Ouch! Grounded underside, need advice please!

[BobP]

Hi All.

This is my first posting in this forum, and unfortunately it foolows a mishap. I¡¦m after some info¡K

 

I recently purchased a VVC powered beastie. Now not having constructed a Caterham myself I am rather ignorant about the layout of various components etc. although in my younger days I have spent many hours under various less fun cars, so I have got half an idea. I had spotted the fact that the sump sits really rather too low in the chassis. However this knowledge didn¡¦t save the meeting of Mr Sump and Mrs wrought iron gate thingy in centre of a driveway today. The latter was rather a solid piece of iron work sitting low enough not be noticed by most. I didn¡¦t see it because I was following another car through the gates. The good news is I was gong slowly (hence too close to the car in front to have spotted impending sump mating opportunity), the bad news is even at 500 kg odd there¡¦s enough momentum to cause a problem.

 

The car stopped dead with a solid thud! A gently reversed away thinking oh Lord, bust sump, oil all over the place and so on, but no! A quick inspection of the nether reaches revealed nothing amiss. Driving on, it soon became apparent that something was amiss. The fuel gauge no longer worked, and neither did the speedometer.

 

Returning home and taking a little more time reveals the engine has moved back on the mounts. You can see where engine and bodywork have met. At best guess I¡¦d say the lump moved backwards a good inch. It appears to be back where it should be now, but it¡¦s hard to tell since I hadn¡¦t exactly spent much time studying the exact relationship between the engine and the rest in the spatial sense (I hope that doesn¡¦t mark me as the odd one out!) Tracing the speedo cable reveals the real unfortunate news. It looks like cable/gearbox interfacing bit has been ripped out altogether. Not sure how to describe it exactly, best shot is the ¡§sender unit¡¨. If I¡¦m talking gobbly¡¦d¡¦gook take a look at it, http://dampsquid.com/misc/IMG_2331.gif You can see the brass coloured bit, I think that used to be part of the gearbox ƒ¼ . I¡¦m guessing that the movement of the engine transmission means this hit part of the chassis or bodywork and hence the destruction. I¡¦m also guessing that the wiring loom runs down the transmission tunnel and this may account for lack of fuel gauge and now one rear light cluster and no brake lights working. I can also feel a couple of wires dangling with connectors on, could these be for the reversing light switch?

 

So all in all, what I¡¦d appreciate is your views on what will it take to repair this mishap. Seems to me the gearbox will have to come out and be split. These days I haven¡¦t got the time or place to do this kind of work so I¡¦d appreciate any pointers as to the amount of time and parts needed for such a repair, and if anyone knows anyone close to Maidenhead, Berks who can do this work that would be a big help. Finally, in the absence of the speedo drive unit, will I have lost the gearbox oil, or is it likely to be OK to drive to Mr Repairman.

 

Thanks for any insight.

Bob P

[Simon Piercy]

Rotten luck Bob.....Small comfort, but I've knocked the sump off twice in the past.

 

James Whiting is not a million miles from you. (Ashford - Close to Staines) Speak to James or Ruth for advice.

 

Tel: 01784 250915

[scooby dooby doo]

BobP - this is not an engine out jub. however, it is such a common (happened to me 3 or 4 times in as many years) and fiddly job that I've dumped my mechanical speedo and will go to an electronic one soon.

 

I'll try to describe the repair procedure ass best as i can remember it. I'm familiar with the 6 speed box - the bits in your picture look the look the same as mine even if you have a 5 speeder.

 

a little (inch long) shaft made of spring (so its a bit bendy) actually lives half into the gear box and half into the angle drive. this is pence to replace if yours is bent or sheared.

 

the brass thing (called a tophat) sits in the middle of this assembly with the brim against the gear box in the recess in the casting.

 

A circlip goes round the top hat, and in the recess and holds it all together.

 

I know it sounds all very nasty and heath robinson - it is ❗ which is why they break so often.

 

if you need a new angle drive unit they are a ridiculous 50 quid or so.

 

you WILL need a pair of 90 degree circlip pliers - even so the circlip is an ar5e of a job to get in.

 

hope this helps.

 

My advice would be to ditch the mechanical sppedo (I've had it fail at the dial end as well) an get an electronic one. cheapest route is a 20 quid bicycle speedo - make sure it goes over 60 mph though ❗ . the usual one to get is a sigma BC600, although i have a Sigma targa.

 

HOOPY CYCLE WINGS CUCUMBER

[BobP]

Thanks for the replies!

 

It was the engine moving so far backwards that surprised me. Is this normal? I suppose the fact that it did is actually good, as it allows some of the impact to be absorbed, otherwise something else would have broken.

 

I'd appreciate any opinions on whether the beastie can be driven minus the speedo angle drive - I'm worried that gearbox oil will be lost.

 

Thanks again

Bob

[scooby dooby doo]

it''ll be fine without it. I''ve done at least 2000 miles without one and had no further troubles.

 

HOOPY CYCLE WINGS CUCUMBER

[scooby dooby doo]

hmmm... why''s my sig gone blue 🤔

 

HOOPY CYCLE WINGS CUCUMBER

[BobP]

The saga continues...

 

After trying unsuccessfully to get someone local to repair the car I thought, oh sod it, and as of yesterday became the proud owner of a new pair of shiny ramps courtesy of Halfords! A quick reconnaissance revealed the extent of the damage. (Not much room under there is there!)

 

Apart from the woes with the speedo drive I've also managed to destroy the gearbox to chassis mounting. It looks fairly straight-forward to replace - can anyone share any wisdom on this one? Am I about to discover some weird oddity of design?

 

I've also managed to sever three of the wires in the loom passing through the tunnel and badly mangled what looks to be the earth cable. This explains lack of fuel gauge, brake lights and one side indicators!

 

I've also found a previous repair to the fuel tank is leaking. Luckily the previous owner passed on a new one (tank that is) in case of this eventuality. The assembly manual doesn't give any detail on how the tank is fitted. Is it pre-installed in the kit? Can anyone supply any hints on this job? Thanks in anticipation!

 

Finally I've read through the forum on the subject of bike speedo installations and have decided that I'm going to follow suit. Someone mentioned the Panoram but didn't know where to get it - well my local Halfords (Slough) stocks both the wired and wireless one.

 

Bob

 

[F355GTS]

Bob

 

I did mine on the ramps and it was a bit tight but worked

 

Mark