Best Caterham to start with

[TopQ1967]

I am a 7 newbie (I yet do not own one). I bought some Caterham assembly books, and other documentation (almost all books written about 7's) the last half year to help to select the right car. But instead of pointing me in the right direction, I even got more confused.

 

A new car is not an option, because our government sets approximately 30% taxes on top of the UK prices. The tax is deduced to a minimum approximately Euro 750,00 for a '95 car. And I know myself, If I own one I want more (power). This will perhaps interfere with the MOT test each year. For older cars this is less of a problem.

 

So I have to buy a used car. But with what car (chassis) to start with?

What I cannot find out is the chassis changes over time. Do they all accept wide front suspension? or is the Freestyle Motorsport solution a better alternative?

Do all chassis accept a Duratec engine (the engine to go for!?!)? Or go for A K- series or VX?

Wide body, SV?

 

All help / suggestions are welcome

Cheers

 

Quirin

[DaveMorris]

I'm all upset ☹️ You didn't mention x-flow and Live Axle.

 

I'll let the knowledgeable ones come along shortly and answer your questions.

But .. .. whatever you get, it'll be fun.

You don't NEED 200+ bhp, 105 can be quite enough fun,

groetjes,

Dave

 

 

[Graham Perry]

I think you maybe need to tell us what variations are available in the Netherlands Vauxhall 16v or 8V , Crossflow, K-series, zetec etc, de-dion, live axle, and what you think you will use the car for ie touring, racing trackdays.

 

In terms of the wider track and Freestyle suspension I think it is mid 90's onwards, no doubt someone will know the exact date

 

[TopQ1967]

Graham,

 

There are not many Caterhams in the Netherlands and as far as I know only 4-5 are for sale now.

I am regulary in the U.K. (was last week and went to Caterham Dartford). So my source for a "new" car will be the U.K. I look mainly at this site (therefor I became a member), www.pistonheads.com and ebay.

 

Cheers,

 

Quirin

 

[se7enmad]

our government sets approximately 30% taxes on top of the UK prices

that's not too bad Quirin. Down here in Malta it is between 75-80percent taxes . The price paid for a basic live axle could have got an SL 😳.

No wonder things here are so lonely.

 

What would you prefer first of all? Or better, what would'nt you like?

 

 

Antonella

1998 Caterham Vx 1.6

my updated site here

[Englishmaninwales]

A nice starter car on eBay with 3hrs to go:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1997-CATERHAM-BLUE-1400cc_W0QQitemZ4587792777QQcategoryZ29750QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

Looks in good shape, plenty of scope to upgrade!

 

malcolm

[Graham Perry]

In that case I would consider a relatively standard 1600 or 1800k as these will continue to be supported by Caterhams for the foreseeable future and hence getting parts in Holland will be easy. You need then to look for nice to have things like 6 speed box, limited slip diff, soft tyres, FIA rollbar, uprated front brakes etc. Having driven both, I would put wide track susension lower on the list of priorites than the above, but it is a nice to have thing.

 

Being quite close to the UK you won't have far to go when upgradeitis strikes 😬

[Ozzy]

How can that car on ebay be reserve met at £7,500? That's ridiculous, it has to be worth a lot more than that. No wonder used values are tumbling, if people are selling cars for silly money

 

Still Shaking

 

6 speed 1600k Supersport

 

[Slipper man]

You should ideally get a post 1996 chassis (identifiable by the handbrake on the transmission tunnel). They were extensively re-engineered and were lighter and stiffer. If you can get a slightly later car than that all to the better, but if it has a center handbrake it will take all the latest upgrades

[Slipper man]

Oh yes - where are you as a matter of interest? I work for ABN AMRO and seem to be in Amsterdam most weeks

[Mike Biddle]

Assuming you want a left drive car your choice may be somewhat limited, but my personal advive would be to get the most powerfull one you can afford and take care while learning to drive it.

 

You WILL get bitten by the upgrade bug, and if increasing the power is a problem, better get as much as you can in the first place and restrict future spending to all the other goodies like suspension, brakes, etc.

[Stelios]

Go for a 1.6K series, and a standard chassis rather than an SV (assuming you're not too tall/wide for the standard chassis) - ample scope for upgrades if you start with this sort of car.

 

Stelios the Bubble

 

Click here for my Caterham 7 page or here for some photos

[Golf Juliet Tango]

Never mind the chassis: think about the engine. What is likely to be the easiest to get parts for / local serving (if you don't do it yourself). I may be very wrong but in Switzerland most cars had Vauxhall/Opel engines. I know that spares for K series are available but are there enough in The Netherlands for it to be easy to get hold of them? You will have plenty of carriage charges for stuff you have to get from the UK, so I would try and find spares locally where this is a sensible option.

[MartinS]

You should ideally get a post 1996 chassis (identifiable by the handbrake on the transmission tunnel). They were extensively re-engineered and were lighter and stiffer. If you can get a slightly later car than that all to the better, but if it has a center handbrake it will take all the latest upgrades

 

Are there any sites that detail the differences between the pre and post 1996 chassie? I have a '95 car and I'm curious to know what I'm missing! :)

 

M.

[TopQ1967]

Slipper man, others,

 

I live in the south in Veghel (above Eindhoven).

I go on a regular basis to London We build the gullwing penthouses near to the Vauxhall Bridge (opposite to MI5), and I have a customer near Marble Arch.

