andi4eyes

Thank you for your replies! The question about the upper wishbones came up when I was looking at Caterhamparts.co.uk and couldn't find my setup. I don't plan to change anything before I need to. The use of sealant on the SIB is a good point. Will check and use a thin knife to break/cut any sealant that I might find there. @Wrightpayne: Do you mean the attachment point I highlighted here? This point only seems to hold the cage itself but not the SIB. As far as I could tell the short tube from the SIB only "covers" the bolt that hold the cage in place. I was able to flex the SIB away from the side of the car at this point.

Today I have two questions about my new to me Classic ex grad racer. It's a 2000 live axle car with the 8V VX engine. As I use it as a road car and would like to use the doors I want to remove the side impact bar. The car has a lowered floor on the driver side so the SIB goes into the chassis. I think without the lowered floor the SIB would simply be attached to the underside of the floor. I removed the two bolts that attach the SIB to the chassis bar that runs across the front of the seat (and the bolts that fix it to the cage in the back of course) The bar doesn't move one bit. I was wondering if I missed something or if it just needs more force. The bar has some corrosion but I think it was off the car when the floor was installed two or three years ago. I can't see any attachment points to the lowered floor bracket. In that admittedly bad photo you can see a bit of the lowered floor sticking out and the bar going into the chassis rather than being attached to the underside of the floor: Second question is related to the front suspension. As I understand the Classics have old-school half upper wishbones. On my car however I can see the non-tubular rear section of the half upper wishbone plus another front half wishbone that form something like a full wishbone. Is that a common upgrade? I assume this required chassis work to create the front attachment points. Could I fit a standard tubular upper wishbone if I ever needed to replace the bits that are on the car now? Cheers Andi

As Guy Lowe had mentioned Redline had everything in stock.

I called all the Caterham specialists I could find in my area and nobody has the parts in stock. So my next call will be to Redline at 10am when they open. @Wrightpayne: Yes you are absolutely right.

Okay, the problem seems to be the missing dust shield. I just found a DIN washer that has a ID of 11mm and is 1mm wide. It doesn't have the large OD of the (presumably) imperial one but that should work I hope.

Driving home from picking up my new to me Classic VX I lost a front brake caliper bolt. The second bolt was still there but quite loose already. So my 120 miles trip home was cut short after about 10 miles and ended on a recovery vehicle. After some research I found it's a 7/16 x 1-1/4 UNF bolt plus washer. In my case the washer on the bolt that I didn't loose seems to be an M12. I will replace that with a 7/16 once I get them. To my surprise there was a very thin washer between the caliper and upright, also about 7/16 (or 11mm) ID and about 1'' (or about 25mm) OD by 0.8mm (1/32?) I checked a build manual of the 1990s and couldn't find anything about that washer or shim. Trying to find that shim seems to be impossible, at least for me. I couldn't find a 11mm ID and about 25mm OD washer at all. What do people use in that place if anything at all? Maybe I'm just looking in the wrong place? Cheers Andi

I'm trying to source a half hood for a Classic VX race car with cage for two months but that's a difficult job it turns out. Neither Oxted Thundersport nor SBFS can really help as they don't know the cage and can't do custom jobs at the moment. I was going to order a new one from SBFS for a Safety Devices Cage (H7) as it looks very similar to what I have. So I probably need a half hood for an old tall Roadsport cage made by Safety Devices. So if anyone has a half hood for that cage type for sale please get in touch. Thanks, Andi

@sforshaw, it's a 2000 live axle (Vauxhall) Classic VX

@SM25T, I haven't seen the two variants side by side but I assumed the shape of the flat bit (where the handbrake would be) and the transition to the round part would be different. But it could be an option if I can't find anything. @Ian, yes good idea. I was thinking about that as well. I wanted to cover the ally bit around the gear shifter in vinyl but couldn't come up with a neat solution for a elbow rest yet. I don't have access to the car at the moment so there wasn't a eureka moment yet.

I would like to fit a vinyl tunnel top to my bare aluminum non-handbrake tunnel (Vauxhall 8V powered Classic VX S3 live axle chassis). Maybe someone has one laying around? Thanks! Andi

I'm looking to buy a set of seat liners for composite Tillett seats with the standard (horizontal) stitch pattern: Thanks, Andi

Thank you guys for your replies! @Ian, it would be great if you could let me know what you find. SBFS has those versions: https://www.softbitsshop.co.uk/caterham-classifications-12-w.asp By "making longer side straps" do you mean you had to get the sewing machine out or is it the slid-y bit that you had to get a longer one? If I knew by how much you extended them I could possibly ask the manufacturer to make them a bit longer. @Aeroscreen, Thank you for your input. I found your website very helpful while I was trying to find out all the details about Caterhams over the last few weeks and months. I was actually thinking about that. My plan is to ditch the half doors and the big side impact bar. Instead I will run the rear wheel intrusion bar (found and bought one already) for some protection and full doors.

Hi guys, I'm Andi, a new member and a new Caterham owner. I will take delivery of an "Academy"/Graduates race car from 2000 in a few weeks time. The car has the high roll cage I think made by Safety Devices. I tried to work with Soft Bits for Sevens and Oxted Thundersport to acquire a half hood for this car but neither companies have patterns or can even do a custom job. So my question for the forum: Has anyone fitted a half hood to one of those cars/cages before? I'm not looking for a perfect fit but it should be functional. Thanks! Andi