Caterham 7 rebuild
Discussion
As someone who speaks from experience, it will be less hassle and stress just to get two new bottom front wishbones. Those bolts never come out, they always have to be ground out and nine times out of ten the remaining stub of the bolt will refuse to come out.
Consider the brand new parts a considerable saving upon your time.
Consider the brand new parts a considerable saving upon your time.
rdodger said:
Looks like a fun project!
When Arch re-panel the chassis do they weld the holes up and re drill for the new panels or do they line up with the existing holes?
They reuse the old holes as it's all part of the jig. I'll need to squirt some wax or similar into the tubes to catch some of the rivets from rattling about. But once rebuilt and the engine is in, I don't think I'll notice the rattle.When Arch re-panel the chassis do they weld the holes up and re drill for the new panels or do they line up with the existing holes?
B'stard Child said:
We talking painting the chassis here?
I reckon shot blasting and powder coating at £250-350 for the chassis would be more the ball park - that's what I'd pay round here for a reasonable quality job - after all very little of it will be seen (Norfolk)
No sorry, that's the going rate to spray the newly paneled tub. Just seemed a lot, but I'm probably wrong. I often am!I reckon shot blasting and powder coating at £250-350 for the chassis would be more the ball park - that's what I'd pay round here for a reasonable quality job - after all very little of it will be seen (Norfolk)
Justaredbadge said:
As someone who speaks from experience, it will be less hassle and stress just to get two new bottom front wishbones. Those bolts never come out, they always have to be ground out and nine times out of ten the remaining stub of the bolt will refuse to come out.
Consider the brand new parts a considerable saving upon your time.
They're probably very wise words. I'll look into the costs. Glad to know I'm not the only one who had trouble removing them. Well I say me, the other two blokes who were around for the day. I was taping old rivets away, a job of the most importance.Consider the brand new parts a considerable saving upon your time.
Right, it's been a while, but today was the next step forward.
I had to borrow van as I had no other way to get the chassis to Arch Motors to have it repowdercoated and repaneled. A long wheelbase VW Transporter just about squeezes it in at an angle. Emphasis on the just, millimeter perfect. The picture isn't brilliant, in fact it's hardly worth uploading, but to keep the thread rolling, here it is. I was nearly midnight in the pissing rain when I loaded it up.
I arranged to be at Arch for 9:30am. I falsely believed that they were based near to Caterham, a mere 1 hour 30 drive away. A quick google maps plotting of my route last night threw up Arch's location to be near Cambridge much to my surprise! Bugger.
So, an unwelcome hour extra on the drive up. So last night I picked up the chassis and some items to be powdercoated, then at 6:30am this morning, I left home to pick up some panels from my parents garage. 7am I was heading to Arch Motors. A good 2 hours later...I arrived. After a natter and a look around, I helped unload my chassis so that Phil could have a look at it and we could speak options.
The chassis was checked for square and alignment and all found to be fine. I tried in vain to reuse some of my old panels on my car. I didn't want to shell out for new ones if the old were fine. Most of the panels had signs of corrosion so we decided between us to bin them and to renew. I think the only panels I kept were the rear panel behind the seats as it is carpeted and the transmission tunnel panels as they are also carpeted on mine. I chose to keep the carpet (oh think of the weight penalty!) as it adds a little something over bare aluminium throughout so it doesn't look totally stripped out tin can. An option he said many people often regret as they arrive to pick up their newly paneled car to see the old reused panels sticking out like a sore thumb, but I've got to keep money saved somewhere. This seemed like an option as the chosen areas won't be seen once installed and the car put back together again. We'll see if I live to regret it.
I also took along a few bits to have repowdercoated, although the items which had bushes that had to be pressed out were forgotten. I took these down to a local Blacksmith friend to use his press and when I brought them back home, I stored them out of the way. So the wishbones, A frame, rear trailing arms etc need to go to be shot blasted and powercoated else where. Not quite sure where yet, but somewhere. Gash.
