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My first taste of Caterham Seven motoring  

as published in low flying magazine      by Richard in France

It all started back in 1975 when I was 19, my flat mate John and his friend both went out and brought second-hand Lotus Se7ens, Series 3. At that time I was into the added comfort of a Lotus Élan (purchased as a non runner and subsequently rebuilt). Just after John had got his Se7en he was given a company car - a Hillman Imp!!!!!- so I jumped at the opportunity to give it as many runs as I could.
Following many years of various Lotuses I was eventually put off after owning a badly engineered wedge shaped Elite, that cost me the earth. Then came my ultimate dream. By working all hours and with the help of a kind bank manager, I purchased a 308GTB Ferrari and then subsequently struggled on for another 7 years to keep it. As with the way of the world the "car must go for family" syndrome hit. I shed many tears but I kept thinking "move on"..... so which car would I like next? (once finances improved).
The attraction of a Se7en came to me, when I realised that they are still the fastest cars around and don't cost a fortune (well to run anyway!). The other appeal was the back to basic driving experience, the relative simplicity to work on and the thought that they are not looked at in the same jealous way as are many exotic sports cars.

A REAL MIRACLE

After 14 years of dreaming, a letter arrives offering my wife an "already agreed loan". Believe it or not her first words were "you could get your Se7en now". It could of had something to do with the years of me talking "Se7ens" day in and day out to both my wife (Henrietta) and my daughter, that made her just want to shut me up!
Wow, brilliant, now the big question "what to buy"? Yes we have all been through this mine field but for me I always like to make thinks even more difficult by wanting what is not quite available.
I had thought the bike powered cars a brilliant idea but I wanted a car with a more touring type engine and less revy. This was not possible unless I paid for the development, so back to the drawing board. Speaking to many Se7en specialists I found their ideas for my perfect car ALL differed. Not one agreed! During a conversation regarding gearboxes with Steve Parks at SP Components he happened to mention Raceline were working on the latest Ford Duratec engine. This sounded ideal "the latest compact all ally four cylinder Ford engine, designed to cover more than 100 thousand abuse filled miles on nothing more than a few oil changes, it is 2 litres, big bore (87.5mm), short stroke with large valves (35mm inlet) still about the same weight as a Rover K but not as fragile, with a timing chain (no belts to break), 180bhp in standard form by just adding throttle bodies, etc, etc. This was offering the power of a Vauxhall with the weight of a k, fantastic I want one today. Lets find out how much and what the delivery date will be. Ha-ha!"
At this stage I found out nothing is ever as easy as it seems! So off I go, cheque book in hand. Arriving at Raceline I found that they only had a prototype engine and were still designing all the parts to make it fit into a Se7en. Delivery? All being well they may have something to offer by Christmas but had no idea of the real costs. This was in August 2001.
I had booked to hire a Se7en for a day from Caterham (just to make sure the dream was as good as I had thought) and asked them to work out a price for a kit without an engine. My daughter and I smiled all afternoon, well at least until Caterham gave me the quote. A car minus an engine was just about as much as one with, plus a rather hefty surcharge as I wanted left hand drive. Oh my heart sank!
Back to the drawing board. With mouth watering, the miracle loan burning a large hole in my pocket and the thought that my wife may change her mind, I brought a 1997 immaculate 1.6 K out of desperation that weekend. This way I could see if I really liked driving the Se7en, convince Henrietta they are great fun and anyway I could always change it later.
Soon after, it hit me "Upgraditus". Why is it "more power is always required"? So after smelling the scent of a Duratec nothing else would really satisfy (sorry to all you K series owners). I also still had this nagging desire to build a Se7en from a kit. So over the next year I planned the new Se7en.
More visits to Raceline, by then their own car was up and running and they had some parts available. A specification of individual parts was drawn up and in October 02 I placed an order for a chassis starter kit plus several other additional kits with Caterham Cars.
In the mean time a fellow club member Mick Attree had sold his R500 to built his own Duratec engined Se7en to an amazing standard and was completely sold on the Duratec concept. Feeling that I may have a problem assembling an unknown series of parts I asked for his help. This was to ensure that I kept my promise to Henrietta that I would not have boxes of bits and an unfinished car around for years.

WHAT COLOUR IS HEAVEN?

