1400rs_0of30 Posted February 5, 2002 Share Posted February 5, 2002 hi all, I think i'm gonna take the plunge and upgrade to 1800 k series this year, rather than trading in and getting a new superlight/R etc. Currentlky have 1400 k roadsport (130 bhp), and want to upgrade to 1800cc, am looking for around 160-180 bhp. I'm looking for the simplest and quickest method to this route, which includes no upgrade work myself. Are there places available that can supply an upgraded 1800k and fit. My budget is expected to be up to 4-5k comments? Sean The original 1400 K Series Roadsport Prototype My Caterham Website Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allegro Posted February 5, 2002 Share Posted February 5, 2002 Surely the easiest and cleanest solution would be a VHPD unit. Either straight from Caterham or Lotus. Alternatively. If you are going to spend 4-5K then sell your car and upgrade to an SLR. Bear in mind the resale and insurance problems of a heavily modified car. I'm sure a change in car is your cheapest route. Also if you go for SLR you get the Superlight goodies. IE carbon bits, wide track, 4 pot calipers, 6 speed box, LSD, FIA roll bar etc Andy Mac teeth.gif Out of Control RED SLR teeth.gif Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1400rs_0of30 Posted February 5, 2002 Author Share Posted February 5, 2002 i thought the cheapest option would have been to upgrade the components myself, heres my rationale: currently have the following spec: 1400cc roadsport 5 speed box 4 pot AP brakes Appolo tank LSD Some carbon bits nice cafr basically, just underpowered and 5 speed i'm looking for an 1800,not standard and better than SS, and a 6 speeder. The figures are as follows: I reckon i'd get 12kish if i traded in at caterham. A new SLR is 28k ish, that a 16k shortfall. I reckon i could upgrade angine and g/box for 6k ish and be happy. there's a huge difference between 6k and 16k. What do you think? Sean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allegro Posted February 5, 2002 Share Posted February 5, 2002 Have a look at used SLRs. If you have 18K to play with, that definately puts you in the ball park. But I am a little biased. Andy Mac teeth.gif Out of Control RED SLR teeth.gif Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Carmichael Posted February 5, 2002 Share Posted February 5, 2002 IME there aren't any insurance problems for a modified car. By the sounds of it you need someone who will do the work end to end and these are few and far between. If you could source any old 1.8, I reckon that the Seven Workshop is hard to beat for end to end service. Roger King could work a transformation on it to a 160+ bhp spec and Chris Wheeler could sort out the installation. Roger would also oversee a mapping session to get it set up right. There will be wiring loom issues moving from a 1.4 so it is not quite as simple as a 1.6 to 1.8 swap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murph7355 Posted February 5, 2002 Share Posted February 5, 2002 Agree with Peter on insurance. Mine's heavily modified from original and cheap to insure (relatively). However, upgrading the bits isn't necessarily cheaper. The 6spd box is 2300 or so and I don't think that's fitted (though Caterham's "specials" might incl. this). Your wheels and tyres will be different to those on an SLR, but no big deal I suppose. And there are likely to be other minor differences (Watt's linkage, all carbon bits etc). However, let's say you could flog your car for 12k, you'd only need 6k-8k for a decent used SLR. And an SLR engine is going to be more than the 3700-5700 you have left if you have to have it built for you... Power train projects (can't recall the URL, but if you search the site you'll find it I think) do off the shelf uprated K series engines from 160bhp up I think. I'm pretty sure a 190bhp spec engine is now about 6500+VAT for example... You can get an engine taken out and dropped back in again for 250 easily so you could do that if still intent on upgrading. You could get a new loom for a couple of hundred tops which would cure that one. If you can't do any of the work, I strongly recommend trading in and buying a higher spec car. If I were doing mine now it's what I would do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ward Posted February 5, 2002 Share Posted February 5, 2002 A bit of support for your upgrade rather than trade in route.... I don't know where all these good SLR's are for £18-20K - the prices must have dropped a helluva lot since I did my sums a few months ago. I decided to take my 1.6K up to "SLR + a bit more and keep it at 1700 spec" rather than trade in - maybe I'm daft but I rather liked the base car and the sums sort of worked out!! Roger King is doing the engine work for me and I'm sure you should talk to him if your serious. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Plato Posted February 6, 2002 Share Posted February 6, 2002 Sean , there was an advert in Motoring news last week - QED were selling 170bhp 1.8 k engine inc throttles and DTA management for £3500 . May just fit your needs ??? I have no connection to QED . Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murph7355 Posted February 6, 2002 Share Posted February 6, 2002 Not suggesting there are loads around. But SLRs have come up at that price. There are also plenty of other spec. cars out there in private sales for less (but not far off the power that's being sought). And perhaps it's just me being crap, but I'd put money on your upgrade budget being broken within 5 minutes of starting it. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of fun to be had upgrading. I took mine from a 1400 6spd Supersport to the SLR+ type spec over the course of 18mths. But it's hardly been what you could call cost effective (having to have the work done for me took a good chunk of the budget you see) and at times it's been painful. Part of the pain was, I believe, because when I started not too many people had done K series upgrades like I was contemplating (and getting them off the shelf led you to Minister only who wanted "silly" money). But a good part was shear bad luck. OK, you can have this when trading your car in. But I'd venture that hassles are more likely going the upgrade route... Of course you do end up with a car that is *exactly* as you want it rather than a partial compromise if buying used... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Carmichael Posted February 6, 2002 Share Posted February 6, 2002 I reckon Andy is accurate on the upgrade costs vs. trade in. If you were looking for a cost-effective DIY job on a first stage upgrade to an existing 1.6/1.8 then there is a well-trodden path. For extremely radical upgrades, the equivalent trade up would be larger so it can become cost effective again. For in between upgrades, you are picking up the majority of costs for going the whole hog and you have a smaller trade-in differential to cover it - the trade-in becomes more viable. You already have a sorted chassis, but you don't have the latest spec with widetrack and you don't have the six speed gearbox. An SLR is an excellent spec that is worth thinking about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murph7355 Posted February 6, 2002 Share Posted February 6, 2002 Another "negative" thought... People who stage their upgrades are also much better/stronger willed than me. I started off intending to do one bit each year for a number of years. And then got upgraditis and finished it off as quickly as I could afford (or not as the case may be)! Thankfully it's *almost* cleared up now. Just a dry sump to go. And another 50bhp. And ceramic coating my shoddy "stainless" exhaust. And coming up with a properly QR aeroscreen. And sorting a proper foam seat. And a sequential box. And...and.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHRIS CLARK Posted February 6, 2002 Share Posted February 6, 2002 ..................& when people talked about their 'career paths' I always thought it meant what bits they were upgrading to next on the Caterham!confused.gif Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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