New Valve stem seals

Car started smoking a little too much, though i'd try the easy option and fit new valve stem seals.
This was the least invasive option and pretty easy to do although still took most of the day.
I had to make a few special tools to allow removal of the seals, also used rope down the spark plug holes to keep the valves up once you remove the collets.
Unfortunately after this it still smoked a lot.
Rings will be next!

 

 

Stickers

Hand made vinyl stickers cut and applied to the car, I think it makes it look a lot sportier.
Managed to get the vinyl from a local signwriters for around $30, cut it all myself.
The Superlight badges were computer cut for $25 from the same company.
Got some Lotus badges for the bonnet/boot off Trademe for very little money.
They finish it off nicely, although I would like to make my own logo'd badges at some stage.

 

 

 

New Bonnet

New bonnet was made with help from a good friend Brett.
He used to be my companies workshop foreman so was very qualified when it came to manufacturing it.
I got the material cheap from a supplier, had it Louvre punched for free from another supplier, then we rolled it at Bretts workshop, one saturday morning.
I think it came out really nice, made from 1.6mm aluminium which gives it a bit more strength than 1.2mm which most people use, hardly any weight difference to it.
Managed to track down some over centre stainless steel catches for around $40 from one of our fastening suppliers (Allfast).
Total cost of bonnet is around $40 and 12 beers :)

 

New exhaust on in the above photo too, still have to make a cover for it. Will replace it with a stainless steel one at some stage. 

New bonnet makes all the difference! 

 

Painted scuttle

Decided to paint the scuttle orange too, required quite a bit of prep work as it is aluminium.
Scotchbrited first to remove the oxide layer, degreased it lots, then primed with decent primer.
Sanded and colour shot to match the rest of the car.
Looks way better though and I will eventually paint all the aluminium the same!

 

 

 

New Steering Wheel

New steering wheel added, had to modify the existing boss to make it fit, looks better than original and is slightly smaller @ 300mm so allows me to fit better in the car! (I can actually turn it properly now).
Wheel was got off Trademe for a massive $50.00 :)

 

 

Windscreen Frame

Manufactured a bending machine which I ended up using in my works press to shape the new windscreen frame from aluminium channel.
I ended up having to hand beat the channel while in the press to get it right.
Cost me around $30 to make the frame.
The glass came off my insurance as it replaced the old one which was broken!
The side plates were downloaded off the internet and are an exact copy of the Caterham items, I had them computer machined from 4mm aluminium.
All then powdercoated to match the roll bar etc.
Lots of measuring and dicking around but am quite happy with the result.

 

 

 

 

Assembled with bodywork

All bodywork back on.
Starting to look a lot better now!
Still need to sort the window, bonnet etc.

 

 

New grill laser cut from 4mm aluminium to my design. SDL in Hamilton are the best for this type of work. Cost me $60 all up.  I drew it in Autocad and supplied them the file.