Caterham Seven Revisions.

Caterham Seven Revisions.

Author
Discussion

Gingerbread Man

Original Poster:

9,171 posts

214 months

Sunday 27th July 2008
quotequote all
I know a Seven is basicly the same now as it was back in the day. But what did change with every year?


When did the 1.7 Crossflows fade out and the K series come in?

When did the handbrake become central mounted as opposed to off to the passenger side?

I've herd talk about bad paint finished (soft!?) before a certain year.

When did major changes come in.


Odd question but I'm interested into a rough time line. I can't find any information like this on the Caterham website. Should I dig deeper into Blatchat?

Powderpuff

355 posts

250 months

Sunday 27th July 2008
quotequote all
The K came in around 1993, in 1.4 guise first I believe, so crossflows started to fade out around then.

The handbrake went from above the passengers knees to the centre in about 1996

The 'paint finish' you're thinking of is the powder coating on the chassis..this was an issue around 1996 and only existed for a year or so I belive.

There have been so many major revisions to the 7 that it's hard to say what others may interest you...you might find this useful.




snapper seven

713 posts

215 months

Monday 28th July 2008
quotequote all
If you get hold of a copy of Chris Rees' book "The Magnificent Seven" it has a very good section documenting all of the changes by component (eg Engine, Suspension etc) and the year of change.

Cheers

SS

Aeroscreens

457 posts

227 months

Tuesday 29th July 2008
quotequote all
On the other hand 'paint finish' might refer to the type of paint used.

EU regulations (?) state that all paint must now be water based rather than oil based and it would appear that the water based paint is indeed softer than the old oil based paint.

Speaking from personal experience, having just had my 15 year old 7 resprayed I'm getting a lot more paint chips that I ever had before.

Well, at leadt that's what I've heard.

Gingerbread Man

Original Poster:

9,171 posts

214 months

Tuesday 29th July 2008
quotequote all
Aeroscreens said:
having just had my 15 year old 7 resprayed
What's the ball park on that if you don't mind my asking?

Aeroscreens

457 posts

227 months

Wednesday 30th July 2008
quotequote all
GM,

Tub, nosecone, stripes, FIA bar & SIB £750.

Front & rear wings are GRP gelcoat hence not painted.

See photos here

lord summerisle

8,138 posts

226 months

Wednesday 30th July 2008
quotequote all
Powderpuff said:
The K came in around 1993, in 1.4 guise first I believe, so crossflows started to fade out around then.

The handbrake went from above the passengers knees to the centre in about 1996

The 'paint finish' you're thinking of is the powder coating on the chassis..this was an issue around 1996 and only existed for a year or so I belive.
but then didnt the cars built for the race series - like the scolarship/academy retain a underdash handbrake for a few years after the roadcars switched to central handbrakes?

Eric Mc

122,165 posts

266 months

Sunday 3rd August 2008
quotequote all
Crossflows were still available for road cars until 1997. That was the year the supply finally ran out and they were replaced by Vauxhall 1600 GTE engines.