https://www.ellismotorworks.co.uk/projects daily 0.75 2026-10-05 https://www.ellismotorworks.co.uk/projects/Blog Post Title One-3zaa9-zlxng-l9zg2-mn83t monthly 0.5 2026-10-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6a2971f5c3cd1a68d098b703/81cf57bb-7244-4130-9fa0-6e7fabaa1d12/PXL_20260306_180400357.jpg Projects - Renault Megane RS225 Team F1 - No.510 So, a bit of background (shortened down)! Back when I was 8, it was a dream of mine to own my own garage. At the same age I went to Lydden Hill Circuit for the first time to watch rallycross. There was a liquid yellow R26 Megane Rs racing, spitting flame and sounding incredible, along with the unique shape… I was hooked! Fast forward to now, I wanted to treat myself for a successful start to Ellis Motorworks and came to the conclusion to scratch that itch 8 Year old me had! I’d settled on an R26 F1 Edition (around 5,000 made), until I got offered this rare little beast… I couldnt say no so bought it unseen as an Mot failure! This was the evening it was dropped to the unit, the first time i’d lay my eyes on it! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6a2971f5c3cd1a68d098b703/b6e78ab3-e049-4416-998f-48d01d96a400/PXL_20260306_182902603.PORTRAIT.jpg Projects - Renault Megane RS225 Team F1 - No.510 This is a little different from the R26 F1 edition. This one being the Rs225 Team F1, was made by Renault as a celebration for Fernando Alonso winning the F1 World Championship in 2005. This one is build number 510. Only 140 were made for the UK and this is only 1 of 26 left registered in the UK. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6a2971f5c3cd1a68d098b703/592677ab-0cfa-4d73-bbe6-34f19f8b02ca/PXL_20260309_162113052.jpg Projects - Renault Megane RS225 Team F1 - No.510 What a machine! Having 225hp from factory made this rare little hot hatch fairly nippy. However this one is hiding some modifications paired with a custom map carried out on a rolling road… Meaning this is actually running 268hp and 232lbft of torque! Someone say trackday? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6a2971f5c3cd1a68d098b703/bbb797db-1507-4f34-acd3-726e5a496a4f/PXL_20260329_092433428.PORTRAIT.jpg Projects - Renault Megane RS225 Team F1 - No.510 MOT Repairs all done and it was back on the road, time to enjoy!! First drive up the forest! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6a2971f5c3cd1a68d098b703/f1ebb6f9-f17b-4041-885b-9200de587dec/PXL_20260328_171130572.PORTRAIT.jpg Projects - Renault Megane RS225 Team F1 - No.510 At an average of 24mpg average of daily driving (33mpg on a run to Wales) or a solid 13mpg of heavy driving, it sure is thirsty… But it wasn’t bought to be good on fuel. Smiles per gallon however!! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6a2971f5c3cd1a68d098b703/f4da50a4-b108-4164-a6e8-f4ee9da013df/IMG-20260505-WA0013%7E2.jpg Projects - Renault Megane RS225 Team F1 - No.510 A trip to Goodwood for the Initiate show definitely cemented the fact that this car needed to get out on track and fully stretch its legs! Even got this photo sent to me from (Instagram tag : @samthompsonmedia). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6a2971f5c3cd1a68d098b703/059f13ee-8ee0-4578-9810-f70c7c5943dc/PXL_20260622_161739210.jpg Projects - Renault Megane RS225 Team F1 - No.510 Did someone say brake upgrade? C-Hooked and Vented discs, Yellow stuff pads and Braided lines… This can only mean one thing.. Right? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6a2971f5c3cd1a68d098b703/a91bacef-5b94-4e9d-b7f1-1df0ee30ad43/PXL_20260723_170528931.PORTRAIT.jpg Projects - Renault Megane RS225 Team F1 - No.510 …Wrong, cracked wheel time meant new tyre and a wheel repair ! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6a2971f5c3cd1a68d098b703/370999b0-2ebe-4fef-a221-f03351d72a22/PXL_20260623_173241070.PORTRAIT.jpg Projects - Renault Megane RS225 Team F1 - No.510 Okay, so wheel repaired . New tyre. Brakes upgraded.. Now it can only mean one thing?? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6a2971f5c3cd1a68d098b703/bf3d89fe-6916-4b39-ab48-18bc060515e1/PXL_20260922_140307834.PORTRAIT.ORIGINAL.jpg Projects - Renault Megane RS225 Team F1 - No.510 First track day in the newly labeled ‘Spicy Baguette’ and what a day it was! The morning threw up some issues and challenges. But come the afternoon sessions it was behaving itself and got one hell of a thrashing!! