CATERHAM S3 SV FRAMELESS DOOR MODIFICATION

[David aka Blue7]

Has anyone fitted this kit, I recall someone here carrying out a similar mod. and followed up with an article in LF but used perspex.  Cutting the doors is a bit of a thought and the guy seems to have relocated from Lochgelly, Fife to Malaga, Spain

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CATERHAM-S3-SV-FRAMELESS-DOOR-MODIFICATION-FOR-OXTED-THUNDERSPORT-SOFTBITS-HOOD/112611168111?hash=item1a38260f6f:g:7GsAAOSwg~BZ6mX8

[Wrightpayne]

The Club calendar picture for Feb has edgeless doors - had a double take the other day as something looked different!

Ian

[nickh7]

Antony Hawkins AR South Yorkshire has a version that turn into half doors too I’ll email him to alert him to this thread

 

Nick h 

[DJ.]

It's my car in the calendar and I copied the idea from the excellent guide by AnthonyH here:

https://www.lotus7.club/blogs/better-side-screens-half-doors-seen-lowflying-april-2015

I changed two things when I made mine:

1, I didn't want to make the quarter light option, so I left the rear bar higher to stabilise the polycarbonate

2. Having made the polycarbonate the same size as the entire side screen including the soft flap, I then had to bend the top portion over 45 degrees so it tucks in under the half hood. This was tricky, I tried heat and making a big clamp, but in the end just stuck the edge in a big vise and did it by brute force by hand bending short parts at a time.

Duncan

By the way, I think the trickiest part is finishing off the vinyl where the frame is cut.

[AntonyH]

^^ What Duncan says about finishing the vinyl where you’ve separated it. Pliers essential!

I recently replaced the standard polycarbonate of the original conversions with margard, which has a hardened coating. The originals has started to get a bit scratched over the three years of use; hopefully these will last longer (margard is significantly pricier).

I’ve almost never used the quarterlight or windowless options because it’s rarely consistently hot enough to demand it.

The largest advantage remains the absence of the blind spots caused by the stock frames.

[AntonyH]

...and, mine have always been polycarbonate not Perspex, given one is used for riot shields and touring car windscreens and the other... isn’t.

[rj]

I'd second using polycarbonate rather than Perspex for a safety issu. The PC is more or less unbreakable whereas the perspex can turn into very sharp shapes almost like glass.

Remember that whatever you need it must be UV coated, otherwise it'll self-destruct in a very short time.

[Golf Juliet Tango]

Antony's article in LowFlying is here in the archive:

http://lowflying.lotus7.club/2015/2015_04_06_Door.pdf

[David aka Blue7]

I hadn't noticed the modified sidescreens in the February photo but the roll bar probably disguises the top edge.  Thanks for the link to the pdf file, saves me looking back through copies of LF to find it. 

So at £161 inc. postage for 2 screens it seems a reasonable price for the pre-cut polycarbon.  The bottom edge in the photo on the sellers website looks a bit shabby to me and would probably benefit from some sort of trim strip to cover it.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CATERHAM-S3-SV-FRAMELESS-DOOR-MODIFICATION-FOR-OXTED-THUNDERSPORT-SOFTBITS-HOOD/112611168111?hash=item1a38260f6f:g:7GsAAOSwg~BZ6mX8

It is a bit of a thought to chop my existing sidescreens so I might look around for a second hand pair so that I always have my originals in reserve.  Here is the seller's description of the kit supplied:

Attention all Caterham owners 
 Presenting the comprehensive kit to enable you to convert your doors to the 
Japanese frameless modification as seen in the Blatchat article  We realise it’s a big step to just cut your doors up blindly.   Most owners cannot spare the time or necessarily have skills or tools to  DIY or risk getting it wrong.  So we added this to our range of wind deflectors and created the shape profiles from our CNC . The panels are of the correct grade polycarbonate (not PERSPEX) supplied with the correct hardware  and instructions to enable you to install with confidence.

The edges are fully polished to give a professional finish and smooth to the touch. The upper clear section stays upright with minimal deformation at higher speeds.  Your original door design was made to fit the old style full hood with hood sticks and side flaps.  This makes it a tad short for the bikini hood  in the water ingress blowing into the vortex behind your head.  Side ingress of rain is very much reduced to a minimum due to the increased length of the doors.

SUPPLIED WITH HINGES AND MOUNTING HARDWARE

Door bottom sections not supplied !  In the kit, you will recieve

A pair of side screens made from high quality UV Coated Polycarbonate, made from the market-leading brand thats bullet proof!

The side screens edges are fully hand polished to a high standard.  
A set of hardware containing Stainless fixings and a set of four hinge parts

A test drill piece of poly carbonate to practice your technique.

My mounted example has the hinges at 210mm standard Caterham measurement 

The upper windows  are supplied undrilled to allow you the flexibility to mount them on your seven exactly where you need

 

[Golf Juliet Tango]

Thanks for the link to the pdf file, saves me looking back through copies of LF to find it. 

That is exactly why I started indexing.  Unknown to me when I started an index, the MT of that time had started the scanning for archival purposes.  Subsequently, it all came together.  A true group effort.

[L777JDP]

I wonder if this eBay offering can be used with a pair of half doors, so the hinges at the front just go through the polycarbonate?

Mine is an SV and I don't fancy cutting up my existing doors. Fixing the polycarbonate to the outside of half doors, drilled at intervals along the bottom might be an option. I'm not that familiar with a half door, and don't have any to look at to check, so I am unsure if this would work.