Kitcat

Looks pretty awesome! I have spent a lot of time looking at their tempting Zetec line up. The other nearby engines suggest it’s still with Raceline in Great Britain?

Thx Carl and John. Lots of info to gather first, esp as to costs of upgrades. Like you guys, I love my Caterham, so we shall see.

Hey gang: the sale of my Caterham has been paused. I have decided to explore restoring it cosmetically and make some mechanical improvements. The idea of running it at NJMP last weekend was to see if it was track worthy, since I hadn’t driven it in 2 years. I discovered I had 2 frozen rear shocks which led to some entertaining handling issues. And since it’s going into the shop for that, I will also explore a more comprehensive set of improvements. I may even decide to keep it. If I do I may change my screen name from Kitcat to Catkrazy….

Great eye Jeff! You have obviously done this before. The shots of Paul and Lori, Vlad and old reliable, and Blake in his Caterham, are all character studies! And, after the shot of your BDA with the Sunoco signage in the background, I think we all have to now admit that “Stuart’s BDA” is now, officially, “Jeff’s BDA”:)! I just read your about your trailer drama. Between our cars and our trailers, it’s never dull. For what it’s worth, I got home at 1:00 a.m. too that day, after an incident free but traffic challenged 12 &1/2 hour drive from NJMP.

Jeff’s picture above shows the red Caterham’s owners/drivers, Simon and son, plus Croc-supplied mechanics, TJ and Ian. Apparently working on a rare se7en mechanical problem:). This photo illustrates the effort Croc and Tom put into making these events so terrific. When have you been to a track event that supplied, free of charge, skilled mechanical staff to help troubleshoot any issues you may develop there?

The pictures are perfect! Looks like a great car and a great find.

Some of my random shots. The top 2 are the lovely rear ends of Vlad’s and CarlB’s cars. Carl’s pays homage to Folis Jones, the most prolific Birkin enthusiast of all, until the day of his death, a few years back. Next up Vlad receiving his award for? I forget. I am sure he was hoping Croc was going to hand him the mustard bottle next the the other awards. For the record, I also got an award, which I tossed almost immediately. I will only say that when I got home 24 hours later, I had glitter on my face. Below that, a detail of a beautifully prepared Lowcost. Then Jeff’s blue BDA engine. After that Tom’s “deplorable” Orange SuperDuper Se7en. And some crowd shots. It was a memorable event:)!

Croc: CarlB bought MichaelD’s Zetec Caterham (See above green body, all yellow fenders, er, wings and cycle fenders). Like Jim (FE07), I forgot to “batten down the latches”, fortunately, just on one side, so I was able limp off course and fix things!

I can make the simplest task exciting: also ask me about the time I backed my Caterham out of my steeply parked trailer, with the engine running and me riding on top of the roll cage (into traffic). Hmm, where did I put the steering wheel? Some people are of the mistaken belief that all the Caterham excitement happens on the track.

After 2 days of testing, tweaking loading and general screwing around, I am nearly loaded. I will travel from Cincy to Frederick, MD today, hang with family tonight and tomorrow a.m., and leave for NJMP in time for the 6:00 dinner there Sat eve. We shall see. I will definitely be there Sunday, if unexpected issues arise along the way.

Congratulations, Bruce, on the stunning Caterham you have just purchased! Is mine fast? Depends pretty much on the driver:)! With an equal driver, I’d guess it’s 2” a lap slower than your car, tho I hate to think of your little beauty being subjected to track abuse! Enjoy. And feel free to give us a comparison test with your hot-Rod Alfa!

Tom: are you spying on me:)? Yes the trailer is being (slowly) loaded. So many little nit-picky things to get in order! Not sure when I will get there Saturday, hopefully before dinner at the Pub-place! What time do you predict for that? If I don’t make it, I am staying at the charitably named “VIP Suites” on the track, as usual. If nothing else, they are convenient! So I will join the fray Sunday a.m., at the latest.

Thx Vlad, got it, I was thinking you had a SVT engine. It was the Caterham engine of choice for a while and I thought all Superlights came with it. Obviously not! Good luck with your trouble shooting, it feels like you are nearly there.

I believe the Zetec SVT (like yours) is an interference engine. Maybe one of the many differences from the standard Zetec? SVT has longer rods, different pistons, etc. All per notes of a chat with TurboTom a few years ago when he was building my new engine.

