rafikdous Posted 14December, 2016 Report Share Posted 14December, 2016 Another project thread? Why notHere is a teaser picture. More to come IanJ, Raven, poli84 and 14 others 17 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michel Posted 14December, 2016 Report Share Posted 14December, 2016 rafik is it a mcrae Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raven Posted 14December, 2016 Report Share Posted 14December, 2016 That looks like a great project ............. rafikdous 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rafikdous Posted 14December, 2016 Author Report Share Posted 14December, 2016 Michael, yes McRae from NZ using 914 suspension and running gearwill post more details shortly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozvino Posted 15December, 2016 Report Share Posted 15December, 2016 Nice !!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
symsy Posted 15December, 2016 Report Share Posted 15December, 2016 yup were watchin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michel Posted 15December, 2016 Report Share Posted 15December, 2016 (edited) @rafikdous McRae is the definitive in replicas...celebrated internationally for the best ass clamshell shy of an original ... . he's also still kicking about in NZ (though not well) , mad genius or just mad , many stories abound ... but no denying deeply gifted engineer, fabricator and racer ... probably one of the many under recognised in motor sport Edited 15December, 2016 by michel sandy468, Ozvino and ByronBayChris 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeM Posted 15December, 2016 Report Share Posted 15December, 2016 Reckon you should post up some shots of the RSK you did Raf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crsedge Posted 15December, 2016 Report Share Posted 15December, 2016 Nice one mate, you never cease to amaze me with the cars you track down! CheersCraig rafikdous 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rafikdous Posted 15December, 2016 Author Report Share Posted 15December, 2016 (edited) Hmm, I should Lee, shouldn't I? But needs time to post. Will do when I get 1/2hr on the weekendBut will use the RSK to kick this thread off3 or 4 years I restored an RSK718 replica and drove it for over a year. But what I really wanted is a 550I was looking but not actively looking. One night I have no idea why I typed "Spyder 550" on the eBay search. Not that there is likely any chance that one will be for sale. Guess what? This car came up on the search and auction ends in 12 hoursThe car was in Sydney so I had no chance of seeing it before the auction ends. Called the owner (Derek Piebanka) who turned up to be a bloke from NZ who had the car for 8 years and brought it with him to Sydney. Pulled it apart for resto and found that the chassis needed a lot of work. He contacted the McRae guy (can't recall his name Michael but have his contact details) who told him not to bother sending the chassis back to NZ for repairs. It will cost $1.5k in shipping each way plus duties. He promised to make him a brand new chassis for NZ$4.5k and he has the jigs anywayThe car in Sydney was sitting on a pallet complete with everything including a 914 engine and gearbox but no chassis. It was registered in NZ as a 914 and comes with import paperworkI took a gamble and bought it on eBay sight unseen. Then went the week after to check it out. It was going to be a big project but was worth itI paid him the winning price minus NZ$4.5k and started dealing with McRae directly. The McRae guy and his wife was most helpful. It took him about 4 months to finish the chassis and have it powder coatedHere are some pictures of the chassis being made in NZI paid him directly the NZ$4.5k plus NZ$1.7k for packaging, trucking and shipping to Melbourne. The amount of duties, custom fees and quarantine fees are pure stealing. For fark sake, why a brand new steel chassis needs to be quarantined????Anyway 6 weeks later the chassis was in Melbourne and released and off to the panel shop where the rest of the car has already arrived from SydneyHere are pictures when I first got it then unwrapped itBoth Brian (the panel shop) and I were excited to have it so we started playing with it immediately. Only to come across the first problem, the body wouldn't fit on the chassis because the side members of the chassis are wider than the bodyThere was no way the body will through over the chassis so we decided to cut the two side members off. It was bloody hard to take an angle grinder to the brand new chassis but had to be done. Later we will weld flanges to the members we cut and bolt them to the chassis side rails once the body is mounted Edited 15December, 2016 by rafikdous Raven and MFX 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GUT Posted 15December, 2016 Report Share Posted 15December, 2016 Hmm, I should Lee, shouldn't I? But needs time to post. Will do when I get 1/2hr on the weekendBut will use the RSK to kick this thread off3 or 4 years I restored and RSK718 replica and drove it for over a year. But what I really wanted is a 550Ah my old car that I bought on a whim and then left in the garage for a few years and finally passed on to you.I used to see you driving to work in it down Study Park Rd/Johnston St. It looked one helluva lot better than the maroon horror colour it was when I had it. michel 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michel Posted 15December, 2016 Report Share Posted 15December, 2016 Rafik, I'm surprised McRae himself remade a chassis as I