Thursday 25 December 2014

A Caterham Christmas

Completely sozzled, and after a lovely dinner... A number of my relatives (most of them) have either gone for a walk or retired for a snooze... Using this 'spare' time I decided to spruce up the Caterham and share some of the Caterham and build related gifts I received.

Firstly after seeing a similar picture in the latest copy of The Low Flying magazine, I decided to give the car a bit of Christmas bling (if you could call it that!)
The Xmas R500 Duratec - the Mrs thinks it's cool, but I'm not so sure...
The Xmas R500 Duratec - the Mrs thinks it's cool, but I'm not so sure...
And then onto the good stuff... The pressies :-)
My new blat hat, with embroidered Caterham
My new blat hat, with embroidered Caterham
My new blatting fleece, also with embroidered Caterham
My new blatting fleece, also with embroidered Caterham
I also received this awesome builders gift from my mate Andy Morgan, who has an R300 Duratec.  He felt my pain when I didn't end up managing to start my car in my garage during the build, so he got me this Build Your Own Internal Combustion engine... I can feel a time lapse video coming up :-)
Build Your Own Internal Combustion Engine made by Haynes
Build Your Own Internal Combustion Engine made by Haynes
And the best present of all was this scroll...   Or should I say what was contained within the Scroll...
What is in this christmas scroll?
What is in this christmas scroll?
And in the scroll was....
A Caterham Drift Experience!!!!  Cool or what?!?
A Caterham Drift Experience!!!!  Cool or what?!?
So an absolutely top day for a Caterham nut... Superb... And what a great day for a blat... Wish I didn't get so drunk!  

Merry Christmas to everyone.

Tuesday 25 November 2014

Handmade Caterham Christmas Cards

A couple of weeks ago I was checking out the new Lotus Seven club site, and found a post on there about some handmade Caterham cards... With Christmas fast approaching I thought they would be a great unique card to give to friends and family alike.

..So... I got in contact with Liz Hawkins (her email address is s6crafting@gmail.com) and made my enquiry... I asked for the cards to be made similar to a picture on my blog, with the car in light blue with orange stripe, aero screen, carbon front cycle wings, and the xmas background.

They arrived this morning and wow - they look superb.  The attention to detail is very good, the quality is absolutely superb and I'm really glad I ordered them.
Handmade Caterham R500 Christmas Card
Handmade Caterham R500 Christmas Card.
Some information for those of you who may be interested in purchasing your own handmade Caterham cards from Liz...

Liz has been hand making cards for over ten years now, and the inspiration for the Caterham cards came when they bought their first Seven.  She wanted a way to be able to put her car on a card and decided die cut pieces looked (and worked) best, at which point she realised she could customise the cars in (pretty much) endless ways matching to customers' requirements.  There are a number of backgrounds plus car options like clamshell wings, full cages, multiple primaries and various countryside options to choose from.

  1. Cost per card is £5, but members of the L7C (Lotus Seven Club) are entitled to a 20% discount with all orders being subject to P&P (which is calculated fairly based on weight and shipping location)
  2. The average lead time from order is around seven days which means Liz is still taking orders up to and including the 10th December, which will allow her time to make the cards, dispatch them and give you enough time to send them by the last pre Christmas posting date this year.
  3. All cards are made from high quality card stock, some colours are bought ready coloured (particularly for pearlescent or aluminium finish Caterhams), other card colours are produced by sampling customer supplied photos and printing custom coloured card stock for working with.  All cards are delivered in cello bags with white envelopes.
  4. Cards can be posted anywhere, and so far have ventured to all areas of the British isles and subsequently much further afield.
  5. Liz is always looking to add other occasions that the cards can be used for, and is currently looking to add a get well soon version (for the owner or perhaps a sick Caterham) and one to impress the ladies (or potential wife) a wedding card!
A number of image variants are below... But best bet is to email Liz at s6crafting@gmail.com telling her what you are after (they're bespoke after all) and from my experience she'll be able to make it.
Happy Birthday Caterham card with full cage and wall background.
Happy Birthday Caterham card with full cage and wall background.
Happy Birthday Caterham card with aluminium look body panels and countryside background.
Happy Birthday Caterham card with aluminium look body panels and countryside background.
Caterham Card with multiple primaries, cat and exhaust cover and track background.
Caterham Card with multiple primaries, cat and exhaust cover and track background.

