Long Term Storage of Caterham 7

[JamesLTanner]

I am moving to the Middle East and sadly have to store my newly built Caterham as they are not too friendly to have Right Hand Drive cars in Bahrain!

 

I will be returning in the Summer when I look forward to using it!

 

All ideas as how to store welcomed: ie. High Pressure in the tyres or put on jacks; Battery lead off or Master Switch off is enough: etc.

 

I woul not want to have to spend a ton of time "un-storing" the car as I hope to sneak home for the odd weekend Blat!!

 

Thanks in advance for all ideas!!

 

James, West Sussex

 

[Chaz23]

I personally would say:

 

put it on jacks

disconnect battery (with mine everything goes via the master switch and I had no problems with it switched off for December).

Car cover

 

or

 

You could let someone else have your car while your away 😬

 

---

1993 De-Dion 1700 X/FLOW

[shn7]

Ideally leave it so someone can use it once a month. If not then ideally on axle stands, handbrake off (as normal), dry well ventilated garage or perhaps a carcoon, battery disconnected from the car and connected to an Optimate or similar intelligent conditioner (not a trickle charger). That's my bit for starters.

 

Steve.

Sussex (West) AR

Not forgetting Percy the Polar Bear

[Midas]

If you can put the car in a garage with power I would recommend a carcoon - I've used one and it is excellent at keeping the car in tip top shape. It also has a battery connector to keep the battery fully charged.

 

Instead of axle stands you would be better off simply pumping the tyres up to stop them flat spotting. Again whenever I've stored mine for long periods I pump the tyres up to 40 psi and they are fine when i come to use the car. (but put a sign up to tell you to remeber to let them down when you come to use it!!!)

 

Finally, you could also make up a piece of wood that keeps the clutch pedal depressed at all time, preventing the clutch from sticking during storage

 

[Tin Man]

Carcoon *thumbup*

[jepo]

I just replaced my Carcoon with an AirChamber from http://www.airflow-uk.com/air-chamber.htm

It's a bit more expensive but the frame makes it possible to work on the car when you unzip it.

 

I highly recommend both. The Carcoon is OK if you are just storing it, the AirChamber is better if you want to be able to take the car in and out more often or work on the car.

 

Edited by - PJ on 16 Aug 2008 12:07:00

[Johnty Lyons]

Not so sure about the wood tip means springs are under load all time and will weaken the diaphragm If garage is not damp plate will not stick.

 

just my senile ramblings

 

---

jj

N.I. L7C AR 🙆🏻

Membership No.3927.

240BHP 1900cc K Series 40th Anniversary

 

[Anthony]

If it is a newish garage, you could put a good dehumidifer in there, with hose to rain butt/storage.

 

Air-chamber is great, but struggle with single garage and up/over door. Have one for 964 and it is first class.

 

If you are looking for secure storage away from garage there is a nice place near Arundal castle (location descrete so i wont mention)

 

[JonathanP]

And if anyone should know about long term Caterham storage... 😬 😬 😬

 

Edited by - JonathanP on 18 Aug 2008 17:41:54

[FTH]

Instead of axle stands you would be better off simply pumping the tyres up to stop them flat spotting

 

and put some carpet squares under the tyre contact spots.

[TomB]

Isnt the point of putting it on stands not only to stop the tyres developing flat spots, but also to give the suspension a 'rest'?.

[JamesLTanner]

To all of you who responded -- thank you for all your thoughts and ideas!!

 

As it stands, broken hearted, I am in Bahrain and my Caterham lies in Sussex!! However I had one great great Blat with my brother-in-law in his one thoughout the best roads of Surrey and Sussex -- that memory I will hold for as long as possible!

 

After sending my request for help...the mover's pulled my Wi-Fi and computer! I had to store it without all the ideas - for the record, better or worse, here is what I did:

-cleaned and polished the body, hoovered the Surrey leaves..

-Put it in the garage, on axle stands

-turned off the battery master switch

-put a dry Catherham cover over it

-kissed her good-bye and locked the door!

 

When I return in the summer, before I leave again, I will look into the carcoon and the air-flow..

 

Thanks again for all your help and ideas -- best one someone gave me, unrelated to the storage of mine, is to build a new left-hand drive one here in Bahrain...however I would need a triple fan as it is 42c here in the shade!!

 

 

 

[Mike Biddle]

James, there is a Caterham distributor in Bahrain with cars in stock.

 

Left drive with detuned Duratech motors. There is also a race series at the GP circuit.

 

If you really get desperate you cpuld always pop down to Dubai where there are a few owners that would I'm sure oblige.

[ashaughnessy]

Is this idea of giving springs (clutch or suspension) a "rest" based on sound engineering principles or just old wives' tales? I can't see why a spring would need a rest from being held statically compressed or extended, though I'm not an engineer.

Anthony

[Bricol]

I wouldn't do the clutch thingie - stretch the cable, load the CRB continuously when it's not meant to be, and clutch itself probably wouldn't like it. I've never had one stick, even with long storage outside.

 

For the cable stretch reason, I've also always left the handbrake off - chocked the integrales on our sloping drive instead.

 

As for jacking up - never done it myself, but I can see the theory so as not to flat spot tyres - I'd be tempted to do it under the suspension rather than chassis, so the bushes are loaded as they would be normally, rather than twisted (in the case of normal rubberlastic type joints) into full droop position - could lead to early failure. Springs shouldn't be a problem.

 

For real term, I'd be thinking about belts taking a set - maybe a quick inspection of the cam belt before giving it some on the first blat back?

 

Bri

[ashaughnessy]

I've had a clutch stick (on my crossflow) at least twice, possibly thrice, after prolonged abandonment over winter. It required scary use of the starter and the brakes to free it up.

Anthony

[JampJ]

Doesn't do the battery any good being stood for long periods without a trickle charge, if left to go completely flat it could be fatal! For the battery that is. An Optimate or similar is a good idea. Petrol goes off too, may be a good idea to drain tank and refill when you return. Rodents can be a problem, depending where you store it. They like seats! So do cats, my seats were covered in cat hairs from a a neighbours cat using it to keep warm in winter. Snook under the cover! Discs tend to rust very quickly, but only surface, which soon dissapears when back in use.

Cheers John

 

JFDI

(Just F*****g Do It)