Sometimes I go by car, but most of the time I fly from Eindhoven to London.

If I go by car, I go watching some car- stuff. I have raced Mini’s in the past, so know all the Mini specialists by now. In January I drive to the NEC in Birmingham (Motorsport Show).

 

I have not enough time to race (time to prepare and race weekends). I drive a LR Discovery 3 Diesel, nice but not exiting (I have to because I have 4 kids (girls) in range 5 years to two weeks!@!?). A half year ago I bought a Lotus Esprit ’79 JPS, also nice but not trilling. What I really like is the baby AM that was in tonight’s TopGear on BBC, but this is way out of my budget.

 

The 7 always fascinated me. As told before I have read a lot about the car now owning one is my next car objective. I like especially what is told about the handling. In the Netherlands the source for good parts is limited, so I have to find them in the U.K. there are some tuners over here, but they are most of the time specialized in one or two race classes and very expensive.

The thing I learned in the past (if you have limited time to spend on your car) is to buy the best tools you can afford (good tools save time) I even have some computerized race scales to setup the car. All those tools are not used at the moment. As a father of four girls with multiple Barbie dolls (even a pink Barbie Moke) I NEED SOME MENS STUFF. I need to escape from all the pink stuff in the house  the garage is mine!

 

A RHD car is no problem for me, I think it is even an advantage on track- days (tracks go most of the time clock wise).

 

So what have I distillate out of your replies:

 

• Post 96 car (chassis);

• LSD preferable;

• 6- speed preferable.

 

O.K. what next?

 

Thanks,

 

Quirin

 

Still dreaming on…….

 

 

[Sheds Moderator]

I recommend a K series, between 100 and 140 bhp is enough for a beginner depending on what is able to be registered in Be.

 

[thread hijack] SlipperMan - ABN AMRO? I met Isobel from your IT security dept the other week at Schipol. We had a very pleasant chat over a beer and the flight before going our separate ways at Stansted. If you know/see her tell her Steve says hello.

[/thread hijack]

[Normans_Ghost]

Quirin,

 

Is there a budget.

 

Norman Verona, 1989 BDR 220bhp, Reg: B16BDR, Mem No 2166, the full story here

You and your seven to The French Blatting Company Limited

[Peter Carmichael]

Don't worry, Quirin. I will sell you a Caterham for significantly less than the new baby Aston Martin... 😳

[TopQ1967]

Hi Norman,

 

A couple of weeks ago there was a nice looking BDR for sale on Ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4585038005&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1

Its reserve was just set under 10K. When I informed others about the BDR they told me the Cosworth engine is very expensive to maintain and not so reliable .

I see (on your nice looking website) that you have spent a quit lot on your 7!

 

My starting budget will be around GBP 13.000,00 – 15.000,00 but I know where it will end up. (During my race period I made a monthly budget – to keep costs acceptable for the rest of the family).

 

Cheers

 

Quirin

 

 

 

[Bob Corb]

That BDR looked gorgeous. I was trying to sell my SLR at the time and would have been seriously tempted to buy that one had mine gone. I'd buy the most expense, clean original car I could find as you'll only want to upgrade it later if you buy a lower spec model and being on the continent you want to make sure you've got factory support for whatever engine you have.

[Mark Durrant]

With your budget I would recommend that you look out for a 1.8K Supersport in either a Roadsport or Superlight if your lucky. The desirable spec in order of importance is 6-speed box, LSD, widetrack, FIA bar, big brakes.

 

Take a look at this offer here and I'm sure you will get an excellent well sorted car to your exact specification

 

Mark D

Su77on Se7ens

 

[Manxseven]

Quirin,

 

Thanks for your call a few minutes ago.

One question came to mind after the call, why does the car need to be factory built ??

Is it not a hurdle that can be overcome?

 

Kind Regards,

 

Simon.

 

 

L7 BDA Supersprint Joy now For Sale here 😬

[TopQ1967]

Manxseven,

 

Call?

 

Quirin

 

It doesn't have to be factory built, as long as it is no Q-plate (Dutch SLV doesn't know how to handle these cars).

 

 

[Normans_Ghost]

Quirin, I've never heard of reliability problems with a standard BDR. The only problem I've had is with competition clutches and that's of my own making.

 

I've spent a lot on mine in raising the power from 150* to 220.

 

Some (most) believe the BDR was the best 7 made. The CSR 260 hasn't proved itself yet.

 

At the Autosport show last January I asked the Cosworth salesman if I should change the (all steel) BDR for a 2.3 unit. His answer was emphatic. "Never change your BDR - you have the finest engine of it's class ever made" He went on to explain that Cosworth haven't got the money these days to design and make their own engines. All they can do is tweak existing units.

 

I cannot advise any further, but I think the "K" engine falls into the same category as being a brilliant design. A lot of the problems with K's is misuse and poor servicing.

 

 

Norman Verona, 1989 BDR 220bhp, Reg: B16BDR, Mem No 2166, the full story here

You and your seven to The French Blatting Company Limited

[Manxseven]

Quirin,

 

Oops sorry about that, somebody rang me from across the water, didn't catch their name, so presumed it was you 😳

 

My 7 is for sale, well within your budget and you'd then have upgrading money left

 

regards,

Simon

 

L7 BDA Supersprint Joy now For Sale here 😬

 

Edited by - Manxseven on 15 Nov 2005 08:58:38