Caterham kept outside on driveway - terrible idea?
Discussion
Hi All,
I've been contemplating adding a fun car to the household and had a great experience with an AMG C63s but the running costs are putting me off and having previously driven a 360R in S3 chassis for a few days I keep wondering about a Caterham.
I would be likely looking for an 400/420 or something with at least 200hp (360R was nice but I've owned some fast bikes and it just didn't quite have the necessary go).
Problem is I have no garage just a 2-3 car driveway in a cul de sac. I would get a car cover but I do wonder if it will turn to a giant pile of rust during the British Winter. Assuming these don't get stolen much?
So rubbish idea or not? I'd rather not put it in storage as I just want to go out and drive it when I get the itch.
I've been contemplating adding a fun car to the household and had a great experience with an AMG C63s but the running costs are putting me off and having previously driven a 360R in S3 chassis for a few days I keep wondering about a Caterham.
I would be likely looking for an 400/420 or something with at least 200hp (360R was nice but I've owned some fast bikes and it just didn't quite have the necessary go).
Problem is I have no garage just a 2-3 car driveway in a cul de sac. I would get a car cover but I do wonder if it will turn to a giant pile of rust during the British Winter. Assuming these don't get stolen much?
So rubbish idea or not? I'd rather not put it in storage as I just want to go out and drive it when I get the itch.
I planned to keep mine outside when I bougnt it, but ended up using my in-laws' garage (and eventually my own).
You will get more rust. My car was outside for a little while when it was getting the clutch changed at the garage (no, I don't use them anymore) and I noticed quite a bit of surface rust on places I didn't normally see it (and especially on the non-stainless screws that came with my lights).
Plenty of people have kept them outside, but be prepared to deal with a bit of rust.
I give the chassis and suspension parts of mine a good coating of ACF50 every year, works wonders to keep the rust at bay!
You will get more rust. My car was outside for a little while when it was getting the clutch changed at the garage (no, I don't use them anymore) and I noticed quite a bit of surface rust on places I didn't normally see it (and especially on the non-stainless screws that came with my lights).
Plenty of people have kept them outside, but be prepared to deal with a bit of rust.
I give the chassis and suspension parts of mine a good coating of ACF50 every year, works wonders to keep the rust at bay!
Tye Green said:
7s aren't built to the same standards of rust protection as mainstream cars and will deteriorate rapidly if they get wet regularly.
What would be best approach to avoid rust - car cover, hose down underside if taken out on salty road and some sort of spray like Lanoguard? I must admit I don't really know how hard it is to get to the underside of a a Caterham. I suppose a small ramp on one side would make udnerside accessible?RSTurboPaul said:
Are you buying/building new or used?
If new, I imagine one could enquire about a special 'outdoors spec' treatment that added extra protection? (Powder coating suspension components more thickly, extra stages in the frame paint process, etc etc??)
Will be used 2008 onwards if I go down the Caterham pathIf new, I imagine one could enquire about a special 'outdoors spec' treatment that added extra protection? (Powder coating suspension components more thickly, extra stages in the frame paint process, etc etc??)
Kiwi79 said:
Tye Green said:
7s aren't built to the same standards of rust protection as mainstream cars and will deteriorate rapidly if they get wet regularly.
What would be best approach to avoid rust - car cover, hose down underside if taken out on salty road and some sort of spray like Lanoguard? I must admit I don't really know how hard it is to get to the underside of a a Caterham. I suppose a small ramp on one side would make underside accessible?Kiwi79 said:
What would be best approach to avoid rust - car cover, hose down underside if taken out on salty road and some sort of spray like Lanoguard? I must admit I don't really know how hard it is to get to the underside of a a Caterham. I suppose a small ramp on one side would make udnerside accessible?
It's more the suspension components and areas of the chassis don't dry off easily that will get the worst hit. There's not much to get to in the middle of the car as it's mostly just the seat floor.There are the well known 'grot traps' as they're affectionalty known, which is where the engine bay meets the cockpit. They're hard to clean and often pick up bit of leaves ect, don't dry out and then start to cause corrosion between the steel chassis and the aluminium body. You'll notice some caterhams will have bubbling paintwork on the lower parts of the body (mine did until I had it re-painted).