I've also stripped the paint from the bonnet and scuttle in an attempt to help me along.
Arch Motors is an interesting place with quite a nice back catalogue of chassis's to their name. Currently they have a lot of Caterham chassis in for repair, mainly race cars. They still make the CSR on site. The other areas of the workshop are dedicated to Ariel Atoms. In their past they have worked for Lola, Lotus, McLaren to name a few. They made a lot of the original Ford GT40 chassis which was of interest as it's a car my partner in crime on my rebuild works on almost daily amongst others.
I then popped back into the van to drive the start of the return leg to Road and Race Transmissions near Sevenoaks. I dropped my gearbox and diff off at owner Phil's house as the company doesn't open over the weekends. A short 1hr30 drive from Arch, but the traffic had picked up now.
Overall, including stops and chatting I had a 7 hour round trip. A bit of a long start, but I will set off again to collect it all in about a months time.
In the mean time... my doors have windows which have developed a blueish hue to them. The car is 15 years old and has lived outside for the last few years knowingly in my ownership. The sun has taken it's toll. A quick call to Oxted trimming who were the original manufactures of the doors to enquire about a new window panel didn't turn up the answers I wanted. I'd have to buy new doors it seems. At ~£200 per side, I'm a little reluctant to buy new. So I set about trying to revive them with Renovo window polish. I've had one bash, but I'll try to do it again before refitting to hopefully achieve a satisfactory finish for the time being.
I've also ordered some carbon panel. Maybe this is an unnecessary expense, well probably, but I fancied some. An expensive addiction. Carbon vinyl is an option, but I'd know that it wasn't the real McCoy. Something that would niggle me endlessly, so not an option here.
I'm replacing part of the boot floor from a ~4mm ply to a carbon sandwich. I'm then fabricating the rear heater panel out of a carbon sheet instead of patching the old heater hole up with aluminium sheeting. Should hopefully look nice. I'll smile anyway, it's what counts.
The postman has been and delivered the new disc rotors to replacing the worn current items. Shiney.
I'm having to modify my current Caterham speedometer. It currently only displays MPH which is a yearly pain that crops up in June for my annual Le Mans trip. This year will sadly be my last for a while, as the drive down from Australia wouldn't be quite as straightforward. It would be epic, but not the straight forward trip it currently is now.
I've rung a few people about sorting this out. The going rate seems to be around the £200 mark plus postage. I ideally want KPH to be the default reading with MPH as a smaller secondary marking so I can easily drive about in OZ but also the MPH reading will mean something to be without thinking and converting in my head!
The other option would be to install an electronic speedometer instead of the current model which runs off a worm drive from the gearbox. This seems to add up slightly more due to having to buy a new gauge and then also the sensor to run it. I'd also lose the Caterham branding which isn't the end of the world but it's nice to keep some original features. I've been looking at Stack gauges in this regard.
Finally, I'm modifying my rear lights in a feeble attempt to increase their luminosity. LED bulbs as are option, but most bulbs as well as rear light setups had the bulbs facing backwards and as such the LEDs tend to be on the end of the bulb. In the 7 the bulbs lie flat in parallel with the rear panel of the car. So with most LED bulbs, the concentration of the LEDs would be facing to the left and right of the car as opposed to backwards towards the intended viewers. I've also heard that they can be bright at night but a bit weaker in daylight useage.
So this mod includes some school science reflectors. The idea is to remove the small concave reflectors that are currently residing behind the bulbs and insert these shiny reflective numbers. Watch this space. It'll be blindingly obvious when it's done... ahahha.
As mentioned, I've stripped the paint from the bonnet and scuttle in an attempt to be able to reuse them again when it comes to being painted once more. I've also hopefully sourced a few contacts that will not charge £1500 to paint a Caterham. A more heartwarming three figure number is hopefully the end game and to a good standard.