Saturday 8 November 2014

Low Flying Magazine - October Front Cover

Where on earth have I been?  I'm sure everyone is desperate to know!?! (joke)..
Anyway... To explain the lack of blogging... work, work, more work, then a bit more work after that - had a real hectic time implementing a new CRM for our business - and once that was done I needed a holiday, so went to Sharm El Sheikh diving... Totally off topic, but my Scuba pictures are on my flickr account (for those of you that like that sort of thing).

Came back about two weeks ago, and to be honest the weather hasn't been 'Caterham' weather - well not for me anyway... So I don't really have much content to write about.

I did notice that the November Low Flying magazine came through the post this morning, and made me remember I took the from cover picture for the October issue - and didn't even write about it!

So here's a scan of the front cover:-
Front Cover of October 2014 Low Flying magazine.
The picture was taken on a Sony RX100MII camera in RAW and edited in Photoshop CS6.  The picture was taken at the Western end of the Elan Valley, B4574, near Cwmystyth and the cars are, mine in the foreground, then Alex's white R500D, Andy's blue R300D and Steve's black 1600 Superlight K Series - from our Mega One Day Wales and back blat back in August - seems a distant memory right now whilst I sit here looking out the window at the wind and rain.

So I may be able to get to the North Herts meet tomorrow, so there's some potential content there - and sadly after that it'll probably be the 'putting her to bed' post for a few months... Oh yeah and I must fit those Carbon Headlights I was in such a hurry to get completed! :o)

Thursday 18 September 2014

The Seven comes before the Six (plus)

After my last mildy ranting post a week ago, I had a call from Dean (Francis) at Caterham Midlands first thing on Monday morning.  Wether this was prompted by my post or not I don't know - but he said he was off the week prior.  Dean was apologetic that no-one had been in contact with me about the status of my warranty repair, mentioned he was extremely short staffed as Tom has left and Simon is on Paternity leave too... Anyway to cut a long story short he said the gearbox was fixed.

The issue was what I expected - there is a washer/gasket where the prop shaft spline connects into the  rear of the gearbox and there was a slight issue with this part which led to the fluid weeping out the back of the gearbox.  Apparently there can be a number of reasons this part has this problem, but in most cases it's linked back to a manufacturing defect according to Dean.

I thought it'd be an engine out job as it's extremely difficult to get the propshaft out due to the prop shaft guard, but Dean said they take the diff and propshaft out and got access to the rear of the gearbox from the rear.

The part has been replaced, the car was taken for a reasonable test drive and then was left stationary over the weekend to see if any fluid was weeping (again) out of the back of the box... No fluid now present, the box was totally dry.

So Dean suggested I could get the car back on Wednesday (yesterday) which was much earlier than expected.
Keith from Caterham delivering my car back post gearbox fluid weep fix.
Keith from Caterham delivering my car back post gearbox fluid weep fix.
Keith delivered the car around 11am - I took the car to work and went the long way home... Was a great blat back, and when I home I double checked the gearbox for any fluid or weeping and it's bone dry - so hopefully that won't crop up again in the future.
Propshaft in gearbox with no leaking fluids.
Propshaft in gearbox with no leaking fluids.
Whilst I was on holiday way back in July, I was trying to get a set of driving glasses that were ballistic rated and had a strap on them.  I ordered a pair of Dixon's but they just didn't suit me, and although there were other styles that may have suited me I had a brainwave about a pair of Oakley Jawbones I used to use from my Mountain Biking days...  They were ballistic rated, fit really well, and I also had a number of different lenses for them too - the only problem was they didn't have the strap to hold them in place and were white too!

