Have you used this Caterham Parts supplier?

[Tupwood]

Has anyone had any experience with sourcing Caterham-style wings, nosecones, etc from www.ClassicGRPCars.co.uk?

They are one of the few places still offering the notched rear wing for K-Series cars, and the unpainted option could be a useful alternative to repairing and re-painting damaged GRP parts.

Good, bad, indifferent? Just keen to know past experiences…

[Tupwood]

The pair of K-Series wings from Classic GRP Cars does look good value, and yes my email conversation with the business has been good so far – but I have yet to confirm an order…

I did post a similar enquiry on BlatChat too – https://www.caterhamlotus7.club/forums/topic/27428... – but there has been no response yet…

[Tupwood]

So today I have placed my order for 2x front wings and 2x k-series rear wings.

BlatChat did not unearth any other experiences, and an alternative supplier has been discarded as, apparently, they were unhappy with the quality when they made up their own version of the notched K-Series wings.

Production time is estimated at 10 days, so I will report back once I hear from Des, the guy making these in GRP from scratch.

[Tupwood]

Yes Classic GRP Cars in Sywell is where I placed my order.

[Tupwood]

My new wings arrived from Classic GRP in Sywell today. Obviously unpainted and rather rough. I’m not sure if this is normal for any GRP products, as I guess the finishing and painting would also smooth out the edges? The front wings are longer than my current ones, but that should mean less stones kicked up from the front tyres.

More worrying is that I need to drill out the holes to fit them, and the arc of the rears is somewhat different to the blue ones… but I have no idea if they were Caterham standard either. Taking it slow, one hole at a time. If the Caterham-branded parts are easy to bolt straight on, that could be where the extra money goes.

The driver’s side does have its K-series notch though. I’ll do that one last once I have practised on the others…

[Tupwood]

Made more progress with the rear arches today. The (standard shape) passenger arch is now test fitted and looks much better than I anticipated. I made a few mistakes in the drilling and learnt a lot… but I had intended this one to be the 'testbed' so that if I really screwed it up, or it looked hideously out of shape, it would be easier to replace with the regular Caterham part. The notched K-series rear wing is progressing well too, and only has a few more holes to measure and drill out. Both will remain attached to the car as the GRP completes its 14-day curing / settling process.

[Tupwood]

The inner wing profile is slightly different, but once mated to the car body, you can’t tell from the outside. Much to my relief!

[Tupwood]

The inner and bottom flanges – the bits you cannot see when attached to the car – are where the differences lie. The outer size, shape and 'fit' is a very close match to the blue wing I removed. I do not know where the previous wings were sourced from, but this one, once painted, should be indistinguishable from the previous one.

The notched K-series friendly wing is of a similar pattern. I have not yet completed the test fitting, but it does look to follow the same shape as the previous wing, with the inner and bottom flanges (including the notch) being slightly different depths / angles on the new wing. I will post a few photos once it is fully fitted.

[Tupwood]

I dropped them off with Tony at TSK for painting yesterday. He was happy to tidy up the rough edges before painting so hopefully all will by shiny soon.

Tony also confirmed that K-series notched wings were hard to find, and asked about my supplier….

[Tupwood]

Still at TSK for paint. Slower than usual due to family issues…

[Tupwood]

Heading down to TSK to collect them today! Pictures to follow…

[Tupwood]

Shiny! Tony has brought the arches to life and given the underside a coat of blacking. Not had a chance to inspect them closely, but chatting to Tony he was happy that they were of good enough to finish up and paint. His only comment was that the gel coat was a little on the thin side in places, “but that’s GRP” as he put it.

I’m going to seal the paint with some AutoGlym Extra Gloss protection today and then begin refitting to the car.

[Tupwood]

The front wings have painted up nicely. The moulding lacks the ridged edge that the original Caterham ones have, but I am keen to see how the extended length helps reduce the muck and stones kicked up from the front tyres.

[Tupwood]

Smooth edge lacks the Caterham ‘ridge’.

[Tupwood]

Standard shape wing.

[Tupwood]

K-series notched wing to accommodate the exhaust

[Tupwood]

The car is back together, and now taxed, so I will try and get some dry day photos of the new wings in place soon…

[Tupwood]

Here we go… It's been a winter of refreshment on my 1999 Caterham Seven. Four new wings and a trackday roll bar on the outside, four refurbished Bilstein damper sets underneath, and a JAL LED upgrade inside the standard lens cases at the back… the underside of the chassis also got a winter wipe down and coat of Hammerite smooth to keep the rust at bay. Its certainly not a garage queen, but it was quite shiny before I took it for a shakedown run this afternoon.