Post IVA Work

Post IVA Work

Carpeting     

The first job was to re-stick the rear bulkhead carpet as most of it had come away so it needed re-spraying with contact adhesive. 

Wing Mirrors 

The next job was to attach the standard mirrors to the side screens as the IVA ones, despite being more likely to reduce vibration, don't allow the side screens to be opened more than 90 degrees. I may change them back at some point just to try the car without side screens but not on a regular basis. They went on quite easily as the holes are pre-drilled so only the vinyl needs drilling through. At a later date we will try and replace the bolts with black ones as the current ones are quite noticeable.

Used the same domed nuts as the hinges.

We then quickly drilled then riveted the side screen popper.

Four To Six Point Conversion

The following day we started by putting the car on the new set of axle stands, which increased the space under the car to over 400mm, we set about fitting the new set of crutch straps for the car. We bought these directly from Corbeau (Corbeau own LUKE harnesses and supply Caterham) at the International Motorsport Show in Birmingham this year, just remember that if you are thinking of doing the same upgrade to call and opt for the Caterham style mounting brackets, otherwise you will be supplied with the snap hook style. 

These now make it incredibly easy for me to work and drill under the car, and have made it possible for dad.

First a mark is punched into the lowered floor, done through the mounting bracket. A 5mm drill was then used to make an initial hole, then the remaining material was removed using a cone drill bit from underneath. 

Cone Drill Bit with tape to get the correct sized hole.

Most of the parts for the fitment have been supplied by Corbeau,  except the large penny washers we wanted under the head and the aluminium spacer bushes, which were supplied with the Caterham, intentionally or not we do not know. We still do not know where the card washers are used as both the Caterham manual and the LUKE instructions to not mention them.

Still no idea about the cardboard washers.

To fit we passed the bolt through the penny washer, then the seat pan, then the "top hat bush", then the crinkle washer, then through the harness, then the spacer bush, then the bracket, then finally through the spacer and topped with the nyloc and tightened. Also ensure the front edge of the harness bracket angles down. 

Fully lengthened strap.

After plenty of fiddling I have found that the length of the crutch strap, with with the seat in, comes roughly three inches past the chassis tube passing horizontally through the bottom of the seat pan. (I am 6' 1" and have the seat 2 or 3 notches from the back and find this comfortable to drive with).

Adjust the buckle length before fitting seat as it is very difficult after. Or at least have it shorter than expected then lengthen, as this is a lot easier to change than shortening. 

To fit the seat we have slipped the seat, without the cushion, through the middle of the crutch strap. This allows the two points to come around the seat back, then over the cushion, then the strap is sat on, then comes up through the legs to connect (the opposite way to the rest) to the harness buckle.

Finished result is very comfortable and later on makes for a much safer feeling drive. Or at least it does for us, and definitely for me as I have the lap straps as tight as they go and the crutch strap stops the shoulder straps from pulling the buckle too high.

Handbrake Handle

As a Christmas present I was given a carbon handbrake handle cover from dad, so now we have decided to fit it just in case there was a possible quibble with the IVA. This job seemed easier than it turned out to be, as there were welds under the handle that caused it to be too large for the new handle. This was filed off, then the new handle was slid on and held in place with the grub screws in the underside of the handle.

Really finishes the tunnel off nicely compared to the old ford stock plastic handle cover.

IVA Test

IVA Test

Another early start to get up to Nottingham for half eight, however the car was loaded in the trailer the night before so we could get off straight away at 6am, also making sure that we had all the spare IVA trim and some tools just in case. We arrived in good time and the engineer got to the inspection straight away.

Sitting pretty in the morning sunshine.
We also, as all others have done, left the side screens at home as they are occasionally an IVA failure.

First off the bonnet came off and the car was gone over with a fine tooth comb. He also showed us all the places that they concentrate on, especially the places where the small plastic ball can get to.

1. It was at this point that we were told that we would be required to cover the end of the top wishbones, where the locking nut is on the ball joint. 
2. We were also required to cover the joint where the front brake lines meet through the body panel. The joint at the calliper was deemed to be sufficiently protected by the other parts to be required to be covered. 

