Caterham Superlight R #29
Discussion
I'm a fan of lightweight cars. My first cars were Minis, which aren't on the porky side, but I think I first got hooked on the benefits of saving weight when I built a Peugeot 205 GTI to race in the 750 Motorclub Stockhatch championship. I paid so much attention to weight-saving whilst building it that I had to put almost 100kg of ballast back in it in order to meet the minimum weight for the series.
Since then I've obsessed over the weight of numerous cars. My most notable builds on various forums being a Mk1 (NA) MX5 that ended up <900kg and recently a 270bhp, HPE K20 swapped S1 Elise that was <700kg.
So it was likely that at some point I'd end up with a seven or similar and most likely, just because I like the aesthetics of them, a Caterham.
I first test drove one in 2016. I went to Sevens & Classics as I liked the look of an R300 that they had for sale. I took the car out and was incredibly underwhelmed. So I tried an R400 spec car that they had. Same dice. They had an R500(K) in stock, fitted with a Quaife sequential. I had a go in that and whilst it was quicker, it didn't match my Elise and the gearbox was really crude and no fun on the road. So I parked the Caterham idea for a while.
That is until in November last year, a friend up in Scotland dropped me a message to say that he'd heard of a Caterham coming on to the market that might be a spec that would interest me. This is what he sent me:
Caterham Superlight R No.29 1998. Factory build. 33k miles. Matching engine/ chassis numbers. Full history including all invoices and MOT’s from new.
Drivetrain:
1.8 VHPD Dry sump engine with Jenvey throttle bodies, Emerald ECU and cam verniers. Original VHPD ECU and throttle bodies go with the car. 6 speed Caterham Gearbox and LSD differential.
Exterior:
Full weather protection including brand new heated screen. Tonneau, carbon wings, carbon nose cone. MSA Roll bar, Aero fuel cap. Additional Tillet carbon flyscreen and Tillet carbon side doors go with the car.
Interior:
Tillet composite seats with 5 point Caterham harnesses. Momo quick release suede steering wheel. Carbon dashboard with start button, change-up light, 12 volt accessory plug and tunnel storage pockets. Electrical cut-off switch and factory plumbed fire extinguisher system.
Wheels suspension and brakes:
M. Barnaby 3 piece alloys 6” front 8” Rear. Proxes 888 tyres. Bilstein shocks all round. Caterham AP big brake kit with Pagid blue pads. Adjustable f/r balance master cylinder. Spare set of standard Caterham wheels with new Yokohama A201R tyres go with car.
General:
The car is in excellent condition. I have owned the car for five years/8k miles and am only selling due to my advancing years! The car is very tractable due to the well set up Jenvey/Emerald arrangement. The car has had no accidents and has original paint. The previous owner fully stripped and rebuilt/renewed the gearbox/suspension. When I purchased the car I replaced the head gasket, uprated the oil rail assembly and replaced the radiator and all coolant hoses.
If I was going to give a Caterham a try, I wanted a K series one. I also had decided that a VHPD was about as far as I wanted the engine to be stretched. I think it's sort of the sweet-spot for a K before you get into longevity issues that higher RPMs and greater specific output seems to bring. Other things I wanted were dry-sump, LSD, MBs and 6 speed. I also wanted lowered floors but I guess you can't have everything.
So I contacted the owner, had a chat, and he sent over some pictures
...and in action at Knockhill
...and he sent copies of some documents that really got me interested so we agreed a deal. I dropped him a deposit and agreed to make the trip up to collect the car. The car being in Glasgow and me being based near the South Coast in West Sussex made this no mean feat.
Since then I've obsessed over the weight of numerous cars. My most notable builds on various forums being a Mk1 (NA) MX5 that ended up <900kg and recently a 270bhp, HPE K20 swapped S1 Elise that was <700kg.
So it was likely that at some point I'd end up with a seven or similar and most likely, just because I like the aesthetics of them, a Caterham.
I first test drove one in 2016. I went to Sevens & Classics as I liked the look of an R300 that they had for sale. I took the car out and was incredibly underwhelmed. So I tried an R400 spec car that they had. Same dice. They had an R500(K) in stock, fitted with a Quaife sequential. I had a go in that and whilst it was quicker, it didn't match my Elise and the gearbox was really crude and no fun on the road. So I parked the Caterham idea for a while.
That is until in November last year, a friend up in Scotland dropped me a message to say that he'd heard of a Caterham coming on to the market that might be a spec that would interest me. This is what he sent me:
Caterham Superlight R No.29 1998. Factory build. 33k miles. Matching engine/ chassis numbers. Full history including all invoices and MOT’s from new.
