New member - Bought an RA107

[Thorburn]

Shame they're not going to be there with it at the weekend, heading up Saturday and would have loved to have seen it.

[kieran527]

Wow, what a project!!!
Spent half my nightshift last night reading this thread from start to finish.
Still looking back over the pictures i couldnt imagine having an F1 car sat in my garage! You have taken on a project that every person that follows F1 would love to have the resources to attempt to complete.
Ill keep an eye on this thread to see when you complete the car and take it for a shakedown.
Congrats on the project, its an absolute dream, wish you all the luck with completion!!!

[jakelewismclaren]

Hey fantastic project, would love to do the same, any plans for when you are doing the shake down

[F1snake]

Hi guys,

Many thanks for your kind comments and welcome to this superb forum.

We have been very lucky having the chance to buy the RA107 in the first place, I have never seen another one of that vintage or newer available to buy. Its still a huge buzz opening the garage and seeing the car there.

It is quite challenge to see this project through, and everything takes a lot longer than we initially thought. In the year we have owned the car, we have had to enter a rather steep learning curve, but its great fun and very satifying to inch forwards with the project. Its also quite a financial commitment, but we dont have a big house or expensive kids to look after. Instead we have some interesting cars to play with! As for shaking down, it might be a while yet, but watch this space!

[MarkoF1]

Hello Bjorn & Nadine,

I just wanted to add myself to the list of people that have thoroughly enjoyed reading about your RA107 journey. You are literally doing something I've discussed with friends when we have those fanciful conversations on how we'd spend a lottery win!
It's really nice to see you sharing this experience and in turn seeing the enthusiasm of the replies from Forum Members.

Castle Coombe is my local circuit, so I hope that one sunny day I'll be able to admire the results of the hard work and passion you've both put into this.

I wish you all the very best with the project, making the car reliable and useable without needing a 'team' is totally the right direction to go in, great engine choice and that gearbox will be well worth the wait!

[jakelewismclaren]

i was wondering about the ECU, Does it have one or are you needing one, because you could always contact McLaren Electronic Systems, i bet they would be able to sell you one

[F1snake]

MarkoF1,

Many thanks for your kind supportive words. I'm glad you have enjoyed reading the thread, and you'd be very welcome to join us at Castle Combe when the time comes.

jakelewismclaren,

The H1V8 engine comes with an ECU that works with the steering wheel we have. I know McLaren could have made us a great piece of kit and many thanks for the tip. I've been in touch with McLaren ES about buying a spare rain light, but I managed to find a '2nd hand' McLaren light at a fraction of the price they charge for a new one. The McLaren electronics are of course top drawer, but they quoted me £850 + VAT for the rain light, so sadly I think their ECU is most likely beyond our budget. But who knows what the future holds, one day I might well get in touch with McLaren again.

[MarkoF1]

You may well already know this but I believe some of the F1 teams used a company called Polamco http://www.polamco.com/ for their electrical connectors, and they just so happen to be in Bath too.
So if you have any 'exotic' looking plugs they may be able to help.

[F1snake]

Thanks for that contact, MarkoF1, briliant one to have. The company is actually only a very short walk away from where I live, and I've passed by 100's of times without knowing they were there! Their products look very promising and I'll certainly contact them. Nice one, thanks again!

[jakelewismclaren]

ouch thats a lot of money,, but i guess its quality proven kit,, whats the engine noise like?

[Muskrat]

Looking at the http://www.h1v8.com/page/page/1562069.htm site, are you going for the wilder spec and 3.0 litre version as it woul be close to the F1 numbers?

[F1snake]

Jake,

As the engine is not finalised, I haven't actually heard it yet. Janspeed are quite excited about doing an exhaust for it, and I have every confidence they will make it sound great. In order to get on track, Janspeed needs to find a way of silencing it with out too much restriction. Most, if not all UK circuits have strict DB limits imposed on them, monitored by their respective councils. We wouldn't want to desturb all those poor people who decided to buy their homes next to a race track, would we?!

Muskrat,

Its the 3.0 litre version with a 500 BHP tune. P/W ratio should remain the about the same as was in 2007. There's more on this subject earlier in the thread.

[netoperek]

F1snake, I'm not sure but I think I mentioned I can help You with silencing the car actively, so You wouldn't have to loose too much power in passive system. I did my masters thesis on active noise reduction system, and rather innovative one too, so maybe I will be able to help.
Anyways - good luck with Your beauty once again! Be patient with Her, and she will reward You for sure

[F1snake]

netoperek,

Many thanks for that, you did bring this up before, and we would very much like your assistance on the exhaust design when it comes to that. Janspeed has helped us out before on other race cars and they're very good at the manufacturing side of things. However, I'm sure they would not be able to match your designs on an active noise reduction system, and we would absolutely like your help with this. Perhaps you could kindly PM me your contact details at some point. Many thanks for reminding me. Brilliant!

[jakelewismclaren]

yea i can see you point in terms on noise, i live near brands hatch and some of the people round there hate the noise