Our summer fun has been put on hold because:

[MV8]

Buy another? They seem to hold their value well. Everyone's time is valuable.

[mrmustang]

18 hours ago, theDreamer said:

I have not posted anything in months because no work was being done on my car. (Long story for another time.)

 

 

Among the parts to be replaced was the steering rack. My 1993 HPC has a small diameter rack tube. I now understand this original part was a modified Mini rack no longer available. Oddly they also ordered a new right side tie rod end. There is no damage to the right side. So is this common practice or is this a metric rack and therefore needed a metric right side tie rod end? The mechanic has not replied as to whether the threads on the rack are metric or standard.

 

 

The rack delivered is the newer Caterham cast alloy unit. The mounting brackets for my car won’t fit over this new rack. Emails back and forth and new brackets were dispatched. When they arrived they have an offset mounting hole. They don’t work either. I just learned that new brackets have been dispatched but with no ETA. It seems no one understands or pays attention to tracking numbers. No one seems in a hurry to get my car back on the road. So it’s sitting in a corner of the mechanic’s shop waiting to get put together and a four wheel alignment done. Then it has to go back to the body shop to have the alloy panel and fiberglass fender repaired and painted.

 

For the love of gawd we are now into the 16th week. It should not have taken more than six even with parts taking 10-12 days to arrive from the UK.

 

 

I am sooo jealous of everyone who is able to enjoy their Sevens so far this season. Here I am well into the fourth month of our short five month season and I got to drive my car about a mile on that Sunday, the first weekend of the season.

 

 

How screwed up has this been? Well, they haven’t order a tire because according to the body shop the mechanic can’t locate one. I just found this out today. So I Googled the make and size and in 30 seconds had four companies with prices ranging from $150 to $210. Linda forwarded that onto the body shop and about 20 minutes later I had an email saying the tire would be here tomorrow. It’s like when the parts first arrived they didn’t send the car over to the mechanic because “their tow guy’s” flat bed was down and it was going to be two weeks before it would be running again. I saw red when I heard that and explained there are a dozen tow companies in the area so they should CALL ONE OF THEM! A few days later is when we found out that they switched steering racks and that’s when things really went to hell.

 

 

I must thank IamScotticus for his help, patience and encouragement as I try to get through this mess.

 

Latest photos I shot of the car taken weeks ago when they discovered the rack issue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As the retired body shop owner, my mind is spitting out questions I do not see answered in this thread yet, so bare with me:

OK, not just one tire, but both should be replaced.

Rim wise, have it sent out to a shop that specializes in straightening and refinishing

Has the chassis been cross measured (at least 6, better to do 8 points) to rule out torsional twist, if not, stop, get specs from Caterham, do not weld anything until you get this done. Since the car is on a lift, it's a simple procedure and will take two people under 10 minutes to accomplish. 

While we are talking about torsional twist, measurements of your front suspension (both sides) should be done and recorded appropriately, again before any welding occurs.

While things look one way, torsional twist can occur from the left front hit all the way to the very back right corner of the chassis. Better safe than sorry.

 

Bill

[theDreamer]

When I had the car certified in March of 2024 I had five brand new Firestone Fire Hawk Indy 500 tires installed and balanced. Four of these tires have travelled a total of only 2,600 very easy miles. The spare has zero miles on it. Only one tire, the left front, is damaged so only it will be replaced.

The shop says the rim should not be repaired. I think they and the appraiser are still arguing over this point. Little sense as no new wheel has been located as yet. But when one is the idea is to have the spare and the new wheel tire both on the front and the right front will be used as the spare.

The chassis was to have been measured and checked over. I have yet to see any measurements but as far as I know the only chassis related problem found was the upper A arm pick up points were bent. They have been put back into position and the new A arms have been trial fitted. Again, I have not seen any measurements and I am gong by what I’ve been told. Believe me I‘ve been asking questions about every aspect at least once a week. I am not well liked at either shop at this point.

There was nothing broken or badly bent so there is no heating or welding to be done. As I said, I’ve been led to believe that the upper A arm and upper ball joint threaded end took the brunt of the force. The tire and wheel rim took the balance. All the other suspension and steering rack parts are being replaced more as a precaution. Or so I’m told.

I hear what you are saying. However, at this time I’m at the mercy of the mechanic and the body shop.

Edited August 22 by theDreamer

[mrmustang]

11 hours ago, theDreamer said:

When I had the car certified in March of 2024 I had five brand new Firestone Fire Hawk Indy 500 tires installed and balanced. Four of these tires have travelled a total of only 2,600 very easy miles. The spare has zero miles on it. Only one tire, the left front, is damaged so only it will be replaced.

