Caterham Superlight R #29
Discussion
Thanks all. Let's continue the report on the visit to Arch...
The Superlight R was there to have a new rear panel. I helped the chaps push her into one of the workshops and they wasted no time getting her up in the air on a lift truck and onto some chassis trestles.
The dented rear panel was swiftly removed.
...and the new rear panel which had been pre-cut, but slightly oversize, was aligned and then clamped into place.
I then watched in awe as the panel was shaped around the chassis tubes by heating to stretch and shrink the aluminium as necessary and by shaping with a body-hammer and slapping spoon.
It was finished with a light sand to remove any surface defects and the sides were welded to the side skins and the weld ground back to leave no perceptible join.
The gent doing the work said he'd been doing these skins for 26 years and it showed. Total time from getting the car in the workshop to pushing it back outside was only around an hour.
The finished article, which to me looks stunning:
On my tour of the workshop I'd noticed the buck for forming the Caterham scuttle panels, and this set me thinking.
In my quest for a lighter car, removing anything unnecessary and to also tidy up the bodyline and improve the overall aesthetic I've been planning to leave the large clunky and ugly plastic reverse and fog lights off the back of the car when rebuilding it. I made sure that the holes for them were not drilled into the rear skin, leaving a lovely clean smooth surface. Upon seeing the scuttle buck I decided I'd also take the opportunity to get hold of a second scuttle panel without wiper or washer jet holes, nor holes for mounting the windscreen stanchions so that when running the aeroscreen I can swap the scuttles over too and rather than leaving the wiper spindles poking through, the scuttle will be smooth and clutter free. I'll change the way it mounts from the current riveted join to use some M5 rivnuts.
So I bought a second scuttle and decided I'd get the paint shop to paint both of them. I imagine the car will run without a screen for most of the time and during those instances I'll remove the wiper motor and linkages and the screen washer bottle and pump too.
All done I loaded her back onto the trailer and set off to Dartford where TSK are situated. TSK are unofficially the Caterham 'factory' paintshop. They're situated quite close to the original Caterham workshop and still paint the factory cars. I'd been told that the place was nestled into a crowded residential street and that the surroundings were less than salubrious. Forewarned, I was still quite surprised when I found it as it appeared to be a small annex to a run-down MOT garage.
Walking down the entrance road past numerous dilapidated hatchbacks I spotted a couple of Caterhams which were the first signs that I was actually at the right place.
I was having serious misgivings about leaving the car here. However, on squeezing past the cars outside and through the small blue door I was greeted by a hive of activity that raised my confidence slightly.
Tony, who owns the place turned out to be quite a character and we chatted through the paint job and some of the history of the paintshop and its association with Caterham. I left the car there with confidence restored that this was the right place to paint it. It would have made the journey from Arch to TSK over 20 years ago to be painted fluorescent yellow for the first time, so it seemed fitting that it had retraced the same steps and will hopefully emerge again soon having been restored to its former glory.
So it's now a waiting game. In the interim I'm buying the parts I'll need when building it back up. I think the finished article is going to be really good. I'm just hoping it all comes together in time to enjoy the warmer summer months in it.
The Superlight R was there to have a new rear panel. I helped the chaps push her into one of the workshops and they wasted no time getting her up in the air on a lift truck and onto some chassis trestles.
The dented rear panel was swiftly removed.
...and the new rear panel which had been pre-cut, but slightly oversize, was aligned and then clamped into place.
I then watched in awe as the panel was shaped around the chassis tubes by heating to stretch and shrink the aluminium as necessary and by shaping with a body-hammer and slapping spoon.
It was finished with a light sand to remove any surface defects and the sides were welded to the side skins and the weld ground back to leave no perceptible join.
The gent doing the work said he'd been doing these skins for 26 years and it showed. Total time from getting the car in the workshop to pushing it back outside was only around an hour.
The finished article, which to me looks stunning:
On my tour of the workshop I'd noticed the buck for forming the Caterham scuttle panels, and this set me thinking.
In my quest for a lighter car, removing anything unnecessary and to also tidy up the bodyline and improve the overall aesthetic I've been planning to leave the large clunky and ugly plastic reverse and fog lights off the back of the car when rebuilding it. I made sure that the holes for them were not drilled into the rear skin, leaving a lovely clean smooth surface. Upon seeing the scuttle buck I decided I'd also take the opportunity to get hold of a second scuttle panel without wiper or washer jet holes, nor holes for mounting the windscreen stanchions so that when running the aeroscreen I can swap the scuttles over too and rather than leaving the wiper spindles poking through, the scuttle will be smooth and clutter free. I'll change the way it mounts from the current riveted join to use some M5 rivnuts.
