|
|
Apr 23, 2013 20:51:30 GMT
|
So here goes my first attempt at writing a thread. I’ve learnt over many restorations to start with a plan of what you’re trying to achieve, other wise it spirals & changes which inevitably doubles the cost. So, a classic car that I could drive daily or race at weekends, more modern brakes & suspension & reliability. I’ve developed a liking for GRP classics, sick of the dreaded tin worm, I know GRP has its problems too but I find it much easier to work with – no welding, never became good enough for my own liking. I like uniqueness - and still affordable price; impossible? That’s why we’re on RR!! This Phase 1 Rochdale Olympic is the result of my search. This is a '61 kit but was not put on the road 'till '68 Turned out to only have the builder as previously registered keeper, who gave me some provenance with the car. One careful owner from new ; Been in a turkey shed for 17 years! [img src=" "]
So, now for a donor. The Olympic has a strong GRP mono body. Had to be RWD, independent suspension, cheaply readily available, reliable, tuning potential …. You can see where this is going as there are very limited options without going down the special bellhousing etc etc route £££… Having always been a bit of a petrol head this lead me inevitably to the MX5 .
Looking for a donor I found a Mk1 1.8 Mazdaspeed B-spec supercharged G-Limited Eunos locally by luck. It quite a while to persuade the gentleman to sell it to me but he did and we were both happy with the deal. I know using this single donor will save me a fortune in the long run (here to eat my words later).
The supercharger increases power by a realistic 40% giving 182bhp, and a big broad torque band, 5 speed box, torsen LSD, double wishbone all round, disc brakes. MX5 is a donor made for the kit car, separate front and rear sub-frames carry all the important drive train, there is even what they call a PPF which links the gearbox to rear sub-frame making it like a backbone for extra rigidity and no gearbox cross member mounts.
The wheelbase is a few inches longer than the Olympic, the width from wheel face to face is 64” so there will inevitable be some flaring. – Ah yes, engine, this is about 30” at its highest point from the ground and sits over the front wheels this is going to have to go backward at least 8”, to clear bonnet - modify bulkhead! Also better weight distribution.
Fuel pump, instruments, wiring all as much as possible from the donor with returns & earths added. Ventilation I’m sure will be a tight fit under any dash space left but want to get the air con in!.
Well now I’ve talked myself in to it! 1. Some more measurements to double check its possible! 2. Remove all usable bits from MX5 interior & body. 3. Build custom front & rear subframes 4. Fit in engine/ gearbox & drive train This is all on trial fit & build, Then strip apart recondition mechanically and restore modified body & paint prior to final assembly. Makes you realise what you are really letting yourself in for.
These projects take me years to complete and motivation does ebb & flow so support is appreciated! Although I am writing a little in retrospect – it isn’t done yet!
|
|
Minis, GT6's, MGC, TVR Grantura & Vixen Cosworth, Lotus Elan Turbo, Formula 27, Defender V8, Sunbeam Alpine, Midas Gold convertable and more forgotten!
