Rare James Whiting Fireblade for sale - 2001 14,000m two owners

[fozzybear63]

Caterham Fireblade 2001 - James Whiting original

£17,500

Two owners since new, I purchased in 2004. Caterham Yellow. Maintained by Steve Bogg and James Whiting. Selectively and comprehensively upgraded over the years, but staying true to its purist roots as one of only 24 original Caterham approved Whiting Fireblades. 14,000 miles. Comprehensively reconditioned including a complete front end re-build in 2013 by James Whiting personally. Any Inspection.

919cc RRW Fireblade - 130bhp, circa 400kgs.

Quaife ATB LSD.

Flatshifter Expert Paddle shift. Upgraded Nova Racing undercut road ratio sequential gear-set. Nova reverser box with up-rated mountings and new chain 2013.

Upgraded Carbon Kevlar Barnet clutch.

Bespoke aluminium fuel tank protector.

Low Line AB Performance billet wet sump plus cooler.

Alcon four pot front brakes with Mintex pads (spare Pagids too).

Rakeway upgraded semi floating driveshafts.

Meteor Motorsport Carbon/GRP CSR cycle wings. 13” Minators with 500m old SS YO48’s.

Carbon effect rear stone guards. Indicator repeater warning.

Caterham Carbon nosecone with band.

FIA Full cage & cut-off switch. Composite tillets with harnesses (Drivers side new). Full set of Tonneau’s.

Adjustable rear platforms (and unused fronts still in box).

STACK ST700 instrumentation with shift lights.

Momo removable wheel.

Well known Yorkshire based car fastidiously maintained, pampered and garaged since new. Effectively a fully road registered OEM race car the like of which we will not see again.

Photos on

https://www.dropbox.com/l/XsvkiNajNsycbITTMD9ehr

Available by separate negotiation (buyer has first refusal):

Various spares including:

Standard Honda gear-set

Original dry sump kit

TWO crated period 919cc RRW Fireblade engines

PRW Sport 14 twin-axle trailer (weighs about same as car!)

Andy Foster

07850 652879

fozandclaire@btconnect.com

 

 

[AdC]

Nice car, nice upgrades! If i didn't already have one etc etc...

 

Sorry to crowd your sale thread but if you don't mind me asking, why did you switch from the dry to the AB wet sump? Did you notice any difference? How much closer is the sump to the tarmac? Also, why change the gears - for top end or acceleration? Or just strength? Thanks.

I might be interested in a spare 919 engine so please keep me in mind / PM me if the buyer doesn't want one / them.

 

 

[fozzybear63]

Hi AdC no worries!

As you can see i've owned for 11 years and during that time it became obvious that the standard dry-sump system has, lets say, some 'foibles' resulting in our case of no 3 cylinder issues & reliability. We  concluded oil temperature and cavitation under track conditions. The logic of a dry sump solution is course sound as in shifting the engine through 90 degrees and also loss of helpful centrifugal forces when cornering it compared to when fitted in bike. we did a lort of reserach and ended up talking to Andy Bates who ran a fireblade powered car race series. His sump is appropriately baffled and critically has a swinging pick up. it increass capacity and in conjunction with an oil cooler the engine runs noticably cooler. Since fitting four years ago we have had no issues. Having said all of this I still of course have the original dry sump system. My Fireblade has always had better front ground clearance at the front than some of our club members with, for example R400's and I dont have issues with grounding although the sump is slightly deeper.

Similar story re Nova gearset. Noble motorsport managed to toast my original standard set whilst they played with 13000rpm on their dyno. Again cutting a long story short the guys in the race series used uprated undercut Nova sets with track biased shorter gearing. I quite like the ability to run to 60 in first and its quick enough so i wanted all these advantages BUT with standard Honda road ratios. They eventually agreed and for not inconsiderable expense created several bespoke sets - mine was fitted back in 2008, again since when i've had no issues whatsoever. I run it with a carbon kevlar clutch and the paddle shift flatshifter reduces further the strain normally associated with bike drivetrains even in a lightweight car application like this. The fltshift of course permits clutchless changes on full throttle upward and automatically blips on downward shifts - effectively how a bike installation is designed to operate and (ironically perhaps) significantly reducing clutch / drivetrain wear.

Noted re RRW's.

Enjoy yours!

Best FB

[AdC]

I do enjoy mine, and in reading your ad I've been chatting to AB about going back to a wet-sump. It's now  booked in for August for that and a new exhaust, and I'm thinking of "while you're there's...". So if you don't mind again...

- Flatshifter - what do you think? I've read good reports and not-so-good reports. Is it only really suitable when you're on a track day, or does it cope well with on-the-road normal / brisk-ish driving too? Will my standard box survive? Does it require constant fettling once set up?

- LSD. James Whiting suggested it wasn't needed as the Blade isn't that powerful and was more about speed around the corner rather than mash-the-pedal grunt on the exit (if I understood him correctly). There have been a few times I've been had the lighter side spinning away, and if I'm honest it's probably more about the donut potential, but I'd be interested to know your view.

Once again, many thanks and good luck with the sale.

[fozzybear63]

Hi AdC

think you're wise re wet sump.

Flatshifter has been excellent. i've kept the lever too so i have the best of both worlds! it blips on downshifts and permits clutchless both up and down - significantly reducing stress on the drivetrain and what the sequential box was designed for....

the nova undercut road ratio gearset was probably the best money i've spent on ti though. and i do use an uprated barnet kevlar clutch too....

around town and at low revs i simply use the lever. 

no comment on the LSD as i've never driven it without it - i'd defer always to James' advice! but i've never had an issue with wheelspin unless i've induced it / cold tyres.

 

best FB

[A10ROX]

Best of luck with the sale...

 

New toy on horizon?

[fozzybear63]

Thanks David - long time..hope all well with you.  FB