Caterham 7 Superlight project

[carphotographer]

Brought my first 7 a couple of years ago from Ian Paine, lovely car except for the yellow nose .

It was one owner from new, ex Acadamy race car. A great spec which included wide track, 13" wheels, brake bias, to name a few goodies. Very happy with the car, and added some stripes.



Then fitted a carbon aero screen, and decided to do a bit of auto solo. The CR500 tyres fitted to the 13" wheels are classed as 1B tyres by the MSA and to compete I needed a set of 1A tyres. By chance, I came across a set on 15" Prisoner wheels on Ebay with new 1A tyres which I snapped up for £75 - for 5 !





I caught the upgrade bug which seems to happen to quite a few 7 owners. I now wanted more power and a LSD. Decision time, was I to upgrade my 7 or sell it and get a car already upgraded. I decided to sell and get a car upgraded already. So I placed my car up for sale and started looking around. There were some nice upgraded cars out there, but one caught my eye, a lightweight which seemed quite cheap. Emailed the guy and heard nothing then it disappeared off the classifieds. thought it was sold i continued to look around for a 7 with a LSD and a bit more power. The Superlight I was interested in then appeared on Ebay ...... and I brought it.

So the car I brought is number 7 of 196 made. Unpainted aluminium body ( a saving of 6kg ), carbon nose cone, carbon front and rear wings and carbon dash. the all important LSD, Aces shift light, carpet, Apolo tank, wide track and the Caterham 6 speed gear box and some odd reason a spare wheel . The engine has been upgraded from the Supersport 135bhp spec to 160bhp, which doesn't sound a lot but the car weighs in at 480kg. Only had 3 owners and has the orginal buildsheet and spec.

The previous owner had the carbon nose and wings sprayed black and there's a few stone chips now that has exposed the carbon. The plan is to get the car back to how it left Caterham with bare carbon,the engine needs a good service and cam belt change as a precaution. The aluminium body is in good condition but dull so thats another job. I'm still unsure abut removing the spare wheel and carrier and also the carpets as both were options but could save 12+ kg. I've also got a bare alluminium scuttle with an orginal aeroscreen so thinking of fitting that ( removing the windscreen , wipers, motor and water bottle will save weight ) . I've been reading MWStewart Ferrari F430 and his weight loss programme ;-).

So the project car -








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url]|http://thumbsnap.com/yisQFagJ[/url]













[footnote]Edited by carphotographer on Saturday 30th July 14:27

Edited by carphotographer on Saturday 30th July 14:30

[Dr G]

That's a cool car; even the build number raises a smile

[Green George]

Nice car. These original Superlights are becoming increasingly sought after and are so well spec'd and great fun. I have No.106 and love it. Good luck with your project.

[Resto157]

Looking forward to watching this progress.

[Evangelion]

Dr G said:

That's a cool car; even the build number raises a smile

Would have been more appropriate if it had been Number Six though.

[mwstewart]

The weight loss thing gets addictive

[Altrezia]

Love it. Really fancy one of these.

[SidewaysSi]

I have number 191, the penultimate car. I have been driving Sevens for 15 years and have experienced plenty. But the K series Superlight is my favourite. Right power, right grip, right bits and an utter joy.

[jimmy7]

I lusted after an original Superlight for years but couldnt find the right car, ive ended up with a Superlight Twenty, the original Superlight re-imagined for 2016. A great spec in my opinion and echo's that of the original cars, enjoy yours!

[TheHighlander]

Lovely car mate.

I bought a Westfield Widebody in March wish I had bought one sooner.



It now has no stickers

[Camoradi]

You can't beat a back to basics, modest power Caterham for smiles per mile. Love the bare aluminium and black combo.