Caterham Lotus Super 7 - The Rebuild!

Šįk · Oct 30, 2012

Right so, some of you may *remember the 1979 Caterham Lotus Super 7 I was driving. Which I was getting fixed up & back on the road, 6/7months later and here it was in it's prime, last Aug/Sept.

Super 7 by PSJHodgson, on Flickr

..Then on the 18th of september It ended up looking like this! The result of a Head on with a Vectra!

(sorry on the quality, it's the only photo)

Crash by PSJHodgson, on Flickr

Ok so for you guys that don't know, here is a brief summary of it's history. This car is a Very special and sentimental car to me. It was bought and built by my father back in 1979. He's been all over Europe in it and it was a huge part of my childhood as a young boy growing up. It was then retired and left collecting dust in the garage in the late 90's due to tired engine, after a good 50k of driving and years of epic memories.

Then in 2011 I said to my dad I want to restore it and get it back on the road and enjoy it like he has when he was my age! ..Unfortunately after I'd put alot of hardwork, love and money into getting to it's prime I was involved in a bad head on crash. I was rushed off by air ambulance to hospital just in the nik of time as I lost ALOT of blood. Fractures to face,chest and legs plus actually braking one leg. Thankfully everyone else involved came away with just a few bruises and scratches.

A few stressful months later, after I was repaired etc I decided I wanted to rebuild the entire car that almost killed me back to it's former glory! Better infact.

So this brings me to now, Last week it was transported from my parents to my Grandads were it will be getting stripped down, assessed and built back up on a *brand new chassis. With new parts needed accordingly. Best is it was originally built in this garage which is kinda cool too!

So tonight I have only been able to spend a couple hours on it. Mainly going over it, taking pictures and starting to strip it down.*

Here's a few closer pics of front the damage.

Damage by PSJHodgson, on Flickr

Damage by PSJHodgson, on Flickr

Signs of the bent chassis

Damage by PSJHodgson, on Flickr

Damage by PSJHodgson, on Flickr

Note that steering wheel, yes my face did that!

Damage by PSJHodgson, on Flickr

What's left of the nose cone & grill

Damage by PSJHodgson, on Flickr

The Expensive damage

Damage by PSJHodgson, on Flickr

Damage by PSJHodgson, on Flickr

I hope the head is repairable as if not a new will cost over £2500! Will have to wait and see when I can open it right up!

This is how it is now looking after starting stripping.

Stripping by PSJHodgson, on Flickr

Stripping by PSJHodgson, on Flickr

Stripping by PSJHodgson, on Flickr

Stripping by PSJHodgson, on Flickr

Plan it to keep it original! Old school and retro with a few modern tweaks for reliability purposes mainly.*

So the start of a long and slow project. I *will update accordingly, wish me Luck!!

Cheers, Piers.

Tunst · Oct 30, 2012

Win!

If you need a hand with anything give me a shout!

Jon.G · Oct 30, 2012

That looked awesome before.

Sorry to hear about the accident, Glad you still want to build it back up again.

VeinAST · Oct 30, 2012

Least you're ok! Nasty accident that im sure

Heez · Oct 30, 2012

Will be awesome. That smash looks big! Any idea what happened?

Subscribed.

Dave.. · Oct 30, 2012

I cant imagine for a second that head is repairable?

I'd be tempted to drop a 2.0 ford engine in. Massively cheap for spares and tuning.

welshname · Oct 30, 2012

That looked awesome in it's prime. I hope you get it all fixed up and drive it again.

Addicted · Oct 30, 2012

That head looks fucked, nasty accident even the steering wheel is bent, glad you are ok now though.

Best of luck repairing it, wish I had any sort of knowledge as to how to start something liek this!

BoatNonce · Oct 30, 2012

F**king hell. Maximum respect.

I'd have thought it was quite a lot of work you'll need to do to get it back in one piece.

Wick · Oct 30, 2012

Wouldn't fancy a knock in a 7. good luck on the project.