One of those other questions that is always hard to answer is "what colour". I had decided on yellow but which one? Months followed looking at every yellow car and even every yellow object around. It must be bright, not greeny or too whitish. Eventually after my paint sprayer showed me every yellow available and then as he was just quitting he showed me the colour I wanted. After six months of hunting, the colour was found with only "one day" to spare!
As I spend much of my time in France the plan was to build a rolling chassis in the UK to take back to France so I could do a few special modifications. February comes and the chassis and various kits were delivered to Mick. The first part Mick wanted to fit was the differential. Ah, this I had planned for stage two with the engine purchase, once I had sold my first Se7en. All my advance planning had gone out of the window. I needed it now! Urgent ZF Limited Slip Differential (3.92 ratio) was collected from Raceline. Once we got started it only took 5 hours to get the chassis fitted out. Mick knew exactly which bolts were required where. I was amazed at how many parts are actually required for each stage to build a car. A little bit more running around London's M25 was needed for the other parts while the experienced Mick finished off the more difficult fitment of wings, tonneau and boot cover with his son James.
Off I go to France, Se7en on trailer. One mile down the road and a big problem! The little modification I have not mention was that I had asked Arch to leave out all the internal panels! Hence the tonneau just bellowed once over 20mph! Luckily there was no rain, so off with the tonneau.
A major concern of mine has always been corrosion. Almost paranoid I am. All this investment and the thought of aluminium corrosion could give a man nightmares. My original plan was to form composite panels to replace all the aluminium. After further investigation I felt I did not have the time or the knowledge of the Se7en to undertake such a mammoth task. So a compromise was required.
I wanted to improve the look of the interior and also stop water entering the usual corrosion black spots. Being an Industrial Chemist and involved in polymer engineering I decide to undertake making replacement composite panels for the interior. Now as I said before I never take the easy option. Flat sheet would not be ideal as there are many curves and bends on the aluminium panels. Months of ideas and trails had already been bashed out between my business partner/wife, until we had developed a new process for manufacturing low cost carbon and or Kevlar / Carbon composite mouldings without the need for the usual expensive tooling. After a few months we started to get good quality results on small scale panels.
 

FLYING LIGHTER

Once back in France it was time to make the moulds from the panels Arch had not fitted. A few reject mouldings later and eventually the first Kevlar /carbon panels were made. The rigidity of these composite panels were so good and although it was not my main concern I found that all the panels were roughly half the weight of the powdered coated aluminium standard panels saving me 4 kg. Next a jig was required for the drilling of the many holes in each panel (internal centre consol panel has over 90 rivet holes!). Well after many nights work and excruciating cramp from squeezing the rivet gun all the panels were in.
To add to the final stiffness and to help seal up around the chassis I used a special liquid rubber adhesive/mastic. Now, where else can I solve the ingression of water and dirt? Holes were drilled along the bottom of the ally that wraps around the sides, inside the engine bay for drainage. For the "leaf/dirt collection box" (area from engine bay to side of pedal box) a small customised moulding was made to close this completely.
Arch had suggested leaving off several other panels in the boot to help assembly. Although everyone at Caterham and also myself were quite surprised how bare the chassis looked with only an outer skin, it was a blessing. Yes it did help fitting the suspension and diff but it also gave us the challenge of trying to fabricate them in matching Kevlar/carbon. This included the turret that covers the shock absorber, boot floor and the cover for the petrol pipe. I had also ordered the fuel tank honeycomb protection kit and while fitting the under panel I decided to fully close in the fuel tank area. Using our rubber adhesive mastic I sealed around the honeycomb floor and added a 1" strip of aluminium to make up the difference so that it reached to the chassis member and then some composite side panels glued in place with a hole to facilitate the fuel tank bolts. For the front of the fuel tank we moulded another Kevlar/carbon panel that curved around to fix to the rear side of the ally wheel arch. At the top, an edge had been moulded in so that the boot floor would seal against it with some foam tape.
Almost there, now into May! It is amazing how long this had all taken. The last thing left to do was to seal every seam properly and inject Waxoil into the chassis tubes. I wonder how many kilometres of sealing I did? It went on night after night adding back the 4 kg saving in weight!
In the mean time Raceline had sent over to Mick, the Duratec 2lt engine and some of the fitting kit. As I wanted the uprated cams ( Kent RLD220M0) with matching uprated valve springs and retainers, this meant stripping the engine first so that the pistons could be returned for pocketing (so the new valves would not hit the pistons) then reassembling with heavy duty con rod bolts. With this upgrade it would boost the bhp from 180 to around 220bhp. Further upgrades would of meant changing the pistons at a rather large increase to the budget! (Must save something to upgrade to in the future.) The crank was also returned to have a key way added for additional security because the standard engine relies only on the torque bolt to hold the crank pulley in position and I certainly would not want it to slip. The incredibly heavy standard flywheel was binned, new 8"light weight flywheel and AP clutch added (with uprated spigot bearing). An adaptor was added to the block to accept a "spin-on" oil filter and a specially cast fully baffled wet sump pan (without any foam rubber inside!) to enable the ground clearance needed in the se7en. Although it is possible to fit a Pace dry sump, I opted to wait until Racelines own is manufactured with an internal pump (upgraditus). Mick spent Easter assembling the engine as far as he could.

