Caterham Hayabusa - Superlight No. 047

[FM155]

I think there are a lot of flavours of F27 around, tbh, I think it's actually the grandad of the Locost thing. The starting point was a set of plans and a cutting list for the chassis which was something like £60 in the early 90's and then they supplied the F/G arches and nose cowl. The rest of the bodywork was sheet alloy.

 

[IL]

Minimal updates here lately due to another house move! Car is pretty much ready for fluids, bleeding & wiring...

Not sure it will see the Road this year with all going on, but its pretty much there...

 

[zafturbo]

Would love to experience a full blown busa engined one of these ,must be mind blowing fast .

 

[IL]

Would love to experience a full blown busa engined one of these ,must be mind blowing fast .

To Be Honest, not THAT fast..

0-60 - Around 3 secs
~ 130mph Top End

Best part is the razor sharp handling that comes with anything light weight with a good setup!

Bike engine complete with Dog Box & Close Ratios & 10,000 RPM

For me theyre the best ~20k fun / weekend / track car you can buy if you like a bit of maintenance and Tinkering yourself!

 

[IL]

This Moved house with me again in bits last week.. Nice to have my own workspace again!

Had bit of a blast at it this week tying up a lot of loose ends..

• All the Lights Mounted
• Water Lines finished
• Gear linkage adjusted
• Clutch Master Cylinder and Lines installed
• Fuel lines Connected

Now into the Wiring, hopefully starting to understand how the car loom has been wired originally..

Separate Engine Loom going in this weekend with Standalone ECU

Couple of Sump bolts to Helicoil and a Temp probe to Tap into the Sump then its ready for Fluids.

Aim is to have it running next few weeks and on the Road for its next house move in about 8 weeks.

I'll maybe get some sport out of it this summer after all!

 

[EF Ian]

To Be Honest, not THAT fast..

0-60 - Around 3 secs
~ 130mph Top End

How can anyone describe a 0-0 time under 4 seconds as not that fast?


Would be great if you managed to get this out this summer.




I really must have a go in one of these sometime. Got to be a lot of fun without having to do triple figures.

 

[IL]

How can anyone describe a 0-0 time under 4 seconds as not that fast?
Would be great if you managed to get this out this summer.
I really must have a go in one of these sometime. Got to be a lot of fun without having to do triple figures.

Managed to get it half wired yesterday, pretty confident I've a grasp of what is going on now, so no reason why it won't be out this summer

I guess its not that Fast feeling, in many ways its loud and explosive to drive, but its low on torque, and therefore midrange pickup can be 'lazy' they take a lot of driving to keep it on the Boil, something like your Z with 400lbft probably feels much more powerful midrange whether it would be or not im not sure!

I do remember getting absolutely Annihilated 60 - 120 by @KeithRobinson 300hp Nova in the my Megablade, it singing at 11,000 RPM but the Vauxhall just cruised past

 

[EF Ian]

Does it feel fast in the first few gears? How does it feel on B roads?

I had to keep my EF on the boil when it had the B16B in it, was a lot of fun when you were on it and revving it up to 9000, but didn't feel that fast at all at lower rpm. So I'd say very fun driven hard, not as fun for normal driving, whereas the B20 in it now is awesome from low RPM.

The Z has nearly 500lbft, the midrange is the best thing about it, cruising at 70mph, 5th gear, put your foot down and seconds later you are already over 90, makes for a lot of fun if you have to pass on a motorway.

But I reckon for fun on the road you are best in a car that feels fast and fun without you needed to go so fast. I have an idea that a rally style car with good midrange and the ride height and suspension to tackle even the bumpy back roads is the way to go. My EF is awesome through the corners, but it can only handle smooth back roads.

 

[IL]

@EF Ian Yes, its alot like a honda to drive, lots of fun and fast as anything on a B road when you get it dialled in..

I had a few hondas, detested them once i got over the hooligan stage, but for a blast, loads of fun!