So I bought a second scuttle and decided I'd get the paint shop to paint both of them. I imagine the car will run without a screen for most of the time and during those instances I'll remove the wiper motor and linkages and the screen washer bottle and pump too.
All done I loaded her back onto the trailer and set off to Dartford where TSK are situated. TSK are unofficially the Caterham 'factory' paintshop. They're situated quite close to the original Caterham workshop and still paint the factory cars. I'd been told that the place was nestled into a crowded residential street and that the surroundings were less than salubrious. Forewarned, I was still quite surprised when I found it as it appeared to be a small annex to a run-down MOT garage.
Walking down the entrance road past numerous dilapidated hatchbacks I spotted a couple of Caterhams which were the first signs that I was actually at the right place.
I was having serious misgivings about leaving the car here. However, on squeezing past the cars outside and through the small blue door I was greeted by a hive of activity that raised my confidence slightly.
Tony, who owns the place turned out to be quite a character and we chatted through the paint job and some of the history of the paintshop and its association with Caterham. I left the car there with confidence restored that this was the right place to paint it. It would have made the journey from Arch to TSK over 20 years ago to be painted fluorescent yellow for the first time, so it seemed fitting that it had retraced the same steps and will hopefully emerge again soon having been restored to its former glory.
So it's now a waiting game. In the interim I'm buying the parts I'll need when building it back up. I think the finished article is going to be really good. I'm just hoping it all comes together in time to enjoy the warmer summer months in it.
Edited by 573 on Friday 23 February 10:36
Being a Caterham owner I have read a few threads during my ownership. Probably all of them in fact.
This must be one of the most enjoyable I have read so far.
I'm impressed at how quickly you have got around to taking it apart. I kind of worked my way up to this level over several years.
The trip to Arch looks really interesting and I can't believe how quickly a new panel was fitted.
Keep up the good work, I can't wait to see it all going back together with fresh paint.
I'm taking my engine out this weekend and this is just the motivation I need!
This must be one of the most enjoyable I have read so far.
I'm impressed at how quickly you have got around to taking it apart. I kind of worked my way up to this level over several years.
The trip to Arch looks really interesting and I can't believe how quickly a new panel was fitted.
Keep up the good work, I can't wait to see it all going back together with fresh paint.
I'm taking my engine out this weekend and this is just the motivation I need!
This was my old car! - Stumbled across your build thread when trying to find some old photos.
Great rebuild thread, please keep posting. I seriously considered returning the chassis to arch for a full re panel when I bought the car but opted for the clean and re spray due to costs. Great to see it back there !
I swapped out the standard TB's for the jenveys, timed the cams better and fitted/mapped the Emerald as well. It really ran like a bag of bolts before smoothing out the timing.
I had two Caterhams, the SLR above (called the Toxic Frog north of the border) and a minister R500 (which I destroyed in 3 months) I loved the SLR, perfect Cateham imo - light and just enough power to keep up with the more serious stuff.
I've got some photos of the car, and a couple of videos if you're interested?.
Alan
Great rebuild thread, please keep posting. I seriously considered returning the chassis to arch for a full re panel when I bought the car but opted for the clean and re spray due to costs. Great to see it back there !
I swapped out the standard TB's for the jenveys, timed the cams better and fitted/mapped the Emerald as well. It really ran like a bag of bolts before smoothing out the timing.
I had two Caterhams, the SLR above (called the Toxic Frog north of the border) and a minister R500 (which I destroyed in 3 months) I loved the SLR, perfect Cateham imo - light and just enough power to keep up with the more serious stuff.
I've got some photos of the car, and a couple of videos if you're interested?.
Alan
Edited by Al4n.G on Friday 30th March 21:10
Edited by Al4n.G on Friday 30th March 21:18
This was my old car! - Stumbled across your build thread when trying to find some old photos.
Great rebuild thread, please keep posting. I seriously considered returning the chassis to arch for a full re panel when I bought the car but opted for the clean and re spray due to costs. Great to see it back there !
I swapped out the standard TB's for the jenveys, timed the cams better and fitted/mapped the Emerald as well. It really ran like a bag of bolts before smoothing out the timing.
I had two Caterhams, the SLR above (called the Toxic Frog north of the border) and a minister R500 (which I destroyed in 3 months) I loved the SLR, perfect Cateham imo - light and just enough power to keep up with the more serious stuff.
I've got some photos of the car, and a couple of videos if you're interested?.
