Ford RS200 Rebuild Part 14 Getting Stuck in.

[@gaillaffer7579]

Top work. The devil is in the detail your craftsmanship is amazing.

[@TheBluebirdProject]

Thanks... we all served a 20 year apprenticeship on that big blue boat. We picked up a few skills here and there.

[@phil7301]

Another fascinating video, your doing a great job with the videos 👍😉🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

[@TheBluebirdProject]

Thanks - it's a new skill for us, being middle-aged YouTubists, but we're trying hard - when we remember to switch the camera on. 🤣

[@Russell_Duncan]

I noticed you rotated and re-drilled the threaded insert in the corner to keep the rivets further away from the edges of the panels. I liked that bit 😎

[@TheBluebirdProject]

Yes, well spotted. It's pointless putting rivets so close to the edge, especially as they're 5/32" rivets so their area of influence is pretty big. One surprise we didn't expect, though, is that those inserts are made of some fancy steel and they didn't drill easily. Got there in the end, though. Thanks for watching.

[@markharvey8577]

Can't wait to see the next one, I love the RS200, and I would love to be able to own one. My younger brother used to work at Ford's R&D centre at Dunton Essex. He would seek me in occasionally to look under the covers 😉

[@TheBluebirdProject]

I used to get into Dunton too in a former life - working on the ST and RS Focus programmes. Happy days...

[@ColinSpencer]

Great progress and informative as usual. 👍👍👍

[@TheBluebirdProject]

Thanks 👍 We're almost beginning to enjoy making these little films. More soon.

[@micktuck5377]

Brilliant progress gent loving the content

[@TheBluebirdProject]

Glad you're enjoying it - thanks for the feedback. Always appreciated.

[@petespanel]

Great progress.

[@TheBluebirdProject]

Thanks, we're flying along now we're happy with the processes.

[@davidcole5842]

More attension to detail then when Ford built the car ! wonder how many RS200's out there are in this condition without knowing it

[@TheBluebirdProject]

They're probably all as bad but they'll hang together if they're not rallycrossed. several have had new floors installed on the quiet in recent years. It's the glue that's failed everywhere on this one, the whole tub was creaking and groaning but we're sorting it now.

[@SB-vb8ch]

Presumably using the adhesive as the isolation between the steel & aluminium? Generally stainless isn't wise to use with aluminium as it promotes galvanic corrosion. Surprised that the steel parts haven't received some form of coating.

[@TheBluebirdProject]

Indeed, we would normally join dissimilar metals with a polysulphide sealant and wet-rivet everything (dip each rivet in polysulphide before setting them) but this structure relies heavily on its glued joints so we had to glue it. Polysulphide is an excellent sealant to keep water and hydrocarbons at bay but it's not an adhesive. Even joining aluminium to aluminium with aluminium rivets carries the risk of dissimilar metal trouble due to the different grades of material. Everything will be painted and coated eventually - then we'll maker sure it doesn't get wet. No.139 has been wet 3 times in the last 20 years. 😊

[@kurtwood6141]

Dumbass question...........but......... As the honeycomb insert is bonded in with the resin, is there any flex in the panels? I'm meaning will things flex a little or is there a possibility of the resin cracking? Just very intrigued - not trying to be an arse 😁👍

[@TheBluebirdProject]

It's a very reasonable question. There's almost no flex to be had in the honeycomb panels - they're unbelievably stiff. The key to making the rein flexible is to keep everything close fitting so the resin film thickness is kept to a minimum. Keep it thin and it will bend, a bit like trying to bend a block of cheese vs bending a slice of cheese, if you know what I mean.

[@kurtwood6141]

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