My 1989 caterham- winter rebuild
Discussion
Just thought id share my winter rebuild with use, new to the forum.
Basically i use the car for sprints and hill climbs and the odd trackday, it never sees the road, in fact it hasnt seen the road in a good ten years....
I acquired the car about six years ago, was only 15 at the time so private track hire then lol then when got older started into track days and now compete in hills and sprints. The car hasnt been touched really since i got it, only oil changes and timingbelt done a couple of times, and on my last outting had a bit of a run in with the barrier (trying to hard lol)damaging the steering... so it started a winter rebuild which the car was in great need of!
Here is pictures just before stripping started:
il update this with the car starting to get stripped after my lunch lol
Basically i use the car for sprints and hill climbs and the odd trackday, it never sees the road, in fact it hasnt seen the road in a good ten years....
I acquired the car about six years ago, was only 15 at the time so private track hire then lol then when got older started into track days and now compete in hills and sprints. The car hasnt been touched really since i got it, only oil changes and timingbelt done a couple of times, and on my last outting had a bit of a run in with the barrier (trying to hard lol)damaging the steering... so it started a winter rebuild which the car was in great need of!
Here is pictures just before stripping started:
il update this with the car starting to get stripped after my lunch lol
Edited by mthompo on Wednesday 5th January 12:55
Aeroscreens said:
Have fun. It's very rewarding to rebuild your own car, even if if can be a bit frustrating at times. I did the same thing back in 2007/08 here
I would love to go that far, but unfortunitly time is against me as racing season starts in march! only get couple of nights a week and every other sunday to get at it lol, for me rebuild consists of:fixing damage
replacing all bushes
new full rollcage
new paintjob (and bodywork repaired where nessary)
and general tidy up
dont have opertunity to get all panels off and chassis powered coated again, side panels also got damaged in accident (where the track rods come out) they got ripped but a reapir will be done to sort that. Also found bits and pieces wrong, Found that gearbox mount has been broken, (gearbox has been doing bit of floating about!) etc so all this will be fixed!
Anyway the stripping began:
this is the damage that i caused with my touch of barrier on last outting photos arent the best but the steering rack platform is bent...
ok next step was to get the engine out for a bit more room and general tidy up (block needs lick of paint and rocker cover going different colour to tiy in with new spray job! Also you can see by the pictures the chasis needs a tidy , as i said cant get all panels etc off to get powder coated so going to have to paint them...not ideal but time ticking away!
box of all the parts need all cleaned and polished and go back on :S
better picture of damage
box of all the parts need all cleaned and polished and go back on :S
better picture of damage
David Long said:
Good luck with the rebuild!
It would be interesting to see what the others will say, but i think back to Arch and a new front end may be the quickest and cheapest way forward. Looks like the significant distortion there - sorry
well luckily enough that platform is only braised in, new one ordered from caterham, replace that then see how things line up fingers crossed It would be interesting to see what the others will say, but i think back to Arch and a new front end may be the quickest and cheapest way forward. Looks like the significant distortion there - sorry
IMHO
I know from experience that the tubes absorb the energy and can bend in quite subtle ways. I think an impact large enough to distorts any part of the chassis really needs to be checked and repaired on a jig. Have you tried putting a straight edge along any of the tubes?
What bothers me in the photos (and photos can distort things) is that the cruciform cross-member may be bent. The lower front cross member is also clearly bent (although this may not be related to the accident). I just think you would never achieve correct geometry. There's also the risk of cracks in the brazing.
I know from experience that the tubes absorb the energy and can bend in quite subtle ways. I think an impact large enough to distorts any part of the chassis really needs to be checked and repaired on a jig. Have you tried putting a straight edge along any of the tubes?
What bothers me in the photos (and photos can distort things) is that the cruciform cross-member may be bent. The lower front cross member is also clearly bent (although this may not be related to the accident). I just think you would never achieve correct geometry. There's also the risk of cracks in the brazing.
