New Rh Owners!

[Big Jim]

Oy! I'm going to buy a Lightweight! Stop trying to put me off. Where do you get this incredible inside knowledge that there's something wrong with it??

 

I've never seen a lightweight up close. What is wrong with it?

 

OK, you did ask. I'm not going to get into the "riviting" argument, but there are a couple of major problems.

The first one is easy, it just needs some redesign. sit in the thing, you will be as far back as you can, but your knees will be bent up under the steering wheel (unless you're only 5 ft 2in) but you'll need longer arms to reach the steering wheel. (To be fair, he did put a sign on the car at Donington to say that they were looking at this, doesn't mean to say he's done anything about it!)

 

More important is the lack of strength in the chassis, especially around the area's where the suspension mounts, it is woefully under-engineered.

I pointed this out the RS, and his answer was that "It was meant to be a 12 month track car, build it, use it on track for a season, then build another one, not for road use" (So who's going to build a car then scrap it after 6-10 track sessions, and build another?)

 

Now RHSC's past suspension designs have left a certain amount to be desired, but in my view this counts as one of the worst. (It would be OK, if the chassis was strong enough)

 

I will stand corrected, but I don't think that there's a lightweight actually "on the road" so yet, once again, owners will be the test pilots.

 

Buy one and prove me wrong!

[Guest timswait]

With regards to the size issue, is it original Lotus Seven dimensions, ie Caterham size?

[peter_m7uk]

"Not for road use"!! Oh hell, it didn't say that in the brochure! I'm going to the Kit Car Show at Detling, Kent on 2nd/3rd April, so I'll have a damn good look at the Lightweight and bring up this question of road use. If that's true, I'll have to rehash all my plans and start looking at a 2B/4 or 2B+. Fortunately, I haven't

chucked away the Sierra trailing arms and torque tube, so it's still possible to build an established kit. I'm rather concerned now, but grateful for the warnings.

 

Cheers,

 

Peter

[peter_m7uk]

ECAM, what's the difference between pop rivets and avdels? I thought a rivet's a rivet?

 

Pete

[Guest chris brown]

With regards to the size issue, is it original Lotus Seven dimensions, ie Caterham size?

It may well be but most of us are bigger than Colin Chapman was and at least his was correctly proportioned Hence a person sitting in could reach the wheel I agree with Jim the concept is good but it needs a complete redesign in lots of areas

[Big Jim]

I'll have to rehash all my plans and start looking at a 2B/4 or 2B+.

IMHO the 2B+ (ie. wishbone 2B) is the best kit that RHSC has made up to date (but it still has it's problems!)

It's just a pity that to get it, you have to buy the whole bag of rubbish that comes with it!

[Nigel Rogers]

Pete,

 

An avdel is a type of blind rivet, see this website for good info on all types of fasteners.

 

Cheers

ECAM (Nige)

[Guest chris brown]

as stated avdel’s are better than normal pops but often leave a sharp nib which needs to be ground down so can be very time consuming and awkward at times

[Guest daveg]

I'm going to the Kit Car Show at Detling, Kent on 2nd/3rd April, so I'll have a damn good look at the Lightweight

 

I'd be very surprised if Richard drives all the way to Kent to show a car thats never going to be built now

 

Also, the new owners may just want the land to build on :angry:

 

I for one am sad to see RHSC go south

 

Dave

[Guest Battery Bill]

ECAM, what's the difference between pop rivets and avdels? I thought a rivet's a rivet

 

An avdel is a type of blind rivet,

 

 

Now correct me if I am wrong but surely a "Pop Rivet" is also a kind of "Blind Rivet" !

[Mitch]

I dont think Richard would sell the whole lot to developers, he could have sold the land himself and moved to a nice new factory, producing cheap kits and engineering his is life, and he did say recently, when asked where he would see himself in ten years,

"In Spain or Portugal with a small rural Rhood agency, perhaps with a small coffee shop at the side, After that a coffee shop in Cornwall"

 

He wants to see RHSC carry on without him at the helm.

 

I for one think RHSC will carry on for a few years yet, maybe a few more models will apear this year, cut price Cobra???

 

Mitch

[ibrooks]

What ever happened to the Rager? I quite liked the look of that (apart from minor things like the fuel tanks and the rear light clusters but those would be easy to change.

 

I phoned them the other day to order my Hood for the 2B which I'm going to be collecting from Stafford and all seemed business as usual (at least such as can be told from a phone-call).

 

Iain

[Nigel Rogers]

Battery Bill

 

Now correct me if I am wrong but surely a "Pop Rivet" is also a kind of "Blind Rivet" !

 

Your right, but apples and oranges are both kinds of fruit!!!! Doesn't make them the same thing though!

 

Cheers ECAM

[Guest elwe]

I phoned them the other day to order my Hood for the 2B which I'm going to be collecting from Stafford and all seemed business as usual (at least such as can be told from a phone-call).

Richard was talking about an upcoming price rise when I collected my 2B today. The price rise is "due to the increase in steel prices" and he said they hadn't put up prices for quite some time. He seemed to be treating things very much as business as usual.

 

If he was going to sell the land to developers they wouldn't be bothered about the lightweight going on sale. I believe they have done a production run of lightweights in mild steel. I can't see the new owners scrapping them. I think it is just a question of marketing. The new owners will be able to buy stock relativly cheaply. If Richard sells a load of lightweights now the new owners will have to pay for the money taken for the lightweights pound for pound. If I were looking to buy RHSC I would want to defer all the sales I could, thus reducing the price of the company.

[Guest TerryBarry]

The main factory appeared to be in a fairly run down area - I can't imagine many property developers lining up to buy it.