Caterham 170 experience

  TL;DR : the unicorn What started as a joke took a serious turn three weeks ago: I just paid the deposit on that fine piece of motoring history. In short, 🦄 this is a 1966 Lotus Super Seven S2, with the 1500 Cosworth engine, it's left-hand drive, and it spent quite a while in the USA. All the serial numbers we find are fully matching the factory records: VIN, frame, engine, and even the carburettors are original. Only the black paint is not original as the records show it was navy blue from the factory, and period-correct Minilite wheels (1973) replace the factory-spec Elan ones. The body and shell are in excellent condition, with no sign of prior restoration, and no need for any. In order not to mix content, I have created a new blog , but both will be strongly interconnected. There will be direct links between them, and you will find a permanent link in the menu on the left. If you're ready, it begins here .  I have moved the two original posts to the new blog too.

  TL;DR : Better luck next time That photo-stunt was months in the making after Stephen presented his "EWU" on a Facebook group.  I jokingly replied with "WTF is even an EWU?" or something of that effect and got a serious explanation about how his kids named his car after its license plate. Anyway, in July he contacted me for some advice regarding his plans of touring the Belgian Ardennes with one of his teenage kids. I was in Corsica and couldn't share the trip, but I was more than happy to help prepare a memorable road-book. I based the general directions on a drive we had with a few friends on May 25th, which I actually did rehearse on the day before. The only significant change would be that it would basically be in reverse, with more high-speed roads and none of the questionable paths in the woods (they allowed for some shade on a very hot day as well as a very appreciated opportunity for some -hum- relief) . Their 3-day stay in Belgium went without a hitc...

  TL;DR : 🦝💥🏎️💨⚰️😭 "Will you kill all animals in the forest with your Seven?" - I've been asked. Maybe one of each is fair game. Really eager to confirm my over-heating issues (in cold weather only) were solved for good, I went for a short evening drive around the Ardenne. Temperature was around 13°C and the rain just stopped for a bit. The good news is that yes, after 6 months of wondering how to solve my cooling issue, the actual culprit was the expansion bottle cap . As House of Speed were closed for the Summer holidays, I got a replacement cap from Land Rover instead. The part number is PCD500030. The expansion tank and cap used by Caterham come from an old Freelander. Shoutout to Spirlet Liège for their gentle help.  It cost me 23.53€ for an OEM part.  As a reminder, I tried a 12€ one from Aliexpress first. Sold with an identical part number, it was advertised as " Factory-grade quality at competitive price " . My arse. The valve looked fake and there...

TL;DR : Fiery, but cold After a 35°C kind of day with equally enjoyable conditions working from home in the attic, an evening drive felt quite appropriate.  With a former colleague just arrived in Liège to work here for a year, I thought we could take the Caterham to the Ardenne and grab a drink. The trip started with us driving in circles through a maze of roadworks. It was basically impossible to go South without resorting to driving on the highway. As I had removed the side screens for maximum effect, it would have been no fun at all.  That's how I drove east with the idea of having our drink in Spa. Along the way, we were able to see the wildfire of the High Fens, that began on that afternoon. We stopped once or twice to take some pictures. After a beer in Spa, we continued our way to the East, again guided by roadworks that blocked the roads I know best. Up top, the smell of wood fire. It was getting cold as well, and we were only wearing shorts and t-shirts. I pulled th...

TL;DR Turbo-curious The previous 150 or so posts probably left little doubt about the fact that I'm no mechanic. With that came basically no prior knowledge about the ins and outs of a turbocharged engine. In a nutshell, both turbochargers and superchargers push more air in the combustion chamber than atmospheric pressure alone would allow. A turbo is driven by the exhaust gases, while a supercharger is powered by an accessory belt, stealing engine power from crankshaft (in basic terms : just like the alternator, or better yet, like an AC compressor) . With a boost pressure of 1.3 bar (measured through the OBD port) , the Caterham 170 sees an absolute pressure of 2.3 bars in the intake manifold when full boost is achieved. That forced induction basically turns the puny 658cc block into a 1513cc one. Who's laughing now? Compared to the 0.3  bar boost pressure on supercharged Lotus es , that's quite something. Pushing air then... yes.  Like a Nitrous oxide (NOS) ...

TL;DR : I've bought a garage Against my will, yet another saga that began on Christmas week  🎄🎅☃️ We were on holidays at the belgian coast, with the Caterham kindly stored at House of Speed during their week off. I came to think that it had been sleeping outside for nearly 2 years and it was well overdue to find it better sleeping quarters. In about 5 minutes, two or three options looked promising : a well located and very secure garage box, a small warehouse, and a small house that had been flooded 5 years ago. On the way back home, we stopped by the 80 m² (square meters) warehouse, to find that the entrance had been pimped a bit, but the roof was covered by a tarp. That was an instant no-go. The small house, already converted as a garage, had allegedly a buyer already. The prospect of being that close to the river didn't enchant me more than that either. Finally, that reasonably-priced garage was well located, a short 10 minutes from home. The place looked familiar, and I ...

