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andysteele

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Blog Entries posted by andysteele

  1. andysteele

    April Fool!

    By andysteele,

    I picked my Caterham up on 1st April 2015 (no joke), so am officially 1 month into my ownership, I`ve spent most of my evenings in the garage giving it a thorough checking over, and fixing a few bits and bobs along the way, as well as picking up some bits on eBay and alike. I thought I`d add a blog post as these come up when you look at people's profile page, before I get into my 1st month highlights, I thought I'd cover my relevant car history:

    1999 Caterham Super Sprint - Live Axle, 1600 Vauxhall, ex-Academy (2000) - Factory built for Mark Harrison of Greenwich, London, and subsequently sold on by Caterham Cars to a Cliff Moulder of Cheshunt, Herts in early 2001 and little used, I was 3rd owner from Jan 2008 to June 2010, and then passed on to Jim Riches. Other than spotting it in someone else's pictures from The Phoenix Inn, Hartney Whitney New Years Day 2013, I`ve not seen or heard from it since.

    2001 Lotus Elise - S2 - one of the early Series 2 Elise’s, purchased to replace the Caterham, as I needed an everyday commuter, couldn't find a good Series 1 that wasn't sold by the time I`d called up. Used daily for 4 years (June 2010 to June 2014), when it left my care, due to a careless 4x4 driver and trailer. Time for a change…

    2007 Mini Cooper S Convertible - current commuter wagon, which ticks the boxes of fun, without a roof, and 4 seats so i can take the kids out, and enables a ‘toy’ car to only be used when I want to, rather when I need to. Owned since July 2014.

    2009 Caterham Roadsport - 1600 Sigma, ex-Academy (2009), kit build by Dean Carr, 2008 chassis, delivered in October 2008, registered in Jan 2009. Completed the 2009 Academy, and Winter Series, and then sold on to Simon Thomas of Guildford in early 2010, similar to my first Caterham, in original Academy spec, and little used. Original build sheet, and pictures provided by Dean Carr (have made contact) show original spec was with orange nose with black nose band and stripe, nose was replaced after incident in qualifying at Donington.
    In my first month:
    Trips out - 6
    Miles - 200
    little jobs -
    replaced boot cover poppers, added boot cover poppers to match all bases (2 missing in the middle section), added male headed poppers to front corners of boot cover (for tonneau/half hood) relocated rain light to centre of roll cage (had been offset) moved mirrors from SVA stalks to door mounts put rubber grommets into holes in passenger floor (lead weight mounting points I assume) sorted through box-of-bit that came with the car. Oh yes and a fair amount of cleaning up of various bits. purchases -
    hood bag (didn't have one, but has full hood with cut out for side impact bar) tonneau cover (Academy spec with tillet pockets, and cage cutouts, need to fit popper bases though) half hood (Academy cage spec, essential item, the full hood is not likely to come out of its new hood bag any time soon!) set of Avon CR500’s (waiting to be fitted) black pack heat shields for cat and silencer (but in 2 minds over whether to polish up the existing or go black)
  2. andysteele

    MOT Time....

    By andysteele,

    3 months in to ownership and the MOT was due, which turned into a bigger job than expected. Having used Steve Williams Lotus previously i decided to entrust him with the job of some service items, and a quick MOT. It turns out the cambelt change on a Sigma isnt a simple job!
    Anyway, have enjoyed getting out and about in the Caterham. We got to attend my brother-in-law's wedding with a local car club who were asked to put on a display.

    Attended local L7C club monthly meeting (ReHaB mid-month May and June)


    in months 2 & 3
    trips out - 10
    miles - 200
    jobs - 
     created a satnav mount from a plastic plate stand and stick on velro.  fitted half hood, yet to be deployed in anger (and packed away the main hood!)  polished exhaust with autosol  polished and waxed the bodywork  fitted PH sticker (need L7C ones!)  air filter  peddle box check  swapped wheels over, and got CR500's put on the 8-spokes  major service + MOT purchases - 
     Yoko A539 tyres (on shabby minilights)  cage-mount headrest  Service bits (Fuchs oil, oil filter, alternator belt, cam belt, spark plugs etc)
  3. andysteele