DIVINE HELP NEEDED

It was decided that we would coordinate an SVA test 2 weeks from the date set to return to the UK with the rolling chassis. But.... always a but! Delays caused through suppliers to Raceline, putting F1 and Le Mans in preference to my Se7en meant we could not get all the parts to set the final stage in motion.
Eventually after a frustrating few months Raceline and Mick gave me the green light. SVA test was booked for the Tuesday 19^th August giving us all a final deadline.
Arriving in England my first place of call was Armourfend to have the "full works" with their stone protection plastic film. Five guys attacked the paintwork with meths and sticky film! Luckily 6 months had past for the paint to harden. On route back I tantalised the North Kent meet with my engineless car and nearly managed to get the trailer stuck on the hump back bridge by the pub.
On the Thursday Mick with assistant (me) standing by, got the gearbox in, followed by the engine. Brilliant we both thought, it won't be long now and still a week and a half to go. Oh yes, it never works like that, does it?
I opted for a five speed gearbox with modified ratios after months of research and going boss eyed with tables. The main reason is with the wide spectrum of torque I would of found I was permanently changing gear with a 6 speed that was originally designed for a 1.4k engine. So I went with a BGH Pro Road and Track gearbox with ratios: 0.86, 1.0, 1.26, 1.75, 2.66. This was the same as Raceline's own car.
Raceline had decided to mount the engine 80mm behind the traditional Ford Crossflow location giving the car a rear weight bias enhancing cornering and making it easier to drive faster. Hence a special bell housing casting was commissioned by Raceline to join the engine and gearbox together. For LHD a minor modification had to be done to allow the bell housing to fit by the slightly longer drivers footwell. Fingers had been crossed for sometime that the whole engine unit would actually fit around the steering, as mine was the first LHD Duratec. Absolutely no problems there.
The 2 weeks seemed to consist of a continuous voyage of queuing on the M25 collecting all the last parts that either had not arrived or I had forgotten.
Onto the engine all the ancillaries were bolted. True to Chapman's "add lightness" mantra and also "give one item at least two jobs to do", Raceline had based their Duratec on stripping off all the engine ancillaries and only replacing them with vital and lighter items. Parts such as the water rail not only deliver water but also act as a thermostat housing with the engine senders, heater take-offs and coil mounted to it. The Jenvey Throttle bodies were also designed as direct to head so as to save weight and bulk by removing the inlet manifold. A modified Duratec fuel rail was installed, supplied as an exchange item with a pressure regulator. As Webber (who supplied the ECU and map) had found that the standard fuel injectors were working at their limit at 220bhp they were replaced with Webbers own "Green" ones.
Being the first LHD model Mick had to fabricate a mount for a very small race type alternator. There was just enough room to align the pulley and clear the manifold!   I will not go into all the problems and delays that we had except to compliment Mick on his rapid problem solving and ability to machine or adapt many of the parts as required.
I think that we lost a whole day or more due to my gauges and dials. I wanted a Speedo to work from a front wheel sensor that could be calibrated accurately without the modern Stack style instruments. Ah, and also in matching yellow. This in theory should have been simple as the supplier of normal Caterham dials has a sister company who could specially make a set to match the components and wiring of Caterham. Ha, Ha, in theory all well and good, in practice inevitably impossible.
One week after getting the engine in we were eventually in a position to fire her up, radiator not on, exhaust not on but time was running out. Mick had booked a few days off, starting Saturday and we still need to have "Mr Immobiliser" visit who will add another element into the equation of possible problems. Oil pressure was achieved, plugs in, I stood there with baited breath, next to the manifold. Next thing I knew I thought I had been shot! First press of the red button and she started. What a noise!!!! And a relief for Mick who had waited since building her at Easter to be sure it was assembled correctly.

