Superlight R Caterham with Honda 2.0VTec K20 complete re bui

[sundance002]

Hi all, I have just finished The complete re build of my Caterham and thought I would share the project and the results, for those who it may be of interest to.
I bought the car a few years ago with the vtec installed, it was boc standard,and tbh a crap job, 2 years ago I decided to re do the hole thing, clutch gearbx, diff, suspension, Create the bell housing and pretty much changed everything else, the engine has now been fully re built to a Bourne VDEV spec inc AT power throttle bodies running the life racing management system and wiring loom. The car is having its first power runs today at Track and Road in Rainham, so im really looking forward to find out the results. heres a few pics of the engine and car.









She revs to 9,5k and is totaly insane, today the big injectors go in, and the final power run on the rolloung road.

Sundance.

[sundance002]

[quote=sfaulds]Was that the yellow one that Boffey did his development install in? It's looking better now - nice job.

Thanks, yes it was yellow to start.

[sundance002]

mickrick said:

Where some of those pictures taken in Banus?

Hi Mick, they were taken a little further up near Estapona.

[sundance002]

Aeroscreens said:

Very nice!

Now where have I seen a similar paint scheme to that before?

PS Should have got the rollbar painted in blue as well

Thought about painting it blue, but decided to leave it black to go with the wheel arches and wheels.

[sundance002]

SLR400 said:

Fantastic looking 7 and engine but please put some tillets in whilst the roll bar is out for painting
Will be good to see what it makes on the dyno and how you find it to drive, cross between a normal 7 and a bike engined 7 maybe???

Thanks SLR400, Have been planning on getting the seats, but with the re build of this car and the upgrades I have done to the Noble, I need to slow down and wait a couple of months before I order them.
Still undecided about painting the roll bar blue, might paint the mirrors black

The rolling road went really well, will scan and post the graphs,
she made 280bhp and 180ftlb torque at 9k revs and she was still making more power as we went on, it was very impressive we stopped at 9k as it was 12.30 at night, but reckon we would of seen not far off 300,so a big thanks go to Steve from Track and Road Rainham for his patience and effort, and Terry from Bourne Racing for all the work he has done to get the car where it is,Cheers guys.

Sundance

Edited by sundance002 on Friday 12th April 01:38

[sundance002]

Red Seven said:

How heavy and tall is the 2.0VTec K20 ?
If it's heavier and taller, then it will compromise the chassis dynamics.

That said, I'm sure the power delivery is well suited to the Seven.

The engine and transmission weighs in at 385lb and is slightly taller by nearly 3inches than the Duratec, it has to sit on a slight angle, but there is still enough ground clearance for the sump.
It drives superb, and the balance of the car is still the same as before, just the power delivery is so sharp and instant,

Sundance

[sundance002]

dsl2 said:

Are you using the Caterham 6 speed box still?

Yes still use the 6sp Caterham box, but had to have the bell housing made so it fitted the box,also have fitted a twin plate clutch that we had made, the gearbox was also strengthened, and a AP master cylinder with bigger brakes were added.

[sundance002]

Dave J said:

sounds and looks like a great car, but I fear for the gearbox with 9000rpm and 280bhp

Hi Dave, the box has been shot and peened by the gearbox man, so should be fine, and have added an oil cooler.

[sundance002]

DJWuk said:

Having had an Ariel Atom with the Honda Civic type R engine at 245bhp, I can imagine your car must be ballistic !!!

Always found it to be a reliable engine with tons of grunt, so perfect for the Caterham.

Hi, Yes thats why its such a good engine to use, its pretty bullit proof.

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dsl2 said:

Very good engine even as standard, massively reliable as per the V de V speed series use. Only downsides are the weight & height for a 7.

I've chosen a Duratec for the Juno I'm having over the standard fitment Honda for those reasons despite the extra work involved in designing & machining a new super low profile drysump plate, required as it actually bolts the engine into the chassis.

Hope I've made the right choice!

What is the weight of the Duratec with the gearbox? as other than the height I believe there is not much diff in the weight maybe 10kg at the most ,but wouldnt the extra power make up for that? and the cost to run is minimal, 2 seasons before each re build
It fits very well, after a quick measure its under 3inches difference to the Duratec. so for me in the Seven is a perfect marriage.
The only thing that is more prominent in the way they drive is the Honda vibrates more at high revs than the Duratec, so makes yore eye balls wobble,.

