williamwashere

Great thread, trying to learn a lot here!

Thanks, I will PM you if I get to that point. I’m sure between all of us we can get anything I run into in Houston taken care of. Was just musing on if it would be fun to start a Caterham dealership in Houston as a new career! Market feels underserved here. To @hahuang65’s point, I did at least upgrade to the aero wishbones, so if I wanted to swap out the suspension for a more track focused setup that’s an afternoon project not a weeks project. There aren’t a lot of other pieces in that setup that I’d really ever want to swap out I think.

For now... they're talking about banning the Slingshot, Morgan 3-wheeler, etc. https://www.jalopnik.com/2105110/federal-motorcycle-ban-polaris-slingshot/ Write your congressional rep!

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1-N1xAZflfujHWm8XC1FcDFjQnePVB3mI <-- This is what his are based on, looks like he added the "7". More info here: https://www.caterham7diaries.com/post/wing-mirrors-option-2

SV. I know 90% of my driving will be touring with my wife, so I did that for comfort. Good tip on the bearing. If it’s like every other project I’ve ever done it will be well built, but only after I’ve done it three times and for twice the cost and time I planned because I keep catching mistakes. You will have to give it a try on the wheels! The 15s do look amazing. I didn’t upgrade the suspension either, Josh didn’t think it was really necessary. At least that’s an easy upgrade later on if I want. I’ve got a bad case of, “maybe I should have done X” while I wait and it’s all locked in.

420R! Carbon seats, 620 nose cone and dash. Trackday cage. I undoubtedly will take you up on the offer for help, I’m mechanically inclined and helped my Dad restore a TR6 when I was a kid, but this will be the biggest project I’ve undertaken. I'm trying to get Josh from Rocky Mountain Caterham to get some of his TX customers together for a track day like he does with the CO customers, would be a great chance to get the whole group together.

Thanks @hahuang65, I’d love for the next stage of my career to be a Caterham dealer, seems like a lot of fun. Just seems like there is an untapped market for Houston/Austin/Dallas. Maybe once they do some more marketing in the US that will be possible. Yes, I’m in Pinehurst just off of US249. My kit is still in the factory, but I hope to have it in May. I’m looking forward to using your registration in Texas guide!

That looks like a lot of fun! You are so close!

Oh man that looks like a good start! I wish I had the room for it.

Ditto this. I had my deposit in late Nov, I’m in build now. Used to be a year+ wait!

You're right to be suspicious of the configurator colors. I had my order in, we were trying to match a pin stripe to the roll bar color I was painting, and on the configurator it was a good match but in reality it was WAY off. They sent me some photos comparing the rollbar to the stripe and it was completely different. I was advised that most of Caterham's colors are Porsche colors, and to go look at the Porsche color picker (like here) to get a better on-screen idea of the colors.

Awesome to hear! Share some pictures if you took any you can share, and let us know what you decided to order!

I’m tempted but $599 is steep. How often are you all doing alignments?

Keep an eye out for mine! Silver 420R Left-hand drive, green cage. It's being built as a kit so at most you'd see a shelf of parts I think but it should be in there now. Have fun on the tour!

He says 15%. Signs paperwork that says 10%. My car ships in late March, April-ish, it's all a mystery for me, and if for some reason it takes 5-months + 1 day it might be 0% (unless congress extends it, which I doubt). So.... it'll be a surprise for me, or it will be some extra for a dash-cam. I'm glad my business isn't importing things right now.

How do you like the harness? I asked Josh to do it for track days, but I keep thinking maybe it was a mistake because I’ll be driving it a lot more often on weekends. Is it too annoying to get on/off? I was also toying with the idea of sending off for some Eccles mirror brackets made from titanium or anodized aluminum, I have the STL files so we could get them made in titanium for about $150/side.

They have been responsive and helpful. I hear back within 48 hours when I ask a question, and they haven’t been pushy. They also give advice that hasn’t always been trying to upsell me, and even talked me out of a few options based on my use case. Had an issue when ordering around paint selection (trying to match the vinyl pinstripe to roll cage color) and proactively relayed some photos he asked the factory to take. Overall, I’ve been satisfied! For them, it will land in Galveston, TX, then go to Colorado, and then comes to me. No advice yet, I don’t know what I don’t know! You’ll spend a lot of time on build blogs waiting for it to ship!

I’m getting one now, in factory as we speak. Truth is, we won’t know until it shows up exactly what it is going to cost. Pre-supreme court ruling, Rocky Mountain Caterham had me budgeting about 12% overall. Chassis has a different rate than the engine, so the 12% number is a blended amount. In theory, now that everything is 15%, it is going up. From Rocky Mountain Caterham: Basically we are seeing appx $1k in tariffs for every $10k in kit cost, plus $1500-$1800 on the drivetrain components. So for example, a $65k 360S kit is seeing about $6500 in tariffs on the chassis portion, and $1500-$1800 on the drivetrain. An $85k 420 Cup is seeing about $8500 on the chassis kit, and $1500-$1800 on the drivetrain. So in aggregate it's probably around 12 percent.

lol, not related to anything, but when I first read that I was trying REALLY hard to understand why you were blaming the World Health Organization for this.

Fair question! With a car that has “hasn’t changed a lot in decades” as a selling point buying a used one is sensible. The thing I wanted though was a simple, fun car I could build with my family. The “I built it myself” premium is worth it to me instead of buying a used one. Haven’t decided yet if building it myself and with the kids will make me treat it like a museum piece or if I’ll feel permission to really thrash it around or drill holes in it. We will find out!

Very frustrating. I'm trying to buy a kit now, and it's a mystery what the cost will be. And even if all of this is wiped out down the line, if I'd be entitled to a refund. Unless you're the importer of record, the answer is probably no. Buy it from Amazon or a Caterham dealer and it's just "baked in" to the price? You won't get a refund. Those vendors WILL get your refund though, and that will be quite the cash windfall for them. And then you can either sue them (and probably lose, because you never made an agreement to get refunded any costs specific to these shenanigans) or they can refund you out of the goodness of their hearts. What a way to run an economy.

My 420R is being built now, hopefully here by May. I optioned in the carbon fiber seats. I’ve tried the composite seats and the carbon fiber seats, and the “fit” on the body is surprisingly different! The composites felt much tighter. I could spend a lot more time in the carbon fiber seats. I’m on the North side, Tomball area. I was planning on doing a build log when it comes in, mostly for my own reference when I need to remember what I did! But then you’ll be able to see when it’s in a “sit-in-able” state!

I’m in Houston with an SV on the way. I tried an S3 and SV, and actually what I think mattered more was the seat, see if you can try the seat you’re interested in. You can get lowered floors if you’re tall. I am 5’8”, 185lb for reference. I could have comfortably fit in either. With a passenger we’d have to be very friendly in an S3. If I was getting it as a weekend car I’d get the SV, if I was purely interested in track times I’d get the S3.

Wow! That looks great!

Count me in! Skeleton design too, looks more like a neon sign. In fact, over just doing LED strip I wonder if it’s the same width as LED neon rope like here. And sorry, I don’t see what you’re doing, is there plastic diffuser in front of the LEDs in your test? I assume that’s the polypropylene you’re using? You might be able to eliminate that entirely if you use the neon rope light.