So a quick check on Oakley's site showed they've renamed the Oakley Jawbones (some issue with a bluetooth company's trade mark or something like that) to the Oakley Racing Jackets.  The good thing is the lenses swap over and the Racing Jackets have a rear strap too.  I spent a while conjuring up a colour combination that I thought would suit, so I went with full black frames, blue lenses and orange o's on the side.  I also got one of the lenses etched with 'Caterham R500' which looks quite cool too.  The only negative was the delivery time... It was quoted on the Oakley website as a 10-14 working day delivery, and I ordered them on 30th July.  They finally arrived some seven weeks later...  Anyway I really like them - picture below.
My new blatting glasses - custom Oakley Racing Jackets
My new blatting glasses - custom Oakley Racing Jackets
How does the title of this post mean anything?  Well I ordered an iPhone 6 plus last week, and one of my friends asked whether or not I thought I'd get the iPhone before the Caterham back - and I wasn't too sure....  Well the Seven did come before the 6 and I'm very happy about that.  In the meantime I printed out some templates of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 plus to see how large they are and to ensure I wasn't getting a phone too big in the 6 plus.  The only place where the 6 plus is too big is the 'phone holder' in front of the gear lever.
iPhone 6 fits just perfect in Caterham transmission tunnel top.
iPhone 6 fits just perfect in Caterham transmission tunnel top.
 The iPhone 6 fits fine, but the 6 plus is just a touch too big...
Whereas the iPhone 6 plus is just a bit too big.
Whereas the iPhone 6 plus is just a bit too big.
So for those of you that are thinking of ordering an iPhone6 and wanted to know which one will fit into the tunnel cover are (if you're an Apple person that is) at least you now know - but I'm still sticking with the 6 plus.  I'm sure that's a weight off everyone's mind! :o)

Thursday 11 September 2014

Tick tock, tick tock

Half way through our mega one day blat to Aberystwyth and back I noticed there was some fluid on the chassis member inside the drivers area near the front of the seat...  Not good - especially as I was some 200 miles from home!

A quick check underneath the car and a few of us came to the conclusion that the rear of the gearbox was leaking.  The leak seemed to be coming from where the prop shaft fits into the box - I'm led to believe there can be issues with the seal in the gearbox to spline connection area.

I got back all ok, jacked the car up, gave it a check over and it was easy to spot where the fluid was coming from... There was quite a lot of fluid around the inside of the tunnel, on the rear of the prop shaft, the underside of the diff and around the A frame... I gave it all a wipe down and took this picture:-
Propshaft to gearbox connection is the area where the leak is coming from.
Propshaft to gearbox connection is the area where the leak is coming from.
I think I went for a track day at Bedford the next day, but whilst I was there (and before running on circuit) I put a quick call into Caterham to check it was ok to use, and they confirmed it was still 'ok' to use the car, but it didn't really feel right to - as it's not normal to drive a car with leaking fluids!

Once back from the track day I checked underneath the car and was hardly any new fluid in the chassis tunnel and so on, but the box felt a little notchy when I was at the track day. To be fair it'd always been a little notchy getting it into third gear ever since I got the car but just thought that was usual.

I'm pretty sure it's an engine out job to fix this, and I really couldn't be bothered with the hassle so I checked the lead time for an available time slot for Caterham to fix the issue which was a month away, so I booked my first warranty claim there and then (hopefully the last too)...

It was the first week of August when I booked the collection for this Monday, the 8th September... I got a call from a woman Alex? at Caterham Midlands on Friday last week to confirm the collection would take place on Monday and sure enough at 11am on Monday Keith? arrived to collect the car.
Loading the R500 into the Caterham transporter.
Loading the R500 into the Caterham transporter.
And off it goes - hopefully see it again soon?!?
And off it goes - hopefully see it again soon?!?
Here is a picture of a month's worth of fluid that's left the gearbox and is now on my garage floor.
Lost gearbox fluid on garage floor.
Lost gearbox fluid on garage floor.
So it's now Thursday evening, and I've not heard a thing from Caterham... They've not even said my car has arrived ok-nothing.  Considering I've waited an entire month for the available mechanics slot, I'm once again left unimpressed by Caterhams service.

