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1986 Caterham BDR, a new old car


Wayne Stambaugh

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Nice. I have a small, cheap bench metal lathe. I've been looking for a second-hand bench knee mill under 500 lbs and a 6 inch or bigger rotary table or power feed with DRO. Not worried if 3 phase. Maybe an Enco?

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4 hours ago, pethier said:

My spacer goes the other way, moving the wheel closer to the dash.  The spacer is about 1-1/2 inches.  This makes up most of the 2 inches that the quick-release moved the wheel aft.  The other half-inch I made up by adjusting the shaft forward.  I wind up with the wheel just where it started, but now it is removable.  

 

I have finished testing the prototype, 3D printed hollow.  My SIL is working on the final one, solid ABS.

 

I may shoot pix tomorrow.  The prototype is a silly green color.

 

I know how to use machine tools; I just don't have any except for a drill=press.  Good thing my SIL loves to play with 3D printing.

 

 

Honestly I still like the quick release the best although I needed this extra 1”behind the wheel. Hopefully the steering wheel will be off my thigh now. I will test fit tonight and if it works out okay I’ll take it back apart and have it anodized black. Considering the money I’m spending on this thing the quick release will have to wait a little while. 

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As you can see, the bolt circle has 9 holes. This is the bolt pattern Motolita uses. How do you think they came up with the idea of 9 holes? I had previosly only seen 6 or 3 holes. Strange engineering, I guess it limits the competion from being able to put their steering wheels on the Motolita hub.

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2 hours ago, MV8 said:

Nice. I have a small, cheap bench metal lathe. I've been looking for a second-hand bench knee mill under 500 lbs and a 6 inch or bigger rotary table or power feed with DRO. Not worried if 3 phase. Maybe an Enco?

Everyone with a home shop seems to have space issues. I understand that but a standard size J head Bridgeport or a knock-off doesn’t take up much more room than a bench top. Yes, it weighs 2000 pounds but typically you only more it into place once. If you saw where mine is located in my basement you would probably do a lot of head scratching, especially when I told you I moved it there myself with no forklift or any assistance. Yes, three phase is not a problem these days. In the basement I have an old rotary converter to power it. They work fine. Life without a Bridgeport is about like life without a microwave but you have to understand I have always had one close at hand since I was in high school.

 

I’ll keep an eye out for either one. I have people calling me now and then either wanting to sell or buy a machine tool. I do have a friend that was trying to sell an Enco turret mill. It is a floor model not a bench top but if you change your mind let me know.

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On 11/4/2023 at 8:14 PM, Wayne Stambaugh said:

I agree on the foam baffles. I have worked on some dirt track cars and had problems with them. I have a bore scope that I can check the inside of the tank with and I’m thinking he drained this car wnen he put it up. There is no smell of old gasoline so maybe the tank will be okay. I’m going to install the carter fuel pump you recommended before I run the engine as well as a filter. Did I mention the car has less than 40 miles on it.

Correct, no foam in the tank. Unfortunatey there is some gas in it. I think it must have been put it lately because it doesn’t have that rotten gas small or possibly it was a non ethynol fuel of some kind. The bad new is that the tank is steel and I can see some surface rust through the filler hole in the top of the tank.  I will run my scope down into it when I get the tank out.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Progress has not stopped, I have been quietly making decisions, buying parts, studying the car and planning changes. One of the more important changes will be an HRB to replace the cable clutch actuator.  I’m also playing with pedal positions to get myself more comfortable in the car. 

 

I have removed the steel fuel tank and am debating on restoring it or replacing it. It appears to have a lot of surface rust in it but it may be mostly just a thin surface coating. I got a price on a new aluminum tank from the UK and it would cost about $450 delivered so it is probably worth trying to restore it. I have restored several in the past and I kind of made myself a promise that If I could replace a tank for $250 or less I would buy a new tank. At $450 again, the effort in restoring it makes sense.

 

The car is disassembled and ready for paint. Hopefully I’ll get it painted within about 6 weeks. I have settled on Lotus racing green with a yellow stripe. I’ll also repaint the engine block the same color it originally was. The blue cover on the top of the head will be left as is. No reason to repaint it, it’s paint is fine the way it is.

 

 I’ll add more pictures as things progress.

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Wayne,

It had been a while since I had looked at your reconditioning thread on a almost new car that sat. It is amazing what a labor of love is going into that car to have it back on the road where it belongs. Good for you for taking so much time while having what I suspect is a great time paying attention to all of the myriad details necessary to get this car on the road. Keep up the great work! Bob

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7 hours ago, Anaximander said:

Wayne,

It had been a while since I had looked at your reconditioning thread on a almost new car that sat. It is amazing what a labor of love is going into that car to have it back on the road where it belongs. Good for you for taking so much time while having what I suspect is a great time paying attention to all of the myriad details necessary to get this car on the road. Keep up the great work! Bob

You are right Bob. I love this little car and truly enjoy every minute I spend with it.

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3 minutes ago, Wayne Stambaugh said:

The same color you see in the pictures now. The engine, gearbox etc. have never been painted other than what was put on them when they were new.

I will use a PPG product called Delfleet Essenial to paint the engine. It’s actually much better paint than it needs but it will look nice when it’s done I’ll be happy to provide the formula after the paint is matched and mixed.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Working on the installation of the Tilton 6100 HRB to replace the cable operated clutch. Obviously machining is required but nothing extraordinary. I have adjusted the brake pedal to get it lower in the foot box but I’m still having problems getting my left foot on top of the clutch pedal. My left knee hits the lower edge of the dash. This is with the steering wheel removed! It appears I’m going to have to lower the floor and at this point I’m not even sure that this will give me the clearance I need. I am 6’ tall and currently 185 pounds. Is there anyone in the south east who is driving an S3 chassis with a lowered floor. I would like to sit in a car with a lowered floor just to be sure this is going to be the solution to the problem. I would be happy to drive up to 3 or 4 hours to check it out. Thanks in advance.