Edited by David Long on Thursday 6th January 17:39
the bend in the front lower chasis has been there for longer than i have had the car, i have never worried about it as its never caused any problems car has been set up properly camber tow and alignment all fine so didnt really concern me?
On speaking to caterham they told me that the weak point is the steering rack platform, there is so much triangluation (probaly spelt wrong lol) in the chasis that takes some effort to bend it...dont get me wrong im not trying to argue the fact and greatly appreciate the feedback but i have the new platform in now, although steering rack is bent so adapting a mk1 escort quick rack to fit at the minute. I have checked over all the chassis and cant see any more brasing cracked so im going to go ahead and get the steering rack in and fitted and then check and see if anything is is distorted...
please note the steering rack is just sitting in postion not fitted thats why its at such an angle that is the escort one which i have to modify to go in...
On speaking to caterham they told me that the weak point is the steering rack platform, there is so much triangluation (probaly spelt wrong lol) in the chasis that takes some effort to bend it...dont get me wrong im not trying to argue the fact and greatly appreciate the feedback but i have the new platform in now, although steering rack is bent so adapting a mk1 escort quick rack to fit at the minute. I have checked over all the chassis and cant see any more brasing cracked so im going to go ahead and get the steering rack in and fitted and then check and see if anything is is distorted...
please note the steering rack is just sitting in postion not fitted thats why its at such an angle that is the escort one which i have to modify to go in...
This is only my opinion but you're going to all the trouble of taking the engine out etc and have brazed in a new rack mount only to put it back together when it isnt 100%. If it was me I'd take it to arch and ask them to stick it on a jig and work out if it's more bent than you think. You could take some basic triangulation measurements yourself but the best way is back to arch. Personally I preffer to only do each job once even if it ends up costing more and taking longer than expected. These things tend to bite you in the ass in the long run especially on race cars.
Edited to add - Just seen the post where you say the trackrods got ripped out, this must have been a decent impact, I'd be very surprised if the chassis is'nt more bent than just the rack mount.
Edited to add - Just seen the post where you say the trackrods got ripped out, this must have been a decent impact, I'd be very surprised if the chassis is'nt more bent than just the rack mount.
Edited by pikeyboy on Sunday 16th January 11:26
Just for interest, the second post caterham had to have a new long front, you may be able to save the photo and open it in paint or something for a closer look.
http://www.pistonheads.com/xforums/topic.asp?h=0&a...
If your in Ireland it will come at cost to go to Arch in Cambridge. A new chassis might be the thing second hand. Getting it straightened could be done and any discrepencies dialled out in set-up but i doubt it would be spot on, it might be ok sitting still but when everythings working the direction of suspension movement could be off.
Depends on what you want to do with it, race or road, and how it would all feel put back together as close as you could get it. It would be a shame to do all that work for nothing.
http://www.pistonheads.com/xforums/topic.asp?h=0&a...
If your in Ireland it will come at cost to go to Arch in Cambridge. A new chassis might be the thing second hand. Getting it straightened could be done and any discrepencies dialled out in set-up but i doubt it would be spot on, it might be ok sitting still but when everythings working the direction of suspension movement could be off.
Depends on what you want to do with it, race or road, and how it would all feel put back together as close as you could get it. It would be a shame to do all that work for nothing.
Where in N.Ireland are you? I'm near Ballygowan.
I have a bare panelled chassis and a fully built car, so if you are after some dimensions to check alignment give me a shout. Contact email: willie@hire7.co.uk
What actually happened in the prang? Did the leading edge of the front right wheel rub the barrier and get yanked around hard? The wishbones and wheels seem to be sitting not too bad, so its as if the rack mount just got ripped sideways.
I would take a seriouly good look at the suspension pickup points, these are a known weak spot, especially the top ones. In saying that, this car seems to have been modified with an upper cross member picking up on the ARB bolts (I think), which I assume is to provide a pickup for custom rose jointed wishbones. Not sure if this is the Caterham conversion for the early cars to go from the top link & roll bar setup to wishbone. This may have worked to your advantage by spreading the thump more, but I'd be taking a good look around all pickups and associated tubes.