I've decided to run an experiment to see how long it'll take to get some communication from them, and how long it'll take to get my car back.

The clock is ticking.........

Wednesday 3 September 2014

How it's made video

I've not been out in the car for a while or blogging about it, as I've been super busy with work - yawn.  Might try and get out for a blast tomorrow night to blow the cobwebs out of the engine and hopefully some stress levels at the same time!

The link to this video (below) got emailed to me today, which is a youtube video from the program on the discovery channel called 'how it's made'...

In this episode the how it's made team are at the Caterham factory covering quite a lot of the factory build processes and some interesting insights into the chassis (and pre kit delivery) build stages too.

I recognise some of the cars in the video too, the white 620R with black stripes is... I'm pretty sure Mr. S Wright's car - the owner who's seats were delivered to me, and also the engine being dropped into the blue 620R is Mr. M Weatherby's too...

Anyway, I fully enjoyed the video - I hope you do too.



Tuesday 26 August 2014

Domain Bonnet Decals

This could be scraping the bottom of the barrel for content, but thought I'd post it anyway...  

I'd not had any decals fitted to the side of the bonnet as the Superlight R500 decals I'd been supplied were black, and subsequently didn't really seem to go with the overall colour scheme...  So I had a version of the latest Caterham typeface and the 'R500' added together to make the domain of the blog.

I asked a local printing company to source the MacTac MACal 9807-07 Pro SL luminous orange media (URL to MacTac pdf here), and then cut it using the vector files I'd been supplied.  I decided to get a square version and a more domain type (landscape) version cut, in a number of sizes which were finished off today.
MacTac MACal 9807-07 Pro SL luminous orange decals cut in various sizes and formats.
MacTac MACal 9807-07 Pro SL luminous orange decals cut in various sizes and formats. 
Having had a number of different sizes and orientations cut, I decided to go for the longest landscape option, so measured up the bonnet height, centralised the decal and held it in place with a bit of masking tape.
www.caterhamr500.co.uk decal lined up, ready for fitting.
www.caterhamr500.co.uk decal lined up, ready for fitting.
Once I'd checked it was 100% straight and in the right place, it was time to peel off the adhesive backing, press the decal in place and carefully peel off the mounting paper.
Adhesive backing removed, ready for sticking to the bonnet and final mounting paper removal.
Adhesive backing removed, ready for sticking to the bonnet and final mounting paper removal.
And the end result - my domain on my car, and I think it looks like it should've always been there.
Domain decal stuck to bonnet on both sides.
Domain decal stuck to bonnet on both sides. 
Very easy to fit, was a five minute job and I'm very happy with the result.  I always wanted to get the domain on the car somewhere, and this was the authentic look I was aiming to achieve.

Sunday 24 August 2014

The Third Cat Bypass Pipe

Believe it or not this is my third, yes third! R500 Cat Bypass Pipe... Well the first one was for a different model, so in reality this is my second, but even so I've spent a fair few quid on cat bypass pipes now!

The second pipe had to be cut to allow the Raceco exhaust to fit - which felt a little weird if I'm honest, as cutting a brand new pipe just didn't seem right.  Link to my post about cutting and fitting the Raceco exhaust and bypass pipe is here.