|
|
|
|
|
Apr 23, 2013 21:21:15 GMT
|
Another Rochdale on RR, that's not something I expected, and this one looks like it'll be about as different as you can get from the other one on here. The MX-5 does seem to be the go-to donor vehicle for quite a few projects, it's not hard to see why really.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Apr 24, 2013 20:27:22 GMT
|
I thought about bonding in the original subframes but they are quite bulky and heavy, the idea of bonding in a front tubular frame is not alien to the original design. It will have an under tray put back underneath and removable wheel inner arches, as access to the engine will be very difficult through the bonnet alone! Have also figured out the engine will probably have to go back to clear the bonnet line without modification, for the same reason looks like I will need a custom radiator too. The gear linkage still looks to fall to hand! The photos’ show that up front the inner arches and front of the footwells have been cut away to fit the new frame in, these will later be remade with spreader plates where the frame bonds to the body. At the rear as I’m changing from live axle to double wishbones and LSD this also required a frame to carry these components and also provide an anchor point for a roll over bar, which will also provide mounting points for inertia reel set belts. As well as some impact or worst case roll protection! A trial fit seems to show the PPF, prop and hopefully exhaust although tight will fit down the original tunnel a real bonus if the tunnel and floor do not need chopping and altering. From the heel board back has been cut out and the towers will be shaped back to take the new rear subframe in the same way as the front. As this is a phase 1 with no hatch. I decided with the fuel tank going in ‘spitfire’ style cutting a boot lid was going to be necessary, although the passenger seat tilts forward for access. Battery box behind the driver seat and a cubby/tool box behind the passenger. To the rear of the frame, n/s will be the backbox. After some research I’ve opted for a recirculation stainless Mugen style unit as this eliminates rasp and is an effective silencer for the size giving a deep tone. Using the Mazda header with no cat and custom made an exhaust; squeezing in a stainless Cherry in combination should keep the noise levels down both inside and out. At least with a supercharger rather than turbo I do not need to be quite as conscious about flow which helps practicality. A custom made tank with the Mazda fuel pump and lower swirl pot to stop fuel starvation on enthusiastically driven back roads, there is space for a decent capacity. The dash, instruments, hence wiring, will all be ‘stock’ MX5 that’s the plan, including hopefully the air con for hot summers? The wider track, ah? Well with my planned 195 tyres it will be about 3” either side if I use a good inset. The plan come up with is to split the wings front and rear down the body contour and ‘straighten the swage line out reducing the tuck in both front and back. The plan is to keep the wing/arch shape but widen it hopefully without being to noticeable at first glance, keeping the original appearance.
|
|
Minis, GT6's, MGC, TVR Grantura & Vixen Cosworth, Lotus Elan Turbo, Formula 27, Defender V8, Sunbeam Alpine, Midas Gold convertable and more forgotten!
|
|
|
|
Apr 24, 2013 21:08:09 GMT
|
Wow! Watching this one. Love these wee cars!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Apr 27, 2013 14:18:34 GMT
|
First the good news just in conversation it was discovered that the PPF on an automatic car is shorter, perfect! So the engine is back as far as reasonably possible. As you can see the pedal box has been squeezed in on a new bulkhead, this is positioned to allow legroom for me at 6’2” and the intake is only a few mm from the clutch master. The rest of the set up like supercharger and exhaust have enough clearance although future maintenance access will have to be from the underside. Also now the engine is in have been able to measure up for a radiator as it will be mounted angled in the nose, no cap will be accessible so will have a header tank. Through Janspeed found an alloy RX7 radiator (Mazda again!) seems spot on, just mounted upside down Sitting in an old bucket seat, you realise how wide the original tunnel is and the pedals are offset to the right but with the MX5 steering column in it is all in line and feels a promising start for a comfortable driving position. The gear knob also falls conveniently to hand so no selector shortening will be needed. It also showed that despite the seat resting on a couple of pieces of 2” x 2” how high the dash top is, even at my height I felt like I was peering over the top. There is plenty of headroom so have the option of mounting the intended Smart roadster seats (look better in my opinion) a little higher as have knee clearance under the steering wheel. Next issue this raised is that the original intention to mount the Mazda instrument binnacle in its normal position was going to look like a carbuncle on the dash top as well as being so far off to the right to look odd. First option considered, a custom build with aftermarket instruments which from previous experience means a lot of time & effort getting them to work effectively as well as the added cost and customising the loom. Back to the original instruments to keep it simple, these could be mounted centrally in the dash. Once the car is on its wheels will be stripped apart again to have the glass fibre work done. I am still concerned about hanging the doors as the original hinge boxes have been butchered although the doors themselves are sound and fit in snugly. I’ve started accumulating some more parts on the side line, some necessary for body alignment mods and before paint like lights, exhaust back box. Others like grooved brake discs, Goodridge hoses, ‘greenstuff’ pads, new calipers and full poly bush kit which I don’t need yet but were too shinny to resist. So my choice in the end was to go for some BMW Mini ‘Daytona’ alloys, which are a sort or cross between 5 spoke and minilites so, I thought not too out of place. Also available in 6.5 x 16 ET48 100mm PCD so a few second hands ones were duely acquired the best 5 kept and the rest resold. These were refinishing and new 195/50 Falken tyres fitted. I changed center cap logo of course! Bodywork mods & paint next !