Drivetrain:
1.8 VHPD Dry sump engine with Jenvey throttle bodies, Emerald ECU and cam verniers. Original VHPD ECU and throttle bodies go with the car. 6 speed Caterham Gearbox and LSD differential.
Exterior:
Full weather protection including brand new heated screen. Tonneau, carbon wings, carbon nose cone. MSA Roll bar, Aero fuel cap. Additional Tillet carbon flyscreen and Tillet carbon side doors go with the car.
Interior:
Tillet composite seats with 5 point Caterham harnesses. Momo quick release suede steering wheel. Carbon dashboard with start button, change-up light, 12 volt accessory plug and tunnel storage pockets. Electrical cut-off switch and factory plumbed fire extinguisher system.
Wheels suspension and brakes:
M. Barnaby 3 piece alloys 6” front 8” Rear. Proxes 888 tyres. Bilstein shocks all round. Caterham AP big brake kit with Pagid blue pads. Adjustable f/r balance master cylinder. Spare set of standard Caterham wheels with new Yokohama A201R tyres go with car.
General:
The car is in excellent condition. I have owned the car for five years/8k miles and am only selling due to my advancing years! The car is very tractable due to the well set up Jenvey/Emerald arrangement. The car has had no accidents and has original paint. The previous owner fully stripped and rebuilt/renewed the gearbox/suspension. When I purchased the car I replaced the head gasket, uprated the oil rail assembly and replaced the radiator and all coolant hoses.
If I was going to give a Caterham a try, I wanted a K series one. I also had decided that a VHPD was about as far as I wanted the engine to be stretched. I think it's sort of the sweet-spot for a K before you get into longevity issues that higher RPMs and greater specific output seems to bring. Other things I wanted were dry-sump, LSD, MBs and 6 speed. I also wanted lowered floors but I guess you can't have everything.
So I contacted the owner, had a chat, and he sent over some pictures
...and in action at Knockhill
...and he sent copies of some documents that really got me interested so we agreed a deal. I dropped him a deposit and agreed to make the trip up to collect the car. The car being in Glasgow and me being based near the South Coast in West Sussex made this no mean feat.
Edited by 573 on Monday 29th January 18:55
Part of the problem with collecting the car was that it came with quite a few spares. These are pictures the seller sent me ahead of making the trip to Scotland.
Carbon aero screen and carbon mirrors
Caterham 8 spokes.
Carbon half-doors
Original ITBs
There were also boxes and boxes of spare parts and other things that he didn't photograph. So I arranged to drive up the country, drop off an Elise that I'd sold to someone in the Midlands, meet my Dad who lives in Manchester and get a lift to Glasgow with him so that he could transport the spares back down South. Simple.
Carbon aero screen and carbon mirrors
Caterham 8 spokes.
Carbon half-doors
Original ITBs
There were also boxes and boxes of spare parts and other things that he didn't photograph. So I arranged to drive up the country, drop off an Elise that I'd sold to someone in the Midlands, meet my Dad who lives in Manchester and get a lift to Glasgow with him so that he could transport the spares back down South. Simple.
One of the documents the owner sent me that got me interested in the car was the original sales invoice. I've blurred some details, but I was interested to see that the car had originally been purchased by a Mr Cleverley, at an address very close to me.
The person was a director of a large coachworks in the area, on the site that later became Mole Valley TVR. Some research showed that the proprietors had retired some years back and had closed the business down. Some more research led me to find that the two main directors had ordered a pair of matching Superlight Rs, both in fluorescent yellow. My car was initially registered with the numberplate '14 S' the other one, I can't be sure but some things I've read lead me to believe it was registered with '15 JET'. I've found accounts from other Caterham club member at the time discussing the two matching cars turning up to Caterham get-togethers at the time.
Previously the 0-100-0 record holding JPE was painted in a similar scheme, but to date, these are the last Caterhams to leave the factory in flourescent yellow. Unfortunately it appears that the 'sister car' has since been written off too.
The person was a director of a large coachworks in the area, on the site that later became Mole Valley TVR. Some research showed that the proprietors had retired some years back and had closed the business down. Some more research led me to find that the two main directors had ordered a pair of matching Superlight Rs, both in fluorescent yellow. My car was initially registered with the numberplate '14 S' the other one, I can't be sure but some things I've read lead me to believe it was registered with '15 JET'. I've found accounts from other Caterham club member at the time discussing the two matching cars turning up to Caterham get-togethers at the time.