 

[KeithRobinson]

Anytime I've been in a megablade, it's the near death seat of your pants on the roads makes them feel super quick.

 

[IL]

Got a Couple of Hours at this again yesterday..

Main Block sump bolts Heli-coiled, Oil Temp Probe installed into the sump, Sump Re-installed...

Oil Pressure Sensor and Flylead installed..

Filled with Fluids - Nothing Ran back out again

Threw some rough wiring in around the Engine starting & ignition system - ECU fired up, Fuel Pump Priming from ECU control..



But no Life - will do some more poking at it tonight to see if i can Bring it to life. Hopefully getting close..

 

[IL]

That's more like it...

 

[slickcell]

Class Iain! Can’t wait for a spin! Funny, a busa kit is probably the only one I’ve not had or experienced before!

 

[Dave..]

That's more like it...

Well done Iain it sounds great.

 

[IL]

Started into the Loom with a set of side cutters and a Positive feed to find out whats what...

Indicators
Sides / Dips / Mains
Tail lights
Brake lights
& Dash Powered up..

What a Mess, but can all be adjusted in length to suit the new switch gear layout etc and then tidied up.

 

[Rob]

Started into the Loom with a set of side cutters and a Positive feed to find out whats what...

Indicators
Sides / Dips / Mains
Tail lights
Brake lights
& Dash Powered up..

View attachment 394833

What a Mess, but can all be adjusted in length to suit the new switch gear layout etc and then tidied up.

No Stack this time? That’s a nice functional looking unit

 

[IL]

No Stack this time? That’s a nice functional looking unit

No Chance, never again..

AIM is the way to go, this was in the car already... It connects to the ECU via CAN (2 wires) and displays all the Data the ECU reads. Great job!

 

[Todd]

Fair play, espeically doing all this with a house move, kids, etc. No idea how you squeeze it in!

Not long far away now.

 

[IL]

Fair play, espeically doing all this with a house move, kids, etc. No idea how you squeeze it in!

Thanks Todd, Not sure myself, but i can always make time for tinkering!

 

[IL]

Think ill get this one assigned to her next week...

 

[Ceebl]

Just read through this whole post, brilliant work, as others have said Impressive the progress you can make given house moves and dad duties!

When running the bike engine on these do you use the sequential box on the bike engine and adapt the output shaft of the engine to take a yoke for a prop shaft somehow?

 

[Andy55]

View attachment 395199

Think ill get this one assigned to her next week...

Nice plate! Make sure you mount it the correct way round...

 

[IL]

Just read through this whole post, brilliant work, as others have said Impressive the progress you can make given house moves and dad duties!

When running the bike engine on these do you use the sequential box on the bike engine and adapt the output shaft of the engine to take a yoke for a prop shaft somehow?

Thanks,

Yes, its really simple, you use all the bike parts, mount the engine longitudinally and use an adaptor instead of a front sprocket to bolt up a propshaft up to!

Very simple, 88kg for 200hp engine and combined Dog box.

Picked this up this week too...

Full throttle clutchless gear changes and Auto blip on the down changes

 

[richie_mck]

Hard to beat a bit of no lift shift. Love the plate too

 

[Ceebl]

Thanks,

Yes, its really simple, you use all the bike parts, mount the engine longitudinally and use an adaptor instead of a front sprocket to bolt up a propshaft up to!

Very simple, 88kg for 200hp engine and combined Dog box.

Picked this up this week too...

View attachment 395216

Full throttle clutchless gear changes and Auto blip on the down changes

Class, I’ve never driven a caterham style car but have it on my agenda for this year to rent one from a guy locally for the day and try it out.
Always reckoned if I got myself one I’d want to do the bike engine thing in it!

Think my next fleet reconfiguration will see the Mrs get a big estate car and my toy get a lot smaller and less practical. Still have an itch for another type R for trackdays to scratch first too…