R300 race car build thread
Discussion
So, following the encouragement resulting from my post yesterday, to motivate me when things get difficult and for posterity, this is my thread for the build of my R300 race car.
I collected the kit from Caterham today having dropped Mrs Redmax off at Gatwick for 10 days in the Maldives with her sister and my M-I-L.
There were no problems getting everything in - in the trailer the chassis sat on most of the boxes and the engine sat comfortably behind the chassis. The wheels went on the tyre rack and I had a few bits in the back of the car.
A friend came round to help me unpack this evening, so all the non-chassis stuff is now in the garage:
Two major impressions: how much is done already; how few boxes there are!
I was told that the gearbox would follow next week and that the fuel cell would also follow, probably in April. The diff hasn't leaped out at me yet and I'd be surprised if it's in a cardboard box, but the plan for the next few days is to do an inventory of what what's missing and to log that with Caterham. It's still hard to believe that everything else I'll need is in the boxes but it would perhaps explain why the cars are so light!
There's far more been completed on the car than I was expecting - the brake pipes and fuel lines are in, the Stack has been fitted, the fire extinguisher is plumbed in, the aeroscreen is installed, the wiring loom has been fitted and the heat shielding round the tunnel has been done. At this naive and enthusiastic phase I'm mildly disappointed by all that to be honest, but I'm sure there'll be plenty to challenge me in the coming weeks!
Tomorrow the chassis is off to McMillan Motorsport to be vinyl-wrapped. I've gone for vinyl as opposed to paint as I'm hoping it will be cheaper, easier to repair when there's inevitable on-track damage and a bit more resistant to minor knocks. Time will tell whether that's the right call, if the worst comes to the worst I'll get it painted next winter but for now I'm experimenting. I'm not going overboard on the design, just a bit of a Rossi winter testing tribute.
I'm not sure how long McMillan need to do the wrapping as I'm sure they're busy with race prep stuff, so it may potentially be a while before I get the chassis back and I can crack on with the build.
Apologies for any typos, been to the pub this evening to celebrate my birthday!
Cheers
Jason
I collected the kit from Caterham today having dropped Mrs Redmax off at Gatwick for 10 days in the Maldives with her sister and my M-I-L.
There were no problems getting everything in - in the trailer the chassis sat on most of the boxes and the engine sat comfortably behind the chassis. The wheels went on the tyre rack and I had a few bits in the back of the car.
A friend came round to help me unpack this evening, so all the non-chassis stuff is now in the garage:
Two major impressions: how much is done already; how few boxes there are!
I was told that the gearbox would follow next week and that the fuel cell would also follow, probably in April. The diff hasn't leaped out at me yet and I'd be surprised if it's in a cardboard box, but the plan for the next few days is to do an inventory of what what's missing and to log that with Caterham. It's still hard to believe that everything else I'll need is in the boxes but it would perhaps explain why the cars are so light!
There's far more been completed on the car than I was expecting - the brake pipes and fuel lines are in, the Stack has been fitted, the fire extinguisher is plumbed in, the aeroscreen is installed, the wiring loom has been fitted and the heat shielding round the tunnel has been done. At this naive and enthusiastic phase I'm mildly disappointed by all that to be honest, but I'm sure there'll be plenty to challenge me in the coming weeks!
Tomorrow the chassis is off to McMillan Motorsport to be vinyl-wrapped. I've gone for vinyl as opposed to paint as I'm hoping it will be cheaper, easier to repair when there's inevitable on-track damage and a bit more resistant to minor knocks. Time will tell whether that's the right call, if the worst comes to the worst I'll get it painted next winter but for now I'm experimenting. I'm not going overboard on the design, just a bit of a Rossi winter testing tribute.
I'm not sure how long McMillan need to do the wrapping as I'm sure they're busy with race prep stuff, so it may potentially be a while before I get the chassis back and I can crack on with the build.
Apologies for any typos, been to the pub this evening to celebrate my birthday!
Cheers
Jason
Jason
Forget the car lets see some more pics of the workshop
Actually I do have a question. The new cage, whats the deal with the forward mounting? Does it still need a hole hacking in the side skin or does it just bolt to the inside of the car?
I would spend a night going over the kit and find out exactly whats missing because it can be very anoying when you are a small part short and it stops you dead with the build for a couple of days.
Jason
Forget the car lets see some more pics of the workshop
Actually I do have a question. The new cage, whats the deal with the forward mounting? Does it still need a hole hacking in the side skin or does it just bolt to the inside of the car?