Previously the 0-100-0 record holding JPE was painted in a similar scheme, but to date, these are the last Caterhams to leave the factory in flourescent yellow. Unfortunately it appears that the 'sister car' has since been written off too.
Edited by 573 on Monday 29th January 19:58
Edited by 573 on Wednesday 4th July 15:49
In the history there's a print out from when the car was for sale for the first time as a used car. It's from the Caterham used car website in February 2002. This shows the plate at the time as '14 S'.
I like the hand-written notes on the page too which tally with some Lotus Seven Clubs forum entries I found with a chap called Dino Ferrana contemplating buying the car. As you can see from his notes he was also contemplating a plate to go on the car, D10 NOS. The history shows that he bought the car, and the plate and the car wore that until it was next sold.
The next owner was up in Scotland, a Mr Philip Imperiale who put his plate on the car - YHP 375. He also changed the seats from the comfort spec leather armchairs to the Tillets, removed the factory fitted heater using the correct Caterham sourced panel and also swapped the rear arch stone guards from aluminium to carbon. I assume he also submitted it to the Caterham Register as it's his plate you can JUST about make out on the car's picture on there:
http://www.thecaterhamregister.net/superlight%20Rs...
I like the hand-written notes on the page too which tally with some Lotus Seven Clubs forum entries I found with a chap called Dino Ferrana contemplating buying the car. As you can see from his notes he was also contemplating a plate to go on the car, D10 NOS. The history shows that he bought the car, and the plate and the car wore that until it was next sold.
The next owner was up in Scotland, a Mr Philip Imperiale who put his plate on the car - YHP 375. He also changed the seats from the comfort spec leather armchairs to the Tillets, removed the factory fitted heater using the correct Caterham sourced panel and also swapped the rear arch stone guards from aluminium to carbon. I assume he also submitted it to the Caterham Register as it's his plate you can JUST about make out on the car's picture on there:
http://www.thecaterhamregister.net/superlight%20Rs...
Edited by 573 on Monday 29th January 20:00
For interest, here's a link to the thread in 2002 discussing the cars for sale on Blatchat: https://www.lotus7.club/forum/chitchat/2-dayglo-su...
I'm not a member on there so can't reply. I may join but it seems to cost £50 just to be able to post on the forum.
I'm not a member on there so can't reply. I may join but it seems to cost £50 just to be able to post on the forum.
I found these pictures that Philip Imperiale posted on Drivetribe: https://drivetribe.com/u/-xB1rBfnQLufTOfFJ69epw?ii...
The next owner, also in Scotland was a chap called Alan Gourley. I understand that Alan is / was an engineer for Honda. He stripped the car and restored areas that were starting to show signs of age. From the condition that the car is in now he obviously did a very thorough job.
He also did a good job of documenting his work in a thread on Scottish Elises: https://www.scottishelises.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php...
Alan's photobucket: http://s647.photobucket.com/user/Gourlay83/library...
He also did a good job of documenting his work in a thread on Scottish Elises: https://www.scottishelises.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php...
Alan's photobucket: http://s647.photobucket.com/user/Gourlay83/library...
...and Alan sold the car to a chap called Frank Donaghy. Frank had it 5 years, and it shared space with numerous Lotuses and it seems lots of motorbikes. I think Frank had raced bikes when younger but now found that he felt in his advancing years he wanted to let a few of his toys go.
So, back to where the story started. I agreed to buy the car from Frank and made my way up the country to Glasgow.
Frank was an absolute gent, and I spent a few hours there while he took me out for a drive, through the history of the car and showed me all of the spares.
Eventually, I got strapped in and started the almost 500mile journey home. First impressions, you need to be really careful how you drive the car as it draws an unbelievable amount of attention. I really underestimated just how daft a fluorescent yellow Caterham would look in reality and how much people would gawp at it. 100% positive reactions though and really hard to drive on the motorway as people pulled alongside but didn't overtake. I'd look over and either parents have slowed down and kids were waving and smiling at me or someone would be pointing a camera phone.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that it drove really well and was surprised that it felt quite quick. I think a part of that compared to the ones I'd test-driven previously is in part down to the difference of having just me in the car compared to having a salesman in the passenger seat alongside you. That additional weight is obviously a large percentage in a car like this. The other thing, is that the engine is incredibly flexible. It's the sweetest K-series i've driven and I think a large part of that is just how well it's set up. The cams have been timed properly with verniers and it's obviously been mapped really well. It's incredibly tractable and will pull from modest revs even in 6th. In low gears, with the low final drive and the short ratios of the 6 speed box the shift-light flashes, select next gear accompanied with a crack and often a flame from the exhaust and it seems to be flashing again. It sounds EPIC for a 4-pot engine, it's easily the best sounding 4-pot I’ve ever owned. Exhaust and induction are probably too loud for track though. Flames and crackles on the over-run are ridiculous too and appeal to the child in me.
