Just bought my first Caterham, now what?
Discussion
Hey there,
finally after 5 years of waiting Camden council have managed to hand me a nice grotty filthy garage under my block. a lick of paint and it's now ready for something to go in it. so I went out and bought the first R400 i sat in and I'm now waiting on its service and MOT.
I'm hoping to take it to the track pretty soon but I suspect it won't get under the Bedford limit (wanted to start somewhere fairly safe). is there anything I can do about this?
I've tracked my M130i around the country and to Nurburgring so I'm used to driving fairly quick road cars, but I appreciate this has double the power/weight.
should I bother buying 13s for track? I much prefer how the 15s that it has look and was thinking of sticking rainsports on so I can be a little less stressed and keeping 13s for track.
I was thinking of an aero/mirrors to swap out when I'm on track as that seems the thing to do.
it has a half hood and I wanted a long nose cap for it but soft-bits seem sold out and totally incapable of supplying anything anytime soon. anyone selling one for a S3 with a screen?
I'm thinking of getting a trailer, probs a minno of some kind which _might_ with a bit of pain fit into the garage.
I've joined SL7 but waiting on the payment option. is it worth it?
bought ear defenders and BT-11s so I'll try them out. got a massive garage defender lock. I'm gonna fit an anchor in the floor and make use of that
anyone else in North london? is there anywhere in this desert worth driving? I assume anything fun is at least an hour away.
what am I missing?
cheers!
finally after 5 years of waiting Camden council have managed to hand me a nice grotty filthy garage under my block. a lick of paint and it's now ready for something to go in it. so I went out and bought the first R400 i sat in and I'm now waiting on its service and MOT.
I'm hoping to take it to the track pretty soon but I suspect it won't get under the Bedford limit (wanted to start somewhere fairly safe). is there anything I can do about this?
I've tracked my M130i around the country and to Nurburgring so I'm used to driving fairly quick road cars, but I appreciate this has double the power/weight.
should I bother buying 13s for track? I much prefer how the 15s that it has look and was thinking of sticking rainsports on so I can be a little less stressed and keeping 13s for track.
I was thinking of an aero/mirrors to swap out when I'm on track as that seems the thing to do.
it has a half hood and I wanted a long nose cap for it but soft-bits seem sold out and totally incapable of supplying anything anytime soon. anyone selling one for a S3 with a screen?
I'm thinking of getting a trailer, probs a minno of some kind which _might_ with a bit of pain fit into the garage.
I've joined SL7 but waiting on the payment option. is it worth it?
bought ear defenders and BT-11s so I'll try them out. got a massive garage defender lock. I'm gonna fit an anchor in the floor and make use of that
anyone else in North london? is there anywhere in this desert worth driving? I assume anything fun is at least an hour away.
what am I missing?
cheers!
I wouldn’t bother with the long nose shower cap.
I bought one for mine and put it on the car the day it arrived from Soft bits.
Seemed a lot of faff, didn’t fit as well as I expected and didn’t fit at all after I changed my mirrors.
Stayed in the bag from that day until I sold the car.
If I was leaving it and thought it might rain, I just put the full hood up.
1/2 hood is excellent, keeps the rain off, and on blistering hot days, I used it as a sun screen.
Also had Rainsports on mine to replace the Avon’s, much better for road use, never tracked it, so can’t comment on suitable tyres.
Enjoy.
I bought one for mine and put it on the car the day it arrived from Soft bits.
Seemed a lot of faff, didn’t fit as well as I expected and didn’t fit at all after I changed my mirrors.
Stayed in the bag from that day until I sold the car.
If I was leaving it and thought it might rain, I just put the full hood up.
1/2 hood is excellent, keeps the rain off, and on blistering hot days, I used it as a sun screen.
Also had Rainsports on mine to replace the Avon’s, much better for road use, never tracked it, so can’t comment on suitable tyres.
Enjoy.
Congratulations! It looks like a cracking car. Mine is a similar spec & I absolutely love it.
I’m pretty sure your car used to belong to John Aston. You might want to read his book, it’s an interesting read.
Enjoy!
https://www.amazon.co.uk/DRIVEN-Elegy-Cars-Roads-M...
I’m pretty sure your car used to belong to John Aston. You might want to read his book, it’s an interesting read.
Enjoy!
https://www.amazon.co.uk/DRIVEN-Elegy-Cars-Roads-M...
