djmhall Posted April 13, 2006 Share Posted April 13, 2006 Well, Angus & Tessa have really put me to shame! Far from being a weekend job, stripping down my 1400SS took me from Christmas Eve to ... well probably Easter Saturday as I have still to remove the old floor panel and tunnel panels. In my defence, I have had an average of about 30 minutes per weekend, due to the combination of manic job plus 3 year old boy plus new born girl who arrived back from hospital with SWMBO on .. well Christmas Eve! But basically the job is done. I am surprised at quite how good some of the chassis is despite the piles of cr*p which fell on to the floor when the side skins are removed. Part of me says that perhaps I shouldn't have bothered, but then again, I know that if it had been left much longer, it would have deteriorated and looked much like the horror stories others have pictured. Thanks to the advice received here, I have boxes full of labelled sandwich bags of all the bits and hundreds of pics of how it all went together and think I have half a chance of putting it back together. I have spoken with Bruce at Arch and hope to deliver the chassis to him in the next couple of weeks. The best bit about this is that after 10 years, I finally know how my car fits together. Whats more, I will now have the fun of putting it back together and making the improvements I want - I always wanted to build one in the first place. Questions and observations... There will be many but, for starters.. 1) I want to put in a new loom (chassis at any rate) and from a separate thread, the choice is CC or "someone" who advertised in LF. Any better clues as to who the someone might be? 2) Brake and fuel lines: I would rather aeroquip the lot when I do the rebuild - any clues as to good suppliers for this? 3) I cannot put the open diff back in after all this time and trouble it would seem like a crime. I missed the BB on LSDs due to dosh and time. As a one off, where am I likely to get the best deal? 4) I am converting from Clams to Cycles. I was going to ask Arch to build some stays for me while they have the car - is this a good idea? Thats it for now - there will be many more, but bear with me - this is getting to be fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caterhamnut Posted April 13, 2006 Share Posted April 13, 2006 Well done Dominic! Sounds like you had quite enough to be getting on with with a growing new family, and were also able to take yours apart in a logical, bagged up way. I had intended to do this, but somehow we just managed to create a pile of bits!! 😬 You are right, it is an excellent way to learn about how your car goes together (hopefully!) I am up to Arch on Saturday to see our chassis revived - Bruce will do you a fantastic job and is a pleasure to deal with. Can't help you with the loom question - as you have seen I am looking at similar options! What I would say is get a list of any new bits you need and get an order in sooner rather than later - there may be some delays. Someone will tell you where to get the brake lines from - I think they are pretty standard, so there should be quite a few sources. You could contact Phil at Road and Race (number on our website) and discuss diffs - even if you don't buy it from him, he is the man to fit it into your current casing, or offer any advice. CONVERTING!!!! 😳 - if you must downgrade then I guess caterham is the source for buy some standard stays. Enjoy it - it is fun isn't it. 😬 www.mycaterham.com here 91,000 miles -1st 1.6k Supersport, '95 Motor Show car Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dobuy Posted April 14, 2006 Share Posted April 14, 2006 Thinkauto for brake pipes and fittings here Perceived wisdom is that solid pipes are better, with the exception of the de-dion and of course the normal front aeroquip pipes. Don't forget to ask for L7 Club discount from ThinkAuto Duratec SV, built in Dubai Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djmhall Posted April 18, 2006 Author Share Posted April 18, 2006 Thanks for the coments - I finished the strip down completely on Monday - can't wait to deliver it to Arch - especially after the great photos of your Saturday visit. Sounds like I should keep the main solid pipes and just convert the DD to aeroquip - thanks for the link Dobuy! A couple more questions: 1) Spare wheel carrier or not? My company 147 comes with 4 wheels and a can of "stuff". Seems a shame to lug around a spare when a can of "stuff" might do. Only issue being can I then modify the luggage rack for the occassional (and theoretical) long distance blat and how would this work? 2) Tank straps. These were just welded on and I would have thought that this would prove a perfect way of breaking the new power coating due to flexing. Surely later cars didn't have this arrangement? 