LOH's Caterham 7 Super Sprint
Discussion
I gave the car a little wash today-the previous owner used to get it detailed although I've no idea what that entailed-it's all covered in protection film but I imagine it's hard some sort of ceramic coating as dirt just falls off it with a hosepipe. I was a bit worried about washing it as it doesn't really look like you should be blasting it with my petrol pressure washer but a hose on a light spray paternities did the job.
Sprayed on some bug remover, hosed it off then a bit of quick detailer and some clay and it came up like new.
We got the kids ready for bed early so I text my neighbour to see if he fancied a run out and he was up for it. It's been a lovely day up here and a balmy evening drive was just the way to finish off the weekend.
Somewhere different tonight, north instead of east and into the beautiful Scottish Borders that are a few minutes away. He took his Morgan Plus 4 so I led into Scotland before passing over to him once we got further.
The two cars are pretty evenly matched, the Morgan having a bit more power but carrying some more weight. I've always thought it a tiny thing but driving with the Caterham it looked a lot bigger!
Being after 7pm once we got into Scotland and heading towards Kershopfoot and Kielder Forrest we pretty much had the roads to ourselves. The hairpins and hump back bridges that cross the burns that feed the Liddle were absolutely made for these two basic sports cars.
The light was starting to fade as we came over the top and the bugs that were smeared across the Brooklands screens were starting to hinder visions-I think on dusk runs like these I'll need to keep a cloth with me to stop half way for a quick wipe over.
After a couple of runs out since adjusting the brake pedal for heal and toeing it now feels exactly how I wanted it to. The short gearing now also feels like less of an issue as having improved the pedals for shifting, actually hammering up and down the box is fun and the more I learn the car, the more I can see a bend and get the car settled and in the right gear.
All in all another great drive, ticked over 1500 miles and it's due another clean
Sprayed on some bug remover, hosed it off then a bit of quick detailer and some clay and it came up like new.
We got the kids ready for bed early so I text my neighbour to see if he fancied a run out and he was up for it. It's been a lovely day up here and a balmy evening drive was just the way to finish off the weekend.
Somewhere different tonight, north instead of east and into the beautiful Scottish Borders that are a few minutes away. He took his Morgan Plus 4 so I led into Scotland before passing over to him once we got further.
The two cars are pretty evenly matched, the Morgan having a bit more power but carrying some more weight. I've always thought it a tiny thing but driving with the Caterham it looked a lot bigger!
Being after 7pm once we got into Scotland and heading towards Kershopfoot and Kielder Forrest we pretty much had the roads to ourselves. The hairpins and hump back bridges that cross the burns that feed the Liddle were absolutely made for these two basic sports cars.
The light was starting to fade as we came over the top and the bugs that were smeared across the Brooklands screens were starting to hinder visions-I think on dusk runs like these I'll need to keep a cloth with me to stop half way for a quick wipe over.
After a couple of runs out since adjusting the brake pedal for heal and toeing it now feels exactly how I wanted it to. The short gearing now also feels like less of an issue as having improved the pedals for shifting, actually hammering up and down the box is fun and the more I learn the car, the more I can see a bend and get the car settled and in the right gear.
All in all another great drive, ticked over 1500 miles and it's due another clean
scottos said:
Sounds dreamy (even more so when im currently isolating and the weather has been good!)
Any pointers for a decent loop up towards kielder and the borders? I keep meaning to head up but always get lazy and head west to the north pennines!
To be honest, as long as you head north from the A69 you'll find something of interest. We like the B6357, it encompasses the area where my family are from so it's old hunting ground for me. I'd say you should head north up through Kielder and get onto the B6357 and head south west. If you want a longer loop go from there over to Langholm and then over to Eskdalemauir and St Mary's Loch.Any pointers for a decent loop up towards kielder and the borders? I keep meaning to head up but always get lazy and head west to the north pennines!
If shorter you can blast back south to Brampton and then back over to Alston and your usual roads.
Been out in the car again this evening, enjoying this gorgeous weather we've been having for some late in the season runs. Our local motorsport club has a breakfast meet this Sunday in the lakes which looks good if the weather holds out.
Other than that, nothing much to report. It's actually not as bad as I imagined driving it in the dark as I did this evening. The full beam blue dash light is so bright it blinds you more than the full beam illuminates which is fun! You can drive with your hand sat across the wheel that blocks it out however but not ideal!
The rear drivers side indicator isn't working and upon opening it up to see the un-blown bulb meant a little more investigation. Turns out there's a crimped connector on the back that has fallen off so I'll get that (hopefully) fixed this Friday when I get finished a little earlier from work.
Lots of little bits like this that I'm going to replace over winter hopefully. There looks an abundance of cheap nuts and bolts that won't cost much to swap out to stainless. The car is so "as new" I'd like to keep it that way, whilst still rolling on the miles.
Always enjoy reading your threads LOH! Very descript and always full of nice photos!