TL;DR : a bad idea, don't do it With the recurring failure of the wideband oxygen sensor (4 killed fair and square and 1 DOA) , I was ready to try about anything to increase reliability. The change in November consisted in increasing the heating delay in the ECU, and I did add a 25mm spacer to get the sensor out of the direct exhaust flow. As a reminder it's located 8 cm from the exit of the turbo. That (already third) sensor lasted for about 6 months, only to fail at the track day in March. I had a spare on hand that didn't even last 2 kilometers. I got yet another one, that was installed straight on the pipe this time and didn't even last a full month. What I think happened is that re-starting the car when the engine was still warm-ish (~40-50°C coolant) was the scenario that led to all those failures. That was a clear thing on track where I drove 20 minutes sessions followed by equivalent pauses. It was also the case when I only used the car to commute to work and ...

TL;DR : easy-peasy with the right tools Having replaced the mirrors with  SPA design ones , the originals were left laying on the desk downstairs. I thought it would be a good idea to remove them from their arms to save space and set them aside in a slim cardboard box. That was a mistake : once you remove the screw from the ball joint, there's not way to get it back, and all the hardware is left loose inside behind the glass. I knew from the first 2 minutes of this video of the build series by Kyle Townend that it could be a pain to deal with. He broke one and got the second out with a hot air gun.   I also read Lee's build blog where he states that Caterham advised him to submerge the mirrors in hot water to soften the glue. In both instances they had to get the mirrors on stalks attached to the windscreen stanchions, as the IVA does not allow the side screens for some reason (my guess is that the plastic windows are the actual concern as they can scratch easily). Anyway,...

TL;DR : Sub-optimal job from the factory With the car up on the lift at House of Speed the other day, it was apparent that the seats rails nuts and washers had seen better days. They were rusty more than scratched from contact with the road, but I couldn't leave them like that. While stainless steel replacement would look like the obvious choice, titanium is even a better option. CAUTION : Do not replace critical load bearing steel hardware with stainless steel or titanium and always stick the the prescribed alloy grade.  I reckon it's OK for the seats. Worst case they would become loose on the floor pan (or break) and you would still be attached to the car anyway... All we need are 4 (of each)  M8x20mm bolts, M8 nylstop nuts and M8x30mm plain washers per seat. Before placing my order, I had gotten the passenger seat out of the car for inspection, as I wanted to make sure I wouldn't need grinding down the titanium bolts flush with the nuts after fitting. Assuming they w...

TL;DR: Caterham ad-nauseam This year, the Caterham marketing team planned a full season of test-drives all over continental Europe, providing a fleet of 3 test-cars to all their dealers between March and October. The first two dates were the ones near me : Caterham Nürburgring from March 30th to April 5th, then House of Speed between April 10th to 12th. Both Sundays would also serve as season openers I would attend anyway : a Caterham Car Club meetup, and the Club Team Lotus Belgium season opener at House of Speed, like every year. My friend Fab' joined us with the mighty Kompressor (Jubu 275 with a supercharger) and we drove to Germany, met with the other club members and had our currywurst. He was a bit disappointed by the fact that the members' cars were left parked outside with zero attention paid to them. I must add that on the day before, we already drove the whole afternoon with Fab' and Jimmy joining us. That was not planned, but it was very enjoyable nevertheless...

TL;DR  : If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is After the slight over-heating issues at the track day, I did eliminate the idea that it could come from the faulty oxygen sensor. Those were (are) totally independent problems. With the oxygen sensor replaced once again, I came to understand and suspect that my car does not like cold weather. So I took the opportunity of a nice Spring weather to do various tests early in the morning or late in the evening with a cold weather (~5°C), and compare what happens in the afternoon when it's over 15°C. On the first cold night, I got the coolant up to 110°C when briefly pushing hard. And got no issue in the next afternon. On the next morning, we went back to the Fagnes  with a mask covering the front grille. That somewhat improved things but the solution was not perfect either. It confirmed that the thermostat is "shocked" close as soon as it opens. The rest of the drive it must have remained closed as the cabin heate...

TL;DR : adhesive tape is all it takes As a follow-up to the new screws I did fit to the poppers that are on top of the boot cover, the ones on the sides needed replacing too. The concern with those poppers is that they have an orientation, with a slight bulge on the bottom that keeps the full hood secured once popped in place. Not wanting to mess that up, I took some time and finally found a silly solution to keep it all well aligned. Tape, it's just adhesive tape. So one at a time, I did lock the poppers with tape and replaced the rusty screws with stainless steel ones. Two per side : one behind the door, and the front-most one under the boot cover (the others are riveted) . I've spotted that the screws from the poppers in the cabin where the sidescreens latch have white oxidation; I'm ok with that.

TL;DR Wet wet wet   All pictures courtesy of GT Production  and Racing Pictures & Reports Although I had planned on going to the Belgians On Track event of April 3rd, I finally chose to go to the "Trackday & drift" week-end organized by Pierre Malderez / Malderez Racing instead. Same circuit, same week, same weather. The fact that I wouldn't need taking a day off was the decisive element. I had the car serviced and the thermostat replaced just in time for that week-end, and did replace the safety-wire on the differential that was leaking a bit again. I assume I didn't do it right after the Quaife had been fitted. Anyway, as I had my car raised at HoS to do the work, I was told not to use the NS2 tyres I had shred the threads off during the previous trackday in October. It would be too dangerous. So I got the Uniroyal RainExpert back on the rear, on the original Juno wheels. As they have no "rotation" to respect and only an "outside"/"...