Matty7

The néouvielle massif....lovely clean air and lots of twisty roads!

Ian, nice idea, but I'm actually up a mountain down in the south of France! Nice location to do a build if not the most practicable.

JV, Trust me...I'm definitely an amateur!

Stu, That was the the though train I was on....build it for now and the future rather than past. Trouble is it's not just the engine and going that route is increasinly looking every bit as expensive and time consuming as selling the whole lot off, chassis and all and then buying a later model car. So much to think about!

Jonathan, I've got a black ring bound assembly guide. It says for de dion chassis with rover k-series variants. It mentions VVC a few times but on no page ever says VHPD. It also mentions hydraulic clutch, so I think this is a later edition. Looks like it will cover the build though. Engine manuals...nope, is there something official I'm missing?

John V, Yes indeed, the proving is the difficult bit. Caterham can't help me in that regard as they can't supply a certificate of newness for something like this. Do have quite a few delivery notes though which cover the chassis and running train (engine excluded). I've been advised to keep a close photo album showing the parts new and of me putting it together for the IVA. I'm suprised to find that's a thing...that they like to see photos, but there you go :-) It is a bit of a grey area and I suspect I won't know until the time comes what sort of reg I'll get. If I guessed now I'd say Q plate or a 2002 dated one.

Tom, it's only the engine that has been used. All the other bits are new, some still in wrap. The chassis, gearbox, suspension etc was supplied by Caterham at end of 2002. Really very little other than seats and engine that were not with that original order. Never built up. The engine came later. It's Caterham branded and obviously light use. "4500-5000 mis" was written on it in white marker though of course there is no real way to verify that is accurate, or even that the "mis" means miles. It's not entirely impossible that the engine wasn't used at all in fact. It was oiled up to the brim but from what I can see internally looks very clean. Sadly it was one of the only things left exposed in a barn for 15 years and had birds crap all over it...that took care of the various pipes/belts attached to it. They may well have been unused too. My understanding is that yes, it needs to go though IVA and built to that BUT the engine might be a sticking point as it's not "new" which means Q plate. i can make the engine look new, maybe it is, but won't be able to prove it. When I bought the car I did so on a whim and didn't even realise a pallet of parts was going to show up with it...I thought I was just buying a barn find chassis complete with suspension. Certainly can't complain about it.

How long have they been on? Only saying because I recently removed some from a vehicle which had the stripes on the bonnet for 5 years. The vinyl had started to crack and it left a complete mess on the paintwork. In the end only a respray could fix.. the mess of damaged paintwork left behind If I had known this in advance, I'd have just sanded them off from the start rather than waste the best part of a week with WD40, hot air blowers, acetone, scrapers etc etc..!

Yes Stu is correct...it's a lot of bits that all together come to primarily a Superlight R spec, though apparently the "Stack" unit and dash was in fact R500 specification, along with a few other carbon fiber bits. Unfortunately the original owner passed so there is no way of knowing what the plan was for sure but his wife said it was to be a track car for use in Europe as opposed to a road registered UK car. Assuming it was for France (though it may have been Italy) it was to be destined, this sort of spec would have been impossible to get. Even though I've had the bits for a few years now, I've been kept away from it and have not even done an inventory of parts. I will get on with that soon! Thanks for the replies, I hadn't really fully considered what would be involved converting for a ford unit. A lot more than perhaps I was opening my eyes too. Considering I think I have pretty much all the things needed (including an Emerald unit + DVA drivability kit) to drop in the VHPD, the Duratec is starting to look expensive. I think a proper engine service (gaskets, belts, seals, timing etc) are in order and get it started to see where I'm at. Since I can't find anything else out there (please do point me in the right direction if there is) can I assume that torque settings and service parts are going to be the same as any 1800 VVC engine? Also, can someone point me at "Titan" as I keep coming up with a company in the USA. Oh, slightly off topic here but everything apart from the engine is new and unused. Gearbox and all. If I do a good job of cleaning up and refreshing the engine, what's peoples opinion of the chances of going for a regular registration rather than a Q plate? I even inherited several exhausts, one of which is massive and ooks like it could get a jumbo jet through a noise test!

Hello, it's been a while for me because of many things getting in the way of finishing my build. Illness etc but now I'm ready to get on with it. I have a 2002 chassis, imperial and most of the bits to build a then Superlight R. That includes a Caterham supplied K-Series VHPD engine. It's used, from what we can gather did about 5000 road miles but has been sitting in storage box for 15+ years. I'm not sure if it's best to strip it down and sell off the parts that are useful to people (dry sump kit etc) or strip off the cracking pipes and do a head softness test and rebuild it with new gaskets etc (assuming internal inspection checks out). After so long standing, I think the minimum the engine needs is renewing it's head gasket, belts etc etc... Trouble is I'm having trouble sourcing info on what bits I would need that are suitable for a VHPD rebuild (anyone can point me in right direction would be appreciated). So much so that I'm wondering what people think about converting the chassis to hold a Ford engine instead - has anyone done that? Aside from the obvious loom changes what sort of work am I looking at? I assume engine mounts need changing but is there much other work? Advice and ideas welcomed and appreciated!

Complete with cap but missing dip-stick. Not sure it's been used. SOLD

Sold pending payment

As new and certainly unused. SVA bevel type. Serial numbers are EET3-1A32-18B for the Tacho and EES3-1A32-00B for the Speedo. Both electronic with black multi-connectors on back. Digital Odo on speedo and the tacho looks to have shift/ignition lights or something: 1 large led at the top and 3 ones at the bottom. Both have U shaped mounting brackets on rear. £55 + £5 postage UK mainland for Speedo £45 + £5 postage UK mainland for Tacho ​If buying both £90 + £5 UK mainland postage Must be paid for by 25th Oct as I am relying on a friend to do this because I am not based in UK, after that the postage will go up as I have to send from abroad.

SV full hood. Genuine Caterham. Looks new or only very light use. £450 from Caterham so a bargain at SOLD Set of 4 Mike Barnaby mag wheels - 7 inch and 9 inch. No tyres but including hub nuts and new washers. Have been in dry storage for more than 10 years. Reasonable condition, there are markings on the rims but I would suggest these are from the mounting of tyres rather than kerbs. 3 I'd live with, one I'd want to sort for cosmetic reasons. No sign of cracks or corrosion though at some point the centers have been re-sprayed in a dark metallic grey and overspray has passed to the rear of the rim. I'm sure it would easily clean off. Selling as being "for refurbishment" - SOLD Rover VHPD throttle body. In 2001 taken from a Superlight R and in dry storage since. No corrosion. - SOLD All these can all be collected from Weymouth area 26th - 29th October or if posting required they must be paid for by 25th as I am relying on a friend to do this because I am not based in UK. After 25th these won't be available anymore.

That's good news then. The engine came with an Emerald so that bit should be easy. I'm bolting the car together with what came with it for now which is a cat and scilencer on the side but also a rear box. Just missing a connecting pipe which I can get made up for half the price of the Caterham official out of stock one. Altogether it should come out quiet and clean enough.