    Going aero

    By andysteele,

    Having decided I needed to join the Low Flying Aero Club when I acquired the car, I looked around at the various options, and kept a close eye on eBay for any bargains. As it turns out there appear to be a few differnt options, the small race screen that just covers drivers side (passenger side version available) that amounts into the scuttle (new holes required), a full width option that doesnt extend to the windscreen mounting points (R400 screen?), again new holes required, or the full width version that mounts into the windscreen mounting points, that makes fitting, and swapping with the screen simple.
    For these there are options for material, Caterham do black or carbon, and having lowered floors with tillets I was concerned amount the restriction of visibility that looking through/over one of these would provide. Then there is the Meteor Motorsport (Simon Rogers) Clear Aeroscreen, having seen a few of the ReHaB members with these and some sprinters, I decided this was the way to go for me. They dont tend to come up second hand, so I gave Simon a call and placed an order. Great service with description of fitting, and next day delivery.
    Removal of the windscreen was easier than expected. I had planned to cut the heated screen wires, but the spade connectors fitted under the dash just cleared through the holes in the scuttle. To get the stantion to clear the cut-off socket on the drivers side I needed to take the stantion off the screen. I dont think the screen has been off before, as appears to have been fitted to the car when the kit was delivered from pictures provided by the original owner/builder. I was surprised by the amount of gunk under the rubber trim, and after a wash, dry, t-cut and polish the extent of the scratches left behind, but all this is under the aero, so not that noticeable.
     
    Having placed the aero on the scuttle, I started to follow Simon's instructions:
    Position the aero on the car. Mark and drill one side. Fix it. Stretch it over and mark the other side. "Short" drill that side by a couple of mm and this will ensure when you put in the bolt you can stretch the screen tight. If the centre bracket is not quite the right angle then warm with hot air gun or hair drier and it will bend very easily. Mark and drill the centre mount. Fix centre mount to scuttle with poppers, rivet's or even 3m dyloc Velcro. I went a bit too "short" with my drilling and couldnt quite stretch to fit, so openned up the holes slightly, but still a very tight fit. I needed to adjust the angle on the centre bracket, as I dont own a hair drier (or heat gun) I used some boiled water in a bowl and this was enough to soften the plastic to add some angle. I`ve fitted the centre mount to the scuttle with the poppers, having bought slightly longer screws (no.6 5/8" to replace no.6 1/2") to cater for the width of the aero. Simon provides the nuts/bolts to connect the mount to the aero, and you can re-use the stantion bolts from the windscreen for the side mounts, I did add some washers on the outside (M8 25mm).
     
    Job done, now for the test drive...
    Meteor Motorsport - https://www.meteormotorsport.com/
  4. andysteele

    in to Autumn

    By andysteele,

    Over 6 months of fun into ownership, and no major drama's! Loved going aero, but back to screen for the winter, I miss the aero experience already (will this be the last change back?). Clear aero definitely an advantage with lowered floors and tillets, and avoided putting a central mirror which means no obstructions forward visibility (but limited rear visibility!).

    Enjoyed getting out on a couple L7C ReHaB blats, though wasnt quite prepared for some of the roads (single track, grass and gravel, surely not made for a Seven!). First ended up being a 140mile round trip monster, 2nd was shorter but resulted in failed brake light switch and rattle from the exhaust. Also put in an appearance with local classic car club showing cars at the Wokingham Heritage day!

    Having now swapped back to the 8-spoke wheels, now fitted with CR500's, and I understand what all the fuss is about, its a great tyre, good feel, good grip, but noticing the lower gearing from the 55-profile. Have also purchased a cheap action cam (SJCAM SJ4000) and spent sometime playing with various mounts and positions - YouTube.
     
    in months 4 to 7
    trips out - 19
    miles - 500
    jobs - 
    speedo calibration (trial and error) for Yoko A539 and Avon CR500's Spa Mirrors, ounted with P-Clips fitted aero screen (and swapped back for winter) fixed brake light swtich removed exhaust heat shields, one failed jubilee clip purchases - 
    Spa Mirrors - ebay Softbits shower cap cheapo action cam! break light switch
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