I'd get 13's on it for the track 100%, dry tyres I'd go with Yoko's, wet ZZS (bear in mind the yoko's are no longer road legal. (Personal opinion, 13's look way better, but only with taller sidewall tyres like yoko's or toyo's)
Don't fuss with an aeroscreen etc for now - mirrors become an expensive problem! Just get out on track with the screen and enjoy it. I don't recomend screen with no doors - the buffeting is horrid (and it actually creates a lot of drag. Half doors with a screen are fine though.
Noise wise - R400 might cause you issues at a few places - you could try and get a re-packable can and make sure you keep it topped up for track days. Changing the can is pretty simple so you can put an empty one back on for road use for your pops and farts. Also - a cat keeps the noise down considerably.
Otherwise, enjoy
What suspension is on it?
Don't fuss with an aeroscreen etc for now - mirrors become an expensive problem! Just get out on track with the screen and enjoy it. I don't recomend screen with no doors - the buffeting is horrid (and it actually creates a lot of drag. Half doors with a screen are fine though.
Noise wise - R400 might cause you issues at a few places - you could try and get a re-packable can and make sure you keep it topped up for track days. Changing the can is pretty simple so you can put an empty one back on for road use for your pops and farts. Also - a cat keeps the noise down considerably.
Otherwise, enjoy
What suspension is on it?
Sorry all, not been able to respond until now cos I only just reg'd on this forum.
it IS John Aston's old car. it's still got his plate on it which I think needs to go, so if anyone wants an R400 numberplate with his initials on...
it is ridiculously good looking with that paint. it's like a blue/green. good call on the BRM.
ok, so now I'm looking for 13s with Yokos. anyone?
I'll check if the can that's on it is repackable and buy a load of metal wool
probably gonna have to get a noise killer of some kind.
all sounds like good advice. thanks
I'll put those things on the backburner.
I'm likely going to buy a high-level 3rd light or 2 and then print of some mounts once I can measure up with the hood on.
it IS John Aston's old car. it's still got his plate on it which I think needs to go, so if anyone wants an R400 numberplate with his initials on...
it is ridiculously good looking with that paint. it's like a blue/green. good call on the BRM.
ok, so now I'm looking for 13s with Yokos. anyone?
I'll check if the can that's on it is repackable and buy a load of metal wool
probably gonna have to get a noise killer of some kind.all sounds like good advice. thanks
I'll put those things on the backburner.
I'm likely going to buy a high-level 3rd light or 2 and then print of some mounts once I can measure up with the hood on.
Congrats!
I had 15's with my car when I bought it (A Sigma 140). We toured around Scotland on them and I did a few trackday. I switched them for 13's after a while and found it much more fun. The gearing is changed (I have a 6 speed so it was already short) so motorways are 4000rpm at 70 which isn't ideal, but once you've got ear protectors in it's not much of a problem. Tyre wise the ZZS you have are excellent. Good in the wet if you get caught out and grippy in the dry.
I do rather like the long nose shower cap, you can pull the lone nose bit forward to allow the heat to dissipate while still keeping the cabin covered. As pointed out, if you change the mirrors it won't work, but I've left mine as they are. Half hood is also nice. It's quite noisy in there with the full hood, the half hood is a good compromise but some rain will find it's way in when it's really hammering down.
Aero is excellent for track too, lots of fun! I ended up fitting the clear aero from Meteor Motorsport since the standard gpr/carbon one is a bit high to see over comfortably for me. I originally used the screen without doors and over 30mph the buffeting is a nightmare (though tolerable with a helmet on track). Don't bother with the wind deflectors, they're a total waste of time!
There are a few options for the high level light these days which are pretty much plug and play. I made my own with an LED from Maplin and mounted it just below the rollbar so it's visible through the half hood and with a boot bag attached.
I had 15's with my car when I bought it (A Sigma 140). We toured around Scotland on them and I did a few trackday. I switched them for 13's after a while and found it much more fun. The gearing is changed (I have a 6 speed so it was already short) so motorways are 4000rpm at 70 which isn't ideal, but once you've got ear protectors in it's not much of a problem. Tyre wise the ZZS you have are excellent. Good in the wet if you get caught out and grippy in the dry.
I do rather like the long nose shower cap, you can pull the lone nose bit forward to allow the heat to dissipate while still keeping the cabin covered. As pointed out, if you change the mirrors it won't work, but I've left mine as they are. Half hood is also nice. It's quite noisy in there with the full hood, the half hood is a good compromise but some rain will find it's way in when it's really hammering down.
Aero is excellent for track too, lots of fun! I ended up fitting the clear aero from Meteor Motorsport since the standard gpr/carbon one is a bit high to see over comfortably for me. I originally used the screen without doors and over 30mph the buffeting is a nightmare (though tolerable with a helmet on track). Don't bother with the wind deflectors, they're a total waste of time!