I wash mine out, angle the car up to give the water a chance to drain away (or indeed, go for a drive) and then put some rust protection on (Again, ACF50 is amazing, lots of 7 owners use it).
The chassis is going to rust over time the more you use it, it's just about slowing that process down. If the car is outside in the damp, then it's going to be tough to keep it rust free.
When I purchased my car it was 6 years old with 17k miles on the clock. It originally left the factory with a bare aluminium chassis but Stuart Wylie of Woodcote Sportcars had it repainted in prisoner colours as the bare aluminium was badly pitted as a result of being outside in Scotland for some of it's life. For the next 15 years it lived in a damp lock-up garage. During that time following a rear end shunt I decided to rebuild the 7. The above picture is my chassis after 15 years and 60k miles.
When it went back to Arch to straighten the rear basket and be re-powdercoated Bruce commented that it really wasn't in too bad a condition given its age and mileage.
They are fairly hardy cars really....
When I bought mine a couple of years ago, I was living in a back to back terrace house and the car had to live on the street outside the front door. We'd just put in an offer on a house with a drive and garage. That was in August and we didn't move until March the year after. And it spent a further year on the drive of the new house before we got the garage clear to be able to get the car inside: so overall the car spent 2 winters outside.
So some points to note from my experience.
1. Insurance - when I called around: many wouldn't insure unless garaged, or I fitted a tracking device. I ended up with MSM insurance. They would insure the car kept on the road, so long as the car was under £20k in value.
2. As I said, I bought the car in August. I placed an order with Soft Bits for Sevens for a long nose shower cap around the same time. But they didn't get the order out to me until mid December! So the only weather protection for the car was the standard hood, which is mostly ok, but isn't totally weather proof. It's fine when you driving in the rain. But when the car is stood still there are plenty of gaps that rain gets in around the doors. Especially when the wind is blowing the rain in from the rear of the car. Plus the louvres on the bonnet mean lots of water gets in, and the pedal boxes aren't the most well sealed items. I took to putting a tarp under the bonnet to help stop some of the water ingress.
despite all this, the inside of the car was still damp - needing to keep on top of any mildew growth on the harness/carpets/boot cover. I'd take the seat bases inside and put something to soak up water from the carpet
3. After the shower cap did arrive, I found that I'd still need to put the hood on anyway, as even with the holding straps done up so the cover was tight - when it rained it would pool over the cabin - and you'd come out in a morning after it rained/snowed overnight to find that there was a pool of water with the cover pulled down so it was touching the tunnel top. Also when it's on the side of the cover leaves some gaps around the back of the door/wheel arch. And the bottom of the boot cover - so again things still get damp & mildewy.
4. After I moved and had the car on the drive & knowing the shortcomings of the shower cap - I got a full car cover: much better for coverage - as it came down leaving only the bottom of the tyres exposed. But again, still needed something over the cabin to stop water pooling in there. So still putting the hood up. or later just the half hood when i finally got round to ordering one (from Oxted - delivered within 2 days of ordering, would have been next day had i called up an hour earlier to pay)
Problem with the full cover was that it would pull on the mirrors - so every time you went for a drive, you'd first have to reset the mirrors as they would have been yanked in all directions as the wind had caught the cover. or just as you where taking the cover off.
As you can imagine - having to take a cover off, take off the hood.... and then redo it all every time you went for a drive & keep on top of keeping the car dry.
Oh and might be a co-incidence but also the heater element sprung a leak after the first winter outside.
So - yes it's doable. but be aware there are issues to mitigate. And it's much better the car is now safely away in a dry garage, and i just need to open the door and drive it out when i fancy a drive.
So some points to note from my experience.
1. Insurance - when I called around: many wouldn't insure unless garaged, or I fitted a tracking device. I ended up with MSM insurance. They would insure the car kept on the road, so long as the car was under £20k in value.
