craig chima Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 1978 Caterham For Sale. This car has been my own personal project for close to the past two years. It is essentially a brand new car from top to bottom, and will be painted (show quality), re-assembled, and fully sorted (including being scaled and balanced) within the next 3 months. I am posting here in advance of it being finished in the event someone is currently looking for a car with a Spring purchase date in mind. There has been no expense spared on this ultimate hot-rod and when finished it will be “concours” from top to bottom. Here is a brief description of the key components/upgrades. 1760 cc Ford BDR motor on twin 48DCOE Webers. Originally built by Dave Bean Engineering and recently freshened. 10:1 compression and 185+bhp on premium pump gas. Billet crank, Carillo rods, steel main caps, dry sumped, etc, etc. etc. This is a motor that can easily rev to 9000 rpm or beyond. Includes lightweight aluminum flywheel with new heavy duty clutch. Custom built (CC Motorsports) 4 into 2 into 1 exhaust, (header tube sizes matched to motor output) and freshly Jet Hot coated (silver) Quaife close ratio transmission with aluminum bellhousing and tailshaft housing. This freshly built transmission has straight cut gears and 2.4:1 first gear and 1:1 4th. Transmission also has custom annular clutch throwout bearing assembly. Solid rear axle (English Ford) with 3.9 final drive and clutch pack limited slip differential. Rear axle housing has been straightened, strengthened with stego plate, and is located by custom-built lower A-frame with adjustable spherical bearing. Custom built front suspension using late-model Caterham double a-arms, with CC Motorsports drop spindles in order to lower the car and yet maintain proper suspension geometry. Front suspension also has lightweight aluminum hubs with new bearings, rebuilt calipers and new brake pads. Custom built rollbar (similar to Caterham FIA bar), suitable for 6’ 2” + drivers made out of 1.5” diameter DOM tubing and powdercoated in a satin black finish Carbon fibre Caterham aeroscreen with carbon fibre mirrors All new interior including re-covered dash, refurbished gauges, new under-dash wiring, and re-covered Caterham bench style seats. New rear tonneau cover and dual Simpson 6 point harnesses. Additional features as follows: * Spax adjustable shocks (ride height and valving) both front and rear. * Panasport lightweight 13 x 7 wheels & Toyo Proxes RA1 205x60x13 tires * New aluminum fuel tank and sending unit * Re-cored Caterham radiator with 2 lightweight auxiliary cooling fans * Oil Cooler and Oil Thermostat * Aeroquip braided lines and AN fittings throughout * Facit electric fuel pump and Holley fuel pressure regulator * Remote oil filter assembly * Super Starter * New brake and clutch master cylinders * Lucas Gold Sport Coil * New (Fall 2010) Odyssey battery and aluminum hold down * All-new underhood aluminum I built this car to be a combination street car/ultimate track-day weapon. I have not yet weighed it (as it is not yet finished), but expect it to be in the 1125# to 1150# range. It has new fluids (Brad Penn motor oil, Red Line synthetic trans and diff lube, AP 550 brake fluid) and as mentioned above, it is essentially a brand new car. It was also built with the idea that it would be a relatively “simple” car to maintain (i.e. no computer or related electronics). Asking $27,000 or near offer and would cost considerably more to duplicate. Craig Chima (330) 807-0742 or chima97@aol.com. Can provide pix of the car in its current state and I anticipate it being finished by mid-April. Thanks for looking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitcat Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 For those wondering, Craig is a long time Caterham aficionado and has raced them for many years in SCCA. I visited his well equiped work shop/restoration shop a year and a half ago and all was neat and tidy. I expect anything he produces will be top-notch. Mike M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twobone Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 drool....can't wait! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongTimeLurker Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 Craig, does it currently have registration for the street? If so how is it registered and where? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craig chima Posted January 19, 2011 Author Share Posted January 19, 2011 While the car has a valid Caterham chassis tag/data plate, a previous owner chose to title it as an "assembled vehicle" (i.e. kit car) and that registration would go with the car. On the registration/title, it basically says "1990 assembled vehicle." There was a state-issued VIN number tag that was attached to the firewall/scuttle right beneath the Caterham data plate and that VIN matches the registration. I would also imagine that without too much effort, someone could get the car titled as a 1978 Caterham, using the Caterham chassis tag and I.D. number but I never bothered to pursue that option. Hope this helps. Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