To prove I collected it from Scotland, here's a picture of it with some Highland Cattle.
...and this is at the first fill-up of many somewhere North of the Border. This shows off some of the things I didn't like and wanted to address soon into ownership: the stick-on front plate, rear plate with flag, Scottish Ducati ownersclub stickers and a random Akropovic sticker next to the exhaust. It also shows how the paint is a) f*cking mental in reality and b) really strangely faded different amounts on different parts of the car.
This is the view I shivered through, despite 3 coats, for hours on end. It turns out that a Caterham with no heater and without a roof is quite cold at motorway speeds in late November.
I called it a night at my parents in Manchester and stuck it on their drive, retiring inside for a beer.
The next day I continued the drive and finally made it home. I bring lots of cars back and normally I get no interest from anyone in the family at all. This time they all ran out to see the car and I got lots of enthusiasm from the kids. My youngest called shotgun and blagged the first ride, being particularly pleased that she had matching ear-defenders.
So, back to where the story started. I agreed to buy the car from Frank and made my way up the country to Glasgow.
Frank was an absolute gent, and I spent a few hours there while he took me out for a drive, through the history of the car and showed me all of the spares.
Eventually, I got strapped in and started the almost 500mile journey home. First impressions, you need to be really careful how you drive the car as it draws an unbelievable amount of attention. I really underestimated just how daft a fluorescent yellow Caterham would look in reality and how much people would gawp at it. 100% positive reactions though and really hard to drive on the motorway as people pulled alongside but didn't overtake. I'd look over and either parents have slowed down and kids were waving and smiling at me or someone would be pointing a camera phone.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that it drove really well and was surprised that it felt quite quick. I think a part of that compared to the ones I'd test-driven previously is in part down to the difference of having just me in the car compared to having a salesman in the passenger seat alongside you. That additional weight is obviously a large percentage in a car like this. The other thing, is that the engine is incredibly flexible. It's the sweetest K-series i've driven and I think a large part of that is just how well it's set up. The cams have been timed properly with verniers and it's obviously been mapped really well. It's incredibly tractable and will pull from modest revs even in 6th. In low gears, with the low final drive and the short ratios of the 6 speed box the shift-light flashes, select next gear accompanied with a crack and often a flame from the exhaust and it seems to be flashing again. It sounds EPIC for a 4-pot engine, it's easily the best sounding 4-pot I’ve ever owned. Exhaust and induction are probably too loud for track though. Flames and crackles on the over-run are ridiculous too and appeal to the child in me.
To prove I collected it from Scotland, here's a picture of it with some Highland Cattle.
...and this is at the first fill-up of many somewhere North of the Border. This shows off some of the things I didn't like and wanted to address soon into ownership: the stick-on front plate, rear plate with flag, Scottish Ducati ownersclub stickers and a random Akropovic sticker next to the exhaust. It also shows how the paint is a) f*cking mental in reality and b) really strangely faded different amounts on different parts of the car.
This is the view I shivered through, despite 3 coats, for hours on end. It turns out that a Caterham with no heater and without a roof is quite cold at motorway speeds in late November.
I called it a night at my parents in Manchester and stuck it on their drive, retiring inside for a beer.
The next day I continued the drive and finally made it home. I bring lots of cars back and normally I get no interest from anyone in the family at all. This time they all ran out to see the car and I got lots of enthusiasm from the kids. My youngest called shotgun and blagged the first ride, being particularly pleased that she had matching ear-defenders.
So back home, first things first. If anyone's read any of my previous threads on other forums it'll be no surprise that I'm more than a little OCD with my cars. So to start I peeled off all the previous owner's stickers and removed the numberplates.
The rear plate was covering loads of old sticky pads that took ages to remove. Once I did, it revealed a history of the numberplates it's worn via the extent of progressively less faded areas.
As documented above, I have a list of the plates it's worn in the history and it's had a few short ones. As you can see from the fading and the placing of those rivnuts it had the shorty plate (14 S) early in it's life, then a larger plate (D10 NOS) that the owner drilled into the body to fit rivnuts for
.
I have an appropriate numberplate that I'm going to put on the car, but for now I fitted a new plain plate with Irish font just to tidy things up. The font I chose is the legal Irish font which is a cleaner type then the UK one. It has perpendicular ends to the letter formations so it looks neater than the UK one. I told you I was a bit OCD... This pic also shows the faded area on the back compared to the small circle of slightly less faded paint under the Superlight R badge. This is from where I peeled off the Ducati owners' club sticker.