When I replaced my entire engine I initially had to use the old tune (rushing to make USA7S event in ‘19). I did chassis dyno it to check AFR’s. It ran fine but a later tune added abt 10 hp and 6 lbs torque. So, assuming all is buttoned down, you will be able to participate, tho maybe not at full strength. Rooting for you!

Wow, what bad news John! I was looking forward to following your parallel tire marks all the way down the straight!

I will add my Caterham to this list. I posted it in the for-sale section of this forum a few days ago. It will probably end up on BAT, but wanted to give this more low-key approach a shot first.

A coupla more pix: Top one shows the “notch” chassis. Caterham wasn’t able to fit this engine without metal snips. Next is the engine bay, followed by a shot of part of the fire suppression system(the extinguisher is plumbed to nozzles in the engine bay and passenger side of the cockpit), then the trailer and finally the ID plate.

Yes, I have pictures proving the dangers of hanging out with you guys:).

I am listing my beloved track-only Caterham for sale. I am bringing it to this year’s USA7S event at NJMP, so anyone wanting to see it can. And, feel free to buy it there and jump into my slot on track(pending the organizers’ blessing). Of course, it’s also available for viewing here in Cincinnati. This Caterham has a storied history. It started life as a SCCA race car in EP, then was upgraded to STU specs by noted Caterham dealer/expert, Bruce Beachman at Beachman Racing. It came in third at the 25 Hours of Thunderhill in 2009, behind 2 Porsche Cup cars. It won the under 2 liter class. Since it is not street legal, it doesn’t have a title. I bought it via a bill of sale and that’s how I will be selling it. PRICE: $35,000.00 That includes a enclosed 16’ trailer, spare SVT engine and 2 sets of spare tires and wheels. The car alone is priced at $31,000. The pluses: This is as safe as any Caterham anywhere. It has a massive pro-built roll cage that makes the stock Caterham cage look positively wimpy. It has a race ready Fuelsafe 21 gallon fuel cell with a liner and foam. It has a fire suppression system and a halo style race seat with 6 point belts It has all of the cool Caterham upgrades circa 2009. This includes the Caterham 6sp., adjustable brake bias bar, uprated rear discs, aero screen, aero lights, roll bars front and rear, cycle fenders, Dedion rear suspension, LSD rear differential, quick release steering wheel. It has a recently rebuilt 2 quart Accusump in the passenger side. it is powered by a 2.0 liter Zetec SVT engine that was just rebuilt. It dynoed 152 hp and 143 lbs torque on a conservative chassis dyno in December 2020. Other notable improvements include replacing the fuel system, the clutch, adding new seals to the transmission and a variety of smaller items. The bad: Since it’s a track car it has been banged up. I never fixed the body dents and dings since beauty was not my goal. So I think of it as being pre-dented:). And it’s not street legal. It has all of the wiring in place to add full size headlights, turn signals etc. But if you drive it on the road as is, you are subject to being fined, even arrested. And your car insurance doesn’t cover you. Since the Accusump system and fire extinguisher are located in the passenger area, it’s just a one seat Caterham. As a track car I can say it typically runs mid-pack in the Advanced drivers group. It generally is 1-2 seconds slower than the newer Caterham 400’s and 420’s. I have a Harry’s LapTimer showing a mid 1’14 at NJMP’s Lightening circuit and a 1’32 on the Thunderbolt circuit on new Hoosier R7s a few years ago. For this spec Caterham and a 70+ year old driver, those are decent times. Here are some pics:

I’m pretty sure I read that one should NOT exceed 2500 rpms for the 1st 2000 miles on that engine…. Or, until after the engine’s first USA7S event:).

Here is a photo of my “wing-stay adjuster”(pat. pending).

This will be sold to the first person to make payment. There has been interest, so no guarantees how long it will be available.

I like how you roll:).

These are fiberglass Caterham rear fenders, with metal stone guards. Yes the event is a long way from you! But, they do give recognition to the person who travels the farthest and you would be a lock:). Not sure what wheel/tire would fit but they are a lot bigger then my standard Caterham rear fender, which can accommodate a 225/45-15 tire with no problem. The standard Caterham rear fender(aka: wing) is 11&1/2” wide and this is 2” wider, so 13&1/2.”This is 28&1/2” at the bottom opening and standard is even larger at 30”, per the Caterham parts store. I can’t explain why this is smaller at the bottom. These are not listed so maybe a discontinued item? FWIW: New rear wings are listed at $165 plus shipping from the UK, but listed as out of stock.