TonkaTruck · Oct 31, 2012

Sub. Going to be a great project! Good luck.

Porkie · Oct 31, 2012

wow. will be following this one.

Awesome.

thanks for sharing

Cliotoby · Oct 31, 2012

This could take you a long long time. f**k that for a laugh, but good on you for taking on such a project.

George182 · Oct 31, 2012

Good luck with the project! I hope it goes well.

Tunst · Oct 31, 2012

Started yet? :rasp:

welshname · Oct 31, 2012

Not to turn this thread into a "who is to blame" crash thread, but what actually happened?

Tunst · Oct 31, 2012

Lost the back end on a corner iirc.. Track type tryes and wet roads...

I could be wrong but thats what inwas told lol

Šįk · Oct 31, 2012

In summary, I miss-judged a very decieving blind corner + stream of crossing water + semi slicks = slight understeer + oncoming vectra = bad news. It was a slow impact and could of been alot worse if it was a small wagon or tractor.. But could of easy been nothing barr a slight skid and on i went. Heinsight is a wonderful thing!

But iv paid the price this last year from a small driver error. So yea thats the brief of what happened and ideally thats the end of that discussion as it wasnt happy memory or situation in my life

plus i dont want the thread going off topic which i hope all of you would understand.

Thanks for all the positive comments so far

Tunst · Oct 31, 2012

Whats happening with the engine piers?

Šįk · Oct 31, 2012

Tunst said:
Whats happening with the engine piers?

Well ideally im wanting to either get the current one rebuilt as its the original engine & its the heart and soul of the car. if its beyond repair i could always get another ready built one but there pricey (£5k+) couple on ebay atm. Other option is go down the Ford Zetec (or similer) route but the problem with that is it just wont be the same car, wont have beautiful charactor or sound of that epic Lotus TwinCam engine, which was half the joy & pleasure of driving it.

welshname · Oct 31, 2012

Piers. said:
In summary, I miss-judged a very decieving blind corner + stream of crossing water + semi slicks = slight understeer + oncoming vectra = bad news. It was a slow impact and could of been alot worse if it was a small wagon or tractor.. But could of easy been nothing barr a slight skid and on i went. Heinsight is a wonderful thing!

But iv paid the price this last year from a small driver error. So yea thats the brief of what happened and ideally thats the end of that discussion as it wasnt happy memory or situation in my life plus i dont want the thread going off topic which i hope all of you would understand.

Thanks for all the positive comments so far

Ofcourse. Understood.

So are you going to be replacing the engine with a like for like? New head? Or going for something else?

Rubicon_ · Oct 31, 2012

Amazing car makes its so cool to with all that history.

Good luck with the rebuild, as you say hopefully the engine can somehow be repaired, I think it would ruin it putting something else in.

Hixle · Oct 31, 2012

Sorry to hear about your crash Piers, glad you were ok mate.

Good luck with the build, look forward to seeing where you go with it!

Coops Mk1 · Oct 31, 2012

as all others have said, nasty crash but glad your facing the demons and restoring her. Zetec makes financial sense, but I'm getting the impression that that's beside the point for this car so twin cam lotus it must be imo

Tunst · Oct 31, 2012

Well if you want a hand with anything mechanical just give me a shout.. Would love to work on this

Darren S · Oct 31, 2012

Coops Turbo said:
as all others have said, nasty crash but glad your facing the demons and restoring her. Zetec makes financial sense, but I'm getting the impression that that's beside the point for this car so twin cam lotus it must be imo

Same here. There's probably a whole range of engines that would suit the car, but none will be what it came with. I know if I was in that situation, it would have to be the Lotus lump or nothing (short of them being something daft like £50k to replace). It would be like repairing an old 911 and sticking a V8 in it - its just not the same thing.

D.

Šįk · Oct 31, 2012

Exactly guys, the engine is what makes this what it is - Epic. It wouldn't work any other way tbh.

Again thanks for the supportive comments

and cheers Mark, will keep you in mind!

