Keeping a caterfield outside

[Mellow Matt]

I'm seriously considering buying a caterfield of some type, but it would have to be kept outside unfortunately. Are they much more susceptible to the elements than an ordinary modern car? Is there anything one can do to prevent them degrading too much? I keep my motorbike outside and it seems to survive OK with a dousing of ACF-50 on the vulnerable bits, hoping a kit car would be the same?!

Thanks!

[El Capitano]

Yea will be fine, just need a good quailty weatherproof cover for it, i know a couple that are kept outside and provided it is kept dry should be fine!

Edited by El Capitano on Thursday 19th February 09:30

[matt frost]

I am sure that with a good enough Tonneau/Full car cover/both - it would be ok, but it is obviously far from ideal really. A garage is what you need, can you not rent one? You will no doubt be regularly spannering away with odds, sods and mods, so a garage is good for that also.

Mine is garaged as are most I imagine, but someone will no doubt have done it on here and could comment further.

[spdpug98]

May be worth posting on locostbuilders.co.uk as there are a few on there who keep their cars outside

[Chris71]

I used to keep my Sylva Leader under a tarpaulin outside. Stayed drier than my Quantum did on the same driveway with the hardtop on!

[Mellow Matt]

Thanks for the replies guys, sounds possible then

Unfortunately there aren't any garages available to rent around here, so looks like I'll have to get a cover.

Edited by Mellow Matt on Thursday 19th February 11:02

[kriss]

Later this year I am moving out of my oarents house and sadly leaving the BEC with no garge/home.

Luckily I am lookign to move to a private easte (old 1900's Hospital converted into executive flats in Surrey). Gated and video entry on the estate and allocated outdoor parking.

My concern is more over security of the car and safety rather than weather/element. I have a full tonneau and a car cover too so will rock with that and see how it goes. Spannering does seem like it will be harder perhaps though.

Last time I looked at the flats there I saw two porkas under car covers.

Edited by kriss on Thursday 19th February 13:46

[Snake the Sniper]

This is the nose of my car last week:



It lives outside all year round, but under a tarp. 7 are quite waterproof if built correctly. Now I've got the right hazard flasher I've not had a thing go wrong in a year or more.

[Mellow Matt]

Haha that's an excellent photo. I've got allocated parking in a private carpark, and I'm sure I can get a hold of a tarp for it to live under, so hopefully there's not a problem. There seems to be a lot of mention of spannering though, I was under the impression that most kits (if built well) don't require much more work than a normal car? If anything there's less to go wrong isn't there? Besides normal oil/filter changes etc, there's not much work that's likely to need doing generally is there?

Ta

[dean100yz]

If you dont mind what the cover looks outside buy a car tent/garage. My garage is full with my mx bikes, pool table and general crap so I got a purpose built framed mobile style garage

From ebay it was about £245. Can stand up in it. 100% w/proof. Only downside is its a bloody great big thing. I can live with that though. Got a little trickle charger under there too!

[andy-xr]

Mellow Matt said:

Besides normal oil/filter changes etc, there's not much work that's likely to need doing generally is there?

Ta

If oil/filter changes will fix the "why's it not working now?" then you're fine

Otherwise, get a multimeter as well as a socket set

[Snake the Sniper]

Mellow Matt said:

Haha that's an excellent photo. I've got allocated parking in a private carpark, and I'm sure I can get a hold of a tarp for it to live under, so hopefully there's not a problem. There seems to be a lot of mention of spannering though, I was under the impression that most kits (if built well) don't require much more work than a normal car? If anything there's less to go wrong isn't there? Besides normal oil/filter changes etc, there's not much work that's likely to need doing generally is there?

Ta

As you say, if built correctly/well, then there's no reason anything should go wrong. The only things that have failed on my car where down to whoever built it using the wrong fittings and fixings. The main thing is that people get used to the power and speed and soon want a bit more. That's where most of the spanner time comes from, upgrading bits and fitting shiny/carbon fibre things!
As for the tarp, mine is just a big standard thing that the car is rolled backwards onto and then tied down over the nose cone. Takes me about 3 minutes to sheet it up.

[pigeondave]

My fury lives out side and its not great for it.
Its painted blue and now the paint has started to bubble up a bit. I think its getting too damp.
I am building something like this to keep the rain out.(look at bottom of page)

http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/viewthread.php?tid...

Other than the paint bubbling and the water in the footwell its all ok.

[Mellow Matt]

Helpful advice there guys, thanks. That homemade car shelter looks good, think I might make something similar if I manage to find a car!

[Sam_68]

I kept a Westfield and after that a Caterham outside, with just a tonneau cover, when I was younger. It didn't do either much harm, but then both were pretty 'workmanlike' cars. I wouldn't want to keep a really nice example like that. The main problem was that any bare alloy (even unde the bonnet) got pretty dull. The powder coating on the Westfield chassis in particular (the Caterham wasn't quite so good) kept the chassis and suspension in pretty good shape.

FWIIW, I'd be cautious about using an outdoor cover, particularly if the car is painted. They tend to exacerbate a problem called 'osmosis' with painted fibreglass, where blisters form on the paintwork, because they trap any damp close to the car.

Only use an outdoor cover if you can be sure that the car will always be absolutely dry when you put the cover over it.

[Mellow Matt]

Thanks Sam, I've faced similar problems with using a cover on my bike, so know what you mean. If it gets wet I tend to leave it out until it dries and then cover it up later, so looks like the same would apply to a car.

[dean100yz]

Got a few snaps of what mine looks like. As said its not exactly small but works brill for what I want. If its cold/wet at night can stand up & work inside just get a good light in there!!

[Tempest_5]

I kept my Westfield outside for a couple of years, no cover most of the time. The only thing that really suffered was the double duck hood. The Westfield was in constant use as my only car so it didn't have time to sit around getting rusty. The chassis powder coating was still brilliant and was only failing in a few minor places where it had been rubbed when I replaced the chassis 10 years later due to accumulated damage (over 100,000 miles of abuse).

The metal bits only really started going mouldy when I started keeping it in a garage in Portsmouth about 1/2 mile from the sea.

Having said that there is always the security issue to consider. This being one of the main reasons I got a garage to keep it in when I moved to a large city like Portsmouth.

I would recommend at least having access to a garage to do repairs. If nothing else it saves having to put your tools away safely when you want to nip in for a cuppa.

[Sam_68]

Tempest_5 said:

...powder coating was still brilliant and was only failing in a few minor places where it had been rubbed when I replaced the chassis 10 years later due to accumulated damage (over 100,000 miles of abuse).

Over 100,000 miles in the same Westfield?

Respect!

[Tempest_5]

Yep, though it's probably only about 40% original now. As said earlier in this thread you will want to modify/change things, e.g. I changed from a four speed box to a 5 speed box so some form of covered work area is good. Also I have found that the neighbours get a bit upset if you start dismantling your toys outside too much. "Brings the tone of the area down" evidently.