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I've been lurking here for a long time and thought it was about time I joined in. I have a bit of a collection of "works in progress" but I have recently acquired this little beauty: It's a Rickman Ranger saloon, based on Mk2 Escort mechanicals with a 2.0L Pinto and Sierra 5 speed box. It was professionally built sometime in the 90's as a project for a kit car magazine. It's been off the road for a couple of years but for a kit car it's in amazingly good condition and even has a proper interior. I'm just sorting out some small niggles before putting it back on the road. If it proves reliable enough it might become my daily drive. I have plans for it but I'll post pictures as I progress rather than reveal all now. Oh, and I particularly like the wheels which are Compomotive split-rims. End of transmission.
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qwerty
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,410
Club RR Member Number: 52
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Rickman Rangerqwerty
@qwerty
Club Retro Rides Member 52
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Those wheels are very posh for a Kit Car! Looking forward to seeing the progress.
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It's great how those Rangers just refuse to die. Galvo'd chassis + GRP body + bombproof mechanicals.
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jonw
Part of things
Can open a Mouse with a File
Posts: 768
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Aug 30, 2011 12:00:33 GMT
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Great car. A friend had a couple of these a while back. One runner one spares.... brilliant fun.
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Suzuki SV650R The good Triumph T20 The Bad BMW G650GS The Ugly Matchless G12CSR The Smokey Toyota Hybrid One pint or Two?
Ingredients of this post Spam Drunken Rambling of author Bad spelling Drunken ramblings of inner voices Occasional pointless comments Vile beef trimming they won't even use in stock cubes
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DutyFreeSaviour
Europe
Back For More heartbreak and disappointment.....
Posts: 2,944
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Aug 30, 2011 16:29:31 GMT
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After perving over these whilst a young'un - I never managed to see one completed...... I'll have to make sure I see this in the grp at some point.
Excellent ride - will be keeping tabs on this.
John
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Back from the dead..... kind of
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MonzaPhil
Posted a lot
Think like a man of action, act like a man of thought
Posts: 2,456
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Aug 30, 2011 16:58:20 GMT
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Cool ,my brother used to make these at Rickman who had a factory in New Milton, just a couple of minutes away from my house and my dad had a factory on the other side of the estate to the Rickmans. More known for motorcycle stuff but they also made a sports car based on the Sierra called the Metisse. Good to see they are still about. Anyone got a "space ranger" ?
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Last Edit: Aug 30, 2011 16:59:24 GMT by MonzaPhil
This is now a clicky linky!
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luckygti
Posted a lot
I need to try harder!
Posts: 4,912
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Aug 30, 2011 17:29:49 GMT
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Looks good, in fact it has to be the nicest one I've seen Oh, and there was a Metisse on the car park at the Gathering in loud orange!
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Thanks for all the positive comments so far peeps ;D I got a small file with the car with some history in it. There was a page ripped out of the January 2000 issue of Which Kit carrying this advert: It's slightly newer than I thought. First registered December 1999 and I'm only the fourth owner. Nice to know the engine was reconditioned as well. I've managed to source a window winder mechanism for the drivers door. The current one is completely sh***ed. When it arrives I'll sort that out, get new tyres all round (they've all perished due to lack of use) and it's off to the local MoT station where it'll hopefully pass with no problems. Hmm, we'll see...
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Been doing some work before I get the Ranger MoT'd. The drivers side window winder mechanism was totally knackered so sourced a replacement on the old interweb. As you can see from the picture below the standard item is longer than the one fitted to the Ranger. The Ranger one has been shortened. This isn't mentioned in "The Rickman File". ("The Rickman File" is the build manual for the car.) I can't weld so I cut the mechanism with a hacksaw, overlapped the two ends, drilled two holes through them and bolted them together like so: Before I refitted it I needed to adjust the tracking of the window which kept dropping at the front as it was wound up. Luckily, Rickman anticipated this problem and have incorporated a mechanism to do just this. There is a track built in to the door and the window has two rollers attached to it which roll on either side of the track to keep it straight. There is a threaded bar also attached to the window mechanism which tilts the whole window so that both rollers contact the track. Over time everything will wear and move leading to much difficulty in winding the window up, which was what was wrong with mine (some of the teeth on the winder mechanism had been stripped due to too much stress on them when winding the window up with everything out of line). Once all that was sorted I lubricated everything with a silicone based lubricant spray and now it all works perfectly again. I also made the adjustments on the passenger side window and lubricated that before it suffered the same fate. I have also had all four tyres replaced as the ones fitted were worn and cracked. While the wheels were off I checked the brakes and found that the rear passenger side handbrake was seized so I took the drum off and also found that new shoes were needed. I freed off the handbrake mechanism with lots of penetrating oil and a hammer and have removed the shoes to take to the motor factors with me today as I'm not sure what model MK1/2 Escort parts I need. I also noticed that the chassis and back axle seem to have mounting points for an anti-roll bar. Can anyone tell me if the MK1/2 Escorts had rear anti-roll bars?
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cianha
Part of things
aka VDubbin
Posts: 923
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I know that a lot of the Rally cars have ARBs, but I've no idea if they are OEM or aftermarket units.
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mk2's did.
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theres more to life than mpg & to much power is just enough.
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I just had a look at the build manual (why didn't I think of that in the first place?) and rear anti-roll bars are mentioned in the axle fitting part:
"NOTE: On models fitted with a rear anti-roll bar fit the dampers to the outermost bosses on the chassis cross member as shown in photograph 24."
And in photograph 24 the chassis is shown with an anti-roll bar fitted.
Further reading reveals that I'll also need to change the shocks as they're mounted in a different way from cars without the ARB if I do fit one. I think I will but this isn't an important job right now so it can wait.
I have my brake shoes now so once they're done it's ready for an MoT.
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Anglia68
Posted a lot
Powered By Boredom.
Posts: 2,049
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Check that the top mounting bolts on your rear dampers aren't seized solid as I had to replace mine for the last MOT and ended up having to cut the one side off along with the bolt and the tube it passes through before replacing the lot.
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i know this is an old post but does anyone have any info on these things? all i can find on google is an owners club but doesnt look like any one has used it in a couple of years. ive just been given one of these space rangers, collecting it tomorow night and not sure what to make of them,
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FIAT CINQUECENTO PICKUP VW Passat B3 - Riddler VW Caddy van - VR6 WANTED: Landrover
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