Nocturnal005 Posted October 26 Share Posted October 26 Introducing myself. My name is Norman and reside in the bay area, CA. I've had 15yr dream of building a Caterham and was actually building from plans when life put that on hold. Fast forward, I'm finally in a position to be able to revisit the dream and actually create some memories with my kids via the build. I don't really plan to a build blog, just excited to share and will prob need some advice along the way. Here are some fun pics from 15 yrs bk. This is as far as I got before I called it quits. Was to be a boosted Hyabusa powered clone for autocross. I imported the panels and body work from Caterham and the frame was TIG welded from 1020 steel. Here is the spec for the 420R kit I ordered in May 2024. It's currently in build, so not too long of a wait! And here is what it looks like at the factory today! Sorry for the low res photos. This is what we got from Caterham. Initially, they sent the photos of someone else's car in yellow, so I'm pretty glad I at least got these. It sounds like the kit should land late Dec or early Jan. For now I'm contemplating what to do with the motor. Leave it all alone, install roller barrels, or R+R the 2.0 before I even install it to get somewhere midway between a 420R and a 620R. I explored the destroked 2.5 short block route but feel like I don't need quite that much and it feels like a much more intensive project. Open to suggestions! Also exploring what options I should go ahead and upgrade now. At the time of ordering I wanted to keep the costs reasonable, but some of the nice items such as LED lights are looking attractive and don't look fun to install twice. Before it arrives I've been reading every build log and writing down all the tips and tricks that I find. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnifeySpoony Posted October 26 Share Posted October 26 Welcome- whereabouts in the bay are you (I'm in Fremont area)? It looks like a "sporty" spec - do you plan to track it? re: build blogs - when I built mine in 2021, I used this one (almost more than the actual build manual): https://caterham420detailedbuildblog.co.uk/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nocturnal005 Posted October 26 Author Share Posted October 26 (edited) I’m in Belmont/San Carlos. I plan to drive it on skyline, do some auto x and occasional track days. Thanks for the link! Edited October 26 by Nocturnal005 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnCh Posted October 26 Share Posted October 26 Great spec! A couple of comments: Regarding the LED headlights, @Outbound is a lighting engineer and shared this post with the source of the Caterham headlights at a fraction of the price. I believe he may be using these now, and if so, can comment effectiveness. Delving into engine upgrades, it's a potential slippery slope with a lot of options. Fortunately, there are a number of people here with firsthand experience who will hopefully chime in. I won't rehash what we've already shared via email, but for the rest of the group I will highlight that you are used to cars with much stronger acceleration than a 420R, so the usual comments about it likely having more power than you need, don't necessarily apply. A big question you'll need to answer is how much work you want to do now vs. how open you are to doing an engine project in the future? By all accounts, switching to factory roller barrels or aftermarket ITBs wakes up the engine and adds to the aural experience, and can be pretty straight forward. Any meaningful cam upgrade in the 420 require tearing apart the engine to accommodate valve lift -- the 420 cams are close to the limit with stock pistons -- at which point the slippery slope has arrived. In addition to SBD and Raceline in the UK, there are Esslinger and Hasselgren in the US. I know there is also another Duratec builder in the Portland area but can't recall his name. During the build, a couple of modifications to keep in mind: replace the scuttle rivets with rivnuts and bolts to make future under scuttle work much, much easier; and if you need to remove the honeycomb boot floor for any reason, cut it in half to make future removal/installation easy rather than an exercise in frustration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnifeySpoony Posted October 26 Share Posted October 26 Roller barrels are an easy and well sorted (although perhaps slightly overpriced) addition that is easy to do during initial build that will net you some additional power and a lot more sound. And the throttle response is greatly improved from what I've read (I build mine with the rollers so I have no basis for comparison). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Croc Posted October 26 Share Posted October 26 1 hour ago, JohnCh said: I know there is also another Duratec builder in the Portland area but can't recall his name. Loynings has closed sadly. Arnie retired. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slonie Posted November 1 Share Posted November 1 Ooh, another local 7! Let me know if you ever want to join in on a drive once you've got it built up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now