He then mentioned that the front bonnet catches should have been better covered. This was a last minute fix as the car had been returned to us without the front catch covers. However instead of failing us he went to sort some paperwork for a short while so we could fix those issues, other than that there were no troubles with the car he could find. He also answered our question about the seat bolts and verified that it doesn't matter to them, meaning that we'll be changing them for shorter ones after we get back.

He then moved onto inspecting the underside on the lift, then checked headlight alignment (which Caterham did for us), then checked the emissions, then he moved onto the dyno to check the speedo and braking, then the sound check, then finally he took the car to the scales for the big weigh in (a whopping 590kg kerb). The biggest relief was definitely the emissions and noise test as many people have failed  on one of these two, especially as the car has only been run by Caterham with 1 mile on the clock, and we have only run the engine on the drive, but both passed, but with next to nothing to spare.  

Glad we went for the EU style tunnel as it proves a good place for a phone and other bits.

All in all we were in and out within 1 hour, and that is including the 15 minutes he went off to fill in paperwork. We were then given the certificate as the car was being loaded, now all there is for is to send the paperwork off and wait for the registration number. This is likely to take longer than expected as we have decided to include a note with the paperwork asking to wait for the registration change on the first of March. At least this will give us some time to do the changes on the car we have planned.

Post, Post Build Check

Post, Post Build Check

Having finally had the chance to have a look around under the bonnet and nose cone we've been able to find a few things that Caterham have carried out over the last week. Here are a few things that may help others who are building their car, and a few things that are the up-to-date how-to's for building the car ready for VOSA.
   

• One job that we were going to do, but ran out of time, was to bend the wipers so they are parallel with the windscreen, which Caterham have done for us.

• Caterham have added another negative lead to the battery, which then bolts to the chassis under the heater control valve.

Extra lead. Also the battery breather hose had also been removed.

The Battery covers have been changed and removed.

• When looking at the oil breather bottle we noticed that they had removed the breather hose, and had removed the hose clips holding the breather bottle hose.

The breather hose we had relocated has temporarily been plugged to stop dirt getting in and allowing us to later fit another cover or hose.

• Admittedly we made a little bit of a mess with the wiring for the right hand headlight, which was functional but not pretty, however it has been moved from under the expansion bottle and onto the chassis tube. Also the indicator earth we had sliced into the headlight assembly had been removed and bolted to the chassis in the same way as we had done on the LHS. 

We can't remember whether this hole behind the brake line was there before, but we can't imagine someone would drill a new hole into a chassis tube.
Also, as can be seen here, the trim around the exit hole for the steering arms have been removed.

• The braided clutch cable had a length of fuel hose over it in order to protect it. No idea how this has been put on, unless it has been cut open and cable tied, as I didn't check. 

• The front edge of the cat guard has had a small length of scuttle trim added.

• The way the handbrake cable has been fixed to the 'A' frame has also been changed. Before we used 'P' clips to hold it off of the drive shafts and the chassis, as others have done, however now it is being held in place with cable ties. 

Cable ties around the rubber sleeve pre-attached to the cable, and onto the 'A' frame.

The length above the diff has been held off by a cable tie.

• Another length of fuel hose has been used to protect the brake hose to the rear brakes.

• All of our cut down seat bolts have been removed and replaced with the original length of bolts...

• For the life of us we cannot unearth what they have done for the quoted two hours removing and re-attaching the Di-Dion ears.

Just no idea...

• The engine seems to be working fine, sounding like it should, and now all of the exhaust it the correct colour. 

• A piece of scuttle trim has been fixed to the underside of the steering rack bridge in order to reduce abrasion to the oil hoses.

From Above.

From the front.

To end the day we decided to add one of the last visual finishing touches to the car by adding the recently acquired nose badge. We decided to go for the black and chrome Super 7 badge sold by Caterham, as the rectangular green monstrosity isn't going to go well with the colour scheme. The dilemma of the badge seems to have been resolved by Caterham as, according to an article in Low Flying, the badge has been changed to a black circular design, which is currently on the 620R and 620S. 

