Taking it all apart
K80RUM stripdown
After eight years of faithful service, the car's beginning to show its age so I've bitten the bullet and decided to strip it down.
This should give me an opportunity to tackle some issues that have been bugging me for some time - namely:
The CRB which is rattling like a taxi unless the clutch pedal is depressed
The rear chassis tubes have lost all of their powdercoating and have a fair amount of surface rust
The rear suspension components and fixings are also showing signs of corrosion
The plan then is to strip the car down completely and clean everything up. I'm also going to take the opportunity to make some improvements and alterations.
The chassis will be prep'd using a stripping disk to remove the surface debris, then wiped down and given a coat of POR15 Metal Ready and a coat of POR15 Chassis Black
Meanwhile, all of the suspension components will be sent off to a powdercoaters in the Midlands for a cleanup and re-powdercoating.
The interior panels have been replaced and I'm now slowly working my way back to the front. A dremel and rotary cutting disc have proven ideal for trimming the carbon fibre. Duralac zinc phosphate paste has been used for the new lowered floor where aluminium and steel meet, in order to reduce the slowly spreading bimetallic corrosion. Rubber rawl-nuts have been used to attach the rear wings for the same reason.
After completely rewiring the loom I've hooked up the battery and turned everything on (first with the Stack disconnected, just in case) The only problem to have appeared is the hazard lights switch which wasn't working (faulty switch of all things) and the dash lighting which turned out to be a blown fuse.
Update 29/04/07:
Now that all of the electronics have been done, I've reassembled the front bulkhead and am in the process of fitting the centre console before I finally put the seats in. I've epoxied the breathable mesh gearstick and handbrake gaiters in place on the forward console and have used some spare rubber trim to finish off the hole that the gearstick gaiter sits in - the end result is much neater looking.
The original SLR wheels had been niggling at me - one has a slight dent and I've not been succesful sourcing a replacement. This got me to thinking - although they're incredibly light, theyre also getting to be incredibly rare. As luck would have it, a nice set of 'two-gates' minilights became available so I fitted them and will sell on the old SLR rims once i've cleaned them up. I've included some shots of the new wheels in the slideshow below.
I also spent a long time looking at the car now it resembles one again, without the windscreen attached. I've always liked the lines of the car sans windscreen and am loathed to put the old one back on. Apparently though, it's a much more comfortable experience with an aeroscreen than with a ful screen and no sidescreens (which is how i drive 80% of the time.) As fortune would have it, a practically brand new one was available complete with mirrors... The progress on that is here
I've also added a sticker to the rear wing (well... I couldn't very well change everything else and not do something to the bodywork, could I?)
Update 06/06/07
I've added some spring cushioning to the passenger tillet head support, after my better half voiced her concerns about the lack of it in the old setup.
My last words in the previous update must have been subconciously weighing on my mind. The bodywork needed something, and...well....I've added the results to the slideshow.
What have I done?!
Update 20/06/07
Whilst waiting to get the engine back in, I had another look to see if I could improve anything. Filling the gearbox has always been a complete pig on the Caterham because of lack of space. Most people resort to removing the lid and filling through there, rather than the completely inaccesible side filler; this is the wayI used to fill it too.
This method is now going to be a bit of a problem, since the lid is beneath the bulkhead and therefore directly beneath the new dry sump tank. There's going to be no space to remove the lid, without first taking out the tank. So...I've decided to put a filler in the lid itself.
The forward area of the lid unfortunately had some raised lettering on it, so it was out with the angle grinder to skim it. Once the lid was nice and flat, I drilled and tapped it to accept an old sump plug I had, and topped off the plug with a more visible red cap. Now filling should be miles easier! Pictures in the gallery above.
The front wings have been modified in the way they attach. They now use stainless steel bigheads which are bonded on to the underside of the wings with Tiger Seal. The bigheads are then attached to the wingstays with zip-ties.