MORE PRAYING NEEDED

I have forgotten to mention yet another little heart stopping delay that was getting desperate. The front suspension. I had decided to go with the Freestyle Pushrod system back in February when I saw Len and Gary's first prototype system. This is because in France we have a lot of fast but bumpy little roads (and I also thought it looks good!).
The theory is: Dampers work best when the piston speed is high as utilise oil moving through valves. To get constant damping rates the oil needs to always be at the same, maximum pressure. During slow or small movements, only a little fluid is being moved, so the valves have a hard time controlling response.  On a Seven the dampers are mounted at an angle pivoting around the lower wishbone mount meaning that not all the movement up and down of the wheel is translated to the damper. I understood that with the pushrod, the dampers are mounted at a "perfect angle" and have to move a much greater distance for any given movement, meaning the damper moves far quicker, moving more fluid and hence giving a much more constant damper response. It is also designed so that the rockers go over centre, so that the leverage on the spring gets smaller as the wishbone rises which, in turn means that the spring becomes effectively harder to compress. This translates that on a straight road the ride can be reasonably soft but as you enter a corner the more you load the outside wheel the stiffer the spring will appear to become. So I should get better stability and dare I say comfort.
Although Freestyle had all the wishbones months before (I was leant their prototype ones in February to get the chassis back to France, fixed without a shock absorber) they were still awaiting the rockers being machined by Quaiffe.  Friday. Freestyle rushed the new wishbones and all the other parts to us, after assembly the ally race radiator (with reversed outlets compared to the k version) could be fitted. Mr Immobiliser man had come late the night before while Mick kindly polished the exhaust. On went the 4 in 2 in 1 exhaust pipe and a massive 7" exhaust with a catalytic converter incorporated into the muffler.
A few more delays, additional purchases and by six o'clock Mick was balancing the throttle bodies. Wheels on and by eight o'clock Mick said "drive her out and onto the trailer while I clear up the mess and get ready for my much needed few days off".   My first drive and I stall it! A new hydraulic clutch, a very revy engine, being scared and excited all rolled into one did not help.  The weekend was spent with more shopping (silly little bits to finish off), fitting the SVA kit, oil catch tank, washer bottle, sorting out the pushrod suspension settings and a final double check of the bolts with a torque wrench.

AND ONTO HEAVEN

By Monday I was ready for a holiday! Henrietta had no sympathy, she reminded me "all the stress was self induced and nobody had made you take the masochistic route, I could of kept our last Se7en". With the thought of driving to the SVA test from near Hastings up to Gillingham in a car that had not been driven before, for a test at a set time, did not thrill me. So I decided what was needed - a quick run down the road carefully.   Waiting no longer I jumped in, harness on and "oh" I've left the battery cut off switch in the house! Key in and start, oh no another problem! Why am I getting no power? After a quick examination I found that the immobiliser man had loosened some of the terminals on the ignition switch. OK, off I go. "Help", as I joined the road "no brakes"! Uprated brakes maybe, but new discs and pads equalled zero friction. With my foot on the brake pedal and also the accelerator soon gave me some stopping power. The smile started to appear on the worried face. "Wow it feels good, so driver friendly at low revs, with some amazing torque, careful now on that accelerator pedal!"
After thinking about the 170 mile round trip (if I included registering at Maidstone) I chickened out. So a quick call to a friend and I arranged to leave my trailer at Faversham, reducing the mileage considerably.  The excitement was killing me. Nearly a year from placing the order and 2 years from first visiting Raceline the great day had arrived. "Will she pass? She must. I am booked to return to France tomorrow. How could I face the wife if it fails?"
One mile from the test centre I pulled over (being 2 hours early). I went to start her and there was nothing, dead again. After tapping and pressing everything she eventually started. "But will it happen during the test?" I was later told that it was a sticking relay in a new immobiliser.
Len of Freestyle arrived to give me some moral support as well as making sure his new suspension passed the dreaded test.   One hour later and only a couple of cable ties and a headlamp adjustment needed, I was given the green light. It had past. What a relief. Now a brisk drive to Maidstone before the DVLC closes. I had driven the route a few days before so I knew where to go. Straight in and only 15 minutes to registered. What a brilliant day, why was I worrying?
Back in France and after a few months of breath taking blatting came the first upgrade. "Change those awful rocker switches!!!!!" Carbon dash mould made, toggle switches and LED's purchased, followed by many hours of cutting off plugs, extending wires, adding connectors etc. Many thanks to our fellow Blatchat members for all the information that I required especially Chris W and Ian B. The classic but modern look really finishes off the car.
I have now done the first service at 500 miles and starting to find out what the "real power" under her bonnet is all about (226bhp at 7200rpm Webber say). I am still absolutely stunned by the way she really does fly in any gear although still so drivable in the town. R500 performance from an engine blessed with capacity to spare and with oodles of torque across a wide spectrum of the rev range. The sound of the throttle bodies roaring is pure "hifi music". For anyone else contemplating the Duratec route I would say "don't hesitate, it will be well worth the effort". My Duratec was the first with Raceline's production parts so as time goes on Duratecs will become easier. Go on go for it and put really big smiles on your families faces. It has mine.

My thanks go to Mick Attree, Peter McEwen and Chris Smith (Raceline), Gary May and Len Unwin (Freestyle), Caterham Cars and of course my wife Henrietta.