By drilling through and bolting the badge to the nose cone we don't have to worry about the self adhesive patch, on the back of the standard badge, sticking to the paint protection film. 

The black badge surround is very similar to the "Starlight Black" stripe.

The only thing now is the painted grill.

Post Build Check Complete

The Return of the Caterham

As the car is due for its IVA test on the third of Feb we needed the car back sharpish, so Caterham kindly brought the car back on the Friday before the test meaning we have 5 days to sort the car out. However we are thrilled to finally have it back, and now have one night free to do the jobs we wanted to do before the car went up to Nottingham.

Finally Back!!!

Showing off their fancy trailer.

I think he has missed it...

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Post Build Check

Post Build Check

   

We got down to Crawley at 0830 after plenty of traffic on the M25, got the car out of the trailer and finally handed the car over for the post build inspection. The car was also accompanied by several items such as the extra prop shaft and a few other smaller parts which they replaced and wanted the incorrect parts back. 

We were initially told that they should be done by the end of the day, in which they were going to fix the engine trouble, replace the grill with the painted one we had paid for, and give the car the regular once over with the fine tooth comb. 

To kill the time we went to a local cafe to hang around and wait for them to finish, however around 3pm we received a call from Caterham telling us that they weren't going to be able to finish the work, so we drove over for a chat. They explained that the ECU was totally shot and it required a new one, which they didn't have in, and because the factory closes early on a Friday they couldn't get one driven over. 

They also gave us a list of things they had done so far, including wire tidying for the front and rear, changing Di-Dion ears, and changing the rear bulkhead carpet, which they had already said they would change. At the moment we can't see how the aluminium ears are wrong, or how our wiring isn't tidy, however we will have to wait until we get the car back next week.

Build Day 43- Post Build Prep

Day 43- Post Build Prep

Woo... just what I want to be doing on my birthday, but needs must, and the trailer needs loading and the car needs preparing for the Post Build Inspection.

Suspension Set-up    

Before taking the car to Caterham we decided to have a go at getting the suspension set up, with roughly 15mm between the front and back. This turned out to be incredibly difficult due to the rear adjustments put the front out, then the front adjustment puts the rear out. If we had a lot more time then it wouldn't be so bad, but we had a lot to do before we could finish, so we decided to get the difference right and get some advice from Caterham when the car goes in.

The keys for the old Bilstein shocks aren't really big enough for the newer, larger adjustable platforms on the newer shocks.

Fuel Filler Shroud 

Caterham quickly sent the correct filler shroud after we asked them for it, so we've been able to fit it tonight. 

Held down by two self tappers into the boot floor.

Fuel Gauge  

Along with the new bulkhead carpet and filler shroud came the correct fuel gauge to match the rest of the gauges. The correct gauges have red needles, however the fuel gauge fitted had a yellow needle and looks like it is normally from the 620R. 

Correct fuel gauge.

Tyre Pressures 

The tyres come pre-inflated to between 30psi and 40psi in order to properly seat the tyre on the wheel. For our tyre/wheel combo- 15" Orcus Wheels with Avon CR500 Tyres, we require 18psi of pressure in each tyre, front and back. 

Pressure beforehand. Just releasing small amounts until correct pressure.

Loading the Trailer

The big job tonight was fitting the winch into the front of the trailer, and then sorting a power source as Dad's car doesn't have a separate power socket. After the winch was in and working all there was to do was to put the car in ready for the 0530 departure in the morning, in order to get from Cambridge to Crawley for 9am. 

My car's battery powering the winch, and being controlled by remote control.

Carr all done and ready to get into the trailer.

While I steered dad directed and controlled the winch.

Plenty of room either side too, in order to be able to get in. 

Room to spare front and back, with lashing eyes in all corners and two in the centre.

Lashings on all four wheels then crossed for added strength. Also the cover is to protect the car as water condensates in the ceiling.