New BRA 289 Owner

289, FIA & Daytona topics
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SirrahBRA
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Joined: Sun Sep 05, 2021 6:17 pm

New BRA 289 Owner

Post by SirrahBRA »

Hello,

I have recently purchased BRA 289 No. 43, it has been off the road since 1995 according to the DVLA.

I am in the middle of sorting it mechanically to see where it is at, actually doesn't seem too bad.

Plan is I will sort it out a bit here then send it to Australia for my Father, he has joined the club. I am in Oxford.

I am in need of a dash panel, current one is dodgy fibreboard, will a hawk one work? Does anyone have one? I am also looking for an egg crate grille.

Cheers
Chris


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Migge
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Re: New BRA 289 Owner

Post by Migge »

I guess xou have bought the BRA that was listed on ebay a few days ago. I have mounted a alumnium original dash. But the dash needed some modifications and the BRA I have is not original either. I guess that the HAWK dash is like the original one but a little bit smaller that there is more room for your knees. If you don't change anything in the door area of the BRA you can use a flat wood or alloy dash made by yourself.

A original style grille will not fit 100%. It is expensive anyway. But you can made one too. A plan how to make it is in the technical section I think.
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SirrahBRA
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Joined: Sun Sep 05, 2021 6:17 pm

Re: New BRA 289 Owner

Post by SirrahBRA »

Hello,

Yes it is that car, I bought it early so didn't pay anywhere near where it finished, I don't think it was worth that, somebody did though. Not sure why they let it finish.
Thanks for the info on the dash, what shape is the original dash if not flat? I was considering changing the structure under the dash to suit the shape better than it currently does. If anyone has a template for an original dash that would be useful, want to put the glovebox in etc, it doesn't have that at the moment.

Couldn't find anything with plans for the grille, interested to see some close ups of how it is made.

At the moment I am just refreshing the fuel system to try and start it, I think it was only ever on the road for 2 years so everything looks fairly new, even though it is 30 odd years old. But replacing all hoses and pumps etc. Have the tank out to clean it, 4 litres of varnish come out, loads of crap still in there.

Any opinions on seats, this has fibreglass buckets but not trimmed, was planning to put Cobra XL seats in there to get it going, at 210 a seat seems like a good place to start.
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Migge
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Re: New BRA 289 Owner

Post by Migge »

I guess that the grille information and other technical stuff is in the members area.

Here are some pics when I made my own one:

https://www.the289register.com/phpBB3/v ... &start=950

Dash picture.
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SirrahBRA
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Re: New BRA 289 Owner

Post by SirrahBRA »

Thanks for that, those dash pictures are really useful, you don't have a dimensioned drawing of that by chance?

Still can't find the grille stuff in the members area, but that is not so important at the moment.
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peterc
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Re: New BRA 289 Owner

Post by peterc »

I believe that Gerry at Hawk cars has a good knowledge of the BRA so may well be able to answer your question and sell you a suitable blank dash if appropriate.
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amulheirn
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Re: New BRA 289 Owner

Post by amulheirn »

SirrahBRA wrote: Wed Sep 08, 2021 5:44 pm Still can't find the grille stuff in the members area, but that is not so important at the moment.
I think Migge may be thinking of this article in an older magazine, written by Colin Newbold:

https://www.the289register.com/newslett ... tml#page=8

I did have a go at this, but didn't really have the know-how or tools to cut the slots in the aluminium cleanly. Any high-speed abrasive cutting seems to melt the aluminium making for an untidy cut. Tried mounting a jigsaw upside down to make a kind of table saw, but it wasn't easy to control the material being cut. Even made a couple of wooden jigs - making the surround worked fairly well considering I am an amateur, but I couldn't get the egg box part right.

In the end I bought Gerry's grille, but then I have a Hawk so it was easier for me to do that.
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Migge
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Re: New BRA 289 Owner

Post by Migge »

I used a angle grinder with a 1 mm disc. You have to tape the vertical straps together to get equal cuts.
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Migge
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Re: New BRA 289 Owner

Post by Migge »

Same for the horizontal ones :-)
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SirrahBRA
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Re: New BRA 289 Owner

Post by SirrahBRA »

amulheirn wrote: Thu Sep 09, 2021 11:09 am
SirrahBRA wrote: Wed Sep 08, 2021 5:44 pm Still can't find the grille stuff in the members area, but that is not so important at the moment.
I think Migge may be thinking of this article in an older magazine, written by Colin Newbold:

https://www.the289register.com/newslett ... tml#page=8
Thanks for that, exactly what I need.
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