2. As I said, I bought the car in August. I placed an order with Soft Bits for Sevens for a long nose shower cap around the same time. But they didn't get the order out to me until mid December! So the only weather protection for the car was the standard hood, which is mostly ok, but isn't totally weather proof. It's fine when you driving in the rain. But when the car is stood still there are plenty of gaps that rain gets in around the doors. Especially when the wind is blowing the rain in from the rear of the car. Plus the louvres on the bonnet mean lots of water gets in, and the pedal boxes aren't the most well sealed items. I took to putting a tarp under the bonnet to help stop some of the water ingress.
despite all this, the inside of the car was still damp - needing to keep on top of any mildew growth on the harness/carpets/boot cover. I'd take the seat bases inside and put something to soak up water from the carpet
3. After the shower cap did arrive, I found that I'd still need to put the hood on anyway, as even with the holding straps done up so the cover was tight - when it rained it would pool over the cabin - and you'd come out in a morning after it rained/snowed overnight to find that there was a pool of water with the cover pulled down so it was touching the tunnel top. Also when it's on the side of the cover leaves some gaps around the back of the door/wheel arch. And the bottom of the boot cover - so again things still get damp & mildewy.
4. After I moved and had the car on the drive & knowing the shortcomings of the shower cap - I got a full car cover: much better for coverage - as it came down leaving only the bottom of the tyres exposed. But again, still needed something over the cabin to stop water pooling in there. So still putting the hood up. or later just the half hood when i finally got round to ordering one (from Oxted - delivered within 2 days of ordering, would have been next day had i called up an hour earlier to pay)
Problem with the full cover was that it would pull on the mirrors - so every time you went for a drive, you'd first have to reset the mirrors as they would have been yanked in all directions as the wind had caught the cover. or just as you where taking the cover off.
As you can imagine - having to take a cover off, take off the hood.... and then redo it all every time you went for a drive & keep on top of keeping the car dry.
Oh and might be a co-incidence but also the heater element sprung a leak after the first winter outside.
So - yes it's doable. but be aware there are issues to mitigate. And it's much better the car is now safely away in a dry garage, and i just need to open the door and drive it out when i fancy a drive.
Interesting, thank you Lord Summerisle for sharing
lord summerisle said:
When I bought mine a couple of years ago, I was living in a back to back terrace house and the car had to live on the street outside the front door. We'd just put in an offer on a house with a drive and garage. That was in August and we didn't move until March the year after. And it spent a further year on the drive of the new house before we got the garage clear to be able to get the car inside: so overall the car spent 2 winters outside.
So some points to note from my experience.
1. Insurance - when I called around: many wouldn't insure unless garaged, or I fitted a tracking device. I ended up with MSM insurance. They would insure the car kept on the road, so long as the car was under £20k in value.
2. As I said, I bought the car in August. I placed an order with Soft Bits for Sevens for a long nose shower cap around the same time. But they didn't get the order out to me until mid December! So the only weather protection for the car was the standard hood, which is mostly ok, but isn't totally weather proof. It's fine when you driving in the rain. But when the car is stood still there are plenty of gaps that rain gets in around the doors. Especially when the wind is blowing the rain in from the rear of the car. Plus the louvres on the bonnet mean lots of water gets in, and the pedal boxes aren't the most well sealed items. I took to putting a tarp under the bonnet to help stop some of the water ingress.
despite all this, the inside of the car was still damp - needing to keep on top of any mildew growth on the harness/carpets/boot cover. I'd take the seat bases inside and put something to soak up water from the carpet
3. After the shower cap did arrive, I found that I'd still need to put the hood on anyway, as even with the holding straps done up so the cover was tight - when it rained it would pool over the cabin - and you'd come out in a morning after it rained/snowed overnight to find that there was a pool of water with the cover pulled down so it was touching the tunnel top. Also when it's on the side of the cover leaves some gaps around the back of the door/wheel arch. And the bottom of the boot cover - so again things still get damp & mildewy.