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6a2971f5c3cd1a68d098b703/c8617027-5a59-4fd1-98da-88852df122ba/PXL_20260922_155700707.PORTRAIT.jpg Projects - Renault Megane RS225 Team F1 - No.510 Trackday - Survived Tyres - Warm !! Brakes - Even Warmer !! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6a2971f5c3cd1a68d098b703/2b176a64-85ab-41ce-b0b5-a7a5a143ff35/IMG-20260922-WA0042.jpg Projects - Renault Megane RS225 Team F1 - No.510 My head in the helmet during what felt like the hottest day of the year and all this adrenaline flowing … The Warmest. But 8 Year old Connor did something he’d always dreamt of.. RESULT!!! https://www.ellismotorworks.co.uk/projects/Blog Post Title One-3zaa9-zlxng-l9zg2 monthly 0.5 2026-10-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6a2971f5c3cd1a68d098b703/dc918c37-12d7-482e-990c-7f2fa9552a32/518078335_25001947672738520_7704465324462202577_n.jpg Projects - Classic Mini Track Car Its a 1992 Rover Mini British Open Classic, one of 1000 built. Originally bought in 2013 (when I was 15), myself and my dad spent 2 years building it up to be my first car, during this build she was given the nickname “Kate” due to the number plate. I then used the mini as my daily for just over 2 years. In 2017 the car needed a differential change, I ended up taking the mini off the road and decided to do a full turbocharged track car build Although life has got busy, the car was driven into the garage at home and the build was started ! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6a2971f5c3cd1a68d098b703/896057e6-956f-4b85-a775-9fdfb0735d15/517009157_25002212499378704_7835139133267412247_n.jpg Projects - Classic Mini Track Car First job was to start stripping parts! First up the bonnet, engine and entire front subframe which as you can see houses the brakes, suspension and hubs! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6a2971f5c3cd1a68d098b703/27f88fcf-c1db-4269-92da-c13938423bb2/44936502_2413651198661489_2459350736715120640_n.jpg Projects - Classic Mini Track Car Next up was to attack the rear and center of the car! Interior stripped out along with the full length webasto sunroof and all the glass. Also the rear subframe was removed as well as the all off the lights and fuel tank! What was left was a bare shell . Time for full inspection! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6a2971f5c3cd1a68d098b703/6ece9fc2-158c-4150-acd0-3ed757001dbb/89097656_3375449032481696_7178253892063330304_n.jpg Projects - Classic Mini Track Car Next up was a big decision to make, I decided to send the body off to get welded up due to it being so far gone and the circumstances not being right to do it myself. The shell ended up having a major list of new panels! The month I sent the shell away for welding, Covid 19 lockdown happened which held the build up even more. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6a2971f5c3cd1a68d098b703/c2ab96d9-95be-4757-8bc2-0b92c98e14ca/162123598_4467019223324666_5104021775897054526_n.jpg Projects - Classic Mini Track Car Fast forward a very strange year for all of us, the mini came back! New panels all round, the bumper lips removed and smoothed off to give me the exact look I’d planned of all that time ago! Slowly the vision was becoming a reality. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6a2971f5c3cd1a68d098b703/1ef57c84-482e-42b3-ab2b-4c50c603f52d/175528643_4566671460026108_3051839171398443377_n.jpg Projects - Classic Mini Track Car My next plan was to refit the freshly powdercoated front and rear subframes, purely so I had a solid base for the axel stands to go. This allowed me to safely get underneath and start the long process of prepping the underside for undersealing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6a2971f5c3cd1a68d098b703/3781ee65-c229-4332-ac4c-3b8e0ca308f6/483523810_24101012366165393_1637142292651803482_n.jpg Projects - Classic Mini Track Car I wish I stayed as clean doing this part of the build as I have done writing this blog post for you all! It was done, the main section of the floor all cleaned, stripped and sealed. Subframes then removed so I could change the axle stand location so allow for the rest of the floor to be cleaned and sealed! Then the exciting part… Shiny Bits !!!! The first new part to be fitted was the Quick Ratio steering rack. Now the track part of build began. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6a2971f5c3cd1a68d098b703/957982d9-b05d-409a-9fbb-896b6bca32d8/489629455_24265084613091500_3208309222416166857_n.jpg Projects - Classic Mini Track Car This day was a real eye opener for myself. The front subframe was fully built to a high spec and ready to be bolted into the car. The spec consists of fully adjustable alloy tie rods, 4 Pot titanium alloy calipers paired with 8.9” Grooved and vented discs and alloy drive flanges. Adjustable Gaz lowered shocks alongside heavy duty aluminum adjustable trumpets with medium strength springs. This is still one of my favorite parts of my build. It was starting to look like the race cars that I used to see whilst growing up! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6a2971f5c3cd1a68d098b703/dbdce5ba-915f-4e4a-b807-786f46d364ff/490008788_24277551095178185_3664408797085200304_n.jpg Projects - Classic Mini Track Car This is purely just an excuse for me to show you how it all looked together !! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6a2971f5c3cd1a68d098b703/be200b08-b41f-43af-83b1-e64936693210/494461902_24400176129582347_2408220493106319327_n.jpg Projects - Classic Mini Track Car The rear subframe got the exact same treatment and built up to the high standard! The noticeable difference from the front is the brake set up. Due to minis having drum brakes at the rear and hearing that fitting a disc conversion gives too much brake effort, I decided to fit superfin aluminium drums. This will assist the cooling whilst still giving a comfortable amount of brake effort. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6a2971f5c3cd1a68d098b703/5ee959b2-b612-44d2-b769-03158385fc7a/498302013_24561088150157810_6106209545234316326_n.jpg Projects - Classic Mini Track Car The milestone day! Engine went in to make sure it finally cleared the bulkhead. Due to the turbo placement, a box had to be welded in the bulkhead to allow clearance. All 4 wheels on the car, a rare set of SSR Formula Mesh 3 piece splits. This set was reportedly imported from Japan in the 1980’s. These are 1 of 3 sets known this spec. Definitely gives it that extra look in my opinion! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6a2971f5c3cd1a68d098b703/ea8e8c11-2139-40e9-95b7-debf2adb61f9/504072740_24715206031412687_1904516049749697436_n.jpg Projects - Classic Mini Track Car This was certainly a day of work! Fitting a full multipoint bolt in rollcage consisting of Bulkhead bracing; Dash bar; Cross side intrusion door bars; Rear Cross bracing; Roof Cross bracing and harness bar. Prior to fitting I cut the existing dash out, after fitting I then ended up cutting more of the rear seat base out too! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6a2971f5c3cd1a68d098b703/9440db88-d755-4005-b1d7-a30f83824e34/480966264_24006821708917793_769426380929930997_n.jpg Projects - Classic Mini Track Car In this photo Id mocked up the seat placement so I could reach my lightened pedal box comfortably. Made up a seat frame and welded that to the floor for strength. I then drilled through these to fit my cobra seats along with the cobra seat mounts. Everything was working well, now a new problem became apparent. I couldn’t reach the gear stick due to moving the seats further back from their original mounting position. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6a2971f5c3cd1a68d098b703/db561a1f-b8ab-46cf-b7e2-51f929a3934b/513962728_24913971674869454_8356201515579030761_n.jpg Projects - Classic Mini Track Car After a while of researching and coming up with a plan, I stumbled across the KAD Internal Linkage kit. this allowed the full gear selector to be raised up inside the car, mounted internally and brought further back! Spot on, drilled a small pilot hole through the floor and puled string through it so I could tie it onto the selector shaft on the gearbox. This allowed me to get the right angle to drill the bigger hole and tidy it up so I could fit the the new selector rod to the gearbox and selector box. Everything works and fits and I genuinely couldn’t be happier! Also see in the photo the billet aluminum column support from Urchfab which holds my Go Race quick release steering column just right! Also got a floor strengthening plate from urchfab which needs to be welded in. 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