SJL Posted February 19, 2005 Share Posted February 19, 2005 I am seriously thinking about purchasing a start kit with the aim of getting to R300 type spec - I intend to buy everything new excpet the engine - the intention is that with only one secondhand component (the engine) I can still get it registered with a new registration (useful to retain value). Regards the engine I was thinking of aquiring a 1.8K VVC from a breakers and suspect this will cost in the region of £1K for a good one - which would make a considerable saving over the cost of getting the equivalent from Cateham - I would welcome feedback from anyone who has taken this route. Otherwise I plan to go for widetrack suspension, 6 speed g/box and LSD diff with the only diversion being freestyle dampers and front anti roll bar instead of Caterham. Thanks Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myles Posted February 19, 2005 Share Posted February 19, 2005 Hmm - whatever value the new-plate retains will not be anything like as high as if you'd bought an R300 in the first-place. Don't kid-yourself - you might build something with R300 performance, but it won't be treated as such as and when you resell it - Caterham almost certainly won't touch it with a bargepole as they only seem to accept genuine CC-spec cars for part-ex and the like. If you're not too worried by any of that, carry-on... Project Scope-Creep is underway... Alcester Racing 7's Equipe - 🙆🏻™ Alcester-Racing-Sevens.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Beaumont Posted February 19, 2005 Share Posted February 19, 2005 I did pretty much exactly what you propose, with the same engine. Tried to buy as little as poss from Caterham and did save quite a tidy amount, about 5 large IIRC. Myles is right, rightly or wrongly I think the known Caterham models hold their value better, and Caterham told me up front they wouldn't buy my car if I went with non Caterham supplied bits. However I do think it's worth doing if you have no plans to sell the car later as you save so much. Getting it with a new plate is wise as Q plate cars still have a negative perception. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJL Posted February 19, 2005 Author Share Posted February 19, 2005 Myles - Not too bothered about selling car back to Caterham - when I tried that with my last one (full Caterham build) the price they offered wasn't fantastic unsurprisingly so I sold it privately - so long as I can sell it for a fair price at a later date I will be happy. I do recognise that if I pay less for it than a new R300 it will be worth less secondhand. More concerned that its registered on a new plate - a Q would affect its value (downwards). Luke - can you remember how much you ended up paying for your s/h engine ? where there any issues with a non Caterham K series (I know they alter them at the factory) - thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fordy Posted February 19, 2005 Share Posted February 19, 2005 but you'll still need to have the engine refurbished (budget about £1500). You are allowed one reconditioned part and must have an invoice that states "reconditioned to as new"... I have just built a nicely specced 1.6 supersport/6spd for about £15K. Saving about 7 or 8 large ones on new. Using a lightly used (5000mile) ex-superlight engine/box. Some other second hand bits like tillets etc.. too. It will go on a Q but with that kind of saving, I can live with it 😬 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Beaumont Posted February 20, 2005 Share Posted February 20, 2005 I paid £940 for an engine in a stolen/recovered car. Bits had started to be cannibalised from the car so I couldn't see it running, just had to take a chance. I then fully reconditioned it myself, and had to replace a lot - bearings, liners and of course gaskets. Nonetheless the engine still ended up costing less than £1500 total, and I had no problem with officialdom being sniffy over it being refurbished. The engine looked almost like new anyway as I'd cleaned everything along the way. I went to great lengths to ensure it had a year related reg then, and would do the same again despite the potential for greater savings if you are released from buying everything but the engine new. There is a bit of tomfoolery to get them to fit in a Seven, and I put most of what I know up on t'web here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJL Posted February 20, 2005 Author Share Posted February 20, 2005 Thanks Luke - very interesting web site - and a lot of information ! Regards the engine required to be reconditioned - am I right in assuming that so long as its clean and shiny the SVA people will accept it as OK - am guessing that if I can get a recent engine and clean it then it will get by - a good s/h VVC (or even standard 1.8) has got to be a good saving ? The other alternative is to accept a Q plate and go the while hog and get a s/h g/box etc etc which as you mention could save even more Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonbell Posted February 20, 2005 Share Posted February 20, 2005 I have heard of people buying a second hand engine, stripping it down, taking lots of photos, keeping oinvoices for replacement parts, photographing the rebuild and using all that information as a basis for prooving that it has been reconditioned. Simon Bell - Caterham 7 Duratec R I`ve seen the future.....and it`s powered by duratec Check out the website here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fordy Posted February 20, 2005 Share Posted February 20, 2005 this has got me thinking..... ...but as SVA is tomorrow it might be hard to get an invoiced set of refurb parts to waive in front of the DVLA by tomorrow afternoon.... hmmm... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Beaumont Posted February 20, 2005 Share Posted February 20, 2005 > so long as its clean and shiny the SVA people will accept it as OK I guess it's difficult to say since in my case I did refurbish it (though I'd rather have bought a good engine in the first place) and heaved a stack of reciepts at the DVLA, about 1cm of which were invoices from the local Rover dealer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonbell Posted February 20, 2005 Share Posted February 20, 2005 I would think =you will need either a reciept which says it is a new engine, a reciept which says it is a used engine plus a reciept which says it has been reconditioned as new.....or a receipt which says it is a used engine and a stck of receipts for various parts plus any further supporting docs / photos to prove you have reconditioned it yourself. Simon Bell - Caterham 7 Duratec R I`ve seen the future.....and it`s powered by duratec Check out the website here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonbell Posted February 20, 2005 Share Posted February 20, 2005 It`s not so much an SVA issue as a registration issue Simon Bell - Caterham 7 Duratec R I`ve seen the future.....and it`s powered by duratec Check out the website here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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