So the third pipe was so I could run the standard R500 silencer without the cat.  It arrived at the beginning of the week, and as has been the general theme with quality control from Caterham, the pipe was scratched somewhat.  I considered polishing it myself with the steel polishing kit I'd recently bought (link to polishing cat here) but I just couldn't be bothered, so I took it to a local polishers.
Brand new, but scratched Caterham R500 Duratec Cat Bypass Pipe.
Brand new, but scratched Caterham R500 Duratec Cat Bypass Pipe.
I left it with the polisher for a couple of days. He rang on Friday to say it was ready, and it really looked significantly improved.  The sheen was much better and all the scratches had been removed.
Freshly polished Caterham R500 Duratec Cat Bypass Pipe.
Freshly polished Caterham R500 Duratec Cat Bypass Pipe.
Today I got round to fitting it - not a long job, as I seem to have been swapping my exhaust configurations over quite a lot recently... I'm becoming an expert as I can do the swap in under ten minutes!
My Caterham R500 Duratec with Cat Bypass and Standard Silencer fitted.
My Caterham R500 Duratec with Cat Bypass and Standard Silencer fitted.
So I went out for a quick blat to see if I could notice any difference, and I'm not sure if it was the placebo effect or not, but the car seemed to accelerate a (very) little better (if that was possible!) and the noise was certainly improved too!

Wednesday 20 August 2014

Bedford Autodrome South West Circuit Track Evening

Having had a fair few stressful days in the office, I was in desperate need of a 'release' and what better remedy than a few laps blasting around a track?!?

Matthew Larbey (silverback on blatchat) informed of a 'Track Evening' that was being run by Lotus on Track (LoT) at Bedford Autodrome.  There were only two places left, so after a brief email exchange with Paul (at LoT) this morning he confirmed they could fit me in and it was ok to attend.

So I had to pop home in my lunch break to change the air filter, exhausts, get my track day gear together and pick up the car... All in an hour!  It was tight, but I managed it.

The circuit being used was the South West Circuit, which is a configuration at Bedford I've not been on before, but I enjoyed it, as it was a bit more twisty than the GP configuration.

A couple of the videos from the evening are below.  As you'd expect from a Lotus event, there were a lot of Lotuses!  In the video below, there are fourteen overtakes, and mostly all of them are of Lotus Elise's.

Matthew Larbey has an R400 SV Duratec, and the video below is a bit of me following him, overtaking, putting half a hot lap in, then following and re-overtaking.


It was a good evening which was well run, and was the good release of adrenalin and stress that I needed.

Auto Express Issue No 1,333 20-26 August 2014

Last week when I was at Bedford Autodrome track day, a chap popped into the garage we were using and asked if we'd like to take part in some pictures for their magazine... I instantly recognised him, as it was Mat Watson from Auto Express magazine the guy who presents all of their YouTube videos.

Anyway, I was asked to be in the pictures alongside the SEAT Leon SC they were testing.  Pictures below of the front cover, and the article that I was pictured within.

Auto Express Issue No 1,333 20-26 August 2014 Front Cover
Auto Express Issue No 1,333 20-26 August 2014 Front Cover.
My Caterham R500 in Auto Express magazine.
My Caterham R500 in Auto Express magazine.
Seat Leon SC report in Auto Express magazine page 66 with my Caterham R500 pictured.
Seat Leon SC report in Auto Express magazine page 66 with my Caterham R500 pictured.
Seat Leon SC report in Auto Express magazine page 67 with my Caterham R500 pictured.
Seat Leon SC report in Auto Express magazine page 67 with my Caterham R500 pictured.
I'm back off to Bedford Autodrome tonight for an evening track blast with Lotus on Track which I'm very much looking forward to.  Just need to pop home at lunch to stick the carbon airbox and Raceco silencer on (again!).

