Trying to decide on a colour !!!

[Neil Harvey]

Just ordered my first seven , -first posting on Blatchat hope it's in the right place !!!

 

Currently opting for Viper blue with Black pack -cos Azure looked a Bit purply ( SHMBO prefers this tho' !!)- anyone got one in this colour forward me photo's etc help me make up my mind -Doh !!

 

Also, may have a set of brand new std 14" wheels and tyres surplus to requirements what would these be worth ???

 

See ya

 

 

 

 

[Michael_E]

If you follow the link in my signature and go to the picture section and select Stoneleigh 2004 you'll find about 190 pictures of all the seven that where there. I'm sure you'll find a few colours to review.

 

C7 MLE

here

Spouting bollox so that you don't have to, since 1969

[Myles]

One thing to thing about with colour schemes is the effect of wear and tear over time.

 

If you go for painted rear wings, then these *will* get chipped and 'sanded' by grit from the front wheels over time - even with arch protectors (Armorfend might be a different prospect though...) The sides of the car also suffer over time. Not a huge amount you can do about the sides - unless you choose a 'chip compatible' colour such as a silver, but if you go for a standard colour, the rear wings don't need painting (and so wear better and can be replaced for probably less than half the price and hassle of painted items).

 

I (and many others) have also had unfortunate incidents with the nose cone - people reversing into it when parked resulting in damage that's not worth losing your NCB over. The cost of a std. colour (i.e. doesn't need painting) GRP nose is about £150 delivered - but if you needed to replace one that needs painting, you could probably easily double that (especially if you go for an exotic colour or stripes).

 

Sooo, assuming you've not ordered carbon (in which case, leave it unpainted - it's tough as nails and looks good), then give consideration to one of the standard colours. Might be a bit boring, but can save you loads of grief (and cash) in the future.

 

 

Ignoring the above (to a point) - be a tad careful if you fancy one of the yellows - some of these attract clouds of flies like you would not believe. I was marshalling at a MIRA sprint last year on the startline - I had my back to the cars as they approached me. I could always tell when a particular yellow car was next in line without looking - not because of the engine sound - but because of the little b*stards that accompanied it everywhere...

 

HTH.

 

Keep BC free and open for ALL. Membership No. 43xx

 

Alcester Racing 7's Equipe - 🙆🏻™

 

Alcester-Racing-Sevens.com

[Bafty Crastard]

Look on R300.net........look in photo album

 

There's a couple of Azure Blue cars there

 

R300 NUT'errrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

 

 

 

Edited by - Bafty Crastard on 7 Aug 2004 12:54:34

[shn7]

Consider, small dark coloured car easily not seen by other drivers. Comes to their attention sooner when it's a small brightly colour car.

 

Just a thought.

 

Having said that my current car is a dark metallic green...but then buying used the spec of the car was more important than the colour.

 

Steve.

Edited to say congrats on placing the order . Hope it arrived whilst there some of the summer left.

 

Edited by - Steve Newman on 7 Aug 2004 20:11:08

[Grubbster]

Much has already been said, but I'll add my thoughts. I built my car last year and opted for 'Titanium Silver', it looks nice (IMO), but - it is hard to touch in stone chips (so I don't bother) and there are loads of them, particularly on the rear wings. Also, a darker car is harder for other drivers to spot.

 

So, if you go for a nice metallic and don't want to see it look a chipped mess - invest in Armorfend! A solid colour would be easier to maintain with a pot of touch up. Personally, I wish I had saved a few quid and gone for a solid (but SWMBO insisted on a metallic!). My next car (if I am ever that lucky) will have unpainted carbon nose and wings (front and rear) and a bright, solid paint colour - but not yellow for reasons stated already!

 

Whatever you get you will be happy - enjoy the driving and don't worry too much about the chips!

 

BTW - how come a spare set of wheels and tyres already??