For the front I drilled a 3/4 sized plate to match 2 rivnuts that were already in the nosecone.
However, it looks miles better without IMO, so I'll probably not use one.
I then just gave it a quick look over. Its really useful being able to take the engine cover and nose off so easily.
I popped the airfilter off to try my Reverie carbon box on, that I have from the K20 Elise. Removing the filter revealed the carbonfibre induction horns.
The rear plate was covering loads of old sticky pads that took ages to remove. Once I did, it revealed a history of the numberplates it's worn via the extent of progressively less faded areas.
As documented above, I have a list of the plates it's worn in the history and it's had a few short ones. As you can see from the fading and the placing of those rivnuts it had the shorty plate (14 S) early in it's life, then a larger plate (D10 NOS) that the owner drilled into the body to fit rivnuts for
. I have an appropriate numberplate that I'm going to put on the car, but for now I fitted a new plain plate with Irish font just to tidy things up. The font I chose is the legal Irish font which is a cleaner type then the UK one. It has perpendicular ends to the letter formations so it looks neater than the UK one. I told you I was a bit OCD... This pic also shows the faded area on the back compared to the small circle of slightly less faded paint under the Superlight R badge. This is from where I peeled off the Ducati owners' club sticker.
For the front I drilled a 3/4 sized plate to match 2 rivnuts that were already in the nosecone.
However, it looks miles better without IMO, so I'll probably not use one.
I then just gave it a quick look over. Its really useful being able to take the engine cover and nose off so easily.
I popped the airfilter off to try my Reverie carbon box on, that I have from the K20 Elise. Removing the filter revealed the carbonfibre induction horns.
So first day with the car down here after it's lived up in Scotland for years I decided to take my wife out for lunch in it.
You'll remember if you've been reading carefully that I said the car was purchased by a Mr Cleverly. His business partner and the chap that owned the 'matching' car was a gent called David Trolley.
Anyway, we're in the carpark after lunch, I'm sat in the Caterham and this chap with his wife walk over.
"You wouldn't believe it, but I used to have one of these, exactly the same colour".
"Your name isn't Mr Cleverley is it?"
"Ha, no, I'm David Trolley".
So by complete coincidence, on the very first outing in the car on the first time it's been back in the area for 18 years or so I met the man that had the sister car. I've got his phone number so I'm going to arrange to head over there. He used to do trackdays in it and says he has loads of pictures. Will hopefully be pleasant weather and I can take the gent out in it. Would be cool if he still knows the original owner of mine. Would be great to meet up with him.
You'll remember if you've been reading carefully that I said the car was purchased by a Mr Cleverly. His business partner and the chap that owned the 'matching' car was a gent called David Trolley.
Anyway, we're in the carpark after lunch, I'm sat in the Caterham and this chap with his wife walk over.
"You wouldn't believe it, but I used to have one of these, exactly the same colour".
"Your name isn't Mr Cleverley is it?"
"Ha, no, I'm David Trolley".
So by complete coincidence, on the very first outing in the car on the first time it's been back in the area for 18 years or so I met the man that had the sister car. I've got his phone number so I'm going to arrange to head over there. He used to do trackdays in it and says he has loads of pictures. Will hopefully be pleasant weather and I can take the gent out in it. Would be cool if he still knows the original owner of mine. Would be great to meet up with him.
Edited by 573 on Wednesday 4th July 15:57
Thanks for the feedback and interest all.
I'm not sure any other video is so representative of its time.
Ollie C said:
Absolutely awesome. My favourite colour too. Puts me in mind of the one of the first videos I watched on YouTube.
https://youtu.be/830avqyeTDs
I love this one for a slice of retro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQAWL4_TO4Ehttps://youtu.be/830avqyeTDs
I'm not sure any other video is so representative of its time.
With work, family, other commitments and the weather the Caterham spent most of December in the garage. However I took it out over the Xmas break to blow the cobwebs out. The road was damp and temperature was hovering just above freezing so it was quite hard work, but rewarding. It seems very easy to steer on the throttle, but I guess that's no revelation, it's kind of their raison d'etre.
At this time of the year, it's actually not that enjoyable and I've not really been that bothered about getting it out of the garage to freeze my c*ck off in it. I'm hoping when it's tidied up nicely and I've got the aeroscreen on in the summer I'll enjoy it more. Obviously I want to get it on track and see what that's like. As an event, it's very engaging; the noises, smells and feedback is all sensory overload. I imagine on the right road on the right day, it'll be great, I can just imagine those moments being few and far between.
