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Last year on August 6th, Tessa and I got married. We had a great day, and many of you were able to attend either the wedding itself or the hog roast we had in the evening. Obviously we had wanted to include the 7 in the day somehow, and a fine display of about 30 Caterhams and other exotica in the field with the Hog Roast was the perfect end to a perfect day.
At a small presentation in the afternoon, Mark Collins presented us with the most incredible gift. Since our engagement, unknown to us, Mark had been contacting many of our Lotus 7 Club friends and fellow Blatchatters and had made a collection. It was from this collection that we were given 3 gift vouchers. One was for a reskin of the car, one was for a re-spray, and one was for spending on any bits we needed from Caterham.
We were totally shocked and stunned – it was the most incredible gesture and very humbling. Having driven almost 90,000 miles since getting the ‘95 car 5 years ago, the car was looking a little tatty, with worrying signs of panel corrosion and chassis rust.
We intended to rebuild the car exactly as she was (sans rust!) – so the same colour (a Honda pearlescent blue) and yes; we are keeping the flared wings - the first question everyone asks us - I guess it just wouldn’t be our car if we changed those!
We had decided to wait until after the winter, so that the freshly rebuilt car missed most of the salt and bad weather, and on 1st April I drove into Marks garage with 91,676 miles on the odometer. We would deliver the chassis to Arch totally stripped, ready to be blasted, re-powder coated and then totally re-panelled. Throughout the rebuild I have been taking copious numbers of photos, so here is Part 1 of the rebuild story…..the Re-Skin!
Stuff I need to Buy/Do!!
Engine:
Exhaust system upgrade
Emerald (for 1.8 upgrade)
Check engine wiring loom
Propshaft repair – buy UJ’s
Check engine mounts
Get gearbox (and diff?) checked at R&R – talk about new ratios?
Water rail gasket
Replace rubber heater hoses with silicon (straight)
Main loom (Darren?)
New style expansion tank?
Fix radiator
New Clutch cable?
Interior:
Collect tunnel carpets
Buy carpet for rear bulkhead
Get dash recovered in leather
Buy new dash switches
Check dash fittings for lights etc
Re-site horn/starter buttons
Aux fan switch
Interior light (Brent)
Choose/fit steering wheel
Clean and repaint dials
Buy/re-cover central tunnel cover
Make sure I get knee panels from Bruce?
Fixings and Fittings:
Wide track wishbones (Bruce)
Associated wide track fittings/dampers (Gary)
Spherical joints as used by Freestyle
Investigate progressive springs for rear
Freestyle anti-roll bars front and back (Gary)
New diff/prop bolts
Flywheel bolts
Swinging/radius arm bolts
Fittings to use braided fuel line
Black rivets from Bruce for interior
New front indicator pods/lens (clear)
New rear light blocks/lens
New wing repeaters (clear)
Contact Tony (TSK) re re-spray/extra bits
Rubber gaiters for half shafts
Check boot cover on new chassis (crap poppers)
Harness set (x2)
Wing/Body rubber strips
Plastic nuts and rivnut fittings for wings
Other:
Ali honeycomb for fuel tank protection (Bruce)
Same for floor?? (if possible with lowered floor?)(Bruce)
Speak to Caged about side impact bar?(also ask Bruce)
Fire extinguisher – tube type for engine bay and fuel tank
To do/Clean:
Dismantle and clean front hubs (replace bearings)
Rear hubs
Check/change rubber gaiters on half shafts
Make/replace wooden boot floor (carbon/honeycomb?)
Dampers
Brake calipers
Liquids
Engine Oil/ Filter
Coolant
Gearbox Oil
Diff Oil
Washer fluid!
Grease for hubs, propshaft
Brake fluid
Contact adhesive for carpets
To order:
Fuel Filter
Fuel tank sender gasket
Fuel Pump Gasket
Water rail gasket
Caterham badge
VVC clutch cable?
Rubber Footmats
Dzuz fastners for nose cone incl. wires, top and bottom
Water rail temp sender
Side repeaters x2
Clear lenses for above
1x front wheel bearing
2x rear wheel bearing
Indicator pods
Switches:
Brake fail
Hazard
Heater
Lights
Rear fog
Washers
Screen demist
Wipers
Dip switch
Flasher switch
Indicator switch
2 hood straps?
Boot cover?
Boot cover popper kit
Tonneau cover (zip?)
Ring Bruce re: wishbone ‘spec’ (ball joints), wing stays (hood sticks) lower damper bolts in wishbones?
Gary re: wide track dampers, front and rear roll bars, spherical joints.
TSK Tony re timescale and best time to visit
Collect loom and fuel filler
Exhaust???
Harnesses
Wheels/tyres
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