 

Roadsport build photo's here

Le Mans 2004 photo's here

 

[Neil Harvey]

Thanks for the advice, hadn't thought about the stone chips etc... Now veering back towards Yellow ( my original choice !)-

 

Regarding the Wheels- was going to go for 13" wheels as they seem to be recommended and wanted black ones - thought the new caterham ones were a bit steep at +650 notes as an option bearing in mind to buy them with a set of yokohamas from the parts dept ther about 160 each or am I missing something ?? - so I was going to sort out the wheels tyres myself - May not be cost effective tho'

 

Any Ideas on the best tyres to go for ??

 

 

Neil

[Grubbster]

I assume you are getting a Roadsport then. If you decide to go for 13" wheels then you ought to consider adjustable platforms to sort the ride height as well. The Caterham wheel upgrade is a little on the high side (IMO) but the wheels are nice as are the Avon CR500's that they supply. I think you could get a set of 13" minilite style with Yoko A021's, 32's or 48's for less than the price of the upgrade so maybe not such a daft idea! As for the ones you take off - it may be worth keeping them as a spare set so you can have some trackday tyres and a set for the road. I have the standard 14" with the standard Avons for everyday use and another set of wheels with A048's for track use

 

Angus and Tessa have done some good tyre testing, worth checking out their site here for their views on Yoko's.

 

Roadsport build photo's here

Le Mans 2004 photo's here

 

[edmandsd]

The Suzuki Rizla blue R500 Evo's a lovely colour.

 

Home of HTR700

[Goslima1]

Neil,

 

Like you, when I placed my order the biggest trauma was choosing the colour (see thread http://www.blatchat.com/T.asp?id=49182). Originally I chose Azure blue but was concerned about the purple effect - see the pictures referred to in the thread of JEBs R300. In the end I chose Aztec orange, the CC std flat colour. I think it looks fab with black and carbon (I have an R300) and is easy to touch up. I visited Tony at TSK who sprays all of CCs cars to look at paint samples - he opened up lots of tins for me to look at the exact colours. If you give him a call I'm sure he would extend the same courtesy but this may only confuse the issue further !

As for paint protection, I strongly recommend Armourfend - the rear arches do get peppered by the front wheels, the nosecone gets stones from cars in front and the bonnet rubs on scuttle and nosecone. Armourfend do parts for all of these bits - see their website for details (www.armourfend.com under examples). They are much more comprehensive than CC who offer only rear arches and nosecone. It is also worthy of onte that CC do this as an Aftersales option so if you order a kit it will not be fitted until it is returned to factory for post build check.

 

Good luck,

 

Martin

 

[Frying Pan]

Neil

 

Good to meet you on Friday at Gaydon. That A-reg red 1.4K has a lot to answer for, doesn't it!

 

Selecting a spec is great fun - just don't ever expect to be happy with it 😬

 

As you know, I went for Aztec with the black pack and a black nose ring. I also opted for black GRP front and rear wings, thinking that these woud be better in terms of chip resistance. Whilst I think they are at the front edge, I have a lot of small 'star cracks' at the rear where stones have richoted off the wheels onto the inner surface of the wings. Still, much cheaper to replace these than go to the hassle of painting new ones...

 

Of course, carbon is the best choice in terms of damage resistance. There are several suppliers for carbon bits now other than Caterham - MOG, Richard in France and, soon, Activa all offer stuff.

 

By the way, if I was speccing mine again, would definitely go for an Apollo tank. Without it, and with CR500s, I'm a little reluctant to get on track.

 

Cheers

 

Guy

 

 

 

See some pictures of the build here. First 3000 miles completed!

[David M]

Neil,

 

I had a similar issue with the Caterham dark blues...... only choice for me, bit sad all my cars have been dark blue..... Anyway for an extra 100squid you can find any colour you like and spec that..... if you take a look at my pictures below I nabbed the colour from my old Audi S3 came out great........ just need to get the paint code........

David

 

GF04RCE is built running and on the road.... every day is a Caterham day!!!! He heee!!... pictures here , I am as excited as an excited thing.....