to race the Uk Bikesports or OSS championships next year.
Not planning on converting to Gen 2 just yet due to the huge cost in buying new bodywork, if something comes up then we will look to convert, the Gen 2 cars do looks amazing!
His is a great project. I am enjoying following your progress. How did you arrange to have Radical repair your frame?
Charley
His is a great project. I am enjoying following your progress. How did you arrange to have Radical repair your frame?
Charley
Charley,
We were very lucky, when talking with Radical we explained that we are not in a position to be purchasing a new chassis so would be trying to find other means of repairing it. They agreed to put it back in the jig and see if the front half was still straight, if it was they would repair if not then they wouldn't.
We got it stripped down and over to them, then followed a few nervous days whilst we waited for them to check it! Thankfully they confirmed the front was straight and chopped off and replaced the back end for us, which we then took back with a new set of panels.
Continuing on we have the engine new rebuilt to an RLM 'Stage 2' 1440cc spec. I will put another reply up with engine rebuild photos.
Engine has been installed and the rebuild continued.
We have had the oil tank and a few other bits powder coated black to see what it looks like:
We also had a nice box of shiny parts come back from plating:
Dan, how is the rebuild going? Any updates?
Any updates, photos?
Sorry I have been so slow to update, progress on the car has slowed considerably lately. With start of the season rapidly approaching and 30 odd engines still to complete are concentration has been on these.
Not the best photo but attached is where we have got up to so far.
We were hoping to be out for a test day at the end of this month but doesn't look like that will be happening!
Great progress, looks great. 30 engine backlog is a nice problem to have. If you get to the point where you need to import help, I can come over for a month or so to help. If you pay travel and lodging I will work for free. I won’t hold my breath, but I have the skills and could make it work (early retirement gives me a lot of flexibility). 😉 But, it would likely be cheaper to hire locally 🙂
Charley
Thanks Charley, we have just made it through engine wise.
We know have a few solid weeks of dynos to set engines up, certainly keeps us busy.
Spent the last few days playing around with a Hartley V8 that has produced some incredible results.
Curious on what happened with this - in particular the rear wing and other upgrades, as I'm modifying my gen2 SR1 with a biplane and rear diffuser from an SR3. (And once I need to do a rebuild, go to 1500 on the motor!)