It kind of doesn't feel like a car either if that makes sense. My Elises were cars. This feels more just like having a new different toy like I imagine I'd feel if it was a motorbike. I choose to take it out to do 'Caterham-ing' whereas other fun cars I've had I've taken out because I wanted a drive or wanted to go somewhere.
As an example, in the photo above I'd fitted the front numberplate as the following day was the Pistonheads Sunday Service at Goodwood and I know the police often attend the feeding roads. My alarm went off on the Sunday, but the thought of going out in the Caterham and freezing really turned me off. Instead I stuck my cycling gear on and went out for a ride, my perception being that I wouldn't be as cold.
At this time of the year, it's actually not that enjoyable and I've not really been that bothered about getting it out of the garage to freeze my c*ck off in it. I'm hoping when it's tidied up nicely and I've got the aeroscreen on in the summer I'll enjoy it more. Obviously I want to get it on track and see what that's like. As an event, it's very engaging; the noises, smells and feedback is all sensory overload. I imagine on the right road on the right day, it'll be great, I can just imagine those moments being few and far between.
It kind of doesn't feel like a car either if that makes sense. My Elises were cars. This feels more just like having a new different toy like I imagine I'd feel if it was a motorbike. I choose to take it out to do 'Caterham-ing' whereas other fun cars I've had I've taken out because I wanted a drive or wanted to go somewhere.
As an example, in the photo above I'd fitted the front numberplate as the following day was the Pistonheads Sunday Service at Goodwood and I know the police often attend the feeding roads. My alarm went off on the Sunday, but the thought of going out in the Caterham and freezing really turned me off. Instead I stuck my cycling gear on and went out for a ride, my perception being that I wouldn't be as cold.
Edited by 573 on Wednesday 11th April 18:22
Leaving December, I was feeling a bit down on the car. This was compounded, in fact, probably mainly contributed to, by me very annoyingly denting the rear panel. I was manoeuvering it on my driveway in the dark, and seconds after explaining to my eldest son, who was in the passenger seat, that I couldn't see anything behind us in the tiny mirrors and with the lights at the front of the house out of action, I reversed into one of my other cars.
I'd always intended to get the car completely repainted to bring the paintwork up to scratch. The fluoro paint has a tendency to fade in UV as evidenced by the various parts of the car that have been in shade being much brighter than the more exposed areas. I decided to turn this negative around and to bring the re-spray forwards.
So I've spoken to Arch and it's going to go into them for them to fit a new rear panel. I'm also hopefully going to get a tour of the place at the same time.
For those that don't know, the imperial chassis (like what this is) were handbuilt and brazed together for Caterham by a company called Arch. They still do work for Caterham, building some of their non-standard chassis and also do work for other interesting and niche manufacturers and bespoke high-end chassis builds and motorsport applications. Unfortunately the newer metric chassis are no longer brazed together and instead have generally quite messy welds. I guess that's progress and chasing a bigger profit margin. My chassis is stamped with an Arch build number telling me it was put together by hand on their No.2 jig. They will have also hand shaped and fitted the aluminium body panels when the car was first built.
I then started trying to get a painter organised. A Caterham is not a large car and the bits of bodywork that actually get painted are even smaller, especially on a car like mine with carbon wings. So I was quite surprised to get one quote for £6k to paint it! It turns out that bodyshop was quoting the correct Glasurit fluoro paint at £240 / litre, but even so...
Anyway after more research I phoned TSK. TSK are the bodyshop that painted the cars for Caterham. As part of its original construction it would have gone from Arch to TSK for paint. TSK were incredibly helpful and the price was much more realistic. Not only that, but I love the thought of it essentially going back to the 'factory paintshop'.
I'm happy with the fact it's going back to the factory suppliers and should be at least as good as new when done.
I'd always intended to get the car completely repainted to bring the paintwork up to scratch. The fluoro paint has a tendency to fade in UV as evidenced by the various parts of the car that have been in shade being much brighter than the more exposed areas. I decided to turn this negative around and to bring the re-spray forwards.
So I've spoken to Arch and it's going to go into them for them to fit a new rear panel. I'm also hopefully going to get a tour of the place at the same time.
For those that don't know, the imperial chassis (like what this is) were handbuilt and brazed together for Caterham by a company called Arch. They still do work for Caterham, building some of their non-standard chassis and also do work for other interesting and niche manufacturers and bespoke high-end chassis builds and motorsport applications. Unfortunately the newer metric chassis are no longer brazed together and instead have generally quite messy welds. I guess that's progress and chasing a bigger profit margin. My chassis is stamped with an Arch build number telling me it was put together by hand on their No.2 jig. They will have also hand shaped and fitted the aluminium body panels when the car was first built.
