301 replies to this topic

[Captain Vimes]

Here's how it looks at the moment:



Choices on the rebuild....

As it needs new wings, nose cone, bonnet, scuttle and side panels with associated paint I have a choice on whether to also replace the rear panels and get the whole lot painted a new colour or retain a few old panels and try to colour match them to save some £££

The approach I'm going to take however is to save money (and 5kg) on paint AND get all the panels replaced,
I'm going for the bare Ali look of the superlight Caterhams. I'm not sure why this look isn't more popular among the race cars as paint is just cosmetic and gets easily scratched anyway... I guess I'll find out!

Here's the goal:



If all goes to plan it'll all be back in one piece and working ready for the next race at the end of April at the (new) Pembrey circuit.

[SteveA]

The basic reason people don't leave them as exposed alloy is that it is notoriously difficult to keep it looking good. It tarnishes really easily and takes a lot of work to stop it from looking scruffy. A lot of racers just vinyl wrap these day as it's cheap and easy to replace when it gets scratched.

[ChrisS1]

The basic reason people don't leave them as exposed alloy is that it is notoriously difficult to keep it looking good. It tarnishes really easily and takes a lot of work to stop it from looking scruffy. A lot of racers just vinyl wrap these day as it's cheap and easy to replace when it gets scratched.

 

Sounds like you've just volunteered

[SteveA]

Not tried on mine but I imagine the bonnet will be a real pain, the rest should be pretty straight forward. 

[chickendippers]

Plasti dip?

[Captain Vimes]

Any paint or wrap is going to get scuffed at some point in racing, especially Caterham racing where the field is so close. I'm going with the Ali approach. It's never going to see any road salt so shouldn't corrode like a road car. The worst it'll see is molten tyre and mud/grass and it will live the rest of its life in my heated integral garage. If I coat it in the same oily stuff I put on my motorbike engine (acf50/fs365/mucoff) it should be pretty resilient... I think a lot of the Caterham academy cars get painted when new as people have half an eye on selling them as a road car after the seasons racing. Mine's staying as a racer!

[rob999]

Shiny...hopefully glaring reflections won't be an issue!!

[Captain Vimes]

The Caterham is fixed!

A few pictures to tell the story of its rebuild..

[Captain Vimes]

It's also been corner weighted and the good news is that it's light. The bad news is that it's too light! With fuel on low (as per end of a race) it was just 501kg. The minimum weight is 600kg with driver and I'm around 90kg with clothes/kit so have added 10kg of lead to the passenger footwell. It feels wrong to be adding weight to such a light car!

Edited by Captain Vimes, 15 April 2017 - 10:07 PM.

[ArticMonkey]

That's a great turn around and good to see you're getting back on the horse. When's the next race?

[The Batman]

Mate gutted for you, just seen this! Had no idea! What a crash! am glad you are ok there was a few issues with that car that the 'specialist' should have picked up on when they checked it over the first time when it went to them.. its a real shame they didn't even inspect the safety parts

[Zoobeef]

Having to add weight is better than trying to loose it. You get to choose the best position for it to be!

When's the next test?

[Duncan VXR]

Good to see back and suspect better for it 😉 Option to move that weight around only a good thing as stated DG

[Captain Vimes]

Mate gutted for you, just seen this! Had no idea! What a crash! am glad you are ok there was a few issues with that car that the 'specialist' should have picked up on when they checked it over the first time when it went to them.. its a real shame they didn't even inspect the safety parts

I've been pretty disappointed with the work of that 'specialist'. Needless to say I gave it to someone else for these repairs! As the entire car was stripped and rebuilt, everything has been checked and done properly so its better than ever across every part of the car. All the little track side repairs have been sorted and it's feeling great. Next race is at Pembrey starting with testing on Friday followed by a race on both Saturday and again on Sunday. Hopefully it'll be more successful than the last attempt!

[ChrisS1]

Great to see it back together so quickly. Top job. Looking forward to seeing the updates on how you get on

[tommobot]

That looked a massive impact! Good work on the rebuild, was it literally just the chassis and bodywork damaged?

[Captain Vimes]

The impact snapped the front wishbone and pushed the wheel into the engine which damaged bits on the lhs of the engine too (alternator, exhaust manifold and system) it also pushed the engine back in the chassis which damaged the throttle body and engine mounts and squashed the rad into the Appolo oil tank... Fortunately the rear chassis and cockpit were totally unaffected so it was just the front bits that needed doing but as it was going back to arch (who make the chassis and panels for a Caterham) I decided to get all the rear panels replaced with factory fresh items. The rear panel was non OEM and had a dent - the new panels and work from Arch is on another level of quality. The whole thing went back on the jig so I can be certain that it's as good as when it left the factory in 2002. So the complete list was more like: - All body panels (side panels, bonnet, scuttle, rear panel etc) - Front chassis back to the bulkhead (quite a common thing for a Caterham) - Pedal box panels - corners of rear chassis replaced - Wheel arches and nose cone - Lhs wishbones, upright, ball joints, wing stay - Alternator - Complete exhaust system incl manifold - Oil and water pipes - Radiator - Throttle body - Wheel - sundries (belts, oil, lambda, etc) Everything apart from the exhaust was replaced with brand new parts. The bare ally is going to be a rear PITA to keep looking good (already marked it by putting a cover on the car) so will need to be painted when funds allow...

[SteveA]

The bare ally is going to be a rear PITA to keep looking good (already marked it by putting a cover on the car) so will need to be painted when funds allow...

Haha, told you so glad to see its all back together. Do you have any prices for the side and rear basket ally panels as I want to reskin mine at some point.

Edited by SteveA, 16 April 2017 - 10:37 AM.

[The Batman]

Why don't you paint it yourself? Also does this mean my lovely piece of 3 core to get your alternator to work at brands has been replaced My burn scar has gone now

[Zoobeef]

Have you spoken to the company about that pin dropping out?