I'm currently on the lookout for a normal 160 (I've just came back from a blast out in a relatively new 420R but sadly that is far too out of my budget!) first of all to see if I fit in (6 foot "chunky" lad) as the 160/Sprint's are the standard chassis if I'm not mistaken (Only way the Kei Car live rear axle would fit)? Are there any local Facebook groups that you are on? I'm in the North East and I chatted to someone last year who mentioned a group, but for the life of me can't remember it's name!
Be interested to see how you fair at the 'Ring with it... I occasionally wander over there so any purchase would be going over there with me.
I'm currently on the lookout for a normal 160 (I've just came back from a blast out in a relatively new 420R but sadly that is far too out of my budget!) first of all to see if I fit in (6 foot "chunky" lad) as the 160/Sprint's are the standard chassis if I'm not mistaken (Only way the Kei Car live rear axle would fit)? Are there any local Facebook groups that you are on? I'm in the North East and I chatted to someone last year who mentioned a group, but for the life of me can't remember it's name!
Be interested to see how you fair at the 'Ring with it... I occasionally wander over there so any purchase would be going over there with me.
LaurasOtherHalf said:
To be honest, as long as you head north from the A69 you'll find something of interest. We like the B6357, it encompasses the area where my family are from so it's old hunting ground for me. I'd say you should head north up through Kielder and get onto the B6357 and head south west. If you want a longer loop go from there over to Langholm and then over to Eskdalemauir and St Mary's Loch.
If shorter you can blast back south to Brampton and then back over to Alston and your usual roads.
Thanks, appreciate the heads up!If shorter you can blast back south to Brampton and then back over to Alston and your usual roads.
A nice run out last weekend as one of the blokes from our local motor club has a gorgeous place in Portinscale in the Lake District. You can stay there and he has a fabulous motor house and does a breakfast meet there once a year.
We took our cars over the fells (Caldbeck) and into the lakes that way on a Sunday morning and had a catch up with some other members.
All good fun and some nice cars on display including a very rare and absolutely gorgeous Triumph Italia 2000 (look it up if you don’t know about them-I didn’t!).
(Silver car in the background here)
Lots of love for the little caterham.
I also need to sort my offside rear indicator that wasn’t working, rather than a bulb the crimped connector on the back had fallen off so a fairly simple job of fitting a new one was done before the run out.
When you look at some of the cheap bolts used that have already begun some superficial surface rust you can see room for improvement so I’ve ordered a load of stainless steel versions to replace them with.
I’ll probably get it up on axle stands over the winter and replace those, there’s not many but they might as well be done before they get so crusty that they cause a problem.
SpudLink said:
Yes, that’s lovely and everything.
But, is that a Bond Bug in the background?
You know what? It’s terrible but I didn’t even notice! Must have been gone by the time I went to look around the others.But, is that a Bond Bug in the background?
In more sporting news, I’ve entered the 7 in my first road rally this Sunday
Now it’s strictly not a competitive event (even though it’s known for a few illegals to happen on the deserted farming and forestry roads around here), more of a grand day out for some like minded enthusiasts.
I’m using it as a toe dipper to see how I enjoy it.
With family and work life being so busy, trips over to the ring and even U.K. track days will be a rarity until next summer at the earliest (remember, I wasn’t strictly intending to buy a car until this particular chassis turned up), jolly’s with the local and very well respected motor club will be top of this list for quick fun days out.
I’ll update with how it went
What a grand day out!
So this was the Cumbrian Canter, my first official rally
We booked in last minute mainly as the weather was looking very changeable and to be honest, the 7 with no windscreen or doors in a downpour didn’t look like a fun place to be.
This was still the case up until Saturday when the weather app started showing black clouds and 90% coverage of rain
oh well in for a penny…
We bombed down the back roads to penrith and coming along the old a6 we could see black clouds and rain over the Lake District fells but sunshine over the Pennines. The route looked to go to the east so fingered were crossed, motorcycle jackets were donned and heaters set to maximum attack!
Signing on involved a sausage butty and a read of the tulips that pointed to a special stage in the North Yorkshire side of the Pennines. Then it was cars stickered up and setting off at 1 min intervals from 10am
So this was the Cumbrian Canter, my first official rally
We booked in last minute mainly as the weather was looking very changeable and to be honest, the 7 with no windscreen or doors in a downpour didn’t look like a fun place to be.
This was still the case up until Saturday when the weather app started showing black clouds and 90% coverage of rain
oh well in for a penny…We bombed down the back roads to penrith and coming along the old a6 we could see black clouds and rain over the Lake District fells but sunshine over the Pennines. The route looked to go to the east so fingered were crossed, motorcycle jackets were donned and heaters set to maximum attack!
Signing on involved a sausage butty and a read of the tulips that pointed to a special stage in the North Yorkshire side of the Pennines. Then it was cars stickered up and setting off at 1 min intervals from 10am
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