OK I will start this one ,
well over year ago I traded in a 1991 RSP Cooper damaged by vandals who tried to set fire to the interior but it failed to take hold and the damage was confined to the interior ,
I have had many offers to buy the RSP in the intervening time but resisted as I had regretted selling the previous RSPs I had ,and now I want to get started with the project ,
I am planning a full stripdown to a bare shell for the car followed by sandblasting the underside and the stripping all the paint on the car to bare metal followed by replacement of any panels found damaged or rusty , ( as it's an 'Irish' car it's pretty rustfree . ) full respray in original Black / White .
While the shell is being sorted I will have the subframes blasted and possibly 'powdercoated ' in black followed by re-assembly with new components and some modifications .
the engine and gearbox spec is still undecided but will deffo not be standard , options open to Me are
1--- RSP 'S' + spec with modified head , twin carbs , LCB ,SW5 cam , etc giving about 85/90 bhp with the correct bits
2----As above but with 1430 cc should give a good 110bhp .
3--- Thirdly and My prefered option 16v head conversion , now I have several ways of doing this and one is to throw lots of €€€€ at it and buy a KAD or Jack Knight 16 V head OR My prefered option the BMW K1100 bike head conversion , now this is really a good option in that the head fits the block almost perfectly with the bore centres almost perfect for the A+ series engines , a bit of machining and fabrication but do-able easily nontheless .
I am drawn to the K1100 head option and with a suitable engine should easily see between 120 and 160 bhp .
Gearbox; Possible 5 speed still thinking , LSD yes
Brakes ; vented discs , 4 pot alloy calipers , std rear ,
Suspension : still deliberating ;
Interior ; because the car is a very limited edition I will stick to near standard RSP but fit front Recaro seats trimmed in 'lightning' black 1/2 leather as original .
Externally ; all original RSP with correct badging etc .
The plan is to have a good standard looking RSP with enough power for the odd track day or 'ring ' visit .
I will post photos of progress and update plans as I go along , I know I am going to regret this but it has to be done .
Gerard