SanderGA

https://bringatrailer.com/2022/01/07/2021-bat-success-story-of-the-year-cast-your-vote/

Buyers and sellers can send Bring a Trailer a success story which they will run on the site. Here's my tale of a 5,100 mile cross country drive home in my '93 HPC with the 218hp engine: https://bringatrailer.com/2021/05/19/bat-auction-success-story-seven-went-down-to-georgia/ At the end of the year, they ask for nominations for the best success story. The link to that article where BaT members can make nominations in the comment section is below. If any of you BaT members would be so kind to nominate me, @sanderga, I would greatly appreciate it. I already have several nominations so I suspect I'll be back in a few days asking for votes. https://bringatrailer.com/2022/01/03/2021-bat-success-story-of-the-year-cast-your-vote/ Many thanks. Sander

Sale pending.

I’m in the process of getting my 1993 Caterham HPC with a 218 HP Swindon engine ready to sell. It has a silver body with red nose and fenders and just shy of 17,000 miles on the odometer. I bought it in June of last year and drove it 5,100 miles cross country last October. That trip was chronicled here (Going Coast to Coast without a Clue) and in a BaT Success Story. Since I bought it, I’ve given it the most thorough shakedown imaginable and I would gladly hop in it with an hours notice and confidently drive it anywhere in the continental US. I haven’t taken photos or prepared a complete write-up yet but if anyone had an interest feel free to contact me. I’ll be posting photos and complete information over the next week. To see the car visit @caterhamchronicles on Instagram or read the feature titled Seven Went Down to Georgia on Bring a Trailer.

Took the car to the mountains with the plan of doing about 1,000 miles with the Rennsport Dragon Rally. I had to abandon it because I strained something in my shoulder lifting myself out of the car. But I got 300 miles in. Car runs much smoother with the new ignition system. The best surprise was that my MPG is up 5+ MPG. Couldn’t care less about MPG but that’s an extra 40 miles between fill-ups. I had the carbs rejected but the guy that did it didn’t seem to know what he was doing and I thought I’d have to do it again as it still ran rough. Since he leaned it out, I suspect that’s a significant contributor to the mileage increase. It runs so smooth now, idles nicely, doesn’t smell of gas, and never stumbles so I’d be crazy to touch the carbs.

The toe in looked wrong to me so I thought I’d have someone check it before I drive 1,000+ miles this weekend. Drives fine though. Butler Tire, a high-end independent tire shop in Atlanta, was kind enough to check it. The toe in was about one degree off and they put that right. The camber was off about a half a degree without a driver and we elected to leave that alone rather than pulling suspension parts off to add washers. I’m all good now. It’s been a busy week: new ECU, coil pack, battery, and an alignment. My Porsche is in the body shop so the Caterham and I are gonna go terrorize Pcars at the Rennsport Dragon Rally in North Carolina this weekend. Hope I can keep up. :-o

I think I need an alignment but I need it TODAY as I have plans to go to the mountain for the weekend. Any chance a regular tire shop will do it?

I got my new distributor-less ignition system installed. The complete kit was specified and supplied by SBD Motorsport. Total cost was around $1,400. Installation was very easy and consists of the following: Mount the new ECU. It's larger so tough to fit it in Cut a hole in the firewall for the wiring harness to run through because the plugs are big. A 1 3/4" hole is sufficient. Cover the edges of the hole to protect the wires. Run the harness through the firewall. Properly connect the wires on the wiring harness to the plug for the coil pack. Don't forget heat shrink and confirm you are following the right diagram. Just because it says Bosch doesn't mean it's right. Count pins. Remove the ignition coil but leave the wires in place. Connect the two 12V wires on the wiring harness to one of the old 12V leads that connected to the ignition coil. Replace the crank position sensor. Only two bolts but access is difficult. Remove distributor, insert a plug for the exhaust cam if necessary and install the blank to cover the hole left by the distributor. Install coil pack. Run spark plug cables from the terminals on the coil pack marked "1 4" to the first and fourth cylinder. Run the other cables to the terminals marked "2 3" Plug the coil pack, 12v power source, and crank position sensor into the wiring harness. Note that I added a connector for the 12V power source. Connect the green wire to the tachometer. A resistor, or a new tachometer, may be required. I haven't connected mine yet. I lost the resistor they provided because it's so small Connect the grey wire to the shift light. If it's a small light, no relay is required. A large shift light requires a relay. Connect the ground. That's it. More detailed instructions are attached. I have a drive scheduled this weekend and will report back. C20XE ECU Replacement.docx

Thanks guys. Great tips. I’ll let you all know how it goes.

I got my 93 Caterham a year ago. It was well maintained and the aluminum was very bright. There’s definitely been some oxidation since then. I notice the metal finish of the bonnet is more dull than the rest of the aluminum. My plan is to hand polish all the aluminum with Mother’s Aluminum and Mag Polish. I just want to check and make sure that’s ok. My biggest fear is that the aluminum is coated in some way to stop oxidation and the polish will damage the coating. Any words of advise would be appreciated.

I need to polish my Aluminum skinned Caterham. Did you settle on an electric polisher? What process and polishing compound(s) do you use?

If I was in that spot, I’d get a Motogadget M-unit. Watch some videos of it on-line with an open mind and I’m guessing you’ll see it’s a great solution. Several people on this forum have installed them on later cars and that presents more difficulties but on an early model such as yours it should be very easy.

Check the Success Story on BaT for the story.

I had wondered that and then I found the explanation. A few weeks ago the Bidens visited the Carters and they posed for a photo with the Carters in the middle and the Bidens on either side. The Internet blew up because the Carters looked like little-people next to the Bidens, who looked like giants. Turns out, a wide angle lens makes objects on the edge of the photo look larger and objects in the center look smaller. While this photo is unedited, I think that may explain the disparity.

Bring a Trailer published a feature on the cross-country drive I did last October. Enjoy https://bringatrailer.com/2021/05/19/bat-auction-success-story-seven-went-down-to-georgia/