I then started trying to get a painter organised. A Caterham is not a large car and the bits of bodywork that actually get painted are even smaller, especially on a car like mine with carbon wings. So I was quite surprised to get one quote for £6k to paint it! It turns out that bodyshop was quoting the correct Glasurit fluoro paint at £240 / litre, but even so...
Anyway after more research I phoned TSK. TSK are the bodyshop that painted the cars for Caterham. As part of its original construction it would have gone from Arch to TSK for paint. TSK were incredibly helpful and the price was much more realistic. Not only that, but I love the thought of it essentially going back to the 'factory paintshop'.
I'm happy with the fact it's going back to the factory suppliers and should be at least as good as new when done.
Then, a few weeks ago, I finally clicked with the Superlight R. I had what was probably my first 'proper' drive in it since getting it, most other times I've been taking a passenger out to show them it. That day, I was on my own, the road was dry and had a few degrees of heat on it and I just got into the zone.
Conclusion: It. Is. Mental.
I now can't wait to get it stripped for paint, get it done, get it back and get some weekend trips and trackdays booked.
Conclusion: It. Is. Mental.
I now can't wait to get it stripped for paint, get it done, get it back and get some weekend trips and trackdays booked.
Edited by 573 on Tuesday 30th January 10:53
Edited by 573 on Wednesday 11th April 18:24
I got in from work a few nights ago and felt like I needed to unwind, so I decided to take the Caterham out for a blast.
I ended up over near Shoreham which I know from previous use has a public weighbridge. I don't think it's particularly accurate and its resolution is 10kg as it's meant for weighing HGVs, so it's use is potentially questionable. However I've weighed previous trackcars on there to get a rough figure and also have some other measurements that i can compare this one too.
So, I rolled it over the plate and it told me that it weighed:
260 Fr
280 Rr
540kg Total
My target weight is <500kg. Ideally I'll meet the weight Caterham quoted in the SLR brochure which IIRC was 490kg.
I'm relatively happy with the weight it showed though as the car had the full screen on, doors and I'd forgotten I had the full tonneau cover and some spares in the boot.
What I didn't have, unfortunately was much fuel, as I found out half way between the weighbridge and the seafront at Brighton when it spluttered and conked out. I knew the gauge was iffy, but was told by the guy I bought it off to use the trip counter and fill up after about 220 miles. The trip counter had ~110 on so, meh. I guess I didn't fill it fully last time. It's hard to judge as the filler is restrictive and cuts off easily.
I took the walk of shame down Dyke Rd, bought a can, filled it up and walked back. Annoyingly by then the battery was flat and it wouldn't start. I got a jump start and it fired to life. The kind chap that had helped me leapt back in his car, waved and drove off just as it cut out again. To cut a long story short, it didn't seem to have enough voltage to the ECU to fire again, even with a push start. A friend came out and we jumped it with his leads, but it would only drive a few miles between jumps before cutting out, pointing to the alternator being at fault. After a jump-start every few miles we finally relayed it back home and into the garage. A new alternator is now on my list of things to sort out.
I ended up over near Shoreham which I know from previous use has a public weighbridge. I don't think it's particularly accurate and its resolution is 10kg as it's meant for weighing HGVs, so it's use is potentially questionable. However I've weighed previous trackcars on there to get a rough figure and also have some other measurements that i can compare this one too.
So, I rolled it over the plate and it told me that it weighed:
260 Fr
280 Rr
540kg Total
My target weight is <500kg. Ideally I'll meet the weight Caterham quoted in the SLR brochure which IIRC was 490kg.
I'm relatively happy with the weight it showed though as the car had the full screen on, doors and I'd forgotten I had the full tonneau cover and some spares in the boot.
What I didn't have, unfortunately was much fuel, as I found out half way between the weighbridge and the seafront at Brighton when it spluttered and conked out. I knew the gauge was iffy, but was told by the guy I bought it off to use the trip counter and fill up after about 220 miles. The trip counter had ~110 on so, meh. I guess I didn't fill it fully last time. It's hard to judge as the filler is restrictive and cuts off easily.
I took the walk of shame down Dyke Rd, bought a can, filled it up and walked back. Annoyingly by then the battery was flat and it wouldn't start. I got a jump start and it fired to life. The kind chap that had helped me leapt back in his car, waved and drove off just as it cut out again. To cut a long story short, it didn't seem to have enough voltage to the ECU to fire again, even with a push start. A friend came out and we jumped it with his leads, but it would only drive a few miles between jumps before cutting out, pointing to the alternator being at fault. After a jump-start every few miles we finally relayed it back home and into the garage. A new alternator is now on my list of things to sort out.