Alan
Great rebuild thread, please keep posting. I seriously considered returning the chassis to arch for a full re panel when I bought the car but opted for the clean and re spray due to costs. Great to see it back there !
I swapped out the standard TB's for the jenveys, timed the cams better and fitted/mapped the Emerald as well. It really ran like a bag of bolts before smoothing out the timing.
I had two Caterhams, the SLR above (called the Toxic Frog north of the border) and a minister R500 (which I destroyed in 3 months) I loved the SLR, perfect Cateham imo - light and just enough power to keep up with the more serious stuff.
I've got some photos of the car, and a couple of videos if you're interested?.
Alan
Edited by Al4n.G on Friday 30th March 21:10
Edited by Al4n.G on Friday 30th March 22:54
Alan, many thanks for posting those! I read your build thread and posts about the Toxic Frog on Scottish Elises before I bought the car. Your documented rebuild was one of the things that made me send Frank a deposit and travel 10 hours up the country without actually seeing the car first. I found some old pics on Instagram from when you owned the car, posted by Jen who I think is your ex?
If you have any more pictures or videos I'd love to see them. My email is meATstenelson.co.uk
If you have any more pictures or videos I'd love to see them. My email is meATstenelson.co.uk
ECG1000 said:
Enjoyed reading this very much. Always good to hear feedback from a fellow Caterham-er!
I feel your pain about the cold. I picked my 360R up after it's post build inspection in March last year and proceeded to drive it up the M1 for 2 hours in rush-hour traffic.... It really did make me question my purchase and kick myself for not ticking the box named "heater"
You can read about it here if you're bored and laugh at my stupidity for not fitting the side screens before the PBI: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
What did you use to get the number plate tape off?
Not sure what the OP used but I have a bottle of something called sticky stuff remover which you can get from Lakeland’s. It’s fantastic for removing the sticky pads for numberplates and glue residue. I feel your pain about the cold. I picked my 360R up after it's post build inspection in March last year and proceeded to drive it up the M1 for 2 hours in rush-hour traffic.... It really did make me question my purchase and kick myself for not ticking the box named "heater"
You can read about it here if you're bored and laugh at my stupidity for not fitting the side screens before the PBI: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
What did you use to get the number plate tape off?
https://www.lakeland.co.uk/8976/Sticky-Stuff-Glue-...
I used acetone, works a treat.
I popped over to Dartford earlier to see TSK and the car has now started to be stripped and have the small defects rectified. Tony reckons it will be fully painted by the end of next week.
When I got back I decided to do some fiddling.
The rear lights on the Caterham are quite poor at night and are also mounted to a heavy solid rubber block. Each cluster weighs 650g.
A company called Just Add Lightness makes full LED replacements for all of the lights. I purchased a set of their rear light cluster replacements. These are much brighter and also happen to be slightly lighter at 530g.
I asked JAL to leave the plug off as I'd also purchased some replacement light blocks in carbon. This would allow me to dismantle the wiring from the rubber block easier and thread the cable through the carbon replacements. JAL's customer service is fantastic. The guy that runs it answers all comms instantly, even at weekends and nothing seems to be too much trouble for him, I can't recommend them enough.
For reference this is the weight of the rubber block versus the carbon replacement.
Rubber 224g / Carbon 38g
..and this is them built up onto the carbon blocks.
Total weight for the finished article is 351g.
...for a total saving of 598g for the pair. More importantly, the car should be much more visible from behind at night.
I popped over to Dartford earlier to see TSK and the car has now started to be stripped and have the small defects rectified. Tony reckons it will be fully painted by the end of next week.
When I got back I decided to do some fiddling.
The rear lights on the Caterham are quite poor at night and are also mounted to a heavy solid rubber block. Each cluster weighs 650g.
A company called Just Add Lightness makes full LED replacements for all of the lights. I purchased a set of their rear light cluster replacements. These are much brighter and also happen to be slightly lighter at 530g.
I asked JAL to leave the plug off as I'd also purchased some replacement light blocks in carbon. This would allow me to dismantle the wiring from the rubber block easier and thread the cable through the carbon replacements. JAL's customer service is fantastic. The guy that runs it answers all comms instantly, even at weekends and nothing seems to be too much trouble for him, I can't recommend them enough.
For reference this is the weight of the rubber block versus the carbon replacement.
Rubber 224g / Carbon 38g
..and this is them built up onto the carbon blocks.
Total weight for the finished article is 351g.
...for a total saving of 598g for the pair. More importantly, the car should be much more visible from behind at night.
Just fully reread your thread 573, awesome stuff.
