Wednesday 25 November 2015

The Final Collection? and First Update - Already!

Ian from Caterham arrived around midday on Monday to collect the car, after he'd dropped off 'someone' else's kit!  Hopefully this will be the final collection for my issue, as I'd really like to have the car back and be leak free once and for all!
The Caterham collection van - my R500's second home!
The Caterham collection van - my R500's second home!
Simon Lambert has come back to me today to say that Mick Atree and James have been working on my car already and their eagle eyes have been hard at work - which is very reassuring to hear.

They found an obvious issue straight away... Apparently the seal that CC Midlands had sourced was not an OE Ford part, now this would be normal for them to do with a service item as it's something they don't hold stock of and would naturally have been given the assurance by their supplier that it was the right part to use... and now comes the big however... Once the removed seal was compared with the genuine Ford part it proved quite different.

So the seal has been changed to a genuine Ford seal, the prop shaft has been balanced and according to Simon the static running is also proving positive too!  Happy days...  I would sign off there, but...

...Mick and James have noticed the diff is leaking! So that's their next job... Now I can sign off!  Will post with more updates as and when I get them...

The overall feeling is we're getting there, so I'm happy!


Saturday 14 November 2015

What Shall I do Poll Results and 'THE decision'

Thanks (once again) to all those that voted in my poll about what to do next, and I'm pleased to announce I've made a decision about what to do!

Below are the poll results... and this is where we're at, results (based on todays date) are as follows:-

There have been lots of comments of (as always) varied opinions, a few emails and so on, but... and thankfully the majority of the voters went with what I'd already 'pre-chosen' to go with.  I'll go into a little more detail below about my reasoning.

Starting with the lowest scored option first:-

Last: 46 votes / 20% - upgrade to a 620R
  • For:- Faster, extra bhp, torque, newer and hopefully a non leaking gearbox :-)
  • Against:- Couldn't build it, probably another ten or fifteen grand!
Third: 52 votes / 22% - to ask for a refund
  • As the car is eighteen months old, I think this was a bit ambitious and perhaps more a 'cry for help' than a genuine desire to get rid of the car... After all I built it, it's my first car build and I feel somehow 'connected' with it... It's special (to me), and I want it to be the best it can be, hence losing the plot when the box was leaking again.
A close second: 66 votes / 28% - upgrade to a Sadev Sequential

  • This was the closest 'next option' for me too... I seem to get the most pleasure out of the car on track, and why not go for the sequential gearbox?  Well there's a few good reasons, firstly it was in the thousands to upgrade, secondly it wouldn't have been the spec I built, and thirdly this would no doubt take away some of the 'analogue fun' of blatting on the roads and general hooning around.

Number one: 69 votes / 30% - Stick with it and get the gearbox re-worked

  • THANKFULLY... the majority were thinking the same as me, and this is what I'm going to do! I'm extremely grateful for everyone that voted, as this has helped back up my decision as the right thing to do....
Caterham will collect the car on the 23rd November, and take it back to the factory in Dartford.  They will give it a full inspection, get the gearbox out, re-work it (or replace if deemed necessary) and seeing as I don't have plans to use the car over the next few months, they can take their time....

...Having said that... I've had my eye on a set of carbon interior panels that from Westermann Motorsport which I'd love to get fitted during my time off over Christmas.......  Hmmm, and I might get my 'road wheels' repainted... Anyway.............


I'd like to say a big thanks to Simon Lambert for coming back to me with a lot of answers to my questions, and helping to (hopefully) get the show back on the road...

I'll post again when the car is collected next week - watch this space...