Home Mechanics / Kit Car
-
-
@majorrage said in Home Mechanics / Kit Car:
Boom! Fired her up today, started straight away.
Oh look! It's still got the price tag on the wheel. I thought you said you were going to build it MR?
Ha! Good going mate it looks fantastic1
-
@majorrage you could post it on your FB page (if you have one) or if you have a Youtube account and link it through.
-
@taniwharugby said in Home Mechanics / Kit Car:
@majorrage you could post it on your FB page (if you have one) or if you have a Youtube account and link it through.
Or Stuff.co.nz as they will post any ole shit now!
-
And she's finished ... What a labour of love that was. I can't drive it properly yet as it needs to go through the Caterham check, then the government check (IVA), then registered etc. All of this is expected to take around 6-8 weeks, so it should be ready right about when spring is really kicking in. Perfect timing.
I did take it for a quick spin around the block though ... and the front wing fell off! Which I guess is good, as it gives me something else to fiddle around on.
It's been an absolute labour of love, full of swearing, foul language, frustration, irritation and pure anger.
But look at her. Isn't she beautiful. I can't wait to go and hang the arse out.
-
@majorrage said in Home Mechanics / Kit Car:
And she's finished ... What a labour of love that was. I can't drive it properly yet as it needs to go through the Caterham check, then the government check (IVA), then registered etc. All of this is expected to take around 6-8 weeks, so it should be ready right about when spring is really kicking in. Perfect timing.
I did take it for a quick spin around the block though ... and the front wing fell off! Which I guess is good, as it gives me something else to fiddle around on.
It's been an absolute labour of love, full of swearing, foul language, frustration, irritation and pure anger.
But look at her. Isn't she beautiful. I can't wait to go and hang the arse out.
I'm so stoked for you! Better shit falls off and fixed before the testers find it!
I couldn't do that. Beyond my realms of patience and technical/mechanical nouse... even with instrructions.
-
@majorrage said in Home Mechanics / Kit Car:
@hooroo You'd be surprised fella. Yeah, it's hard and frustrating but it is essentially a much larger form of Lego.
Obviously with more severe implication if you fuck it up.
Probably should have built the Lego version to help get your eye in!
-
@majorrage said in Home Mechanics / Kit Car:
... full of swearing, foul language, frustration, irritation and pure anger.
I can imagine.
So much for Mrs Rage. How did you cope?
-
Well, due to various factors involving Australian Flu, An impromptu ski trip, an improptu work trip, UK bureaucracy speeds and it being too fucking freezing to get in the garage and tweak the final things, I've only now got it booked in for the test.
30th May is D-Day, but she leaves my house on the 10th May to begin her final journey to road worthiness! Assuming all goes to plan, will be picked up around mid June, just as the days are 18 hours long here giving me loads of time to run in.
-
Finished, picked up and gone to go and get road legal ...Big day! Was nervous last night, barely slept. Like my first kid going off to college!
Great experience building it, would highly recommend it if you like cars, engineering, mechanicals, physics, and doing things with your hands. Also if you like being frustrated, swearing like an absolute motherf**ker, shouting, screaming and having your hands torn to shreds.
But just LOOK at the end result. I always mock people who refer to themselves as Mummy or Daddy of their animals ... so I should certainly mock myself for being like that around a car. But not just any car. My car. Which I built my fucking self!!
-
@majorrage But does she go like stink?
-
Awesome mate. Well done. Now to not try and kill yourself.
-
The Caterham is live and on the road! It has been for a while, but I've been slack.
I've only got 4,000 rpm to play with at the moment (engine revs to 7,500 with powerband from 4-7.5) so its all about bedding in before I get out there and start to get the real enjoyment. Other negatives are that the clutch is a right shit to get used to, and the brakes are quite poor (part of the running in apparently).
But the drive. Oh the drive. It's absolutely sublime. On the drive back from the factory (about 35 miles), I was getting very frustrated with all the aforementioned issues. Then I came round a corner saw some open road, chucked down a gear and maxed it to 4k through 2-4th and into 5th ... it was just an amazing feeling.
I drove a Ferrari 458 last year and I would argue the drive is better. Obviously not as refined or quick, but for real driving feel, the Ferrari isn't even close.
Long way to go, but early signs are fantastic.
-
##Warning - Car Nerd Post##
First track day done!
I've had a lot of fun on the roads with the car, but nothing compares to what it's capable of on a track. Nothing. I was one of (if not) the slowest cars out there but for me, it was absolutely insane.
Was a four-seasons in one day, and had everything. First two were dry, and by the end of the second I was absolutely flying. Passed a few cars of same power, and had the arse out a bit around a few corners. Instructors taught me the racing lines and how to drive the car/track and it was utterly brilliant. I've driven a 650hp Corvette and stock Ferrari 458 on a track before, and hands down the Caterham was more fun than either. Easily.
Then the rain came before the next session. The Caterham guys were really clear about what to do and said respect the track, but don't be scared of it. So I took that to heart. Then it got really heavy and I was (I thought) accelerating out of a corner and around she went. Perfect 720 degree spin ending up the grass (wasn't going fast enough to get near a wall)
Confidence. Gone.
So went out with an instructor again who showed me what I did wrong ... and it was .. not going fast enough! But with confidence shot, it was really hard to push the pedal harder. He explained that Caterhams are light over the rear, so you need power on at almost all times to keep the back planted. I had lifted off after the corner which had transferred too much weight to the front of the car and around she went. Anyway, we worked on it over the session and I picked it up.
After the lunch break we had blue skies and dry track so I was back to pushing harder again, although unlikely as hard as at the end of session two. All the other slow cars had bailed after the massive rainstorm, so was only fast cars left and I was easily slowest on track - but I didn't give a shit. Doing 95 mph with the needle at 8,000 rpm, then smashing into fourth and feeling the power hit even further with your arse 3 inches off the ground really is, for me, the ultimate rush.
As went back into the pit lane at end of last session, the guy with the fastest car came over and shook my hand to "welcome me to the club". Wasn't sure what he meant but he just said, "your slowest on track, your confidence is down, but you far and away have the biggest smile here ... every single one of us was you once".
A truly memorable day which put all the other parts of the [John Mitchell] Caterham journey [/John Mitchell] together.
-
@MajorRage Sounds fantastic mate. Getting instruction for the track is a must, though it seems you've been given a fair bit more insight than I've previously received. Smile was probably the same though.
-
@Catogrande said in Home Mechanics / Kit Car:
@MajorRage Sounds fantastic mate. Getting instruction for the track is a must, though it seems you've been given a fair bit more insight than I've previously received. Smile was probably the same though.
Yeah, especially where I was at Brands Hatch. The racetrack is basically build around a gully (small valley) so the camber on the corners is all over the show. Ironically, the one corner I'd say I 100% read it correctly was the one I spun it at!