I would spend a night going over the kit and find out exactly whats missing because it can be very anoying when you are a small part short and it stops you dead with the build for a couple of days.
Jason
Edited by Purespeed on Tuesday 8th March 23:25
Jason
Edited to apologise for the crap pics this evening, just relying on my phone. Future pics will be a better quality!
Purespeed said:
Forget the car lets see some more pics of the workshop
Does this link work? http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/gassing/topic.asp?h=0...Purespeed said:
Actually I do have a question. The new cage, whats the deal with the forward mounting? Does it still need a hole hacking in the side skin or does it just bolt to the inside of the car?
The chassis is in the trailer but looking at the cage (pic below), I would guess it mounts on the outside of the side skin. I don't remember seeing any mounting holes already in the side skin but will check it out tomorrow. Edited to apologise for the crap pics this evening, just relying on my phone. Future pics will be a better quality!
Edited by Redmax on Tuesday 8th March 23:38
I think you are right, it bolts to the outside of the car. I got quite excited for a minute because I thought they had brought a cage out that didn't require holes hacking in the side skin. It's still the best cage yet though IMO, side protection built in and don't look ugly like the SLR cage.
I know how you feel about to much of the work being done. There's 40 - 60 hours work there and I know I wanted a winter project so my first got sold before it was registered. I then I built a bike engined 7 so I could learn about what makes a car go.
Keep the pics coming!
Jason
I know how you feel about to much of the work being done. There's 40 - 60 hours work there and I know I wanted a winter project so my first got sold before it was registered. I then I built a bike engined 7 so I could learn about what makes a car go.
Keep the pics coming!
Jason
I desperately want a caterham but you can keep the car, I want your garage!!
Your not exactly struggling for space in there are you?
Are you going to iva the car? If so, and I apprieciate this is a cheeky question, but what do you expect the final cost to be?
My F.I.L has just built a half million pound MOT station and I'm thinking maybe a self build would be good if the funds and he would allow me.
Ps happy birthday.
Your not exactly struggling for space in there are you?
Are you going to iva the car? If so, and I apprieciate this is a cheeky question, but what do you expect the final cost to be?
My F.I.L has just built a half million pound MOT station and I'm thinking maybe a self build would be good if the funds and he would allow me.
Ps happy birthday.
I desperately want a caterham but you can keep the car, I want your garage!!
Your not exactly struggling for space in there are you?
Are you going to iva the car? If so, and I apprieciate this is a cheeky question, but what do you expect the final cost to be?
My F.I.L has just built a half million pound MOT station and I'm thinking maybe a self build would be good if the funds and he would allow me.
Ps happy birthday.
Your not exactly struggling for space in there are you?
Are you going to iva the car? If so, and I apprieciate this is a cheeky question, but what do you expect the final cost to be?
My F.I.L has just built a half million pound MOT station and I'm thinking maybe a self build would be good if the funds and he would allow me.
Ps happy birthday.
Markp13 said:
I desperately want a caterham but you can keep the car, I want your garage!!
Your not exactly struggling for space in there are you?
Are you going to iva the car? If so, and I apprieciate this is a cheeky question, but what do you expect the final cost to be?
My F.I.L has just built a half million pound MOT station and I'm thinking maybe a self build would be good if the funds and he would allow me.
Ps happy birthday.
Thanks Mark. As far as I know it's not possible to make the race cars legal so I won't need to go through the IVA process. I don't know how the race car prices compare with the road cars.Your not exactly struggling for space in there are you?
Are you going to iva the car? If so, and I apprieciate this is a cheeky question, but what do you expect the final cost to be?
My F.I.L has just built a half million pound MOT station and I'm thinking maybe a self build would be good if the funds and he would allow me.
Ps happy birthday.
dsl2 said:
Forget the car, you passed up going to the Maldives to stay & build it, you are nuts!
Yes, probably - I did feel a bit jealous when I dropped them off at Gatwick! I'm not into swimming or diving so, whilst I don't mind a beach holiday, I think I'd get excessively bored in the Maldives. I can't justify spending that sort of money on a holiday either TBH,So the chassis has been dropped off at McMillan this morning, not sure when I'll get it back, not too long hopefully. Time now to go through the boxes and see if anything is missing. I have seen the diff, it was in a box surprisingly enough.