Sunday 17 August 2014

Cat and Exhaust Polishing

Last weekend whilst in Wales the heavens opened, and I hurriedly unpacked the car cover I had taken with me, and chucked it over the car... Andy jumped in to get out of the rain and Alex kinda got in the side too... See picture below.
Me, Andy and Alex taking cover from the rain on the Top Gear Mountain road.
Me, Andy and Alex taking cover from the rain on the Top Gear Mountain road.
So why am I writing this?  Well it was a case of too much haste, and not enough thought as the car cover was resting on the roasting hot cat and silencer, and subsequently melted all over it.  Needless to say it looked a mess and I was very irritated, but once it cooled it was fairly easy to pick the plastic off.  However, it left a right old mess on my cat and exhaust.
Caterham R500 Catalytic Converter looking a bit of a mess after plastic removed.
Caterham R500 Catalytic Converter looking a bit of a mess after plastic removed.
I decided to buy a stainless steel polishing kit from Halfrauds, which cost about £25 in an attempt to get the exhaust back to it's original shiny standard.
Steel and Stainless Steel Polishing Kit.
Steel and Stainless Steel Polishing Kit.
The kit comes with three different graded buffing mops, with a straight arbor which allows them to be used in your hand drill.  Also supplied are three different compounds for using with each mop.  The instructions state to use only the correct compound with the right mop.
Steel Polishing Mops and Compounds.
Steel Polishing Mops and Compounds.
Below is a picture of the silencer and catalytic converter ready for polishing.
Caterham R500 Standard Silencer and Catalytic Converter ready for polishing.
Caterham R500 Standard Silencer and Catalytic Converter ready for polishing.
Close up picture of cat below.  As you can see there is quite a lot of tarnish on there from the heat which is fine, but where the plastic stuck to the cat you can see the tarnish has been removed and it just looks a little unpleasant.
Close up picture of my catalytic converter looking a bit sorry for itself.
Close up picture of my catalytic converter looking a bit sorry for itself.
At first I thought it would be ok to use the softest fishing mop, but I quickly found that the hardest mop (called a sisal mop) and the grey compound worked quickest.  Sometimes it's worth following the instructions!  However, the hardest mop did look very abrasive, hence my apprehension to use it straight away.   It took a good hour or so to get all the tarnish off as you can see in the picture below. The instructions suggested spending the most time on stage one, then less on stage two and stage three would be fairly quick.
Caterham R500 Catalytic Converter at first stage of polishing after using Sisal Mop and Grey Compound.
Caterham R500 Catalytic Converter at first stage of polishing after using Sisal Mop and Grey Compound.
Next it was onto the firm mop and pink compound.  It took about half an hour to polish it up to the standard below, but after seeing it slowly polish up it was very satisfying.
Caterham R500 Catalytic Converter at middle stage of polishing after using Firm Mop and Pink Compound.
Caterham R500 Catalytic Converter at middle stage of polishing after using Firm Mop and Pink Compound.
And the final stage was a quick polish with the soft mop and the blue compound for a mirror finish.
Caterham R500 Catalytic Converter polished after using final Soft Mop and Blue Compound.
Caterham R500 Catalytic Converter polished after using final Soft Mop and Blue Compound.
A couple of hours of polishing, and two battery re-charges of my hand drill later, here is the end result.  I think with a corded drill you may get a better RPM, so a quicker polish, but I'm still happy with the finish and it didn't take up too much of my Sunday.
R500 Silencer and Catalytic Converter looking nice and shiny... again!
R500 Silencer and Catalytic Converter looking nice and shiny... again!
So I fitted the silencer and cat, then took the picture below.
Freshly polished silencer and catalytic converter refitted to my Caterham R500.
Freshly polished silencer and catalytic converter refitted to my Caterham R500.
I'm very happy with the end result, shame the cat won't be on there for much longer as I've ordered (another) cat bypass pipe... My existing cat bypass pipe had to be cut to allow the massive Raceco silencer to fit.  But... I'll be looking forward to hearing what it'll sound like with the cat bypass pipe, standard exhaust and Pipercross air filter!

The question I'm left with now... Does this make me a 'polisher' :-( ???

Monday 11 August 2014

Bedford Autodrome Track Day

So my first proper track day... A month or so ago I went to Curborough Sprint course (link to post here) which was a track day too, I guess... but it was only one car on the circuit at a time and the laps were being timed too.

Today I was at Bedford Autodrome and as it is one of the toughest circuits in the UK in terms of noise, the restrictions for the day (which I think are the same throughout the year) were 101db static and 87.5db drive by.  So I pulled up, got tested at 5,500RPM and came in at 99.5db!  Preeetttyyy close to the limit!  Very glad I've got the Raceco can and carbon airbox now, as with the pipercross air filter and standard exhaust, there's no way it'd pass.

