Salt and corrosion - pics please!
Discussion
I know there have been posts on this before, but I'm keen to see some pictures of what cars look like after a few years of at least some winter usage.
Please could you post some pics of your car, including any evidence of salt corrosion damage, details of how frequently it is used in the winter and in what conditions, how old the car is and what you do to mitigate the salt damage.
...note, please don't post with comments like "I would never drive my car in the winter as it causes corrosion etc" as I know that, I'm trying to gauge exactly how much damage it has caused to real Caterhams, so I can decide the amount of winter mine is going to get.
Thanks
Please could you post some pics of your car, including any evidence of salt corrosion damage, details of how frequently it is used in the winter and in what conditions, how old the car is and what you do to mitigate the salt damage.
...note, please don't post with comments like "I would never drive my car in the winter as it causes corrosion etc" as I know that, I'm trying to gauge exactly how much damage it has caused to real Caterhams, so I can decide the amount of winter mine is going to get.
Thanks
I don't have pictures, but I drove mine as an only car through 2 UK winters (admittedly back when we still had some vestige of a proper winter, and in a Yorkshire city with heavily gritted roads) and it was looking very sorry for itself by the end of it - too shagged for me to want to take any photos of it!
I'll probably get lynched for suggesting it, but if you're going to mete out that sort of punishment, you're better with a Westfield: thanks to the GRP main body tub (and better quality powder coating, on my example), mine survived the same treatment much better.
I'll probably get lynched for suggesting it, but if you're going to mete out that sort of punishment, you're better with a Westfield: thanks to the GRP main body tub (and better quality powder coating, on my example), mine survived the same treatment much better.
Don't think I have photos, but mine was used through all weather's for a while...
- front wishbones get a hammering. Powder coat gets dinked and rust starts
- ditto the underside of the chassis
- biggest cosmetic area you'll see is where the ali skin attaches to the chassis. You get bimetallic corrosion as dirt/salt gets trapped. This causes the paint to blister in these areas (if you want big examples of this, talk to Aston Martin owners
).
- any chrome parts also suffer with pitting and rust
Keeping the car spotless, touching in chipped areas etc can help mitigate for a while (I suspect periodic waxoyl or similar would help too), but once powder coat starts to go, and bimetallic corrosion starts, it's when not if you'll need to strip the car down and get it sorted properly (fully redcoat the chassis and main parts, repaint or reskin etc).
- front wishbones get a hammering. Powder coat gets dinked and rust starts
- ditto the underside of the chassis
- biggest cosmetic area you'll see is where the ali skin attaches to the chassis. You get bimetallic corrosion as dirt/salt gets trapped. This causes the paint to blister in these areas (if you want big examples of this, talk to Aston Martin owners
).- any chrome parts also suffer with pitting and rust
Keeping the car spotless, touching in chipped areas etc can help mitigate for a while (I suspect periodic waxoyl or similar would help too), but once powder coat starts to go, and bimetallic corrosion starts, it's when not if you'll need to strip the car down and get it sorted properly (fully redcoat the chassis and main parts, repaint or reskin etc).
Probably an extreme example, but I did 32k miles in mine over two full years and then the next owner did another full year. The chassis was toast it this point starting at the area at the middle already mentioned.
I got the car when it was about a year old.
The owner took it to caterham to look at, they declared it dead. He did a deal with them and they bought it and rebuilt it on a new chassis.
I got the car when it was about a year old.
The owner took it to caterham to look at, they declared it dead. He did a deal with them and they bought it and rebuilt it on a new chassis.
Never mind. I have a very comfortable pair of rose tinted spectacles.
So I'll visit Caterham with a massive bag of cash and just hand it over. Great !!
After all, you all agree that these cars couldn't possibly be made better. Nor could any other company make them better.
Oh !!!!! Look !!! ............ You all seem to have the same spectacles as me !!
So I'll visit Caterham with a massive bag of cash and just hand it over. Great !!
After all, you all agree that these cars couldn't possibly be made better. Nor could any other company make them better.
Oh !!!!! Look !!! ............ You all seem to have the same spectacles as me !!
the av8er said:
Never mind. I have a very comfortable pair of rose tinted spectacles.
So I'll visit Caterham with a massive bag of cash and just hand it over. Great !!
After all, you all agree that these cars couldn't possibly be made better. Nor could any other company make them better.
Oh !!!!! Look !!! ............ You all seem to have the same spectacles as me !!
Really, so tedious.So I'll visit Caterham with a massive bag of cash and just hand it over. Great !!
