My Caterham.

[Šįk]

1979 Caterham/Lotus Super 7.

so, been while since iv posted anything on the net about her. been busy getting her sorted, engine rebuilt etc etc..

but here she is to date, My daily ride. oh my what a car to drive! Simply love it. one word.. Epic!

drives so well for a car which is 32years old! sticks like s**t and goes like hell! the twincam is brillaint when on song too! a buzz everytime i drive her which has been everyday so far!

Just cant get enough.

Thanks, Piers.

 

[Nashy]

Awsome machine!! Love it dude!

 

[TheEvilGiraffe]

Superb !

Nice bird in the background too. the BlatChat lot will be nursing semi's in no time haha

 

[Wick]

I have loved this since you first posted about it!

How are you finding it as a daily? Will it be used through the winter?

I would love to have 7 esque kit car, but I honestly don't know if I could run it as my only car?! The natural step down the ladder is VX220/Elise/TVR but I'd really be interested to hear if it is feasible to run a kit car as a daily driver!

 

[Šįk]

cheers nashy

haha yea posted these pics up on blat chat but as you will know, you get about 1 post per day lol.

finding it fine mate. i dont mind having no radio (i dont need one with the twincam on tap) amongst other luxurys. i just like to drive so fits me fine! just gota make sure i have my shades n jumper/jacket handy if it gets abit chilly oh and keep the hood in the back if the rain catches me out. fine in the wet too, even on the A048s suprisingly! back end only comes out when u tell it too mind you the hood leaks a tad in heavy rain but nothing to worry about unless your a wimp. everyone is dfferent though.. its fine for me to use daily. tbh i hate driving anything else no matter how comfy and practical it is ..the missus hates it mind! and yess im going to tax it for winter and see how long i can keep using it as winter comes in heavy!

 

[Wick]

Haha my gf would threaten to disown me I'm sure, but I suppose if I stuck her on the insurance she'd go along with it!!

Wet weather gear would be my biggest concern as that is one thing that the VX/Elise offer slightly greater in. I could also live without the radio/ac/electrics as I am happy racking up 100's of miles in the 182 with it off Give it another year or so and then I'll have to make my mind up!!

 

[Waitey]

7's are only fun with crap tyres on them.

 

[TheEvilGiraffe]

Half-hood from SB4S needed

 

[Trophy237]

Absolutely lovely. Thinking about getting a Caterham this is one car i would would possibly swayed to and there is many. Your a lucky guy.

 

[Šįk]

7's are only fun with crap tyres on them.

What a load of tosh! But each to their own I suppose..

Half-hood from SB4S needed

Good shout! Will look into these..

Absolutely lovely. Thinking about getting a Caterham this is one car i would would possibly swayed to and there is many. Your a lucky guy.

Thanks fella.

 

[Darren S]

Your daily driver? You sir, are a hero! :approve:

D.

 

[Hixle]

Agree with Darren - hero for using it as a daily! Looks in great condition Piers.

I'd love one, but do way too many miles

 

[Nickson]

Crazy man using that as a daily! :rasp:

Brilliant looking car though! :approve:

 

[Munson]

Heroic.

It'll be interesting to see if it's still a daily driver in the winter though. I imagine you'll need an ice scraper for the inside if you leave it anywhere outside over night? Motorway runs at -5c

You're a f**king nutter! lol

RM.

 

[Scrooge]

Brave man lol. Love it!

 

[Waitey]

Heroic.

It'll be interesting to see if it's still a daily driver in the winter though. I imagine you'll need an ice scraper for the inside if you leave it anywhere outside over night? Motorway runs at -5c

You're a f**king nutter! lol

RM.

I used my westie all winter. I didn't even have a roof...

The windscreen never froze though.

 

[Rob]

Proper enthusiast.

I honestly thought I'd misread when I saw you were using it as a daily. LOL!

Good work, and it looks great.

 

[Šįk]

Yea the winter will be interesting, especially when (if) the snow lands heavy. But prior to that I need to get it prepped to deal with all that salt!!

One brilliant thing iv noticed when on good roads is people actually let u past (95% of the time) which is kinda cool

 

[Ian_182]

Great car,i would love one...

 

[Stan.]

Have you still got the LY182 or did that go to make way for this?

 

[JackJack]

Love Caterhams.

 

[Šįk]

No sorry stan the 182 was sold to a good friend (on here) as this has taken it's place

 

[Stan.]

You'll have to Pm me your friends name so I can buy it off him when he sells.

 

[The Boosh!]

Slightly off topic - Having looked on PH, catherhams seem to hold their value really well! Is there an alternative to these that don't cost as much?

 

[Šįk]

The westfields are worth a look mate, or other kit cars but there usually not worth a w**k tbf.

Value wise, mine will only go up in money being the age and model it is it's quite sort after. After all is it the 1st proper Caterham. But yes usually all caterhams hold there money well.

 

[The Boosh!]

Thanks dude.

What engine is in the one you have? Do they feel under powered with 1.6 motors in them or is 2.0 the only way to go?

 

[Šįk]

No worries, the engine which is in mine is the 1.6 Lotus TwinCam (which also helps it's value as it's a very sort after engine) and was built/tuned by vegantune. Mine should be running 126bhp and the car should weigh 512kg.

