jr
Member
Registered: 20th May 02
Location: Kent
User status: Offline
|
[quote=Richard-G]Hi All
got something here which i thought i would share with my fellow ph'ers!
as some of you might have seen the episode of top gear where clarkson was talking about the reliant robin. Reliant (based in tamworth) made more than just the robin, kitten and the (nice)Scimitar! Due to the long history of working with composite bodies and the skill of the work and engineer force, Ford motorsport charged them with the task of building their planned Group B monstarr, The RS 200. 200 homoglation specials of the car they planned to blitz the grp B scene with, had to be built to meet the regulations of the time.
due to the fact i live in tamworth and the sheer time i spend out cleaning my car, i got chatting to my next door neighbour who i happened to know worked for reliant, turns out he was a line engineer on the full production run of (road) RS200's and he happened to have a camera to hand! the following pictures were all taken over the production run from the start to the very end and show some, frankly disgusting car porn!
the chassis ready to start production
|http://thumbsnap.com/VwygqzaT" target="_blank"> |http://thumbsnap.com/VwygqzaT
Bare chassis, the chassis was apparantly the same material that concorde was constructed from, at the time these were worth £11,000 and had no weight at all
|http://thumbsnap.com/Z9TNFPFK" target="_blank"> |http://thumbsnap.com/Z9TNFPFK
detail underneath, note the way the chassis is held, to allow it to be rolled over during the production process
|http://thumbsnap.com/aFKOv33h" target="_blank"> |http://thumbsnap.com/aFKOv33h
engine install
|http://thumbsnap.com/WyYK7YYH" target="_blank"> |http://thumbsnap.com/WyYK7YYH
final engine install
|http://thumbsnap.com/zZvjnHXj" target="_blank"> |http://thumbsnap.com/zZvjnHXj
heat shield install
|http://thumbsnap.com/VVKSVVhv" target="_blank"> |http://thumbsnap.com/VVKSVVhv
exhast arrangement, look at all that car porn
|http://thumbsnap.com/KjxBd56a" target="_blank"> |http://thumbsnap.com/KjxBd56a
chassis again, from a different angle
|http://thumbsnap.com/Z9TNFPFK" target="_blank">|http://thumbsnap.com/Z9TNFPFK
underneath with engine and gearbox installed
|http://thumbsnap.com/aFKOv33h" target="_blank">|http://thumbsnap.com/aFKOv33h
fuel tank installation
|http://thumbsnap.com/CTEBoQ68" target="_blank"> |http://thumbsnap.com/CTEBoQ68
fitting suspension and brakes
|http://thumbsnap.com/UIk6UJv6" target="_blank"> |http://thumbsnap.com/UIk6UJv6
finished rolling chassis
|http://thumbsnap.com/A4U9ddVZ" target="_blank"> |http://thumbsnap.com/A4U9ddVZ
awaiting shells
|http://thumbsnap.com/Oe7VwZBg" target="_blank"> |http://thumbsnap.com/Oe7VwZBg
fitting front brakes, im guessing the blue tube is loctite
|http://thumbsnap.com/RFLp4JM4" target="_blank"> |http://thumbsnap.com/RFLp4JM4
fitting of the shell and interior
|http://thumbsnap.com/xLsqVKZS" target="_blank"> |http://thumbsnap.com/xLsqVKZS
ones they made earier! SPAFF :wobble:
|http://thumbsnap.com/uVYM4Qve" target="_blank"> |http://thumbsnap.com/uVYM4Qve
ready for Quality control checks. double spaff
|http://thumbsnap.com/EIFfZRpQ" target="_blank"> |http://thumbsnap.com/EIFfZRpQ
from the front
|http://thumbsnap.com/RJcHRTii" target="_blank"> |http://thumbsnap.com/RJcHRTii
being addressed by the boss of ford motorsport! look at all those rs's!
|http://thumbsnap.com/YR9KrXqY" target="_blank"> |http://thumbsnap.com/YR9KrXqY
last one to leave the factory, note the 200 on the bonnet to denote the last one made, must be worth a pretty penny now
|http://thumbsnap.com/SPovXUky" target="_blank"> |http://thumbsnap.com/SPovXUky
some of the tales from production he told me boggle the mmind, the torque settings for the engine mounts were different for each chassis and it was VERY easy to strip the threads. Apparently the fuel tanks cost about £1000 each and were in two or three parts, to fit them needed some arm contortion so a lot got damaged and were simply thrown away! All the time, engineers from ford would pop down and test drive the production cars often taking out engineers from BL and oddly lancia! On a final note, some of the cars were sold with non production legal parts fitted, like the brake bias, which was fitted under the carpet next to the transmission tunnel, all you had to do was cut out a section of the carpet and you had brake bias :lick:
|
DannyB
Premium Member
Registered: 6th Feb 08
User status: Offline
|
|
CORSA NUT
Member
Registered: 3rd Aug 01
Location: Wirral
User status: Offline
|
Awesome 
|
Nath
Member
Registered: 3rd Apr 02
Location: MK
User status: Offline
|
Ugly as sin though 
|
mattk
Member
Registered: 27th Feb 06
Location: St. Helens
User status: Offline
|
love the sierra back lights on them me, they look great
|
Ojc
Member
Registered: 14th Nov 00
Location: Reading: Drives : Clio 197
User status: Offline
|
Saw that this morning, loved it 
|
whitter45
Member
Registered: 15th Nov 02
Location: Norton
User status: Offline
|
just like the noble with mondeo lights
|
Ojc
Member
Registered: 14th Nov 00
Location: Reading: Drives : Clio 197
User status: Offline
|
Would a job like that ever get boring?
|
chrex
Member
Registered: 26th Aug 07
Location: Brawdy/Wirral
User status: Offline
|
cracking cars! and some great pics
i'm loving the hidden brake bias controller thing though, thats genius! 
|
ianofbhills
Member
Registered: 10th Feb 01
Location: newcastle
User status: Offline
|
That is some pretty cool history and very interesting to look at.
