Sid Skid Posted October 24, 2001 Share Posted October 24, 2001 Does anyone make carbon fiber replacement panels for the bonnet, scuttle, side, etc?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V7 SLR Posted October 24, 2001 Share Posted October 24, 2001 I'm interested in this too... Come on you ingenious types, speak up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WILL FLY Posted October 24, 2001 Share Posted October 24, 2001 Having picked up Graeme Fin's bonnet, I thought it was heavier than my ali one. I can see the attraction of full length "Gravel Guards" for the side of the body for some people smile.gif I'd love a carbon nose, but can't justify the Caterhema price. How about a carbon fibre luggage box to keep your luggage secure and dry ? Roy See willfly.net for more info. If you don't spin you ain't trying smile.gif Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V7 SLR Posted October 24, 2001 Share Posted October 24, 2001 Roy, you're assumption of a gravel-guard requirement is closer than you think. I'm rather fed up with having to be so careful when moving around V7 in case I dent it. Actually, I'm not careful and I have dented it in numerous places (bang goes the 2nd hand value), which you witnessed 1st hand last year. If I could have it reskinned in CF I probably wouldn't bother with paint, and feel it would be more resistent to light damage which the ali isn't. That said, isn't the ali skin partly structural (where's Chris Flavell when you need a expert opinion), and if so, does CF have that same property? As for weight, I'm interested in what you said about GF's bonnet. I rather thought Mick Cooper's CF skinned Westf1eld had an exceptionally light bonnet, and thought GF's car-body was from the same manufacturer. The Caterham nose is a whole multiplier lighter than the glass one (whether it represents good VFM though is another thing). Hoopy mentioned this when I was at Emerald in September. He had his in one hand and mine in the other (bonnets people..!) and exclaimed his surprise at the difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wg_mulholland Posted October 24, 2001 Share Posted October 24, 2001 The Ali skin is structural- I believe mainly from the footwell back to the lower suspension pickup, the floor, backrest/rear bulkhead panel and the transmission tunnel (in some models). The rest is only slightly structural. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V7 SLR Posted October 24, 2001 Share Posted October 24, 2001 Would I be right in saying that only the internal panels are structural though? It'd be a shame if the floor was (I don't disbelieve you) because mine is coming off. smile.gif I need a garage that'll let me use their car-lift so I can pop rivet it back in place. I have one of those (oh God, here goes) consortena, consertina, consetina (whatever) pop rivetters which extends to about 3 feet. My trolley jack allows me about 14 inches of clearance under the car. What rivets should I use (to completely hijack the thread)? I have some blind alloy ones. Pretty big. Given to me by someone in my family. They've been in a box for years so spec and size is unknown. Can I just use anything, or should I be specific? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allen Payne Posted October 24, 2001 Share Posted October 24, 2001 On Le Sept last summer my floor pan started coming away (Too much French food & long lunches) and was riveted back in place by the Hyperion (sp?) mechanics. They suggested using steel pop rivets to stop the problem re-occuring. Regards Allen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fast Westie Posted October 24, 2001 Share Posted October 24, 2001 V7 You should use those pop rivets with the sealed end (don't know the proper term) and make sure ther is some silocone between the ali and the chassis to stop water getting in. The car in front is a Westfie1d wink.gif Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Wong1697456877 Posted October 24, 2001 Share Posted October 24, 2001 On Le Sept last summer my floor pan started coming away (Too much French food & long lunches) and was riveted back in place by the Hyperion (sp?) mechanics. I heard about this and it worries me. Most recent cars with post 96 seats have the seat rails bolted to the panel. If this panel is just rivetted in, this is all that's stopping you from a high speed impression of a dog with an itchy bum! Definitely worrying. Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian balson Posted October 24, 2001 Share Posted October 24, 2001 When I recently installed my Tillet seats, I called Caterham to ask how they installed them, as the existing steel beams from the front chassis cross member to the rear bulkhead were of no use (wrong width spacing). Caterham said they bolted the subframes directly to the floor. After reading some threads on the seven list about failing floor rivets under the rear bulkhead I decided to get some new wider mounting beams made to utilise the existing mounting points. No problems so far . . . Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allen Payne Posted October 24, 2001 Share Posted October 24, 2001 On my 1992 car there are two supporting aluminium channels that are riveted to the bottom of the floor pan and then the seat runners bolt through those. One of the two channels was bolted up to a steel bracket at the base of the rear bulkhead and on the other side the bolt was missing. It was the side with the missing bolt that gave way - I've since drilled out the hole and put an extra bolt and large washer on that side as well. The Hyperion mechanics also recommended replacing the floor pans as soon as the rivet holes get enlarged through wear & tear. Regards Allen Edited by - Allen Payne on 24 Oct 2001 17:06:06 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blatman Posted October 24, 2001 Share Posted October 24, 2001 I rather thought Mick Cooper's CF skinned Westf1eld had an exceptionally light bonnet, and thought GF's car-body was from the same manufacturer. It was/is........The CF is NOT structural. Later Westf1elds have the outer chassis skinned in aluminium, early ones have only the inner panels. Either way, these are structural, I think, in so far as they help to stiffen the already stiff spaceframe. V7 Next time you see Mick, ask him about the possible copyright pitfalls in copying C******m panels in CF, if you haven't already...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EFA Posted October 24, 2001 Share Posted October 24, 2001 My car has a structural CF floor. The only way to stop the floor falling off is: 1. Ensure you do not have so myuch power the whole chassis flexes - Before moving to the carbon floor I had to replace an re-rivett the panels twice. 2nd time round I used Stell rivetts. very hard on the hands to fit, but much less movement. If your car creaks when you jack it up, your floor is likley loose. 2. Ensure you have a link between the footwells under the front of the gearbox (I had this put back in my car) The chassis twists a consoderable amount without it. 3. Additional cross bracing to footwells is desireable. Acts as an additional chassis memnber to which the floor is attached. It will be interesting to see how the R500 chassis hold up over time. Fat Arn The NOW PROVEN R500 Eaterid=red> See the Lotus Seven Club 4 Counties Area Website hereid=green> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murph7355 Posted October 24, 2001 Share Posted October 24, 2001 "...dog with an itchy bum..." teeth.gif excellent! Another safety measure - get fat. You're then wedged between the transmission tunnel and the side and couldn't possibly fall through the little hole underneath you. I'm thinking of removing that panel altogether. Be nice and cool and save a few vital grammes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stephen brown Posted October 24, 2001 Share Posted October 24, 2001 HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT TO TRY BIKIN FOR YOUR CARBON FIBER PANELS.I JUST BOUGHT A KIT WITH FULL CARBON(NOSECONE,WINGS FRONT & REAR,DASH)£600 EXTRA.CHANCES ARE THEY WILL FIT A CATERHAM.THEY MAY SELL THEM TO ANYONE. steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Brother Posted October 24, 2001 Share Posted October 24, 2001 NO NEED TO SHOUT! Especialy about a Birkin teeth.gif £600 hmmm....... Steve cool.gifScream...if you want to go faster!!!id=limegreen> cool.gif Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EFA Posted October 25, 2001 Share Posted October 25, 2001 Ahh, the inverse Robin Hood proceedure.... Instead of taking your crappy stainless steel 7 replica and fixing genuine Caterham bits to it, buy a grossly overpriced (according to the "unreal" garyc) and cover it with cheap Sarf Afican bits of carbon from Birkin. "Laquer" (You'd maybe need to have sampled high exposure to Afrikaans persons to understand that one)..... Sounds like an excellent way of ensuring really crappy residuals on a Caterham! Narrows the price gap though, which will please Gary when he upgrades his FireField..... Do Birkin also provide that flame throwing anti-hijack gear on theri options list?? Fat Arn The NOW PROVEN R500 Eaterid=red> See the Lotus Seven Club 4 Counties Area Website hereid=green> Edited by - Fat Arnie on 25 Oct 2001 09:56:17 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gee_fin Posted October 25, 2001 Share Posted October 25, 2001 Yep, Blatman's right (pah!), the bodywork on my car is the same stuff that was on Mick's, in fact, he's the one who built my car. The carbon bonnet is significantly lighter than fibreglass but there is negligible difference between the carbon and aluminium weight-wise. There is however a significant difference in rigidity and strength - proved invaluable two days ago on the drive home from work when a half brick was flicked up at me by a passing truck. Instant thought was "this is going to hurt, especially as I'm trying to sell the car", it just bounced of the rear-wheel arch not even leaving a scratch! biggrin.gif I'd say the weight-saving from carbon to fibreglass would be in the region of 15kg-20kg, however, the weight saving to aluminium would be smaller. However (again), the carbon on the car is very different to the carbon from Caterham though - it's pre-preg oven-moulded, with nomex honeycomb and kevlar reinforced. I've got some weights for carbon bits from both Caterham and Plays-Kool that I can pass on if anyone's interested. Oh and Nigel, you can have some carbon bodywork if you want - yours for £14,750. It comes with a nice Vx engine, a Quaife box and a chassis from some annoying Midlands company too wink.gif Graeme. ________________________________________________________ graeme finlayson / tyre warmer / fluke motorsport graeme.finlayson@vicorp.com / www.fluke-motorsport.co.uk Carbon-fibre sale bonanza! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V7 SLR Posted October 25, 2001 Share Posted October 25, 2001 GF, I was very very tempted by Mick's own car when he trying to sell it a couple of years back. He took me for a spin round Mallory Park in it, and I was very very very very tempted.... The only thing that stopped me was lack of "touring" capability. It was really built and setup as a racer, and didn't have any weatherproofing. I'm not going to justify my requirement for such either... ... anyway, if you're car's even half the car Mick's was (I heard he stuffed it last year, I think at Mallory too) then it's a stormer. I had a good look over it at the last RR day at Emerald and really like it. I think you've set a very tempting price, and can only ask why are you selling it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanB Posted October 25, 2001 Share Posted October 25, 2001 Because gee fin has seen the true light! Dan Furrybird Q660 KKL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gee_fin Posted October 25, 2001 Share Posted October 25, 2001 Ssssh you! wink.gif Nigel, Mick sadly crashed his car early 18months ago while sprinting at Olivers Mount. Running on old tyres he lost the back into 3rd and rolled down a hill. He was fine but there wasn't a lot left of the car sad.gif Shame as it was a work of art, he builds bloody good cars. I'm selling the car as I want to go hassle Jason and Richard in the JCC next year. I don't _want_ to sell it but I can't afford two race/track cars sad.gif Price-wise, well, I'm pricing it to sell, if it doesn't go, *shrugs* I'll just trackday it next year and try to save up enough money to build another car the following winter biggrin.gif. Touring capability is there, all be it a little exposed - I've driven it to and from every event this year as well as it being my current daily driver. You could buy weather gear for it, I prefer to go forth screenless and helmeted. I guess it's the Scottish thing. *pounds chest* Graeme. ________________________________________________________ graeme finlayson / rev counter / fluke motorsport graeme.finlayson@vicorp.com / www.fluke-motorsport.co.uk Carbon-fibre sale bonanza! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V7 SLR Posted October 25, 2001 Share Posted October 25, 2001 Gosh [!], you use it as a daily driver? I'm impressed. I always wanted something like that as a daily driver. I think I'd need to change jobs, more AWAY from IT and into something where I didn't need a suit, and could choose when I came and went. I kinda keep my own hours now, but the suit-thing and early mornings... oh excuses... Anyway, shame to re-hear about Mick's car's demise. I also remember the one he built for his wife. I fabulous Kwakker Green road Westie which I believe had him seeking some recompense from the factory for. After they issued him with that one they started to issue more cars with the same colour, although he was under the impression that THAT colour was unique to him. Showing my ignorance now... but is the JCC open only to Caterham cars then? Is that why you have elected to sell your's rather than make it faster? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gee_fin Posted October 25, 2001 Share Posted October 25, 2001 Hmmm, that Kwaka Green car is now owned by someone quite prominent on here..... JCC is open to just about everything, I'm not going Caterham though, no defection to the darkside just yet [:P] I decided to sell the carbon one as I don't want to risk the bodywork in the series, also, I want something that doesn't have the seven-esque brick-like aerodynamics biggrin.gif Graeme. ________________________________________________________ graeme finlayson / beard baiter / fluke motorsport graeme.finlayson@vicorp.com / www.fluke-motorsport.co.uk Carbon-fibre sale bonanza! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V7 SLR Posted October 25, 2001 Share Posted October 25, 2001 Regarding the JCC... Oh I see..! Regarding the Kwakka Green-mobile.... go on. Give us a clue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marius Posted October 25, 2001 Share Posted October 25, 2001 By the way: who does all the carbon-fibre goodies for Caterham ? No chance to get them directly from the manufacturer ? Marius Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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