Getting there slowly.
That's where I'm currently at. Now I wait and try to find some money to pay for all of this.
I had to borrow van as I had no other way to get the chassis to Arch Motors to have it repowdercoated and repaneled. A long wheelbase VW Transporter just about squeezes it in at an angle. Emphasis on the just, millimeter perfect. The picture isn't brilliant, in fact it's hardly worth uploading, but to keep the thread rolling, here it is. I was nearly midnight in the pissing rain when I loaded it up.
I arranged to be at Arch for 9:30am. I falsely believed that they were based near to Caterham, a mere 1 hour 30 drive away. A quick google maps plotting of my route last night threw up Arch's location to be near Cambridge much to my surprise! Bugger.
So, an unwelcome hour extra on the drive up. So last night I picked up the chassis and some items to be powdercoated, then at 6:30am this morning, I left home to pick up some panels from my parents garage. 7am I was heading to Arch Motors. A good 2 hours later...I arrived. After a natter and a look around, I helped unload my chassis so that Phil could have a look at it and we could speak options.
The chassis was checked for square and alignment and all found to be fine. I tried in vain to reuse some of my old panels on my car. I didn't want to shell out for new ones if the old were fine. Most of the panels had signs of corrosion so we decided between us to bin them and to renew. I think the only panels I kept were the rear panel behind the seats as it is carpeted and the transmission tunnel panels as they are also carpeted on mine. I chose to keep the carpet (oh think of the weight penalty!) as it adds a little something over bare aluminium throughout so it doesn't look totally stripped out tin can. An option he said many people often regret as they arrive to pick up their newly paneled car to see the old reused panels sticking out like a sore thumb, but I've got to keep money saved somewhere. This seemed like an option as the chosen areas won't be seen once installed and the car put back together again. We'll see if I live to regret it.
I also took along a few bits to have repowdercoated, although the items which had bushes that had to be pressed out were forgotten. I took these down to a local Blacksmith friend to use his press and when I brought them back home, I stored them out of the way. So the wishbones, A frame, rear trailing arms etc need to go to be shot blasted and powercoated else where. Not quite sure where yet, but somewhere. Gash.
I've also stripped the paint from the bonnet and scuttle in an attempt to help me along.
Arch Motors is an interesting place with quite a nice back catalogue of chassis's to their name. Currently they have a lot of Caterham chassis in for repair, mainly race cars. They still make the CSR on site. The other areas of the workshop are dedicated to Ariel Atoms. In their past they have worked for Lola, Lotus, McLaren to name a few. They made a lot of the original Ford GT40 chassis which was of interest as it's a car my partner in crime on my rebuild works on almost daily amongst others.
I then popped back into the van to drive the start of the return leg to Road and Race Transmissions near Sevenoaks. I dropped my gearbox and diff off at owner Phil's house as the company doesn't open over the weekends. A short 1hr30 drive from Arch, but the traffic had picked up now.
Overall, including stops and chatting I had a 7 hour round trip. A bit of a long start, but I will set off again to collect it all in about a months time.
In the mean time... my doors have windows which have developed a blueish hue to them. The car is 15 years old and has lived outside for the last few years knowingly in my ownership. The sun has taken it's toll. A quick call to Oxted trimming who were the original manufactures of the doors to enquire about a new window panel didn't turn up the answers I wanted. I'd have to buy new doors it seems. At ~£200 per side, I'm a little reluctant to buy new. So I set about trying to revive them with Renovo window polish. I've had one bash, but I'll try to do it again before refitting to hopefully achieve a satisfactory finish for the time being.
I've also ordered some carbon panel. Maybe this is an unnecessary expense, well probably, but I fancied some. An expensive addiction. Carbon vinyl is an option, but I'd know that it wasn't the real McCoy. Something that would niggle me endlessly, so not an option here.