The shop says the rim should not be repaired. I think they and the appraiser are still arguing over this point. Little sense as no new wheel has been located as yet. But when one is the idea is to have the spare and the new wheel tire both on the front and the right front will be used as the spare.

The chassis was to have been measured and checked over. I have yet to see any measurements but as far as I know the only chassis related problem found was the upper A arm pick up points were bent. They have been put back into position and the new A arms have been trial fitted. Again, I have not seen any measurements and I am gong by what I’ve been told. Believe me I‘ve been asking questions about every aspect at least once a week. I am not well liked at either shop at this point.

There was nothing broken or badly bent so there is no heating or welding to be done. As I said, I’ve been led to believe that the upper A arm and upper ball joint threaded end took the brunt of the force. The tire and wheel rim took the balance. All the other suspension and steering rack parts are being replaced more as a precaution. Or so I’m told.

I hear what you are saying. However, at this time I’m at the mercy of the mechanic and the body shop.

 

Ask (nicely) for the cross measurements, again, you want at least 6 different points measured, then one long measurement from front left to rear right and vice versa. 

When the A arms took the hit, and bent, they also had to transfer some of that force to the chassis, which is why I highly recommend that this occur. 

Tire wise, since the advent of radial tires, it has been drummed in to my head to always replace tires in pairs, regardless of the mileage. In your cars case, both front tires should be replaced, keep the other as a spare in case of emergency if you like, but replace it just the same. Just a few dollars more, and it's peace of mind. 

 

Finally, and I have to ask, did you choose the body shop, or did your insurance carrier? If you did, then the headaches and responsibility are yours, if not, then you need to escalate up your insurance companies food chain. Keep a level head either way, take notes of what has been discussed and with who, date and time should also be noted for any and all discussions from this point forward and if possible, ask for everything in writing as backup. Worse comes to worse, you might consider pulling it from the shop it is at if you made the decision on repair palaces.....

 

I'll help any way I can from the other end of the equation, but as for now, I can only read what you have already posted and respond.

 

 

Bill

[slowdude]

On 8/22/2025 at 9:24 AM, mrmustang said:

 

Ask (nicely) for the cross measurements, again, you want at least 6 different points measured, then one long measurement from front left to rear right and vice versa. 

When the A arms took the hit, and bent, they also had to transfer some of that force to the chassis, which is why I highly recommend that this occur. 

Tire wise, since the advent of radial tires, it has been drummed in to my head to always replace tires in pairs, regardless of the mileage. In your cars case, both front tires should be replaced, keep the other as a spare in case of emergency if you like, but replace it just the same. Just a few dollars more, and it's peace of mind. 

 

Finally, and I have to ask, did you choose the body shop, or did your insurance carrier? If you did, then the headaches and responsibility are yours, if not, then you need to escalate up your insurance companies food chain. Keep a level head either way, take notes of what has been discussed and with who, date and time should also be noted for any and all discussions from this point forward and if possible, ask for everything in writing as backup. Worse comes to worse, you might consider pulling it from the shop it is at if you made the decision on repair palaces.....

 

I'll help any way I can from the other end of the equation, but as for now, I can only read what you have already posted and respond.

 

 

Bill

Just adding to this (not that you need anything), and I know your pain as I sat out a summer due to an engine rebuild.

 

Bill is absolutely right. I've seen motorcycles dropped at 15mph and if the forks are hit just one specific way, the frame will be out of true and near impossible to get back to true.

 

especially where you're having all this work done, checking the chassis (which are made out of cheese sticks) for any torsional impact will be a massive lifesaver. There's only so much correction an alignment can do.

[theDreamer]

As I mentioned in the “Photo of your car you took today” thread the mechanical work is complete. The body shop has the left front fender repaired, primed and sanded. They have made the car drivable so that we can attend our Group of Sevens Blat this coming weekend. We may keep it for a week so we can also attend the British Car Day at Bronte Creek. There is still a lot of work to do like repositioning the fender bracket as the driver’s side fender now sits about a half inch higher than the passenger side. We are going to have all four fenders done now because they were poorly molded when new. This will include having the underside sprayed with a black bed liner type material to prevent star cracks in the future. Earl figures at least two weeks to do everything. (That is "IF" he can get the colour match right.)

The spare wheel with a zero miles new tire purchased last year went on the left front. The right front tire was demounted and the rim got the brand new zero miles tire supplied. (So two new tires up front.) The damaged rim has been professionally straightened and the tire from the right front is now mounted on it as the spare. There is a small chip on the inside lip that was not repaired as welding (heat) is the enemy of alloy rims. The wheels were spun balanced and laser checked.

I find the new steering rack seems to take a little more effort at the wheel than I recall but, it has been four months since I last drove this car.

Here is another photo I just took of it out in the garage.