Build thread: Caterham 1.6

[trix]

this will be a very slow and steady thing (thank you caterham parts for not having stuff in stock) but it thought it would be good to track the progress of my new toy from its journey of being in a friends garage for 2+ years not doing anything to whatever it ends up as with me, the intention being a weekend car, do a few track days & some summer commuting in it

History
its a 1999 car built by an employee of the caterham factory (they can buy them at special rates, build them and then sell them at 1000 miles or 12 months), my friend bought it and ran it as a weekend car and at points a daily driver until 2009/10 when it put a hole in the radiator shortly before its mot so it got taken off the road the radiator got fixed eventually but never quite got mot'd until I got it in may this year. it initially failed the mot on a front damper and ball joint gaiter so they were replaced and it sailed through. at the time the other side had siezed & needs cutting out so couldn't be changed as a pair, that side will be finished off when a wishbone comes into stock .

I think its a roadsport model, its fitted with a 1.6 K series engine with a de dion rear axle set up

first pic (after initial wash)


Main Plans
refurb the wheels (over winter)
replace headlights
replace/fix rear wheel arches
engine tune up
touch up/respray paintwork

First bits
first off I started on the little cosmetic bits;
- it got washed, it did look green when i got it but let me tell you there were several buckets of black black water coming off it (& thats just the top side)!
- took some megs metal polish to all the metal work which badly needed it, its brought up the exhaust guard fairly well considering but there is still a long way to go on that & the windscreen surround
- cleaned up the roof, doors and boot cover with trim cleaner
- got some new wing mirrors, the old ones didn't take too kindly to being removed and sheared in several places


I also thought about possibly having a draft excluder type arrangement behind the seats but object to paying £50 for the 'official' one so have put together my own version so see how it goes using a £5 rear window sun shade which just happened to fit the roll bar perfectly


i've also bought a motorcycle tax disk holder to use on it (safer than having it on the windscreen) but can't mount it till I free off some of the windscreen screws, and a high level brake light which means taking the wheel off & finding the wiring loom to plug it into.

[Ian_Mac]

Wow, lovely little project there.

Try some http://www.lakeland.co.uk/8868/Bar-Keep ... tAodVly98w on your metal work - cheap as chips but does a cracking job, Tesco and the like also sell it.

[Kev]

Awesome

.....still think it needs a yellow/gold stripe down the bonnet though

[scottyroc]

Nice project

[trix]

well this week.. i've had droopy wing mirrors as soon as I got one in the right place it drooped the next time I drove anywhere, got a wave from another caterham (& a scirocco maq) & today had a few small children slack jawed in aww as I drove by.

new headlights are on order along with new radiator hoses to replace the very dubious looking originals & a few other bits, i'm starting with the small stuff gradually freeing off/replacing & including copious amounts of copper grease.

Ian, I actually found some bar keepers friend in the cupboard the other day, I borrowed it off my mum at some point & never returned it, will put it to work this weekend.

Kev, no it is not having any yellow/gold on it

& any wash water is still coming off black lol

[Ryy]

Very nice - I'm sure my hayfever wouldn't let me enjoy such a car!

[trix]

well the bits arrived
new vs old


radiator hoses to be installed at a later date


new grill behind the 7 to protect the radiator (the 7 will be getting painted at some point, I might consider doing just that bit yellow..)


& todays job, a high level brake light, installed and working (first time), so people can actually see me. sorry about the rubbish pic


& thanks caterham for the masses of mint green packing foam that came with the bits from them ?

[trix]

freshly painted '7'


new hoses fitted, just in the nick of time looking at some of the old ones
it was a painful job though!!



new headlights fitted and dodgy wiring fixed


the wishbone i was waiting on has also arrived and been fitted so the front suspension is now all new and most importantly equal, also the brake fluid got changed as I'm not sure how old it is soooo....



I took it on track at snetterton for a novice day purely to make sure the brakes were working properly and get the rust off the disks you understand
I wasn't the fastest but felt I held my own in the corners, I was just lacking on the top speed in the straights (not for want of trying). A big thank you obviously goes to Mike P for taking me out as a passenger in his track beast(s) which meant I was improving my lines rather than learning them, definitely need some guidance as the tyres were only just warm when I came in the car certainly behaved though and had no cooling or other issues

[Kev]

It's looking 10x better than it was in the first pic.

Some lovely new bits and some elbow grease and it's coming on a treat.

What's next?

[trix]

Thanks Kev
Next jobs will be when it comes off the road for the winter is definitely get the wheels done, try to free off the rear suspension, remove all suspension bits front & back to clean them up & paint them.
If the bank balance will stretch far enough I'm going to get the tub & nosecone seen to & painted then to replace the wheel arches all round but will have to see on that

[wigit]

Looking good big thumbs up from me

[trix]

with the snow things have been going a little slowly; next stage, the minators have gone anthracite, great job done by Aerocoat & very quick turn round too. just need to decide what to do with the wheel centres.




should get a chance to fix the oil pressure gauge, service it and finishing freeing off the front suspension (& paint) at the end of this month.
first planned outing for the year is likely to be april

[Deacon]

Liking the anthracite a lot! What are you thinking with the centres?

[trix]

either leave as is (silver) or try to colour match them, they're plastic so worried about the paint lasting on them

i've got new wheel nuts to go on which will be brighter silver than the current rusty ones

[Kev]

Looking great

[Kev]

I'll just leave that there as a little idea for you

[trix]

no kev, just no.

brief update, we now have accurate oil pressure!! it had an electric gauge before which sometimes read, sometimes didn't, sometimes was all over the place. the wire had severed itself completely but after fixing still wasn't reading right (they are notoriously awful & now i've had the gauge out of the dash can see its been replaced on this car before) so i've fitted a mechanical unit & all good.

[Ryy]

Right idea, wrong team. looooool.

[trix]

& so sooner than planned due to opportunities the caterham went to its new home last weekend, a very enthusiastic young chap from Belgium who has had one before and was trying to get back to it. He drove it the whole way back & it didn't miss a beat His intention is to do everything to it that I was going to and register it in Belgium.

It has reminded me that I don't like selling cars but it was a lot more painless than I guess it could have been; 1 offer of a motobike in part ex, 1 accepted offer that never materialised into a deposit, and 3 overseas enquiries leading to 1 caterham expert viewing. & having been honest in the advert regarding bits that needed doing some people still expected an immaculate low mileage example for a lot less than all the other immaculate examples currently for sale, madness, oh to have been able to set the rottweiler on them

& so the reason I have parted company with it before completion of our little project together, Max & Paddy. Paddy is a track spec mx5 I am sharing with a mate, & the main reasion Max (named as such due to the arrival time being around the same as Paddy [already named]) the 1966 classic mini who is in need of full restoration. Hes nothing overly special but will not be sold as I have always regretted selling my first classic mini & I can finally put some owners manuals found by a very good friend into use.

& the roc is definitely staying

[Kev]

Sorry to see the Caterham go but it sounds like the two replacements will give you just as much fun. Look forward to your new build topic