I'm replacing part of the boot floor from a ~4mm ply to a carbon sandwich. I'm then fabricating the rear heater panel out of a carbon sheet instead of patching the old heater hole up with aluminium sheeting. Should hopefully look nice. I'll smile anyway, it's what counts.
The postman has been and delivered the new disc rotors to replacing the worn current items. Shiney.
I'm having to modify my current Caterham speedometer. It currently only displays MPH which is a yearly pain that crops up in June for my annual Le Mans trip. This year will sadly be my last for a while, as the drive down from Australia wouldn't be quite as straightforward. It would be epic, but not the straight forward trip it currently is now.
I've rung a few people about sorting this out. The going rate seems to be around the £200 mark plus postage. I ideally want KPH to be the default reading with MPH as a smaller secondary marking so I can easily drive about in OZ but also the MPH reading will mean something to be without thinking and converting in my head!
The other option would be to install an electronic speedometer instead of the current model which runs off a worm drive from the gearbox. This seems to add up slightly more due to having to buy a new gauge and then also the sensor to run it. I'd also lose the Caterham branding which isn't the end of the world but it's nice to keep some original features. I've been looking at Stack gauges in this regard.
Finally, I'm modifying my rear lights in a feeble attempt to increase their luminosity. LED bulbs as are option, but most bulbs as well as rear light setups had the bulbs facing backwards and as such the LEDs tend to be on the end of the bulb. In the 7 the bulbs lie flat in parallel with the rear panel of the car. So with most LED bulbs, the concentration of the LEDs would be facing to the left and right of the car as opposed to backwards towards the intended viewers. I've also heard that they can be bright at night but a bit weaker in daylight useage.
So this mod includes some school science reflectors. The idea is to remove the small concave reflectors that are currently residing behind the bulbs and insert these shiny reflective numbers. Watch this space. It'll be blindingly obvious when it's done... ahahha.
As mentioned, I've stripped the paint from the bonnet and scuttle in an attempt to be able to reuse them again when it comes to being painted once more. I've also hopefully sourced a few contacts that will not charge £1500 to paint a Caterham. A more heartwarming three figure number is hopefully the end game and to a good standard.
Getting there slowly.
That's where I'm currently at. Now I wait and try to find some money to pay for all of this.
Cracking work. Watching with interest as I've a mechanically great, well specced 1600, but I'd like to do some cosmetic work over the next few years, ultimately, including a full reskin. No worries if you don't want to, but a ballpark tot up at the end would be really interesting, if you can bear it!
Smitters said:
Cracking work. Watching with interest as I've a mechanically great, well specced 1600, but I'd like to do some cosmetic work over the next few years, ultimately, including a full reskin. No worries if you don't want to, but a ballpark tot up at the end would be really interesting, if you can bear it!
I'll try keep an eye on the figures for you. No worries sharing costs.Smitters said:
Cracking work. Watching with interest as I've a mechanically great, well specced 1600, but I'd like to do some cosmetic work over the next few years, ultimately, including a full reskin. No worries if you don't want to, but a ballpark tot up at the end would be really interesting, if you can bear it!
I'll try keep an eye on the figures for you. No worries sharing costs.Gingerbread Man said:
Hoonigan said:
Excellent update, really enjoying this 
You say your mate works on GT40s... he wouldn't happen to have any secondhand/spare parts kicking around that he's looking to sell?
You're only 20 minutes down the road. How's the build going?You say your mate works on GT40s... he wouldn't happen to have any secondhand/spare parts kicking around that he's looking to sell?
20 mins away, Southern GT?
Hoonigan said:
Gingerbread Man said:
Hoonigan said:
Excellent update, really enjoying this
You say your mate works on GT40s... he wouldn't happen to have any secondhand/spare parts kicking around that he's looking to sell?
You're only 20 minutes down the road. How's the build going?You say your mate works on GT40s... he wouldn't happen to have any secondhand/spare parts kicking around that he's looking to sell?