Well mine is lovely to drive when on tap, nice torquey power delivery all the way through the revs to 6.5/7k. Certainly doesn't feel slow or underpowered. Plus being so low and open to the road adds to the thrill of the drive. Then there's the party piece, the noise!

If you were to buy a Caterham you should try to buy one from 1.6 and up. The 1.4 I'd imagin will be slightly underpowered. Plus stay away from the k-series engines.

 

[Iain C]

love the vulcan

 

[Paddy_g46]

drove a caterham on track few weeks ago, i am absolutely in love. Been trawling the net since looking for a cheap option! What would the likely hood of me getting a good caterham/westfield for £4-5K?, I wouldnt mind something that needed work as I am handy with a spanner and tbh they look like a piece of piss to work on!

 

[Hixle]

Any good Patrick?

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/2822168.htm

Like Luke, I've been trawling PH since this thread was put up

 

[Whisker biscuit]

Spotted this yesterday, prob f*ck all compared 2 the OP's ....

 

[Šįk]

For £4/5k budget your prob best looking at the westfields, caterhams are usually £8k+

Yes very easy to work on indeed. Alot of the parts iv had to buy like brakes etc are all dirt cheap too

 

[Waitey]

Will feel painfully slow without 160bhp+ when driving normally.

From 50mph my mates 106 GTi was faster.

If i were to build another one I'd have a nice 2.0 on bodies with about 220bhp.

 

[Wick]

Views on other "replicas" anyone? Heard that MK's can be a bit rough around the edges but always fancied a something like this as an alternative:

Tiger...

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2981826.htm

Or Sylva (maybe something bike engined lol):

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2875414.htm

...And worryingly I've always had a soft spot for their pig ugly Mojo!!

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2794347.htm

 

[Waitey]

Avoid Pinto engines and bike engines. Both have serious draw backs!

You get good and bad versions of any 7 style cars. I've seen factory build caterham's that look like children have built them without the instructions! Then again i've seen Robin Hood's with a better fit and finish than more production cars.

Its swings and roundabouts.

 

[Wick]

Valued input thanks! The bike engine, provided it can be geared for reverse, has a strange attraction to me... Probably something to do with the thought of the noise and feel of 14k rpm in a 500kg tin shoebox

 

[MatthewR]

...And worryingly I've always had a soft spot for their pig ugly Mojo!!

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2794347.htm

that has to be the nicest one, dont get me wrong, the caterham is nice. its just too long.. i like that stubby mojo!

 

[AdamR]

Is there an alternative to these that don't cost as much?

As said - Westfield. The Dax/Locust/MK don't seem as well built as either Cateringvans or Westys, but even better smiles:£ ratio as you get a similar performing car for less cash.

It seems that these cars are more about the people who've built/maintained them than the actual car, a well-specced but poorly built one will always feel worse than something that isn't as good on paper but has been cared for properly and is set up well. Check out the history too if you can, a lot of them seem to move between forum members so it's quite easy to trace, it will tell you a lot about the car.

Always look for 13" wheels as they handle MUCH better, are lighter, and tyres are cheaper. Try and get to a local meet to check out some other cars before parting with any cash too, you'd be surprised at the range of specs, build qualities and how individual each car is. You'll usually be blown away by the straight line speed initially (unless you've driven something with similar bhp/ton before), but try to look past this.

They are VERY easy to work on as said, everything is exposed and there is no pesky trim to contend with. Spares are cheap (mostly old Ford parts), Q plates have a 'visual-based' MOT emissions test and they are light on brakes and tyres for track days/hard driving.

For reverse with a bike engine, either don't have one or fit an electric one. The cars are so light you can push them easily just be leaning on them

Here's my new toy:



~600kg with squishy seats, heater, wipers, boot box (can get 50kg off pretty easily with lighter wheels, GRP seats, aeroscreen, removal of heater/wipers), and 174bhp from a 2.0l Zetec engine (bottom end rebuild, throttle bodies, race exhaust, new ECU, remap) - goes pretty well and grips nicely too with A048s on. Car was owned/upgraded/rebuilt over the last 5 years by a guy who works at Red Bull F1 and a couple of the bits were made in their factory which is pretty cool! As with all cars though, upgradeitis soon sets in...

 

[Šįk]

Will feel painfully slow without 160bhp+ when driving normally

Lol u make me laugh.

 

[Waitey]

How so mate? I've built 3 and driven god knows how many. Everyone has thier Rose tinted glasses on about thier first one.

The truth is they have the same drag coefficient as a 1970's RangeRover, even more so with classic wings fitted. 0-60 will never be a problem, but once rolling drag is king. Even with a 160bhp 4age motor in my last westy had a higher top speed in 4th than it did in 5th.

If you spend all your time on B roads then great but for me it made A road progress frustraiting. It why most newer ones you see now are 200bhp+.

Bike engined ones suffer the same fate they will generally do 0-100 fast than they can do 50-100 due to needing that momentum from the initial launch.

Theres a video somewhere of a 450bhp turbo R1 Mk Indy going round Silverstone behind a 280bhp Starlet. One the back straight the starlet has the legs on it, and that's nearly 900bhp/tonne with sequential box vs a 300bhp/tonne jap shopping car.