Daniel French's third season of Caterham Racing. Competing in the 2019 Motul 270R Championship. This blog shows my full Caterham Journey from the build of the awesome R500 Duratec, the Academy Car in 2017, track day information, videos and race results.
I can't quite believe it's been a year since going on a three day round trip to St Quentin, France with a day in the middle at Folembray circuit... Well it's not 'exactly' been a year... but I've made the decision to go again with the same group at the end of next week (Early May Bank Holiday weekend).
Whilst at Folembray last year I had recently fitted some ZZR tyres and some Nitron shocks... I found on the blat to the circuit there was a bit of under-steer, and at the circuit pretty major under-steer which I tried to dial out with tyre pressure and damping adjustments; but meant I also had to adopt a slightly different driving style to accommodate... Turns out after having the car flat floored that the suspension setup was terrible, borderline un-driveable, so on reflection there was no real wonder why I was struggling for front end grip.
So now having everything pretty much sorted in terms of setup, I'm hoping to be able to improve on the lap time (so long as it's dry!) and with that in mind, I've a few things that will (hopefully) help me achieve this goal.
New Brake Pads, Fluid Change and Bleed
When I had the car flat floored by Rob at RatRace Motorsport, he 'sold me a seed' about brake pads, which I must say had been on my mind for a while... I just couldn't shake his suggestion that he had some 'special compound' pads which he'd developed over the years that vastly improve braking distance and feel over the standard pads!
Having noticed towards the back end of last year that the brake pedal was a bit spongy and certainly required a lot more effort to stop the car-which meant my grey matter had buckled; and a week or so ago, I decided that life wouldn't be living without these new pads. So off to RatRace it was!
On arrival I was greeted by Rob and his Rottweiler (Aston), who pretty looked pretty gutted to see me again :-(
Robs Rottweiler (Aston) realising I'm back again!
Onto the brakes... Firstly, as much of the old brake fluid was removed from the reservoir using a an hand extractor pump.
Old brake fluid removed from reservoir
The fluid was replaced with a new higher performance DOT 4 called Castrol React Performance. This should be more resistant to heat and will reduce any fade that I may experience.
Castrol React Performance DOT 4 fluid going back in
With the new DOT 4 fluid in the reservoir, the rear bleed valve was plugged with the bleed catch tank, I jumped (not literally) into the drivers seat and pumped the brake pedal until it was firm... Rob then released the bleed nipple, tightened it back, I re-pumped and so on until the new fluid was through and we were happy with the fluid colour and pedal feel.
Rear brakes ready for bleeding
With the rear brakes bled the old pads were removed and even though I've only done around 3500 miles the rears were cracked and had about 25%... Which is probably due to quite a few track laps... The new pads on the rear are visibly different with two sections to aid cooling which will help.
New pads (top) vs Old pads (bottom)
The new pads had some copper slip applied to the outer sections to stop squeaking and were then fitted. Some more copper slip was put on the wheel nut threads, the rear wheels were re-fitted and that was the rears done.
New rear pads fitted
Now onto the front pads... These were a little more complicated to bleed and replace as to get access to the retaining bolts, the calliper on the nearside needed removal from the hub.
Front brake calliper was removed - note Aston's eyes in the background
I can't remember the offside calliper being removed, and my photos seem to confirm that it wasn't removed. The same process as the rears though, more brake fluid, and the system flushing through.
Front brakes ready for bleeding
New pads (right) old pads left... They seem very similar, but the old front pads were in much better condition than the rears... However, there was still signs of some cracking where they have potentially been overheated, so was good to replace - the new pad material is also softer too.
New vs old front pads - not much difference in appearance
New front pads fitted... Everything was torqued up, the brake fluid topped up and the wheels replaced. Job done!
