Hi guys,
I’ve just picked up a very very cheap Radical chassis. I wasn’t sure what it was when I bought it but bought it anyway as it was very well priced and had a feeling it was an SR3.
I have since come to the realisation that it’s actually an early SR8 chassis. However, I am not interested in fitting a V8 engine. My friend is an excellent motorsports fabricator and is quite content that we can mount a 1500cc busa engine with the appropriate GDU and ultimately end up with, more or less, a Radical SR3.
I have spent the last 5-6 years building race Westfields/Caterhams but never any radicals. My friend has fabricated anything and everything so I’m 10000% more confident in his ability than my own.
However, i wanted to come ask you guys here if you think we might encounter any major issues? Are there any major differences between the SR3 and SR8 other than how the engine and GDU is mounted?
Do all SR3s and SR8s share the same bodywork?
thanks in advance guys
Hi @carkevo, You have an interesting project there. I am sure a good fabricator could find a way to mount a Hayabusa and GDU in there but it is going to be a lot of work.
To answer your body work question, yes, SR3's and SR8's of the same generation used basically the same bodies with the exception of the engine cover. The SR8 engine cover through 2010 had no inlet scoop behind the roll hoop. Also, it is important to know that there were high hoop cars starting in 2011 for SR8, and low hoop cars built before that. High hoop and low hoop cars use different center body structures, but the nose and side pods are the same.
Here are some picture showing the difference between an SR8 and an SR3 rear chassis.
@charleyhradicalsportscarregistry-com
thanks for your reply bud! So if we’re able to get the engine and GDU mounted, we just need to use all SR3 wishbones, shafts and whatever else. Then it should be fine?
if we fit SR3 bodywork, we should have nothing to worry about?
thanks
@carkevo, yes, all of the SR3 parts should fit with what you have. You just need to decide what generation bodywork you want to put on and confirm if you need high hoop or low hoop center body parts
@charleyhradicalsportscarregistry-com
thanks dude!
with regards to mounting the engine - am I right in that the engines mount via bars off the rear bulkhead? For positioning the engine correctly, might it be best to buy some SR3 mounts and work backwards?
I guess my first thing should be finding a GDU, bare engine and some SR3 upper engine mounts to try replicate the SR3 engine positioning