|
|
Minis, GT6's, MGC, TVR Grantura & Vixen Cosworth, Lotus Elan Turbo, Formula 27, Defender V8, Sunbeam Alpine, Midas Gold convertable and more forgotten!
|
|
|
|
Apr 27, 2013 14:45:39 GMT
|
Looking forward to more updates on this, I've been mulling over combining and old fibreglass car with MX5 mechanicals for a while - I'm sure this will be fantastic especially with the supercharger!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Apr 27, 2013 20:53:07 GMT
|
|
|
Minis, GT6's, MGC, TVR Grantura & Vixen Cosworth, Lotus Elan Turbo, Formula 27, Defender V8, Sunbeam Alpine, Midas Gold convertable and more forgotten!
|
|
|
|
Apr 27, 2013 21:18:33 GMT
|
The new rear wheel arch shape has changed, for the better I feel, the slightly hunch back shape (the styling weak point of the car IMHO) into a broader and more attractive rear coupe shape. This lead me to think after discussion with Bill and the efforts to preserve the essence of the styling and shape to stick to original colour and use a period blood red, that was its original colour (although the builder did paint it yellow in the ‘70’s). It is Ferrari Indianapolis Red as used on their 50’s race cars a real ‘traditional’ blood red. The colour in the pictures is not a true reflection as under artificial (sodium) lights, making it look a bit 'orange'. Well that was the Olympic year of 2012 nice coincidence Car now back in the workshop for re-assembly......2013
|
|
Minis, GT6's, MGC, TVR Grantura & Vixen Cosworth, Lotus Elan Turbo, Formula 27, Defender V8, Sunbeam Alpine, Midas Gold convertable and more forgotten!
|
|
|
|
Apr 27, 2013 22:18:08 GMT
|
Gorgeous lines!!!, never seen this model Rochdale before, car looks stunning, and with the combination of MX5 mechanicals this thing should a blast to drive.
|
|
Sig pic too big!
83 MK1 Golf 1.3 Driver-sold 83 Mk1 Golf GTI Pirelli-sold 95 BMW 520i Individual-sold 94 BMW 525i Sport-R.I.P 04 Audi A4 1.9TDI 130-55mpg:)
|
|
|
|
|
That rear arch change is very elegantly executed, you can't tell looking at it that anything has been done which is, in my humble opinion, the best result one can hope for. The use of the MX5 door handles makes perfect sense too, hinting at what's hiding underneath the fibreglass. I'm very glad I stuck a bookmark on this build.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hi blownrochdale, Olympics looking great. Its great to see people on Retro Rides taking an interest in early kit cars, if anyone wishes to see photos of other Rochdale cars use the link below. www.flickr.com/groups/rochdale_cars/and I have also reserved stand Number 39D for all HISTORIC SPECIALS AND CLASSIC KIT CARS at the Stoneleigh Kit Car Show 5th & 6th May 2013. So if anyone has a special or a kit car built before 1973 bring it to the stand. Regards DUFFY
|
|
Old Age & Treachery will overcome Youth and Skill
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Minis, GT6's, MGC, TVR Grantura & Vixen Cosworth, Lotus Elan Turbo, Formula 27, Defender V8, Sunbeam Alpine, Midas Gold convertable and more forgotten!
|
|
|
|
|
Thanks guys for your encouragement and kind words.
|
|
Minis, GT6's, MGC, TVR Grantura & Vixen Cosworth, Lotus Elan Turbo, Formula 27, Defender V8, Sunbeam Alpine, Midas Gold convertable and more forgotten!
|
|
|
|
Apr 28, 2013 10:59:15 GMT
|
|
|
Minis, GT6's, MGC, TVR Grantura & Vixen Cosworth, Lotus Elan Turbo, Formula 27, Defender V8, Sunbeam Alpine, Midas Gold convertable and more forgotten!