Any part that needs replacing is always an opportunity to upgrade and especially an opportunity to look at options to lose weight.
Initial searches led me to a Brise alternator that seemed to be ~3kg compared to the ~5kg of the original. The Brise unit was £300. More searching unearthed that the Brise unit is made by Nippon Denso and is used on numerous things including Kubota tractors and Daihatsu hatchbacks. These seem to retail for around £99. Better than that, I know Dan Webster who runs HPE http://www.hpeauto.co.uk (the people that put the K20 in the back of my Elise) and he thought he had one of the Denso units in his workshop. Sure enough he did, and he stuck it in the post for me free of charge.
I then tracked down a guy in Austria, under the name of 'Carlos Racing' who makes lightweight mounts and tensioners in order to fit the Denso unit to the K series. Buying from him couldn't have been easier; getting the parts to me proved much harder. The parts made it across Europe and as far as my local distribution centre. I then tracked them onto a van where they then reported the address was incomplete. Despite me contacting them numerous times, they held them for a week and then lost them. Amazingly, the seller, who is a man knocking these out for fun, not a large commercial enterprise, stuck me another set in the post on overnight TNT.
Weight for original bits:
Alternator: 4848g
Pulley: 192g
Mount and tensioner: 1193g
Total 6.23kg
New smaller Denso alternator and lighter pulley:
@2997g
New mount and tensioner:
@547g
Total 3.54kg, which is a loss of: 2.69kg
It's a much better design, simpler to adjust and is now further from the 4th primary too.
Initial searches led me to a Brise alternator that seemed to be ~3kg compared to the ~5kg of the original. The Brise unit was £300. More searching unearthed that the Brise unit is made by Nippon Denso and is used on numerous things including Kubota tractors and Daihatsu hatchbacks. These seem to retail for around £99. Better than that, I know Dan Webster who runs HPE http://www.hpeauto.co.uk (the people that put the K20 in the back of my Elise) and he thought he had one of the Denso units in his workshop. Sure enough he did, and he stuck it in the post for me free of charge.
I then tracked down a guy in Austria, under the name of 'Carlos Racing' who makes lightweight mounts and tensioners in order to fit the Denso unit to the K series. Buying from him couldn't have been easier; getting the parts to me proved much harder. The parts made it across Europe and as far as my local distribution centre. I then tracked them onto a van where they then reported the address was incomplete. Despite me contacting them numerous times, they held them for a week and then lost them. Amazingly, the seller, who is a man knocking these out for fun, not a large commercial enterprise, stuck me another set in the post on overnight TNT.
Weight for original bits:
Alternator: 4848g
Pulley: 192g
Mount and tensioner: 1193g
Total 6.23kg
New smaller Denso alternator and lighter pulley:
@2997g
New mount and tensioner:
@547g
Total 3.54kg, which is a loss of: 2.69kg
It's a much better design, simpler to adjust and is now further from the 4th primary too.
Edited by 573 on Monday 5th February 18:58
Considering the weight for a second, so far I've removed the following since I rolled it over the weighbridge and got a figure of 540kg:
Alternator and mount - 2.69
Extinguisher - 3.8
...and from the boot:
Tonneau cover - 2.0
Spares (accelerator cable, clutch cable and exhaust rubber) - 0.47
For a total reduction of 8.96kg.
Based on the rough figure the weighbridge gave me this means total weight should now be ~ 531.04kg
I've started a spreadsheet
of other stuff I've already done and not documented here plus other stuff I plan to do and I can see how I can get it to ~508.5kg 'quite easily'. The <500 goal and certainly the Caterham brochure figure of 490kg are going to take some thought though.
I'll also be putting it on the scales at PGM soon to get a more accurate weight to work from.
Alternator and mount - 2.69
Extinguisher - 3.8
...and from the boot:
Tonneau cover - 2.0
Spares (accelerator cable, clutch cable and exhaust rubber) - 0.47
For a total reduction of 8.96kg.
Based on the rough figure the weighbridge gave me this means total weight should now be ~ 531.04kg
I've started a spreadsheet
of other stuff I've already done and not documented here plus other stuff I plan to do and I can see how I can get it to ~508.5kg 'quite easily'. The <500 goal and certainly the Caterham brochure figure of 490kg are going to take some thought though. I'll also be putting it on the scales at PGM soon to get a more accurate weight to work from.
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