spec questions

[hot66]

Hi

I've been thinking about getting a caterham for trackdays & weekend fun

I'm a newbie to caterhams so have some ( probabally numpty ) questions regarding their specs.

1. Whats the difference in the rear suspension between a De-dion car & a superlight / R300 ( or are they the same ? )

2. Is the 6speed box a caterham specific item or is it from a donor car ?

3. I assume its pretty easy to drop in any K-series engine into a k-series powered caterham ? If so is it easy to upgrade a 1.4 kseries car ?

4. Apart from the usual mechanical side of things, are there any specific areas of the chassis to check fro ref damage or corrosion ?

5. Have there been any significant design changes to the chassis ? Or in other words, from a performance / upgradability point of view should I be looking at a certain chassis design ?

6. Anything else I should look out for


Thanks

Edited by hot66 on Tuesday 13th January 10:23

[ewenm]

hot66 said:

Hi

I've been thinking about getting a caterham for trackdays & weekend fun

I'm a newbie to caterhams so have some ( probabally numpty ) questions regarding their specs.

1. Whats the difference in the rear suspension between a De-dion car & a superlight / R300 ( or are they the same ? )

None, they are the same.

hot66 said:

2. Is the 6speed box a caterham specific item or is it from a donor car ?

Caterham-specific, the 5-speed box is a Ford item.

hot66 said:

3. I assume its pretty easy to drop in any K-series engine into a k-series powered caterham ? If so is it easy to upgrade a 1.4 kseries car ?

Yes, ish... depending whether it's the same generation of engine with the same (or similar) engine loom. I (with lots of help) swapped a 1.6 for a 1.8 VVC but needed to use the donor loom too.

hot66 said:

4. Apart from the usual mechanical side of things, are there any specific areas of the chassis to check fro ref damage or corrosion ?

Between the footwell walls and the sideskins is a well-known corrosion area as road muck gathers there.

hot66 said:

5. Have there been any significant design changes to the chassis ? Or in other words, from a performance / upgradability point of view should I be looking at a certain chassis design ?

Not really if you're looking at K-series cars.

hot66 said:

6. Anything else I should look out for

I'd look at condition more than mileage - many cars have lots of bits replaced so the absolute mileage of the car is less relevant than the condition. I've found that cars that are used more frequently tend to have fewer problems than "garage queens" that are polished more than driven. Don't be frightened of ex-race cars either - hard track and road work is wheat these cars are made for. LSD is useful on track (and for donuts!).

hot66 said:

Thanks

HTH, Ewen.

Edited by ewenm on Tuesday 13th January 10:34

[Scalper]

hot66 said:

5. Have there been any significant design changes to the chassis ? Or in other words, from a performance / upgradability point of view should I be looking at a certain chassis design ?

the chassis was revised around 1996
the most visible difference is that the handbrake was moved from under the dash to the top of the transmission tunnel
they modified the front suspension's pickup points and probably a few other things

ewenm said:

hot66 said:

1. Whats the difference in the rear suspension between a De-dion car & a superlight / R300 ( or are they the same ? )

None, they are the same.

a roadsport and an R300 both have a dedion rear suspension, but doesn't the R300 have the watts linkage as standard?

[hot66]

thanks for the info

So in theory a cheapish Academy car can be upgraded as & when, with a 6speed box and slight power increase relatively cheaply ?

[ewenm]

hot66 said:

thanks for the info

So in theory a cheapish Academy car can be upgraded as & when, with a 6speed box and slight power increase relatively cheaply ?

In theory, yes. You will find that upgrade-itis is a virulent disease that attacks the wallet fiercely!

[BertBert]

Are the academy cars based on the race chassis which has (had) the handbrake in the old position and other slight differences, or when did that change.

There is a change between the cars that have radius arms at the back and the ones that have a Watt linkage. Doesn't really matter all that much from a buying pov though.

By the way, if looking at a race car, please be assured that there are crap ones and great ones. The view that a race car is a safe buy in a caterham is at best risky. I have seen complete ste in a race car. Like any other caterham, each must be judged on its own merits. Good ones are good, bad ones are not good!

REgarding corrosion, look where the sides go from straight to tapered. Look for bubbles in the paint.

Also look for poor power coating on the chassis. It was an endemic problem pre-96 ish, but can attack cars that have had a lot of road use in the winter. The problem with the powder coat is that once it goes in an area, rust can zip along the tube, liberating the powder coat.

On one 96 Caterham I am familiar with which did several winter's use as an everyday car, it ended up needing a rebuild on a new chassis as there was so much corrosion in the old chassis and panels. Maybe an extreme case, but you need to be inspecting underneath as well!

Bert

Bert