|
|
gt
Part of things
Posts: 136
|
|
Apr 28, 2013 11:06:55 GMT
|
wow that is looking good, when i first saw the pics of the shell i thought it looked ugly and couldn't see how you could make a nice looking car out of it ,but after the body work it looks fantastic, great project
|
|
|
|
|
|
Apr 28, 2013 11:11:15 GMT
|
Love the colour! Suits the lines brilliantly. And as always I'm sure it looks even better in person!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Apr 28, 2013 11:20:57 GMT
|
Ref:- TVR Grantura Cosworth.
Is this the Beautiful White one in the photos? Looks more like a Vixen/Tuscan V6. Where is it now? TVR,s are my 2nd love after Rochdale,s. Do you have any photos of the Cosworth engine installation in the TVR, if so you know where to send them please.
"DUFFY"
|
|
Old Age & Treachery will overcome Youth and Skill
|
|
|
|
Apr 28, 2013 19:35:40 GMT
|
Well back to the Rochdale in the workshop. Mechanical overhaul whilst the body was being modified & painted. The MX5 mechanicals are renowned for their reliability and my donor was low miles FSH. Which I had to drive for several hundred miles for test purposes ;D yeeeha! If it wasn’t going to such a noble cause I would have kept it, the aim is for those characteristics to transfer. Anyway whilst it was out silly not to overhaul the engine, strip & inspect, new water pump, cam belt, ignition leads, CAS seal, uprated kevlar clutch to ensure it handles the SC torque, new clutch slave cylinder, braided clutch line, clean & paint cam cover etc…. Recognising that I would never get this amount of work done in a realistic time David Sewell has been instrumental in this from the original tubular subframes and through assembly also. He is very experienced in all things motorsport and kit car, one of the only people I felt could handle what I needed. As with Bill he did my TVR project and now tells me – he ain’t helping do another for me TIP – when your new spray job is covered in dust, which it will be, don’t be tempted to wipe it off. You will just cover the car in micro scratches and in a week it will be just as dusty again! Wait till you finish to valet it – it’s a tip didn’t say it was easy! First the wiring loom has to go in, air con & instruments to check plug positions, wiper motor which is the steadfast dual speed ‘Mini’ was a headache because it is ‘reverse logic’ in its operation to the Mazda switches. Lights gone in… Bought new coil overs from Germany – these have height adjustable seats to get correct ride height when back on its wheels. Wishbones were all powder coated and fitted with polybushes. Professionally rebuilt front calipers, new rear ones as prone to seize. Greenstuff pads and grooved vented discs… as shown before. Brake lines in copper & braided stainless flexies, fuel line and new tank made, starts to look like a car again (from the outside anyway). Doors, bonnet, boot and all glass left out for access and to avoid damage. Underneath there is sufficient space to run a 2” bore exhaust in to a cherry bomb ahead of the diff before heading into my loop back box. Engine goes back in after its overhaul and tidy up, measure up and off to have prop shaft shortened by 18cm. Plan is to fit Cat 1 alarm which will also activate central locking via remote fob so, fitting actuators to door locks. Also in keeping with having more mod-cons going to try and fit electric windows using RX8 (Mazda again) regulators which I have straightened out due to my flat window glass & frames. Spent time customising the door loom already for this plus speakers and courtesy light etc... I can safely say the doors on this car have been the most time consuming part and win in the fiddly stakes also, and still not hung back on.
|
|
Last Edit: Apr 28, 2013 19:40:41 GMT by Fuelish
Minis, GT6's, MGC, TVR Grantura & Vixen Cosworth, Lotus Elan Turbo, Formula 27, Defender V8, Sunbeam Alpine, Midas Gold convertable and more forgotten!
|
|
|
|
Apr 28, 2013 20:06:36 GMT
|
Great build!
How did the BMW e30 BBS look on it?
|
|
Click picture for more
|
|
|