Ownership Verified: We can rebuild it... we have the technology (7 - take two)

Ouch.

Anyway, I have changed the brake line now, pressure tested, refilled and bled :) Eezibleed is easy! I can definitely recommend it to anyone.
 
a friend has a monobike with chrome wheels, and once he (or someone else) must've picked them up with brakefluid on his hands. 4 fingers have burned in there, you could even take fingerprints from it!

Well then it can be pretty easy to figure out who did it then. :p
 
So as I said there earlier, I made a new brake line for the front, and had the ends flared.



It's installed, and all brakes flushed. The pedal feel is spot on! I will be monitoring all the joints for leaks at first, of course, just because I'm a bit paranoid.

Anyway, also riveted the popper-bases for the door straps. There are two straps for each door (or side screen, as Caterham calls them, rightfully so, I guess :)).



Then comes another anxiety inducing job, drilling fresh paintwork. Going to be installing popper bases all around the rear. Masked and marked the positions of the fasteners roughly:



A lot of measuring and test-fitting followed, no pics of that (thankfully). In the end I got all the bases installed for the rear panel, the sides are still a little unsure, as I want to make absolutely sure that roof fits. Because right now it's way too loose.



I've been fighting with that roof for hours today, and I still can't figure it out. I can't make it tight everywhere at once, there are too many free parameters at this point. At least I got the rear and the front fixed, but the cut-outs for the side screens have to match well to make sure water doesn't come inside, and it can't be loose so it doesn't flap in the wind.

Again, this one of those things that sets this car apart from your typical out of the assembly line Caterham. This roof is old, and was meant for a low rollbar (look up pics earlier in this thread). After the higher FIA bar was installed, the roof wouldn't fit, and was modified by inserting a "band" around the rear edge, making it a few cm longer, it's a typical mod (two rows of poppers visible on the pic above). I used the roof once before the accident, and it was fine iirc. Of course, I had padding on the rollbar, so that at least made it tighter. Still, I SHOULD be able to stretch it just with the alu hoops... Bleh. I will tackle this again in few days, for now I gave up.
 
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Solution: No roof :D

I don't know if you've seen 5th Gear's review of the R500 (?), but Vicky drives it in the rain and the roof is definitely not secure around the doors and water gets in- you need to remember, this is a British car and that they suck at weatherproofing. :p
 
I don't think I remember that bit... But I have driven it in the rain and it was rather good! The doors fit between 2 flaps in the roof, so there's no way water gets in if it's falling from above. I need to take pics of that to show details, it's pretty clever. The worst is the door to the windscreen fit, there might be a gap that water can get through. But come on, it's FAR better than nothing :p

And as far as no roof completely goes, I'm ok with that locally. Maybe even aeroscreen. But if I'm going through Europe, I want to keep the roof option :)
 
This solution should help keep the rain off:

SkipCannon-BF.jpg


If you go fast enough it will blow past you. :p
 
There are some other neat solutions for light weather protection, softbitsforsevens makes these half-hoods:



I've seen other too. But my roof is ideally completely rain proof. You can leave the car outside and it will be dry inside. At speed there might be issues, admittedly :)
 
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It might have been a comparo between the R320 SL and an Elise...

Anyway, I'm impressed it worked (knowing how good British weatherproofing is), also have you considered something like this or a tonneau cover? Should your roof fail, that is; although they probably cost way more than they're worth. You could also get a full face race helmet with a tonneau cover and aero shield...

image002.jpg


EDIT: Damn, y'all are quick :p
 
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I have a tonneau, and it's not good. It clips on the dashboard and rear bulkhead, but there are plenty of gaps. It's also too bulky and heavy to carry with you, and not THAT easy to clip on. The roof is far superior, and you can, you know, drive with it :)

And no, I am not wearing a helmet :) The aeroscreen is a possibility in the future, but not this year.
 
I've been doing some minor things, and still trying to fit the roof. It's better now, but not perfect. I decided not to spend any more time on it, however, not now. For the weekend I plan to get wheel alignment right, and yesterday I attached new numberplates.

At the front there was an issue with plates. Our euro plates don't have the holes centered, the blue euro-part is offseting the plate. Also, if I mount the plate directly to the nosecone, it will obstruct part of the grille. Restricting the airflow! And most importantly, covering the 7-logo. Like this:


(all pics here are pretty bad, due to plate reflecting the flash)

Well, I thought this sucks, so I mounted it another way. Here's my patented solution, a sheet of alu that bolts to the nose, and plate is bolted to the sheet. Simple :)



Works rather well, I think.





For the rear I couldn't be bothered, and simply attached with a pair of hose clamps. I will probably remove (cut out) the spare wheel carrier anyway at some point.

 
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Located my misplaced spare wheel, and tried to fit it. Until now I was set on ditching the spare and cutting the carrier tubes off. But now.. I'm not sure.




Looks better, but adds weight. The added value of having a spare is rather low in my view, but at least it works as a luggage rack.

Whichever option I chose, it'll require some destructive mods, either I cut a hole right in the middle of the rear panel for fixing the wheel, or I cut the carrier tubes off to loose the wheel.
 
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Personally, I think the version with the spare wheel attached looks better. Then again...you could go for suitcase version...

visu_luggage_new.jpg
 
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Yeah I agree, looks better with the wheel on. Just make a CF-copy of the wheel and paint so you don't have to care about extra weight!
 
I agree, the tire on looks better. And at least the extra weight would be in a good spot, over the drive wheels, it might even help prevent another accident. :p
 
I agree, the tire on looks better. And at least the extra weight would be in a good spot, over the drive wheels, it might even help prevent another accident. :p

It was understeer last time he needs to hang it over the front :p
 
I've just read the whole thread. I'm finally through it! - I have to say this is both sad and extremely epic!
A friend of mines dad had a Lotus 7 some years ago and it's just so extreme! Love that car!

On a side not I vote for ditching the spare wheel :)

Good luck with it! - Can't wait to see it done!
 
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