It's broadly similar to the things I'll be doing soon. I have just bought a 2012 R300 duratec and despite the fact it's a great (base) car, I have some serious plans for it, amongst which is a proper cosmetic tidy up and a respray. I've spoken to Tony at TSK and already know they're a bit old skool there so I genuinely laughed at your story of dropping it off! Dropping off your P&J takes a leap of faith for sure, but they do a great job and mine will be there this winter for a colour change to Renault Liquid Yellow.
I also have a set of carbon light blocks to go on, so cheers for the heads up about the JAL lights. Definitely required and I also plan to fit a high brake light on mine when Caterham get the sub loom back in stock.
Finally, in a similar vain to your OCD ways and the work you're doing right now, if you get a bored have a read of the work I did on my last 7 here and you'll see the extent to which I like to fettle my cars!
It's broadly similar to the things I'll be doing soon. I have just bought a 2012 R300 duratec and despite the fact it's a great (base) car, I have some serious plans for it, amongst which is a proper cosmetic tidy up and a respray. I've spoken to Tony at TSK and already know they're a bit old skool there so I genuinely laughed at your story of dropping it off! Dropping off your P&J takes a leap of faith for sure, but they do a great job and mine will be there this winter for a colour change to Renault Liquid Yellow.
I also have a set of carbon light blocks to go on, so cheers for the heads up about the JAL lights. Definitely required and I also plan to fit a high brake light on mine when Caterham get the sub loom back in stock.
Finally, in a similar vain to your OCD ways and the work you're doing right now, if you get a bored have a read of the work I did on my last 7 here and you'll see the extent to which I like to fettle my cars!
I went and collected the Caterham from TSK a week last Thursday. The job over-ran by a few months longer than i was quoted, but having dealt with bodyshops in the past I was surprised how near to the quoted initial deadline it was finished in. I was also really pleased with the finished job and was happy that I'd sent the car back to the factory paintshop for its full respray.
The finished paint was brighter than I could have imagined and it's worth stating that the pictures here just don't do it justice at all. The camera completely fails to reproduce just how bright the colour is.
An extra touch I had Tony undertake was to colour-code the 'Caterham Motorsport' camcover infill. The original gold cover of the VHPDs really clashes with the fluoro yellow. This was also a step to improving the overall aesthetic coherance under the bonnet and to reduce the number of colous under there that cause quite a visual clash.
It's possibly worth noting that at this stage, the front and rear suspension and brakes were just loosely connected to enable the car to roll onto the trailer. It's also worth mentioning that I had an MOT booked for the Friday after collection and a car show at Goodwood booked for that afternoon...
This is Tony and his chaps doing some last minute clean up and attaching some new DZUS fasteners to the nose so I could attach it for the journey back so I had one less thing to put inside the tow car.
WIth that done, and an illuminating chat about the 21 M5s that Tony has owned (!) I loaded up and headed back around the M25 and home to Sussex.
The finished paint was brighter than I could have imagined and it's worth stating that the pictures here just don't do it justice at all. The camera completely fails to reproduce just how bright the colour is.
An extra touch I had Tony undertake was to colour-code the 'Caterham Motorsport' camcover infill. The original gold cover of the VHPDs really clashes with the fluoro yellow. This was also a step to improving the overall aesthetic coherance under the bonnet and to reduce the number of colous under there that cause quite a visual clash.
It's possibly worth noting that at this stage, the front and rear suspension and brakes were just loosely connected to enable the car to roll onto the trailer. It's also worth mentioning that I had an MOT booked for the Friday after collection and a car show at Goodwood booked for that afternoon...
This is Tony and his chaps doing some last minute clean up and attaching some new DZUS fasteners to the nose so I could attach it for the journey back so I had one less thing to put inside the tow car.
WIth that done, and an illuminating chat about the 21 M5s that Tony has owned (!) I loaded up and headed back around the M25 and home to Sussex.
Edited by 573 on Tuesday 22 May 17:30
The chassis on this car is in great condition. But while the car was stripped and I had access to the chassis behind the panels I wanted to do all I could to keep it that way. So I pumped waxoil iinside all the tubes where I could and also inbetween the cavities where the chassis joins the external panels.
Next, I set to connecting the front suspension and brakes properly. Plus attaching the front lights and rerouting the wiring neater and reconnecting it.
Before then moving onto the rear suspension and brakes and attaching the exhaust manifold and wideband lambda sensor.
...quickly followed by the exhaust, which I'd polished while it was off the car.
Next, I set to connecting the front suspension and brakes properly. Plus attaching the front lights and rerouting the wiring neater and reconnecting it.