4. After I moved and had the car on the drive & knowing the shortcomings of the shower cap - I got a full car cover: much better for coverage - as it came down leaving only the bottom of the tyres exposed. But again, still needed something over the cabin to stop water pooling in there. So still putting the hood up. or later just the half hood when i finally got round to ordering one (from Oxted - delivered within 2 days of ordering, would have been next day had i called up an hour earlier to pay)
Problem with the full cover was that it would pull on the mirrors - so every time you went for a drive, you'd first have to reset the mirrors as they would have been yanked in all directions as the wind had caught the cover. or just as you where taking the cover off.
As you can imagine - having to take a cover off, take off the hood.... and then redo it all every time you went for a drive & keep on top of keeping the car dry.
Oh and might be a co-incidence but also the heater element sprung a leak after the first winter outside.
So - yes it's doable. but be aware there are issues to mitigate. And it's much better the car is now safely away in a dry garage, and i just need to open the door and drive it out when i fancy a drive.
So some points to note from my experience.
1. Insurance - when I called around: many wouldn't insure unless garaged, or I fitted a tracking device. I ended up with MSM insurance. They would insure the car kept on the road, so long as the car was under £20k in value.
2. As I said, I bought the car in August. I placed an order with Soft Bits for Sevens for a long nose shower cap around the same time. But they didn't get the order out to me until mid December! So the only weather protection for the car was the standard hood, which is mostly ok, but isn't totally weather proof. It's fine when you driving in the rain. But when the car is stood still there are plenty of gaps that rain gets in around the doors. Especially when the wind is blowing the rain in from the rear of the car. Plus the louvres on the bonnet mean lots of water gets in, and the pedal boxes aren't the most well sealed items. I took to putting a tarp under the bonnet to help stop some of the water ingress.
despite all this, the inside of the car was still damp - needing to keep on top of any mildew growth on the harness/carpets/boot cover. I'd take the seat bases inside and put something to soak up water from the carpet
3. After the shower cap did arrive, I found that I'd still need to put the hood on anyway, as even with the holding straps done up so the cover was tight - when it rained it would pool over the cabin - and you'd come out in a morning after it rained/snowed overnight to find that there was a pool of water with the cover pulled down so it was touching the tunnel top. Also when it's on the side of the cover leaves some gaps around the back of the door/wheel arch. And the bottom of the boot cover - so again things still get damp & mildewy.
4. After I moved and had the car on the drive & knowing the shortcomings of the shower cap - I got a full car cover: much better for coverage - as it came down leaving only the bottom of the tyres exposed. But again, still needed something over the cabin to stop water pooling in there. So still putting the hood up. or later just the half hood when i finally got round to ordering one (from Oxted - delivered within 2 days of ordering, would have been next day had i called up an hour earlier to pay)
Problem with the full cover was that it would pull on the mirrors - so every time you went for a drive, you'd first have to reset the mirrors as they would have been yanked in all directions as the wind had caught the cover. or just as you where taking the cover off.
As you can imagine - having to take a cover off, take off the hood.... and then redo it all every time you went for a drive & keep on top of keeping the car dry.
Oh and might be a co-incidence but also the heater element sprung a leak after the first winter outside.
So - yes it's doable. but be aware there are issues to mitigate. And it's much better the car is now safely away in a dry garage, and i just need to open the door and drive it out when i fancy a drive.
Well impressed with the Stormforce cover from Carscoversuk
Tailored but not too tight and doesn't affect side mirrors despite not having pockets
Although it a looser fit than an indoor cover it hardly moved at all in the recent winds that were about 20mph and the material doesn't make a sound in the wind like some nylon covers I've had in the past
![](https://forums-images.pistonheads.com/582623/202408222587932?resize=720[/img]</a> <a href="https://forums-images.pistonheads.com/582623/202408222590234" Target="_blank" >[img]https://forums-images.pistonheads.com/582623/202408222590234?resize=720[/img]</a> <a href="https://forums-images.pistonheads.com/582623/202408222591695" Target="_blank" >[img]https://forums-images.pistonheads.com/582623/202408222591695?resize=720)
Tailored but not too tight and doesn't affect side mirrors despite not having pockets
Although it a looser fit than an indoor cover it hardly moved at all in the recent winds that were about 20mph and the material doesn't make a sound in the wind like some nylon covers I've had in the past
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