Ideal first Caterham

[datsun240z]

Hi there,

I'm thinking of buying my first Caterham Seven. I'm from Brussels; Belgium but looking the UK market as prices for LHD cars are too pricey for my limited budget of +/- 15.000 euros (10-11-12k UK pounds)

I love carburated engines (induction noise !!) but I just came across this nice little 1400k for sale at http://www.woodcotesportscars.com/car-sales/detail...
Should I be worried about the mileage on this 1400k? Any experience with this dealer ? Last question, is 130bhp the original output for this 1400k ??

Looking forward to read your advices !

Greg

[ewenm]

No idea about the car, but I bought my 7 from Woodcote and they were good to deal with. This was 15 years ago though, so not a recent experience!

[Sbend]

You need to check if the head gasket's been replaced. 65,000 miles is the absolute limit for them - I speak from experience, and at that mileage the rear sub-frame also needs careful inspection.

[AWL]

How do you intend to use the car? If you want to use it on the road then you're going to have a lot of trouble registrering it.
Our administration doesn't like imported cars and it will take months before you can actually drive it, if you pas all the tests and have all documents sorted out.

Good luck with your quest and keep us informed

[panickyjabofoppo]

That looks like a great car for the money. However, having viewed and driven a lower mileage '90s 1400 at another dealer before I settled on my current car, I'd echo the comment about checking (or having someone over here check) both the engine history and the chassis. The car I drove was a real dog, frankly - there was 'something' wrong with the engine - it spluttered and hesitated its way up the rev range - and the chassis was very rusty. You couldn't tell either of these things from the photos. I believe it eventually sold to someone overseas...
So, just make sure it's a good one.

[datsun240z]

AWL said:

How do you intend to use the car? If you want to use it on the road then you're going to have a lot of trouble registrering it.
Our administration doesn't like imported cars and it will take months before you can actually drive it, if you pas all the tests and have all documents sorted out.

Good luck with your quest and keep us informed

Are you based in Belgium as well ? Any previous experience about registering such a car ? My 1988 TVR 280S is from the UK and was easy to register.

[AWL]

I'm from Belgium as well. Didn't want to bother with importing a car, so bought a new 7 which was delivered to me last week.

When I was out looking for a car, I heard a lot of horror stories about importing a car and never getting it on the road. If the car doesn't have a coc, it's really difficult.
A lot of older cars also have issues with chassis numbers. So be very careful before commiting to buy one.
If your french is ok, you might want to check the sevener forum. You'll find a lot of useful info on how the french deal with the subject. Their procedures are similar to the ones in Belgium.

[datsun240z]

AWL said:

I'm from Belgium as well. Didn't want to bother with importing a car, so bought a new 7 which was delivered to me last week.

When I was out looking for a car, I heard a lot of horror stories about importing a car and never getting it on the road. If the car doesn't have a coc, it's really difficult.
A lot of older cars also have issues with chassis numbers. So be very careful before commiting to buy one.
If your french is ok, you might want to check the sevener forum. You'll find a lot of useful info on how the french deal with the subject. Their procedures are similar to the ones in Belgium.

thanks for the tips ! I know the sevener forum; French registration procedures are much more difficult than belgian ones. Actualy any car registered in an EU country should be able to be registered again (without any compliance test) in another EU country according to the EU law...well that's theoretical.

Just found this car in the Netherlands, love it (but would put cycle wings), nevere the HPC engine with carbs...:O
http://www.marktplaats.nl/a/auto-s/overige-auto-s/...

[BertBert]

Sbend said:

You need to check if the head gasket's been replaced. 65,000 miles is the absolute limit for them - I speak from experience, and at that mileage the rear sub-frame also needs careful inspection.

I think I'm going to disagree with you!

What is this subframe of which you speak and why does it conk at 65k miles?

Also if you have done 65k miles on your k series why is that the limit? If it's managed 65k which is good going there's no reason to think it won't go further.

[Sbend]

Subframe? Do you have a Caterham? Do you know anything about them? 65,000 miles? Common knowledge amongst rover dealers and as I had one let go just short of 65,000 miles I know it's a lot cheaper to have them replaced at 50,000 miles.

[rubystone]

Sbend said:

Subframe? Do you have a Caterham? Do you know anything about them? 65,000 miles? Common knowledge amongst rover dealers and as I had one let go just short of 65,000 miles I know it's a lot cheaper to have them replaced at 50,000 miles.

When you replaced your subframe what size socket did you use?

[Sbend]

Just to clarify. I didn't say the sub-frame would "conk" as you put it, I said it would need careful inspection i.e. for rust.

[nigelpugh7]

Sbend said:

Subframe? Do you have a Caterham? Do you know anything about them? 65,000 miles? Common knowledge amongst rover dealers and as I had one let go just short of 65,000 miles I know it's a lot cheaper to have them replaced at 50,000 miles.

