Discussion
So I've been posting on here for a few weeks now, pestering people and asking all sorts of questions so i thought now its (kinda) finished ill show some progress and pictures.
I bought the car at the start of January, with changing quite a few bits in mind as it wasn't to my taste. I would have loved an r300 or something a little newer but im only 22 so my budget was small and thinking about insurance i bought this.
The car itself is a 2003 1.8 k series roadsport. 37,000 miles on the clock, relatively high for a Caterham i know. Its been dyno'd at 178bhp. The car has been looked after with lots of service history.
These pictures were taken by the previous owner
After getting the car i had a good idea as to how i wanted the car to look. It went to the bodyshop where my dad works to get the work started. I personally hate the look of the big chrome lights, minilites and spare wheel rack so they came off straight away.
I dont have many pictures from the bodyshop but these are a few that i do have. I wanted it to be white but something a bit different. I ended up going for Citroen pearlescent white, most white pearls are creamy which i didnt want.
Can just about see the pearl on this one.
In direct sunlight the colour looks stunning, i want to take some decent pictures but were not getting too much sun at the minute!
Again not many pictures were taken getting put back together. Carbon sill protections went on too..
New radiator went on as the old one had a slight leak
New clear lenses went on along with new black caterham filler ap. As i mentioned im on a budget, couldnt afford new carbon wing protectors so i bought some carbon wrap and wrapped the old ones until i can afford to buy new ones..
During all this i painted the roll over bar, hoodsticks, front wishbones, wing stays etc. New headlights went on. Again these aren't caterham headlights, theyre the cheaper ones on ebay for £50. They originally had the wires coming out of the back but my dad welded a plate, filled and painted so they looked a little better.
So now it was coming together i looked at what stripes/decals i wanted. Ended up going for matt black. I also looked around at what wheels were available. Love the look of r500 wheels but theyre far too much money. A chap i work with passed me onto a company not far from me who build kit cars and supplied various wheels. To fit my budget i bought 13 X 7 team dynamic pro race 1.2 in gloss black. Nice light weight wheels that fitted in well. Also went for toyo r888 with a wider 205 rear.
Meanwhile this turned up in the post
Spoke to Simon at Meteor Motorsports, smashing bloke who looked after me with a works bell rapfix, already welded to a top coloumn. Pictures of this to follow..
So once the wheels and stickers went on it now looks like this..
Painted the exhaust in rustoleum stove paint, went on extremely strange but came out a lovely finish!
New steering wheel is fitted but not had chance to take pictures yet!
And once i valeted/washed and polished it then looked like this
Since the pictures a new carbon leather boot cover has been fitted, armourfend on the bonnet strips and all new bulbs courtesy of karl at sevenspeed. Again big thanks to him.
As i said ive gone down the cheaper route for a few bits on the car, i just needed to get it on the road looking half decent. Now its back at home in my garage i can take my time and buy nicer things when i get the funds! In the future im thinking about a carbon dash, savage switches, either a stack or dash2, carbon headlamps and carpeting the boot. Within the next few weeks ill be going keyless with an ignition + start button and a BMS.
Few people on here have mentioned that its like an addiction....it certainly is! These things are never completely finished.
Thanks for the advice and any comments good or bad welcome, updates to come..
Tom
I bought the car at the start of January, with changing quite a few bits in mind as it wasn't to my taste. I would have loved an r300 or something a little newer but im only 22 so my budget was small and thinking about insurance i bought this.
The car itself is a 2003 1.8 k series roadsport. 37,000 miles on the clock, relatively high for a Caterham i know. Its been dyno'd at 178bhp. The car has been looked after with lots of service history.
These pictures were taken by the previous owner
After getting the car i had a good idea as to how i wanted the car to look. It went to the bodyshop where my dad works to get the work started. I personally hate the look of the big chrome lights, minilites and spare wheel rack so they came off straight away.
I dont have many pictures from the bodyshop but these are a few that i do have. I wanted it to be white but something a bit different. I ended up going for Citroen pearlescent white, most white pearls are creamy which i didnt want.
Can just about see the pearl on this one.
In direct sunlight the colour looks stunning, i want to take some decent pictures but were not getting too much sun at the minute!
Again not many pictures were taken getting put back together. Carbon sill protections went on too..
New radiator went on as the old one had a slight leak
New clear lenses went on along with new black caterham filler ap. As i mentioned im on a budget, couldnt afford new carbon wing protectors so i bought some carbon wrap and wrapped the old ones until i can afford to buy new ones..
During all this i painted the roll over bar, hoodsticks, front wishbones, wing stays etc. New headlights went on. Again these aren't caterham headlights, theyre the cheaper ones on ebay for £50. They originally had the wires coming out of the back but my dad welded a plate, filled and painted so they looked a little better.