After all, you all agree that these cars couldn't possibly be made better. Nor could any other company make them better.
Oh !!!!! Look !!! ............ You all seem to have the same spectacles as me !!
slime bomb said:
But so true...
It falls into the same category of delusion as the old chestnut about Caterhams having exceptionally low depreciation. If you work out the depreciation per mile of use compared to any normal car, it's actually pretty horrendous in the early stages.And - as above - if you actually use one as you would a normal, everyday modern car (as I did, when I was young and daft), you'll reduce it to scrap value in 2 or 3 years.
Realistically, they are just expensive toys, and need to be looked upon (and mollycoddled) as such.
Equus said:
....
And - as above - if you actually use one as you would a normal, everyday modern car (as I did, when I was young and daft), you'll reduce it to scrap value in 2 or 3 years.....
I wouldn't quite go that far ("scrap value"). And - as above - if you actually use one as you would a normal, everyday modern car (as I did, when I was young and daft), you'll reduce it to scrap value in 2 or 3 years.....
My cars are never garage queens, and yes I've had one big rebuild bill....but that's in 26yrs.
Most people don't use them as a "normal, everyday modern car" because in truth, they're not. In any way. Go in with that in mind and you're fine.
They have their own faults, just as any car does. But I love mine to the point it will be the last car out of the door. I've never liked the look of Westfields, Locosts even less so. None of the other similar types ever look right to my eyes. But then neither does the SV and the metric ones also look a bit awry.
I once flirted with the idea of an Atom, but simply wasn't convinced it gave enough over what I have in the end. A Nomad occasionally comes into my thoughts too...but again, they're expensive.
Sometimes you just want what you want when it comes to toys. It doesn't make that bad/good/better/worse....people on both sides of the debate would be better off just accepting that I suspect. Life's too short.
My 2p worth.
My own experience of my original new 1992 super sprint.
15 years ownership, 85,000mls, driven in sun, rain and snow. No garage queen BUT, if you are a 'hurray Henry' form let's say 'the south' (London) and money doesn't matter then yes, I'm sure you could destroy one in a few years.
There are many of us who have spanners and know how to use them. I for one every year would take the engine out to clean the engine bay as well as the axle.
I paid £10,000 for the kit new. 85,000mls later I sold it for £9,500 and it was almost mint with no rebuilds, just TLC!
My own experience of my original new 1992 super sprint.
15 years ownership, 85,000mls, driven in sun, rain and snow. No garage queen BUT, if you are a 'hurray Henry' form let's say 'the south' (London) and money doesn't matter then yes, I'm sure you could destroy one in a few years.
There are many of us who have spanners and know how to use them. I for one every year would take the engine out to clean the engine bay as well as the axle.
I paid £10,000 for the kit new. 85,000mls later I sold it for £9,500 and it was almost mint with no rebuilds, just TLC!
slime bomb said:
My 2p worth.
My own experience of my original new 1992 super sprint.
15 years ownership, 85,000mls, driven in sun, rain and snow. No garage queen BUT, if you are a 'hurray Henry' form let's say 'the south' (London) and money doesn't matter then yes, I'm sure you could destroy one in a few years.
There are many of us who have spanners and know how to use them. I for one every year would take the engine out to clean the engine bay as well as the axle.
I paid £10,000 for the kit new. 85,000mls later I sold it for £9,500 and it was almost mint with no rebuilds, just TLC!
What a strange characterisation. What does it mean?My own experience of my original new 1992 super sprint.
15 years ownership, 85,000mls, driven in sun, rain and snow. No garage queen BUT, if you are a 'hurray Henry' form let's say 'the south' (London) and money doesn't matter then yes, I'm sure you could destroy one in a few years.
There are many of us who have spanners and know how to use them. I for one every year would take the engine out to clean the engine bay as well as the axle.
I paid £10,000 for the kit new. 85,000mls later I sold it for £9,500 and it was almost mint with no rebuilds, just TLC!
BertBert said:
What a strange characterisation. What does it mean?
It's usually 'Hooray Henry' It means a loud, party-loving upper class young man. They've largely died out as a breed, but if you think of young men in dinner jackets at Cambridge in the 1920's, with braying voices, a class of champagne in one hand and a flapper (the female equivalent) in the other, you're on the right lines.
More likely to be seen driving a Blower Bentley than a Caterham, and certainly not the latter in any weather that would spoil their sartorial presentation or ability to carry young floozies as passengers.
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