Not sure if you are talking about the same car here? Unless by the subframe you mean the A frame that attaches to the dedion tube?

However neither of these items come from a rover K Series, so perhaps you are referring to something else from a completely different car.

Also I am pretty sure the amount of caterhams who have done 65000 miles is pretty rare,,so any getting to that mileage would probably have needed a lot more work than just a head gasket!

[BertBert]

Sbend said:

Subframe? Do you have a Caterham? Do you know anything about them? 65,000 miles? Common knowledge amongst rover dealers and as I had one let go just short of 65,000 miles I know it's a lot cheaper to have them replaced at 50,000 miles.

Er had quite a few, yes. So whilst not as expert as many, I'm probably quite handy around caterhams. What do you mean by sub-frame? There isn't one. The closest thing is the A-frame. It has no special rusting qualities that the chassis as a whole doesn't have.

65k miles? It's just a number. With the variability in quality of the k-series it's just irrelevant. The k-series I have sitting outside in a rover has done 80k miles. The previous k-series in the same car did 10k miles before it gently blew the HG, then having been repaired did another 10k miles before it self-destructed in a spectacular fashion.

K's in a caterham will most likely have a much harder life so certainly likely to only make lower miles.

Bert

[Sbend]

nigelpugh7 said:

Not sure if you are talking about the same car here? Unless by the subframe you mean the A frame that attaches to the dedion tube?

However neither of these items come from a rover K Series, so perhaps you are referring to something else from a completely different car.

Also I am pretty sure the amount of caterhams who have done 65000 miles is pretty rare,,so any getting to that mileage would probably have needed a lot more work than just a head gasket!

"A-frame", "sub-frame", different words same meaning but perhaps not clearly defined. Just trying to say that at that mileage, check for rust especially around the rear. Seemed sensible to me. I'm sure at 65,000 miles it would have required a lot of work, but wouldn't it be a good idea to check when/if the head gasket was replaced? It's quite possible it hasn't been if the previous owners reckoned it was good for another 65,000.

[Sbend]

BertBert said:

Er had quite a few, yes. So whilst not as expert as many, I'm probably quite handy around caterhams. What do you mean by sub-frame? There isn't one. The closest thing is the A-frame. It has no special rusting qualities that the chassis as a whole doesn't have.

65k miles? It's just a number. With the variability in quality of the k-series it's just irrelevant. The k-series I have sitting outside in a rover has done 80k miles. The previous k-series in the same car did 10k miles before it gently blew the HG, then having been repaired did another 10k miles before it self-destructed in a spectacular fashion.

K's in a caterham will most likely have a much harder life so certainly likely to only make lower miles.

Bert

When my K blew, the Rover dealer said they recommended replacing the gasket every 50,000 miles, so i'm just passing that info on.

[anonymous-user]

Sbend said:

nigelpugh7 said:

Not sure if you are talking about the same car here? Unless by the subframe you mean the A frame that attaches to the dedion tube?

However neither of these items come from a rover K Series, so perhaps you are referring to something else from a completely different car.

Also I am pretty sure the amount of caterhams who have done 65000 miles is pretty rare,,so any getting to that mileage would probably have needed a lot more work than just a head gasket!

"A-frame", "sub-frame", different words same meaning but perhaps not clearly defined. Just trying to say that at that mileage, check for rust especially around the rear. Seemed sensible to me. I'm sure at 65,000 miles it would have required a lot of work, but wouldn't it be a good idea to check when/if the head gasket was replaced? It's quite possible it hasn't been if the previous owners reckoned it was good for another 65,000.

Not really the same meaning. The A frame's little more expensive than an ARB, no harder to change and no more likely to rust.

[rubystone]

Sbend said:

When my K blew, the Rover dealer said they recommended replacing the gasket every 50,000 miles, so i'm just passing that info on.

You were quite aggressive actually. Hardly 'passing info on' more like folding it in half and shoving it up Bertbert's backside sideways...

But you have a point in that cars that have covered more miles are more likely to have been used in weather conditions that could accelerate corrosion. And the rear basket on a 7 is one area where that corrosion can be bad..but it's generally the cross members in front of the engine and sideskins where this shows up first.

Head gasket on my first 7 apparently held good for over 50k miles though.

[Sbend]

rubystone said:

You were quite aggressive actually. Hardly 'passing info on' more like folding it in half and shoving it up Bertbert's backside sideways...

But you have a point in that cars that have covered more miles are more likely to have been used in weather conditions that could accelerate corrosion. And the rear basket on a 7 is one area where that corrosion can be bad..but it's generally the cross members in front of the engine and sideskins where this shows up first.

Head gasket on my first 7 apparently held good for over 50k miles though.

Sorry BertBert........not my intention to be offensive.

[rubystone]

Sbend said:

Sorry BertBert........not my intention to be offensive.