20 mins away, Southern GT?
Gingerbread Man said:
Hoonigan said:
Gingerbread Man said:
Hoonigan said:
Excellent update, really enjoying this
You say your mate works on GT40s... he wouldn't happen to have any secondhand/spare parts kicking around that he's looking to sell?
You're only 20 minutes down the road. How's the build going?You say your mate works on GT40s... he wouldn't happen to have any secondhand/spare parts kicking around that he's looking to sell?
20 mins away, Southern GT?
Don't get out as much now as it's not as much fun dragging a partially built GT40 to the local meets as it was taking the Porka, but when it' s finished...
Paul
Hoonigan said:
Ahh I see, We have met, I used to have the noisy old grey Carerra 3.2
Don't get out as much now as it's not as much fun dragging a partially built GT40 to the local meets as it was taking the Porka, but when it' s finished...
Paul
Originally Paulbrav or similar? I know the one. Hello again then!Don't get out as much now as it's not as much fun dragging a partially built GT40 to the local meets as it was taking the Porka, but when it' s finished...
Paul
I've been playing with the carbon. I'm trying to keep the costs down, but when I see the shininess of Carbon Fibre, I buckle. Anyhow, all dremeled out. A good little tool that. I'll fight off buying on for the mean while.
Mean while the diff is due on the bench come Monday and the Chassis is starting it's refresh.
Mean while the diff is due on the bench come Monday and the Chassis is starting it's refresh.
A minor update. A minor next step has happened.
The chassis was finally ready for collection from Arch. So I popped up today to collect it along with some powdercoated goodies they had prepared for me.
I then dropped back via the Gearbox and Diff man (Phil at Road and Race). One last stop before home was dropping the chassis off at the spray shop. So hopefully it'll all be ready to pick up in a few weeks after I come back from holiday and I can crack on putting it back together and enjoying the nice weather we have been having lately.
This time last year I believe that we had snow...?
It was all a bit tight in the van but all arrived to their destinations in one piece!
Awaiting loading. Powdercoated engine bay. Should keep it in better nick.
Diff with new LSD goodness.
Sleeping bags and rugs to stop it sliding about and denting all their hard work.
The paneler came running out asking if I was having a bag fuel tank or a traditional filler cap. The question wasn't asked, so luckily he remembered. So he then cut the filler hole for me in the car park just before I shut the door and drove off!
There's a gearbox in there somewhere. The Diff sat in the passenger foot well.
The chassis was finally ready for collection from Arch. So I popped up today to collect it along with some powdercoated goodies they had prepared for me.
I then dropped back via the Gearbox and Diff man (Phil at Road and Race). One last stop before home was dropping the chassis off at the spray shop. So hopefully it'll all be ready to pick up in a few weeks after I come back from holiday and I can crack on putting it back together and enjoying the nice weather we have been having lately.
This time last year I believe that we had snow...?
It was all a bit tight in the van but all arrived to their destinations in one piece!
Awaiting loading. Powdercoated engine bay. Should keep it in better nick.
Diff with new LSD goodness.
Sleeping bags and rugs to stop it sliding about and denting all their hard work.
The paneler came running out asking if I was having a bag fuel tank or a traditional filler cap. The question wasn't asked, so luckily he remembered. So he then cut the filler hole for me in the car park just before I shut the door and drove off!
There's a gearbox in there somewhere. The Diff sat in the passenger foot well.
gez c16b said:
Brilliant read so far. Love it when someone uses something like this as a daily.
Only being able able to afford one car at the time. It was a practical, fairly boring car that's expected. Or a wild card. A car with no radio, no toys or gadgets, no decent source of warmth (above your waist). A car you'd have to pretty much love and crave to put up with it in all weathers such as England displays.
If you didn't love the 7, you'd have pulled your hair out long ago.
I'm ploughing probably more money than I can realisticly afford too into this car, but that's life!
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