New front pads fitted
With the new pads fitted and brakes bled with new fluid it was time to pay the bill and head off home... It was chucking down with rain so wasn't an ideal opportunity to test the new brakes but, the pedal feel was back to how it was when I first got the car (I guess this is down to the fluid and bleed)... Apparently the new pads will really help, so I look forward to trying them out at Folembray... I'm just praying to the weather gods that it'll be dry!
However - I think next time I'll bleed the brakes myself, as I found the following video on YouTube which makes it look very easy to do on your own... Not only that I'm sure I've got an easy bleed brake kit hiding in my garage somewhere!
Ever since I had my car weighed, I've been on a bit of a mission to 'add lightness' wherever I can. After-all every gramme saved is a little more performance, and considering I'm not going to the gym right now, I need all the help I can get!
Having replaced the interior earlier this year with a full set of carbon panels, and my carbon'itis' well and truly settled in, the things that have been on my hit list are:-
12v socket holder
Knee Trim Panels
Fuel Pipe Cover
Pedal Box Cover
Now I know I could just remove these parts, but I want to keep as much of my car as it is, but replace things with lighter versions, so after some considerable "no's" or stupidly high quotes, I found a company online (Ultimate Carbon) who seemed 'delighted' to take on the job.
The chap there, Bryn gave me a ring, we discussed the detail and the only real issue was I had to 'donate' my parts to the cause... I managed to overcome that problem within about two minutes of putting the phone down to him, as the parts were swiftly bubble-wrapped up, packaged and ready for the courier to collect!
My donation to the cause - parts bubble-wrapped, and packaged ready for collection
A couple of months later this photo arrived - my 'own' carbon parts, finished in matte lacquer and looking very smart indeed.
My very own carbon parts - finished in matte lacquer and looking very smart
Here is some of the moulding process info, pictures and weights of both original and new carbon parts.
12v Socket Holder / Fuse Cover - and manufacturing
Starting with the most awkward part to manufacture first, the 12v socket holder. Here is the mould in various stages.
Pictured below is the carbon mould and laid up component inside a pink bag which is a bagging film used to seal everything. The white material inside the bag is a breather cloth wrapped around the carbon component and resin which helps the air to be sucked out during at the vacuuming stage.
The bag with the component inside is autoclaved for three and a half hours at around six bar / 90psi at 130c to cure and bond everything together.
Caterham 12v socket holder mould in it's pink bag as it came out of the autoclave
The picture below is of product removed from the bag after the autoclaving process. The component has had the white cloth removed and is left with the red halar release film, which is used so that the bagging materials don't stick to the part and stops the resin bleeding.
New carbon 12v socket after autoclaving, prior to halar release film removal.
The halar release film is like peeling greaseproof paper from a freshly baked cake that peels off nicely, which reveals the final product (below) which is the product ready for trimmed and final lacquering... I went with a matte lacquer which I think is perfect and suits the components extremely well.
Fresh out of the autoclave - my new Caterham Carbon 12v Socket / Fuse cover. Just needs trimming and lacquering!
12v Socket Holder / Fuse Cover - weights
The original Caterham 12v socket holder / Fuse cover weighed in at 288g
Original metal Caterham 12v socket holder / Fuse cover weighed in at 288g
The carbon version was less than half the weight at just 130g!
Then it was onto fitting... All that's required is a little velcro and the tongue pushing into the lower edge of the dash and it's fitted, and looks ace too!
Bespoke manufactured Carbon Caterham 12v socket holder and fuse cover
Knee Trim Panels
Onto the knee trim panels - I guess the easiest (and cheapest weight saving method) with these is to simply remove them completely, but I find there's quite a lot going on in terms of wires in this area, so prefer to keep the knee trim panels fitted.
The two original metal knee trim panels were put on the scales and weighed in at 270g
The two original metal knee trim panels were put on the scales and weighed in at 270g
As you can see from the picture below the matt finish and general construction of these parts is superb. I popped them onto the scales and the two of them were less than the weight of one of the metal ones - weighing in at 116g for the pair!