didn't think he had the chassis jig. I've been tracking the liquidated remains of the company after it popped up on trade me I think in 06? Went through about 4-5 owners since. Each time the inventory equipment tooling etc was reduced.Irrespective You got a cool project Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rafikdous Posted 15December, 2016 Author Report Share Posted 15December, 2016 (edited) Rafik, I'm surprised McRae himself remade a chassis as I didn't think he had the chassis jig. I've been tracking the liquidated remains of the company after it popped up on trade me I think in 06? Went through about 4-5 owners since. Each time the inventory equipment tooling etc was reduced.Irrespective You got a cool project Hi Michael, just dug his details up, his name is Deane Preston. I can't remember how he was associated with McRae. He had the jigs Edited 15December, 2016 by rafikdous Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rafikdous Posted 20December, 2016 Author Report Share Posted 20December, 2016 once the two side bars were removed, we were able to get the body on the chassisA little more clearance was needed on the front to clear the chassis railsAnd also the same around the backNow the body sits nicely and the wheels are centeredAnd here is me having a "test drive" P-Kay, ByronBayChris, Barks and 10 others 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raven Posted 20December, 2016 Report Share Posted 20December, 2016 Love it .............. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rafikdous Posted 4January, 2017 Author Report Share Posted 4January, 2017 (edited) Spent few hours helping at the panelshop today. Basically trying to get the body gaps correctthe rear frame just behind the firewall was fouling the body right at the top, not by much but enough to make the gap between the main body and the rear panel be around 5mmso we had to lift the body of the chassis and move it forward to get enough spa ethen sliced the top of the frame on an angle to gain about 5mm space at the tophere is the before and after slicing it Then welded itAnd cleaned We remounted the body and adjusted the gap. It's 3mm all around nowthen moved on to positioning the engine/gearbox before welding in the mountsthe angle of the driveshafts are a little steep for my liking but I am not sure yet Edited 4January, 2017 by rafikdous Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crsedge Posted 5January, 2017 Report Share Posted 5January, 2017 Nice one Raf. Are you going to keep her LHD or convert to RHD?CheersCraig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rafikdous Posted 5January, 2017 Author Report Share Posted 5January, 2017 Thanks Craig, leaving it LHD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rafikdous Posted 8January, 2017 Author Report Share Posted 8January, 2017 Modifying the original front engine mount Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michel Posted 11January, 2017 Report Share Posted 11January, 2017 LHD - didn't notice . I'll dig out my info. McRae was in process of doing a U.S. deal when things went pear shaped. I'm aware a couple of LHD chassis/bodies were made, though I'm surprised you were having chassis body fit issues nice progress, suspect many a scoffer on Porsche replicas and other kits would want a piece of this cherry pie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crsedge Posted 11January, 2017 Report Share Posted 11January, 2017 Have you decided what colour will it be yet Raf? I imagine James Dean silver? CheersCraig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rafikdous Posted 11January, 2017 Author Report Share Posted 11January, 2017 though I'm surprised you were having chassis body fit issues it was less than 3 or 4mm so not much to speak of. Could've used it as is but I wasn't entirely happy with the gapCraig, the plan is to keep it black for the time being Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rafikdous Posted 11January, 2017 Author Report Share Posted 11January, 2017 Front engine mount done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michel Posted 24February, 2017 Report Share Posted 24February, 2017 @rafikdous give us a call 0477901911 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rafikdous Posted 11April, 2017 Author Report Share Posted 11April, 2017 (edited) we've been playing with the engine/gearbox position till we got it to a position where we were happy with. It required slightly trimming the firewall to allow me to keep the 914 coolingThen we moved to the drive shafts. The original 914 ones are too long for the 550 track. Tried few VW ones but nothing worked without having to make spacers. So I ordered new ones from the USA made to sizeThese babies will utilize the 914 CV joints and also have a longer spline length to allow more CV joint travelIn this picture, you can see how they are about an inch shorter than the originalsThen we moved to the rear gearbox mounting. Here is what we made so farThe engine/gearbox on a 550 cannot be dropped down because of the frame horns, they have to be lifted up. That's why we decided to have the gearbox mount brace from underneathI've seen some cars with the bracing running diagonally to the shocker towers. They cluttered the engine bay and looked quite damn uglyNext step will be fitting the exhaust and see what mods will be needed Edited 12April, 2017 by rafikdous Scott930, Raven, Ozvino and 3 others 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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