3) AOB: While the car is a Arch, what other essential mods are recomended? I am never going to go crazy with power and I doubt it will get much serious track work. I doubt that my driving skills are good enough to warrant any work on the suspension. I had thought though about powder coating as much of the ali as possible. Thanks Dominic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Support Team Shaun_E Posted April 18, 2006 Support Team Share Posted April 18, 2006 It took me 4 weeks to strip my car and that was working most of the weekends and some evenings so don't feel too bad about that. Bagging and labeling made re-assembly much easier, so you'll be glad you did. Definitely get a new loom - it's my biggest regret that I didn't. Not sure where to source one though - Caterham will obviously supply the standard offering but you may be able to get a custom loom made for similar money. I don't have a spare wheel carrier but others swear by them. Why not have a removable one made to give the best of both worlds? Can't answer your question on tank straps - on my car the tank sits on two right angled brackets and is held down with long bolts through a right angled bracket that sits on the forward top edge of the tank. I didn't have any extras added to the chassis. Angus has gone for Watts linkage mounts but people I asked about that said that the Caterham design was sub optimal and that there was little benefit in the Watts link over the previous design. I had every panel powder coated apart from the rear panel (they can't do that one as the bends crack the powder coat) - it looks better and should provide a further barrier to corrosion. Strip all your suspension parts and get them blasted and recoated (and rebushed) - another thing I regret not doing. Good luck. Yellow SL #32 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caterhamnut Posted April 18, 2006 Share Posted April 18, 2006 Dominic - fair to say just about every (period of) chassis is different, when you get to Arch, walk round it with Bruce and I am sure he will point out things and make suggestions as to what you may want done I have the same tank fitting as Shaun. If you look at the pictures at the top of this page (or page 9 if this jumps!) you can see the 'new' (relative to ours) tyre rack. I am a fan simply because it does provide a good luggage rack if not used for a spare wheel, also good for transporting wheels to track days - 1 in the rack, therefore only 3 strapped to the top. Carries a good sized waterproof case if required, and most importantly provides a nice bumper for minor bumps! As Shaun suggests, many people have made them removable. You could discuss this with Bruce - might be something he can do 'at source' - or get it put on and sprayed up along with everything else and then take it off yourself later. I had watts link brackets fitted 'just in case' - we may never use them - like the cage bushes - so that sort of thing was more of a 'just in case'. www.mycaterham.com here 91,000 miles -1st 1.6k Supersport, '95 Motor Show car Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom_C Posted April 18, 2006 Share Posted April 18, 2006 I have a can of "stuff" in both the tintop (Clio 182) and the 7, as mine's a race chassis. What you need is Tyreweld from Halfords if you don't want to carry a spare. For luggage carrying, Ernie Panks (Norfolk AO) is developing a rack to clamp onto the rear panel. Cheers Tom FH54WLX - only the car supports ManU, honest! see here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris__ Posted April 18, 2006 Share Posted April 18, 2006 Nice one Dominic! re this:AOB: While the car is a Arch, what other essential mods are recomended? I am never going to go crazy with power and I doubt it will get much serious track work. I doubt that my driving skills are good enough to warrant any work on the suspension. I had thought though about powder coating as much of the ali as possible. I'd say go for all you can, and copy what Angus and Tessa have done 😬 I don't worry about a lack of a spare wheel, but if you're doing touring, a spare might give you peace of mind if the tyre tears or shreds or whatever, the one thing tyreweld can't fix. LSD - I'd ring BGH, as everyone on this site seems to swear by them, and they've got rather a lot of diffs... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickh7 Posted April 18, 2006 Share Posted April 18, 2006 Hi Dominic As for the wheel carrier I cut it off but added a small bumper as you can see in the photo here or http://community.webshots.com/photo/531631597/2932259930083607912szUUfN I am sure that Bruce could do the same, I can still use the luggage carrier so all round its a good solution Nick h Its Yellow and Black and makes me 😬 Edited by - nickh7 on 18 Apr 2006 20:39:02 Edited by - nickh7 on 18 Apr 2006 20:39:55 Edited by - nickh7 on 18 Apr 2006 20:42:52 Edited by - nickh7 on 18 Apr 2006 20:43:49 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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