Both carbon knee trim panels weighed in at 116g - less than the weight of one of the original metal versions!
With the knee trim panels fitted you can see the excellent weave, not only that the matte lacquer is a perfect match to the carbon interior panels.
Carbon knee trim panels fitted, showing excellent weave and great match to carbon interior panels
Fuel Pipe Cover
The fuel pipe cover in the boot is again one of those parts I think you can just do without, but I like the neat and tidy look of the boot with the fuel pipe cover in place, so decided this part should also get the 'carbon' treatment!
Pictured below is the original Caterham fuel pipe cover removed from the car (just two screws hold it in place) and it weighed in at 154g
Original Caterham metal fuel pipe cover weighs 154g
The carbon version isn't a considerable weight saving, but is nearly half the weight of the original at 86g.
Fitting the Carbon fuel pipe cover is easy, just two screws either side hold it in place - taking the picture below was more difficult though!
Caterham Carbon fuel pipe cover fitted in boot
Pedal Box Cover
I think this was the part that set this whole project off in the first place... The pedal box cover... For some reason whenever I removed the bonnet it always seemed as though the pedal box cover should've been made out of carbon - well now mine is!
The original metal pedal box cover comes off really easily - just remove the eight or nine bolts and it'll lift pretty much straight out. The original Caterham pedal box cover weighed in at 310g.
The original Caterham pedal box cover weighed in at 310g
The bespoke matte lacquered carbon Caterham pedal box cover on the scales - tipping in at nearly one third the weight of the metal version, just 108g.
Bespoke matte lacquered carbon Caterham pedal box cover on the scales weighs just 108g
Now onto what I've been waiting the last two years to see (well not quite!) but it still looks good.... The carbon pedal box cover fitted, and for those 'eagle eyed' readers you'll notice I've used black anodised bolts to secure it which I think look cool and finish it off nicely.
Caterham Carbon Pedal Box Cover only 108g!
Combined Weight Savings
Before I 'donated my parts' for such a good cause, I popped them all onto the scales to see how much they weighed. Surprisingly it was over a kilo, weighing in at 1.028kg
Metal interior parts weighed in at a combined 1.028kg
And in comparison the bespoke carbon parts total weight is 438g - which is a saving of 590g... It all adds up!
Bespoke carbon parts total weight is 438g - which is a saving of 590g
Want these for your car? Where to buy...
Having considered arranging a 'group buy' - which on the face of it seemed like a good idea... I just don't have the time to arrange this and answer the questions and so on related to it, so have decided it best to link to the ultimate carbon website where you can make your own enquiries directly should you wish to purchase any of these parts:- http://www.ultimatecarbon.co.uk/
Overall I'm very impressed with the fit and finish of the items, the weight saving is a bonus and I'd certainly recommend having them finished in the matte lacquer as it looks really smart, and compliments the .
After a couple of years and a few thousand miles the Seven in my grille looks like it has taken a bit of a battering... And seeing as I'm towards the end of sprucing my car up for the year ahead I thought I should tackle this job too.
Caterham Seven Grille looking battered after a couple of years
So the nose was off the car, and the grille removed from it. The silver Hammerite on the seven was badly chipped and flaking, so half an hour of sanding later the remaining paint was off, and I'd achieved a good key on the metal underneath. With the old chipped paint removed an hour or so was spent meticulously masking the grille, and it looked like this:-
Caterham Seven Grille keyed, masked and ready for spraying
I made a little 'spray booth' out of a large(ish) carboard box, and applied four light coats of Silver Smooth Hammerite...
Caterham Seven Grille was sprayed with a few coats of Silver Smooth Hammerite
Having used hammerite when I initially sprayed the grille a couple of years ago, I'm hoping due to the fact I've taken the time to key the metal this time around it'll stick a bit better and naturally last longer...
Caterham Seven Grille looking like new again
The grille was refitted to the nose-cone, and that was fitted back to the car and now it looks like new again, so I'm happy!