 

If I can’t get comfortable in the S3 I will have to consider moving on to an SV chassis. No matter how much I like this car and the history behind this particular one, if I can’t drive it I can’t keep it.

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You’ve probably already figured this out, but I believe the front wing stay is attached using the indicator.  It is on my 1998, and you seem to have the same indicator.

 

 

IMG_0755.jpeg

IMG_0756.jpeg

IMG_0757.jpeg

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  • 2 weeks later...

Sometimes I think every one of these cars are different. I know that can’t be true but considering the cars have been built since 1957 I’m sure there have been lots of changes over the years. I have included a picture of my bracket and you can see, it has no tab on it where a hole would go. I think in the end we will all be experts on our own cars but I’m afraid only  small percentage of our knowledge will be transferable to other Sevens but that is okay, I’ve never been an expert on much of anything anyway. Thanks for your pictures. The more we see the more educated we get the better off we are.IMG_0432.thumb.jpeg.51a20adaead88a335cb168203dccf0e0.jpeg

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This wing stay has been caped on the end and painted.

Put a magnet on that end cap.. is it plastic?  probably.  Whoever did the paint probably filled and sealed the holes, if the holes were there.

And it was black.

20240117_163511.thumb.jpg.8fdab0476c6521df37e121a2d6fb7659.jpg

 

20240117_163525.thumb.jpg.1cefc7e9500d84d2a45faad99afb523a.jpg

 

Bball"s 98 wing stay is tubular so it has a flat tab welded on.  the BDR is square, like mine.  It is drilled for a bolt.  Standard 7 equipment up to the 90s.

 

Edited by IamScotticus
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No evidence that mine were ever drilled. They certainly were not drilled at the factory and filled later. The little end plug looks like plastic at least that was my impression when it looked at it. Really I don’t care what it’s made from or even that they are there. It’s not something you ever see when the car is assembled. It appears it was up to the assembler to drill the bolt hole through the wing and bracket and bolt the two together. I think I mentioned too, that the wings are the original parts and they are in the original BRG  gell coated fiberglass, there are no holes in the wings for the bolts either and no repairs of holes where they were filled. I’m so lucky that my car is so original. It is probably one of the most original cars out there. If there is a more original car, it is still in a crate somewhere, yet to be opened and assembled.

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  • 1 month later...

I’m still recovering from skin cancer surgery on my left hand but my interest and effort hasn’t changed. I started a new full time job the first work day of the new year. It requires about 50 hours a week so it does steal some of my Caterham time.

 

I posted a note in the tech forum minutes ago, asking if any forum members are using the Tillett B6 40 extra cut seat. I have postponed other work on the car until I can get into a comfortable position in the car to enable me to drive it. As I may have mentioned before, when I lift my left leg to put my foot on the clutch, my left leg, just above the knee hits the frame tube under the bottom edge of the dash. This restricts me from getting my foot on top of the clutch pedal. I am very tempted to purchase this seat to see how much difference it would make. Even if it doesn’t totally resolve the problem it would certainly be a big improvement especially if you are driving the car hard. 

 

I’ll keep you posted as thing progress.

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In an effort to help, and a good reason to clear some junk out, here are some measurements from my 95/6 LC live axle chassis.

These pics are taken standing over the left (drivar's) side.

 

measurement from rear tube inside edge to mid tube inside edge is 20.75"  Yes, the squab seat base boards fit inside these two.

20240228_184058.thumb.jpg.79e9c5776afb8c060988221d7265bdaa.jpg

 

20240228_184132.thumb.jpg.cf1b8371f104a1c3f59b30d3de965486.jpg

 

Distance from front tube inside edge to rear tube inside edge 42 3/8"

20240228_190205.thumb.jpg.0bbaacebc7ddc40bfd1127eb419faae3.jpg

 

20240228_190157.thumb.jpg.dca209f184cc8ebf5e6feab3122cf52c.jpg

 

Notice the angle of the cable clutch pedal lever.  This much distance shouldn't be necessary with a hydraulic clutch.

20240228_184311.thumb.jpg.57d066f384bfe85a62ed6e22a52617dc.jpg

 

20240228_184320.thumb.jpg.38c42ac96dfd7b74a719c96ae55438ef.jpg

 

These pedals are really high

20240228_185626.thumb.jpg.7da02628bad29f40d59242896c604dfb.jpg 

 

 

20240228_185332.jpg

 

Also, a measurement from the center of my brake pedal to the center of rear bulkhead is 50.75"

Edited by IamScotticus
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On 1/8/2024 at 10:03 PM, bball7754 said:

You’ve probably already figured this out, but I believe the front wing stay is attached using the indicator.  It is on my 1998, and you seem to have the same indicator.

 

 

IMG_0755.jpeg

IMG_0756.jpeg

IMG_0757.jpeg

My indicator looks the same topside.  One screw, one catch.

 

It does not anchor to the strut.  The two indicator mountings to the fender are much smaller, maybe #6-32 or the like.  The two wires do not go through the strut, but run in a soft sleeve which is cable-tied to the square strut.  Only the one hot wire goes through the back of the bulb-holder.  The black ground wire is connected to one of the tiny mounting studs.  Only the hot wire would need to be cut to remove the fender.  The supply end of the wires comes out of the back of the pod for the main parking-light/indicator.

 

Fender is attached to the square strut with a through-bolt that looks like stainless with an Allen button head.  The end of the square tubing is open.
 

 

 

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