Check the top rear wishbone/damper pickup brackets, as they're quite light gauge and I'd be very surprised if yours haven't got bent about a bit.
You'll almost certainly have bent steering arms, good news is they're detachable from the (Triumph Herald/Spitfire) uprights, but I'm not sure where you get more. Speak very nicely to Arnie Black of Crossle in Holywood, he may be able to help, or at least let you compare against a good one. I think they're forged alloy so straightening wouldn't be advisable.
As others have said, it may be a race car, but the more you do now the eaiser it'll be later. Do it right, put it back together well and you'll have a very tidy race car.
Keep at it.
Willie
I have a bare panelled chassis and a fully built car, so if you are after some dimensions to check alignment give me a shout. Contact email: willie@hire7.co.uk
What actually happened in the prang? Did the leading edge of the front right wheel rub the barrier and get yanked around hard? The wishbones and wheels seem to be sitting not too bad, so its as if the rack mount just got ripped sideways.
I would take a seriouly good look at the suspension pickup points, these are a known weak spot, especially the top ones. In saying that, this car seems to have been modified with an upper cross member picking up on the ARB bolts (I think), which I assume is to provide a pickup for custom rose jointed wishbones. Not sure if this is the Caterham conversion for the early cars to go from the top link & roll bar setup to wishbone. This may have worked to your advantage by spreading the thump more, but I'd be taking a good look around all pickups and associated tubes.
Check the top rear wishbone/damper pickup brackets, as they're quite light gauge and I'd be very surprised if yours haven't got bent about a bit.
You'll almost certainly have bent steering arms, good news is they're detachable from the (Triumph Herald/Spitfire) uprights, but I'm not sure where you get more. Speak very nicely to Arnie Black of Crossle in Holywood, he may be able to help, or at least let you compare against a good one. I think they're forged alloy so straightening wouldn't be advisable.
As others have said, it may be a race car, but the more you do now the eaiser it'll be later. Do it right, put it back together well and you'll have a very tidy race car.
Keep at it.
Willie
hi willie,
Im from bangor direction, it happened at kirkistown at a sprint, they were using the the chicane on the start/finish straight, came out of the chicane and got a bit carried away, anyway ended up going into barrier sliding backwards, thing is rear hit first you can see from scuff on d/s rear arch on first pictures, then front swung in tbh i think i still had opposite lock on when i hit which is why the steering rack took the impact, hence why rack and platform where damaged. The impact was not that hard as arch didnt even crack etc and it took the brunt of impact!
Yea the suspension has been modified by a fella in england if i remember right, long before i got the car so dont really know why or what had been done! It is just for sprint/hilclimbs only wont see the road again, well not for a good few years as i cant insure the thing! its going away friday here all going well for the rollcage to be made and fitted, but i dont think it will make it out to the first event funds tied up in other things at the minute! So going to have to use uncles midget for first couple events i think! gutted
Im from bangor direction, it happened at kirkistown at a sprint, they were using the the chicane on the start/finish straight, came out of the chicane and got a bit carried away, anyway ended up going into barrier sliding backwards, thing is rear hit first you can see from scuff on d/s rear arch on first pictures, then front swung in tbh i think i still had opposite lock on when i hit which is why the steering rack took the impact, hence why rack and platform where damaged. The impact was not that hard as arch didnt even crack etc and it took the brunt of impact!
Yea the suspension has been modified by a fella in england if i remember right, long before i got the car so dont really know why or what had been done! It is just for sprint/hilclimbs only wont see the road again, well not for a good few years as i cant insure the thing! its going away friday here all going well for the rollcage to be made and fitted, but i dont think it will make it out to the first event funds tied up in other things at the minute! So going to have to use uncles midget for first couple events i think! gutted
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