So onto the briefing (yawn) and then it was time to hit the track.  Below are some videos of the day... Chasing down some Ariel Atoms:-

Here is a video of some of the sideways moments and drifting / general playing around with the rear end...

Chasing down a new 991 GT3 - which sounded very nice and was driven extremely well by an 80 year old chap... He took me for a passenger ride in it, and he could drive... powersliding, drifting, deep in the braking zones, the lot!  I couldn't believe it... Amazing really.

And here's another view of the same action this time from Andy's onboard cam...  He done well to keep up as he has an R300, but... was running on slick tyres with flat floored suspension too... nice.

As you can see from the videos the gearbox was giving me a little bit of grief, and we ended up getting black flagged for noise... This was because the three of us were running very close together and were getting close to the db limits...  However as we were having so much fun, we didn't care, and it was the end of the day anyway.

A great day out, and am already looking forward to my next track day.  I'm also looking forward to getting that gearbox looked at too, but that's not until early September.

Track Day Prep

After a 636 mile blat to Wales and back yesterday the car was well and truly filthy.  It was a late finish last night, and with a track day at Bedford Autodrome tomorrow, it was time to clean the car, give it a spanner check and to put the carbon airbox and raceco exhaust on.

I jacked the car up as there was an weep of oil coming from the gearbox, which needing investigation, put the car on the axle stands, took the wheels off and got to work.
Caterham R500 after wales blat with wheels off ready for cleaning and spanner check.
Caterham R500 after wales blat with wheels off ready for cleaning and spanner check.
Took a look at the gearbox and could see there was a small weep of oil from the propshaft area.  I spoke to Caterham and the car is booked in to have this checked out, but Tom there suggested this was still ok to use.
Propshaft Seal Oil Leak
Propshaft Seal Oil Leak
Andy is joining me on the track day tomorrow, so he came along and parked his R300 (on it's trailer in the garage).
Caterham R500 and R300 Duratec's parked in my garage.
Caterham R500 and R300 Duratec's parked in my garage.
So with the exhaust changed, carbon airbox fitted, spanner and fluid check complete the car is ready for tomorrow.  Looking forward to it.

Saturday 9 August 2014

Blat to Aberystwyth and Back... In a Day!

Quite a few months ago, a blat had been organised to go to Wales to explore the lovely roads there.  The original plan was to get up early on Saturday morning, drive there, blat until we dropped, camp out then do it all again on the Sunday and return home.  However... with the looming bad weather forecast, the weekend quite quickly changed to a mega one day event.

So at 4:45 it was out with the car to meet up with the guys at Reading services on the M4.
Leaving for Wales at 4:45am
Leaving for Wales at 4:45am
A mildly slippery and dull hour and a half later I turned up at Reading services, where Alex (white R500) had been waiting for a couple of minutes, quickly followed by Andy (blue R300) and Steve (Black 1600 Superlight K Series).
The boys meeting up ready for the blat of the year!
The boys meeting up ready for the blat of the year!
We got the pleasantries out of the way pretty quickly - had a coffee and a bacon bap, at which point I decided to run up a tab of the day to see how much a day like this costs and then we hit the road - current spend £5.  I think we left Reading services around 7am... A bit of fun on the motorway, and around an hour later we arrived at Chepstow services for a fuel fill at and a couple of bottles of water, current day total now £42.87.  We prepped ourselves and got ready for the good stuff.
At Chepstow services getting ready for the good stuff...
At Chepstow services getting ready for the good stuff...
The first route was from Chepstow to Builth with a stop off half way to grab some fuel £24.14 and a cheeseburger and fries from the Burger King £1.98, current spend total £68.99.
The route we took from Chepstow to Builth
The route we took from Chepstow to Builth
A couple of hours and many miles of great blatting roads later we stopped off at the dam at Pen Y Garreg in the Elan Valley and took some pictures... Link to the 6 Dams website is here:
 
2x Caterham R500's, 1x Caterham R300 and 1x Caterham K series 1600 Supersport at the Pen Y Garreg Dam
2x Caterham R500's, 1x Caterham R300 and 1x Caterham K series 1600 Supersport at the Pen Y Garreg Dam.

left to right... Me, Steve, Alex and Andy with our Caterhams at the Pen Y Garreg Dam.
left to right... Me, Steve, Alex and Andy with our Caterhams at the Pen Y Garreg Dam.