Whilst at McMillan I took loads of pics of one their R300s so I've got a better sense of where everything goes. I am starting to lose a bit of confidence in my technical ability to do this (it looks much more complex than my k-series one) but hopefully it will be OK!
I've sailed through the Maldives, on a circumnavigation I did in 1994/95. I was seriously into scuba diving at the time.
If you asked me now, what would I rather do, play with my car in a workshop like that, or go diving in the maldives.
I'd be in the garage!
If you're not a diver, then there would be very little for you to do there. You'd be bored stiff by the second day.
Anyway, you can watch the holiday movies on you bigg ass workshop TV when they return!
Hope that makes you feel better?
By the way, I'm just clearing the land at the back of my house, to build a 100 sq mtr. workshop. Becuase of this thread, I did a search for the workshop furniture you have, and I think you've cost me a packet load of dosh in the near future!!!
I have to say Stephan is very efficient at getting the information out!
Even my wife thinks the workshop furniture is nice! So I guess I have the go ahead!
Happy Birthday by the way!
If you asked me now, what would I rather do, play with my car in a workshop like that, or go diving in the maldives.
I'd be in the garage!
If you're not a diver, then there would be very little for you to do there. You'd be bored stiff by the second day.
Anyway, you can watch the holiday movies on you bigg ass workshop TV when they return!
Hope that makes you feel better?
By the way, I'm just clearing the land at the back of my house, to build a 100 sq mtr. workshop. Becuase of this thread, I did a search for the workshop furniture you have, and I think you've cost me a packet load of dosh in the near future!!!
I have to say Stephan is very efficient at getting the information out!
Even my wife thinks the workshop furniture is nice! So I guess I have the go ahead!
Happy Birthday by the way!
mickrick said:
Hope that makes you feel better?
It does, thanks! 
mickrick said:
So I guess I have the go ahead!
Excellent news. They are relatively expensive but it's all very good quality and will last forever, so well worth it IMO. Looking forward to seeing the pics of your new workshop when you get to that stage.
Thanks for the picture !
Still the "good" old FORD one !
PS: They do not have a drain plug, may be you should use the opportunity to take off the cover, drill a hole and a thread on the bottom of the cover or even on the bottom of the maincase in order to be able to drain it easily if needed in the future.
Still the "good" old FORD one !
PS: They do not have a drain plug, may be you should use the opportunity to take off the cover, drill a hole and a thread on the bottom of the cover or even on the bottom of the maincase in order to be able to drain it easily if needed in the future.
Not much to report. McMillan are hoping to have the car ready for collection by the middle of next week, so fingers crossed on that.
I've unpacked everything but it's approaching impossibility to see if anything beyond the major bits are missing as the closest build manual is for a Sigma-engined road car.
In the meantime I've made some wooden blocks to go in the 'gutter' of the lift as the axle stands would be perilously close to the inside edge of the lift platforms otherwise. It's still close but should be OK, just need to ensure I don't apply too much sideways load until some heavy bits are in!
I missed the delivery of my engine crane today so will collect and build that tomorrow.
My planned 'muscle' to give me a lift out of the trailer and into the garage when I've collected the chassis next week looks like letting me down so may need a contingency plan. I'm tempted to place a request for help in the PH Northamptonshire section, otherwise I'll have to wait until the weekend when Mrs Redmax and her family get back.
I've unpacked everything but it's approaching impossibility to see if anything beyond the major bits are missing as the closest build manual is for a Sigma-engined road car.
In the meantime I've made some wooden blocks to go in the 'gutter' of the lift as the axle stands would be perilously close to the inside edge of the lift platforms otherwise. It's still close but should be OK, just need to ensure I don't apply too much sideways load until some heavy bits are in!
I missed the delivery of my engine crane today so will collect and build that tomorrow.
My planned 'muscle' to give me a lift out of the trailer and into the garage when I've collected the chassis next week looks like letting me down so may need a contingency plan. I'm tempted to place a request for help in the PH Northamptonshire section, otherwise I'll have to wait until the weekend when Mrs Redmax and her family get back.
Redmax
Whilst you have time on your hands its always worth sorting out parts for each corner, ie wishbones with correct bolts etc so you have all to hand when the chassis is back. It saves a load of time searching for things in the packs.
Remember prop in first before the diff as well.
Dave
Whilst you have time on your hands its always worth sorting out parts for each corner, ie wishbones with correct bolts etc so you have all to hand when the chassis is back. It saves a load of time searching for things in the packs.
Remember prop in first before the diff as well.
Dave
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