I've not really looked at an rs200 in detail before but obviously i know what one is.
Can somebody explain the reasoning behind the fitting of the dual shock absorbers front and rear?
Its a competition derived car so is it to do with heat build up and how come not all of the cars have the dual set up?
|
3CorsaMeal
Member
Registered: 11th Apr 02
User status: Offline
|
wow, amazing pics, i never knew they were designed/built in such a way
|
am4nf
Member
Registered: 27th Jul 08
Location: South Ayrshire Drives: Corsa Sport
User status: Offline
|
I would love one
|
Ricky352
Member
Registered: 6th Apr 07
Location: Lisburn, N.I.
User status: Offline
|
Thats cool, have always loved these cars. Am I right in thinking that Ford first designed it for rallying, and then in order to have a rally car there had to be so many road cars designed also?
|
am4nf
Member
Registered: 27th Jul 08
Location: South Ayrshire Drives: Corsa Sport
User status: Offline
|
quote:
Originally posted by Ricky352
Thats cool, have always loved these cars. Am I right in thinking that Ford first designed it for rallying, and then in order to have a rally car there had to be so many road cars designed also?
I think thats always the case mate
|
Ricky352
Member
Registered: 6th Apr 07
Location: Lisburn, N.I.
User status: Offline
|
quote:
Originally posted by am4nf
quote:
Originally posted by Ricky352
Thats cool, have always loved these cars. Am I right in thinking that Ford first designed it for rallying, and then in order to have a rally car there had to be so many road cars designed also?
I think thats always the case mate
Yeah but I thought the road car was normally designed first, then adapted for rallying, and I was under the impression it was the other way round in the case of the RS200?
|
ed
Member
Registered: 10th Sep 03
User status: Offline
|
quote:
Originally posted by Ojc
Would a job like that ever get boring?
Yes. The guys at Dagenham were known to go absolutely mental after a while because of how mind numbing it is assembling cars.
|
jr
Member
Registered: 20th May 02
Location: Kent
User status: Offline
|
quote:
Originally posted by Ricky352
quote:
Originally posted by am4nf
quote:
Originally posted by Ricky352
Thats cool, have always loved these cars. Am I right in thinking that Ford first designed it for rallying, and then in order to have a rally car there had to be so many road cars designed also?
I think thats always the case mate
Yeah but I thought the road car was normally designed first, then adapted for rallying, and I was under the impression it was the other way round in the case of the RS200?
it was like almost all group b rally cars
mainly because the FIA relaxed the rules, meaning manufactures only had to build 200 raod going cars to homologate the race car, hence cars like the RS, Audi S1, 6R4, 205, 034B etc etc got built, because it was actully viable cost wise to do it, unlike having to build 1000-5000 examples before etc
|
jr
Member
Registered: 20th May 02
Location: Kent
User status: Offline
|
quote:
Originally posted by chrex
cracking cars! and some great pics
i'm loving the hidden brake bias controller thing though, thats genius!
clever yes, but read up on the conspriacy theory about wht lancia built roll cages that just happend to be gas tight (nitros) and the fire extingishers which didnt have any foam in etc 
|
Tomnova16
Premium Member
Registered: 21st Jan 06
Location: Gerrards Cross Drives: Porsche 911
User status: Offline
|
pretty strange how modern the suspension and brakes look
http://www.lemass.co.uk/ for all your automotive/bodyshop needs
Located in Chalfont st Peter
|
Ricky352
Member
Registered: 6th Apr 07
Location: Lisburn, N.I.
User status: Offline
|
it was like almost all group b rally cars
mainly because the FIA relaxed the rules, meaning manufactures only had to build 200 raod going cars to homologate the race car, hence cars like the RS, Audi S1, 6R4, 205, 034B etc etc got built, because it was actully viable cost wise to do it, unlike having to build 1000-5000 examples before etc
Right, nice one
|
MarkSport
Member
Registered: 22nd May 09
User status: Offline
|
Awesome 
didnt know they made that many though
|
jr
Member
Registered: 20th May 02
Location: Kent
User status: Offline
|
quote:
Originally posted by MarkSport
Awesome
didnt know they made that many though
its in the name
|
Whittie
Member
Registered: 11th Aug 06
Location: North Wales Drives: BMW, Corsa & Fiat
User status: Offline
|
Mega Cool.
|
Ben G
Member
Registered: 12th Jan 07
Location: Essex
User status: Offline
|
quote:
Originally posted by ed
quote:
Originally posted by Ojc
Would a job like that ever get boring?
Yes. The guys at Dagenham were known to go absolutely mental after a while because of how mind numbing it is assembling cars.
are you calling me mental then  
rs200 in the heritage centre here. oh my it's beautiful.
|
Chris C
Member
Registered: 2nd Jan 05
Location: Hemel Hempstead
User status: Offline
|
This would be my first purchase if I ever came into some money, always loved them
|