Caterham R500 interior shot at the Pen Y Garreg Dam
Caterham R500 interior shot at the Pen Y Garreg Dam.
We left the dam, heading onto Aberystwyth where we intended to stop off for some lunch and make a decision as to which route back we were going to take.

Builth to Aderystwith blat route via the dam at Pen Y Garreg in the Elan valley
Builth to Aderystwith blat route via the dam at Pen Y Garreg in the Elan valley

Another hour or so later we arrived at Aberystwyth...  The weather was superb, so we parked the cars up on the promenade and stopped for some lunch.  Lunch consisted of fish, chips, mushy peas and a diet coke to wash it all down - another £7.20... Total spend up to £76.19...
Caterham's parked up on Aberystwith promenade.
Caterham's parked up on Aberystwith promenade.
Aiming to take as much advantage as possible of the better than forecast weather, we decided to make our way to the Top Gear mountain road which was about 100 mile cross country blat from Aberystwyth, so it was another fill of fuel at £14.01 and off we went... Total spend now £90.20 
Aberystwyth to Top Gear mountain road route.
Aberystwyth to Top Gear mountain road route.
The weather turned somewhat on the way there through the Western end of the Elan Valley , B4574, near Cwmystwyth so we stopped for a picture, a 'comfort break' and to let the clouds blow past.
Western end of the Elan Valley , B4574, near Cwmystwyth
Western end of the Elan Valley , B4574, near Cwmystwyth
Probably around two hours later we arrived at the bottom of the Top Gear mountain road... Started our ascent and the heavens opened..! so half way up we stopped to take some shelter - which wasn't easy as we all had aero screens... Luckily I had anticipated the odd shower and packed my car cover, much to the amusement of everyone else... That is until it rained and I wasn't so stupid then, or at least I thought I wasn't, as whilst hurriedly covering the car I failed to notice the car cover resting on the exhaust and melting rapidly.  The exhaust and cat looked a right mess, but once it cooled down it was quite easy to pull the plastic off, however there are still some marks on the exhaust, so I've got a metal polishing kit and will do a post about (hopefully) making it perfect again!
Three people taking cover from the rain in a Caterham R500... or are they dogging?!?
Three people taking cover from the rain in a Caterham R500... or are they dogging?!?
Once we'd got 'mildy moist' half way up the Top Gear mountain road with time pushing on, we decided to call it a day.  We headed back via a service station for yup, more fuel... £28.55 along with a mint Kit Kat Chunky and a bottle of water... Total spend for the day creeping into the hundred pound bracket at £118.75
 
We headed back to the M4 which we hit around 6pm.  An hour or so into the journey home on the M4 it was time for more fuel, £19.98 bringing the days total to £138.73... Another hour and a half back home, and as the reserve fuel light had been on for 10 miles or so I thought it best to completely fill up to have an accurate cost for the day... So I filled up under a mile from home which was another £36.02 going in, bringing the total for the day to £174.75.

So in summary, the day cost £174.75 fuelling both me and the car, I'd say another tenner or so on topping up the oil and general consumables and 636 miles of depreciation... Well that's looking on the negative... On the positive, it was an absolutely superb day of blatting and I'd highly recommend anyone who has a seven who is considering going to go.  Yes, the motorways there and back are boring, but the roads when you get there well and truly make up for it. Doing the whole lot in a day was a bit much, especially as I live in Hertfordshire, but otherwise an altogether amazing day.