Before then moving onto the rear suspension and brakes and attaching the exhaust manifold and wideband lambda sensor.
...quickly followed by the exhaust, which I'd polished while it was off the car.
You may remember I'd chosen to have two scuttles painted. One with the wiper bosses and windscreen mounting locations and one with as few holes as possible to fit the aeroscreen to. I decided the first main job was to re-attach the firewall and prep it to accept either scuttle panel and allow a quick change-over. Firstly though, I wanted to clean up the firewall as it was looking a bit scruffy.
So I stripped the paint, cleaned it up and repainted it. I then bonded it into place and rivetted the heater blanking panel on and sealed that up too.
...and on the other side of it under the dashboard I reconnected the various boxes to the back of the firewall and reconnected all of the wiring.
With that done I could test fit the scuttle and bonnet to set the scuttle alignment.
...and then working inside set the scuttle brackets in the correct position to mark the scuttle and prep it for drilling through to fit the mounting bolts using the aero screen as an additional reference.
Not forgetting to fit the foam protective strips on the nose and scuttle for the bonnet to close down onto.
I wanted to change the original stainless-steel sill covers as they now matched nothing on the car and I much prefer the look of the carbon fibre ones. Incidentally the genuine Caterham ones are made by Tillett so match my carbon Tillett aeroscreen and half-doors perfectly.
An additional benefit is a not-inconsiderable weight loss.
- 494g for the pair off SS
- 107g for the pair of CF
I was advised to Sikaflex them down before drilling and rivetting them to give them a 'cushion' to compress onto when leant on. Without this they are apparently prone to cracking. So I did just that, taping them in place while the Sikaflex set.
With the sills bonded on I could test-fit the half doors as an additional check for the scuttle position before doing the final fix in place.
Last thing for the day was to head over to Owen Garages in Haywards Heath. I've used Olly there for years and he's fantastic. I got him to remove the Toyo 888s off the MB magnesium splitrims and fit a set of Avon ZZRs.
...and back home I removed the Caterham 8 spokes and fitted the MBs and ZZRs. I have to say, I love the look of these things. The tyres look ridiculous.
So I stripped the paint, cleaned it up and repainted it. I then bonded it into place and rivetted the heater blanking panel on and sealed that up too.
...and on the other side of it under the dashboard I reconnected the various boxes to the back of the firewall and reconnected all of the wiring.
With that done I could test fit the scuttle and bonnet to set the scuttle alignment.
...and then working inside set the scuttle brackets in the correct position to mark the scuttle and prep it for drilling through to fit the mounting bolts using the aero screen as an additional reference.
Not forgetting to fit the foam protective strips on the nose and scuttle for the bonnet to close down onto.
I wanted to change the original stainless-steel sill covers as they now matched nothing on the car and I much prefer the look of the carbon fibre ones. Incidentally the genuine Caterham ones are made by Tillett so match my carbon Tillett aeroscreen and half-doors perfectly.
An additional benefit is a not-inconsiderable weight loss.
- 494g for the pair off SS
- 107g for the pair of CF
I was advised to Sikaflex them down before drilling and rivetting them to give them a 'cushion' to compress onto when leant on. Without this they are apparently prone to cracking. So I did just that, taping them in place while the Sikaflex set.
With the sills bonded on I could test-fit the half doors as an additional check for the scuttle position before doing the final fix in place.
Last thing for the day was to head over to Owen Garages in Haywards Heath. I've used Olly there for years and he's fantastic. I got him to remove the Toyo 888s off the MB magnesium splitrims and fit a set of Avon ZZRs.
...and back home I removed the Caterham 8 spokes and fitted the MBs and ZZRs. I have to say, I love the look of these things. The tyres look ridiculous.
Edited by 573 on Tuesday 22 May 18:15
The next day I set to the repetitive task of fitting and removing the scuttle numerous times to mark, drill and attach fastenings to make it 'quick-release' and able to swap over to the windscreen scuttle easily. It was a case of measure lots, drill once.
...and my 11 year old son helped to fit the M5 rivnuts into the firewall.
WIth this finally done and bolted down solidly I moved on to drilling the scuttle and fitting the kill switch...
...and wiring it up. And then drilling the top of the scuttle to accept the press-studs for the centre aeroscreen mounting.
...and my 11 year old son helped to fit the M5 rivnuts into the firewall.
WIth this finally done and bolted down solidly I moved on to drilling the scuttle and fitting the kill switch...
...and wiring it up. And then drilling the top of the scuttle to accept the press-studs for the centre aeroscreen mounting.
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