So now it was coming together i looked at what stripes/decals i wanted. Ended up going for matt black. I also looked around at what wheels were available. Love the look of r500 wheels but theyre far too much money. A chap i work with passed me onto a company not far from me who build kit cars and supplied various wheels. To fit my budget i bought 13 X 7 team dynamic pro race 1.2 in gloss black. Nice light weight wheels that fitted in well. Also went for toyo r888 with a wider 205 rear.
Meanwhile this turned up in the post
Spoke to Simon at Meteor Motorsports, smashing bloke who looked after me with a works bell rapfix, already welded to a top coloumn. Pictures of this to follow..
So once the wheels and stickers went on it now looks like this..
Painted the exhaust in rustoleum stove paint, went on extremely strange but came out a lovely finish!
New steering wheel is fitted but not had chance to take pictures yet!
And once i valeted/washed and polished it then looked like this
Since the pictures a new carbon leather boot cover has been fitted, armourfend on the bonnet strips and all new bulbs courtesy of karl at sevenspeed. Again big thanks to him.
As i said ive gone down the cheaper route for a few bits on the car, i just needed to get it on the road looking half decent. Now its back at home in my garage i can take my time and buy nicer things when i get the funds! In the future im thinking about a carbon dash, savage switches, either a stack or dash2, carbon headlamps and carpeting the boot. Within the next few weeks ill be going keyless with an ignition + start button and a BMS.
Few people on here have mentioned that its like an addiction....it certainly is! These things are never completely finished.
Thanks for the advice and any comments good or bad welcome, updates to come..
Tom
TomCat1 said:
Thanks for your comments, it's almost how I'd imagined it, just a few bits that in my head needs changing.
Johno - yeah I fitted it last week! Easy to fit and is a proper bit of kit! Haven't had chance to drive the car since then though. Weathers crap!
Good news . .. Johno - yeah I fitted it last week! Easy to fit and is a proper bit of kit! Haven't had chance to drive the car since then though. Weathers crap!
I completely re-built the 7 I bought last year and go tthe engine running 2 weekends ago fo rthe first time after being completely re-built by Dave Andrews, loads of delays largely due to weather in the winter and being in France . . Long story.
Car is with a race mechanic here in France for geometry set up and a couple of other bits and first drive to start the running in of the engine is this Sunday att he Bugatti Circuit Le Mans, can't wait. Weather forecast currently say 8-9 degrees and sun !!!! Cross your fingers for it's shakedown, track due to be very quiet with only <35 cars, so ideal to potter around below 4,500rpm for a few miles and check everything works . .
Great looking car, well done.
I'm also of the same opinion about the wheel holder and the chrome.
Did you buy that steering wheel to give you extra leg room? and if so does it make a good improvement? I have a slight problem with the wheel/legs side of things and that might be the answer!
Cheers
Ed.
I'm also of the same opinion about the wheel holder and the chrome.
Did you buy that steering wheel to give you extra leg room? and if so does it make a good improvement? I have a slight problem with the wheel/legs side of things and that might be the answer!
Cheers
Ed.
Johno said:
Good news . ..
I completely re-built the 7 I bought last year and go tthe engine running 2 weekends ago fo rthe first time after being completely re-built by Dave Andrews, loads of delays largely due to weather in the winter and being in France . . Long story.
Car is with a race mechanic here in France for geometry set up and a couple of other bits and first drive to start the running in of the engine is this Sunday att he Bugatti Circuit Le Mans, can't wait. Weather forecast currently say 8-9 degrees and sun !!!! Cross your fingers for it's shakedown, track due to be very quiet with only <35 cars, so ideal to potter around below 4,500rpm for a few miles and check everything works . .
Sounds better weather over there! Todays not been too bad i suppose, if weathers ok on saturday ill be taking it out, cant wait haha. Fingers crossed then johno everything works ok!I completely re-built the 7 I bought last year and go tthe engine running 2 weekends ago fo rthe first time after being completely re-built by Dave Andrews, loads of delays largely due to weather in the winter and being in France . . Long story.
Car is with a race mechanic here in France for geometry set up and a couple of other bits and first drive to start the running in of the engine is this Sunday att he Bugatti Circuit Le Mans, can't wait. Weather forecast currently say 8-9 degrees and sun !!!! Cross your fingers for it's shakedown, track due to be very quiet with only <35 cars, so ideal to potter around below 4,500rpm for a few miles and check everything works . .
CTrickle said:
Great looking car, well done.
I'm also of the same opinion about the wheel holder and the chrome.
Did you buy that steering wheel to give you extra leg room? and if so does it make a good improvement? I have a slight problem with the wheel/legs side of things and that might be the answer!
Cheers
Ed.
I bought the steering wheel because i didn't like the old one primarily, but yeah it does give you more room with it being flat bottomed. Again the quick release makes a massive difference getting in and out in terms of room. Would recommend it definitely.I'm also of the same opinion about the wheel holder and the chrome.
Did you buy that steering wheel to give you extra leg room? and if so does it make a good improvement? I have a slight problem with the wheel/legs side of things and that might be the answer!
Cheers
Ed.
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