There are a few options for the high level light these days which are pretty much plug and play. I made my own with an LED from Maplin and mounted it just below the rollbar so it's visible through the half hood and with a boot bag attached.
Sniff , snuffle ,sob - it is indeed my old car, which I bought new from Caterham Midlands in 2007. Many happy adventures over nearly 50 k miles in her , none more memorable than trips to NW Scotland before the NC 500's popularity started to ruin things. One of those trips gets a whole chapter in my book -still available - I need the royalties !
Still proud of the livery, inspired by this picture of Mike Spence's BRM P83 H16 engined car at the 'Ring in the 1967 German GP
Happy motoring
Still proud of the livery, inspired by this picture of Mike Spence's BRM P83 H16 engined car at the 'Ring in the 1967 German GP
Happy motoring
thanks John! good choice on the paint. I love it.
I'll look into all the stuff mentioned. I'm now a bit wary of sticking 13s on as it's got the ultra close ratio box and is at around 4000@75 so not ideal for cruising on the motorway already. 13s would make this worse!
I'd change out the final drive for something a little longer but I CBA
turns out that John sold it to a guy called John and now I'm John.... spooky.
I'll look into all the stuff mentioned. I'm now a bit wary of sticking 13s on as it's got the ultra close ratio box and is at around 4000@75 so not ideal for cruising on the motorway already. 13s would make this worse!
I'd change out the final drive for something a little longer but I CBA
turns out that John sold it to a guy called John and now I'm John.... spooky.
CanAm said:
Although it does look blue rather than green.
It is Lugano Teal Metallic . I saw it on someone's Discovery at a track day and knew it was the colour I wanted. According to light conditions, it is dark grey , navy blue or ...err ... teal green. The red is Ford Colorado Red - a popular Seventies hue for Escort Vans coppice said:
CanAm said:
Although it does look blue rather than green.
It is Lugano Teal Metallic . I saw it on someone's Discovery at a track day and knew it was the colour I wanted. According to light conditions, it is dark grey , navy blue or ...err ... teal green. The red is Ford Colorado Red - a popular Seventies hue for Escort Vans 
oh wow. I have both of you here. John B, did you sell it to Classic and Sevens then? anything I should know about? anything I need to keep an eye on? I've already had the front off to find the source of a small coolant leak, I think it's just the pipe from the rad leaking a little. I'll confirm when I can run the car for a bit.
any idea if the exhaust (and induction) can get into Bedford? I'm taking it next weekend so I bought a bung for it just in case.
she's already been used to carry my jump bike up to woburn and I got to have a bit of a crack on some fun roads around there.
any idea if the exhaust (and induction) can get into Bedford? I'm taking it next weekend so I bought a bung for it just in case.
she's already been used to carry my jump bike up to woburn and I got to have a bit of a crack on some fun roads around there.
Right-no I didn’t sell it to a dealer- I sold it to guy called Mark from Manchester - that was beginning of April 2021.
Things I did
Front wishbones re - powdered with all new bushes and spherical bearings
Rear suspension/ drop links- same as above
Sorted the rear chassis out with por 15
Fitted carbon rear light mounts/ 5 3/4” headlights with halo lights- carbon rear fog/ reverse lights
New oil pipes to cooler at front
New interchangeable brackets for windscreen / aero fast swap
Rebuilt gearbox ( road/race) new syncros
Set up roller barrels-throttle pot - ( so far out it was ridiculous f**k knows who set it up previously?
New battery April 21
New fuel pump- ( the muppets that built the car didn’t fit a support for boot floor-so the floor rested on the fuel pump and broke the feed pipe- which was bodged by a bit of brake pipe and araldite - how it didn’t go up god knows
There’s other stuff- for another day
Things I did
Front wishbones re - powdered with all new bushes and spherical bearings
Rear suspension/ drop links- same as above
Sorted the rear chassis out with por 15
Fitted carbon rear light mounts/ 5 3/4” headlights with halo lights- carbon rear fog/ reverse lights
New oil pipes to cooler at front
New interchangeable brackets for windscreen / aero fast swap
Rebuilt gearbox ( road/race) new syncros
Set up roller barrels-throttle pot - ( so far out it was ridiculous f**k knows who set it up previously?
New battery April 21
New fuel pump- ( the muppets that built the car didn’t fit a support for boot floor-so the floor rested on the fuel pump and broke the feed pipe- which was bodged by a bit of brake pipe and araldite - how it didn’t go up god knows
There’s other stuff- for another day
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