Good luck with the build, Will be an awesome machine..

[sundance002]

sfaulds said:

WTF? Last time I weighed them next to each other, they were within a couple of kilos.

+1 when we weighed them side by side inc the changes we made to the Honda engine it was around 10kilos. not sure how they got 40 unless someone's foot was on the scale too.

[sundance002]

van cleef said:

What type of Diff are you using as correct me if I'm wrong, doesn't the K20 spin in the opposite direction compared with a K series?

The very first engine years ago ran anti clockwise, all the K20s run clockwise, At the moment it has a R500 lsd re built, but that is being changed soon.

[sundance002]

sam919 said:

He can peddle that thing about! What it does look like is the last 1500 revs is where it all is, anything lower and the torque isnt making thing easy for him. Chatting to a couple of folk, you can leave out the VVC bit maybe for a F20 for all the top end oomf, this could be the route this guy has gone down. Of course if you get an ECU that can accommodate the VVC then its more usable across the range.

The S2000 box i hear has ratios that are too long, so closer ratios/ final drive is needed.....as throughout the above its been a lot of hearing and taking in what others have done, so the jury is still out....but i like the idea of the actual engine side of things being 'easier on the pocket' in 240 ish form.

Apologies to the OP for high jacking this thread a bit! but i find the conversion intriguing!

Hi Sam, I fitted the Life F88 ecu, which gives total control of VVC and mine is set to come in early, so I have loads of torque
from 2500k all the way to 9k, as yo can see from the graphs, the power doesnt just full off.
I have found the Caterham 6sp box works really well with the AP twin plate clutch , no slipping and no wear so far,
the single plate clutch, didnt work at all, was continuously slipping even in fifth, with the spigot bearing we fitted with the clutch its been fautless..

[sundance002]

letterkenny said:

Oh yeah, forgot to mention that the Caterham six speed gearbox in my friends K20a has held up but been through 3 clutches in 18 months and now has AP racing one, standard clutch seems to get overwhelmed by the power.

Yep had the same problem 2clutches in so many weeks, twin plate is the only way if you like to drive on the road and the track, tripple plate for track only would be my way forward, but then again I would then add the paddle shift and seq box

[sundance002]

[quote=letterkenny]I have a friend who had a ground up build from a bare chassis with a K20a. I have had a few DC5s and am a huge fan of this engine. The finished product is awesome (been around Donnington in it). I am a huge fan. That said when the build was commissioned the duratec was not in wide circulation. I am led to believe that the person who built it suggested he would not do it again as the build involved so much custom work that a duratec would be a much easier proposition and the components required are now easily available whereas a lot of the K20a installation required custom components. He felt that the results would be similar with much less work/cost.

Yes it is a difficult marriage to get right, but when you do, IMO and I have driven many 250 Duratecs, I would not go back, its a different car and unbelievable quick with low running costs compared to a Duratec.
We now make all the parts to make the installation possible so not such a difficult install anymore.
Im back in the Uk next week, so if anyone would like to come and see for themselves drop me an email and we can make sone arrangements.
I also run a 650bhp Noble and the Cat keeps up.

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letterkenny said:

Hmm .. how had would it be to convince SWMBO that this is a necessity!! What do you think a conversion would cost all in (minus a second hand engine I guess)??

Not sure I understand the question, but depending on what stage you want to go to, and you supplying the Superlight R car and chassis with 6sp box,, engine fully built stage 1, clutch re developed, bellhousing, life88 ecu and racing loom + connectors, AT throttle bodies designed for the car and engine, pretty much like for like on this Caterham but less power 250bhp, fitted and ready to go, I would think around 15 to 18k so total around 35k for a 600bhpt car that will be bullit proof and run 2 seasons before a re build, with no problems, and drives and sounds superb. for me it made good sense, but you need to drive one to really appreciate its value.

[sundance002]

dsl2 said:

Sundance re-reading the thread trying to get a handle on the weight thing you mention earlier the engine & transmission weigh 385lbs (175kg) later on then Terry says the complete engine comes in around 97kg.

I don't have any figures for the Caterham Box but can't see it weighing much more than what say 30-32kg? that leaves a hell of a lot of extra weight to account for somewhere?

Were there other components included in your 385lb figure?

Edited by dsl2 on Saturday 4th May 19:54

Sorry just re read it, was supposed to say 285lb incl throttle bodies, clutch, etc