11Budlite Posted January 19, 2011 Share Posted January 19, 2011 Check out some of Craig's work on this pretty Ginetta G4: http://www.britishracecar.com/CraigChima-Ginetta-G4.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitcat Posted January 19, 2011 Share Posted January 19, 2011 I have been e-mailing Craig about a rebuilt Crossflow. He mentioned he has a new shop that's 3x as big as the one I saw. He has 6-7 Lotus/Caterham projects underway there, including some race cars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craig chima Posted January 19, 2011 Author Share Posted January 19, 2011 Bruce, The Ginetta was a great project and actually belongs to a guy named Bob Bramlage from Kansas. I have done several 7 restorations in recent years of comparable quality to what you see in the G4 pictures. I expect the Caterham that is for sale to be pretty darn close in all respects to the preparation level of the G4 with the exception that the aluminum skin was never removed from the chassis. The chassis has the original powdercoat and I really saw no reason to remove the skin, media blast, and then re-powdercoat it all. There are a few small blemishes in the finish of the frame (to be expected after 30 years of use!), but structurally it is absolutely perfect and straight and true. Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spaz Posted January 19, 2011 Share Posted January 19, 2011 Craig, will you please post some pictures for us to drool over? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rubo Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 Hi Craig, Sounds like an awesome project you have there! If I didn't already have an early Caterham I would jump on this one! However, I hope you will take the time to answer me on one simple question. You see I'm currently trying to get a specific date on when my chassis is from (it has been re-newed at some point), and from what I can conclude from the frame and joints, it is an early one, probably around late 70's or early 80's. My question is: What is your framenumber, and where is it stamped in on the chassis? Reason for asking is that if I have your number, I will have a fair chance of getting an estimate on whether or not mine is from that era. I have tried Arch Motors, Lotus, and Caterham without any luck. Hope you can help me BR Rune Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craig chima Posted February 15, 2011 Author Share Posted February 15, 2011 Rune, My car has chassis number AM 109. It is a LHD car and the number is stamped into the chassis tube that holds the brake pedal bracket assembly. Hope this helps. Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rubo Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 Hi Craig, Thanks a lot!:flag: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craig chima Posted March 8, 2011 Author Share Posted March 8, 2011 Car was dropped off at body shop yesterday (Monday 3/7) and will hopefully be painted by the end of the month. At that point it will be 2 or 3 days to put fenders, lights, exhaust and some smaller stuff back on the car and at that point it should be finished and ready to go. Thanks to those who have inquired thus far and wanted to let everyone know that it's "on schedule" to be finished early April as anticipated. Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craig chima Posted May 6, 2011 Author Share Posted May 6, 2011 Well, I'm about a month behind schedule, but the car is finally close to being finished and is basically ready for sale. Took it for a drive this morning and aside from some very minor de-bugging (all will be finished by the end of this weekend) it's spot on and ready to go. The BDR motor is astonishingly strong and all suspension setup work is completed. As I'm more or less "helpless" when it comes to computers and can't seem to figure out how to post current pictures I've sent them to a friend and asked if he can help so hopefully there will be pix on this site in the next day or two. The price is $25K firm with 2 sets of wheels (the ones seen in the pix with new street tires on them and a set of nearly identical Panasports (centers painted yellow to match the car) with shaved Toyo RA1's for track day or similar use. Since the original ad was posted I have added low oil pressure (red) and high water temp (amber) warning lites to the dash as a precautionary measure and got rid of the old Lucas alternator in favor of a lightweight one more suitable to the car. Car is in Akron Ohio and it's finally stopped raining around here so maybe I'll get to enjoy it for awhile before it sells. Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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