Rob · Oct 31, 2012

This is madness, I was so jealous when you picked up the car, then I saw a few photos, was more jealous, then we never heard a peep. I assumed you were too busy driving or I totally missed that you crashed.

Glad you're on the mend. Is the engine beyond rebuild then? If not, IMO, it needs to be done. Get Mark involved, he loves getting his hands dirty for a burger.

Good luck with it mate, I'll be following closely. Seems a long time ago now that you were selling me 172 alloys for my ph1 1.2.

Tyler@Ultimate · Oct 31, 2012

Good Luck

Šįk · Oct 31, 2012

Cheers, yea I was keeping quite until everything had blown over. I'm not sure yet Rob. I need to strip it down abit more and get the engine out for a proper checkover. It's a wee bit tight in there ATM with everything being squashed back so it's hard to find what is and isn't 100% Goosed.

Lol & I had totally forgot you had bought them!

ColinG · Oct 31, 2012

Great to see your rebuilding it back to its former glory piers!

Is your dad helping out too? Be a great father son project that!

As above also, if you need a hand or are stuck anytime.. Just give me a text I'll try and help if I can!

Tunst · Oct 31, 2012

Rob said:
Get Mark involved, he loves getting his hands dirty for a burger.

You know me well :rasp:

Chicken burger and chips

Alex H · Oct 31, 2012

Whack a tuned Duratec in there, good reliable power.

Had a mate bend a chassis in a similar type of accident, but with a wall...

Gaz. · Oct 31, 2012

Glad you survived to not only tell the tale, but you still wanted to keep the car and return it to it's former glory. I think that the engine may be a rather expensive repair, even compared to the rest of it.

Šįk · Nov 1, 2012

Cheers Colin

yea my dad will be helping a little bit as he knows the car inside out.

yea the engine could cost a bomb.. Just hope its not too bad internaly, its already been rebuilt twice! Once in the 80's and 2nd time last year when i was getting it back on the road! Grrr lol.

MaLicE · Nov 1, 2012

U will at least need a new head....

Šįk · Nov 3, 2012

Spent a good few hours on it today with the help of a good pal,

Got the front wings off, front suspension & brakes off. Plus removed the Centre tunnel to get good look & access at the prop shaft etc. Exhaust and Dellorto Carbs were also removed.

Here how she's looking to date..

Stripping by PSJHodgson, on Flickr

Stripping by PSJHodgson, on Flickr

Good parts by PSJHodgson, on Flickr

Good parts by PSJHodgson, on Flickr

Stripping by PSJHodgson, on Flickr

Most likely going to have to get the grinder out next time to tear away most of the front! Then I guess it's engine & gear box out.

Cheers, Piers.

Nashy · Nov 3, 2012

Win!! Love it!!

blakey · Nov 3, 2012

Love it, look forward to seeing progress. Looks a stunning car before the crash

Šįk · Jan 31, 2013

Udpate.

It's been a while, haven't done anything over Xmas and new year. But kicked myself in the arse and got stuck back in this week with the help of a friend (cheers ash

)

Tuesday night we spent a couple hours stripping loads more stuff.. Ripping away body pannels to get access etc.. Here's a few pics..

Dismantled prop-shaft from the mexico rear axle..

Super 7 strip by PSJHodgson, on Flickr

Removed fuel tank, lines, filter and pump..

Super 7 strip by PSJHodgson, on Flickr

Removed heater, horns etc..

Super 7 strip by PSJHodgson, on Flickr

We also managed to leaver back the crushed front and got a better look at the engine. Unfortunately it is looking worse than expected or what we had hoped

. Cracked from top to bottom. Fortunately its the timing case which is easy replaceable but we still don't know what the story is inside the engine.

Super 7 strip by PSJHodgson, on Flickr

Then tonight we spent another couple hours on further stripping - drained engine oil, removed oil tank and hoses, dry sump, oil cooler, radiator steering rack, alternator and loads of other bits..

Mid proccess..