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.

Build Day 37- Wing Mirrors, Boot Carpet, Washer Nozzle, and Fuel Filler Shroud

Day 37- Wing Mirrors, Boot Carpet, and Washer Nozzle

To start the evening we finished the brake bleeding as more brake fluid had arrived. As I was already in the car I decided to fit the wing mirrors we had constructed before bleeding the brakes, and fit the washer hose to the nozzle in the scuttle.

Wing Mirrors  

The mirrors have to be first de-constructed from the side screen mount then reattached to the IVA stalks. This is tricky as it requires a few pairs of hands, one to screw the mirror ball mount through the stalk and the other to hold the ball joint in place with needle nose pliers, otherwise the joint just rotates in the mirror body.

IVA wing mirror parts.

Fitting in place with washer in place to protect the paint.

Then the windscreen screws must be removed and replaced with the stalk fittings. The card washer is fitted over the fitting then the stalks were tightened to the windscreen, with the grub screw in the stalk.

Mirror in place.

Washer Nozzle  

Before getting out of the car I fitted the nozzle to the scuttle which is kept in place with a plastic nut. The hose was then cut to length, pushed over the nozzle end, then the hose  was strapped to the back of the wiring loom.

Underside of the nozzle.

Hose tidied out of sight.

Boot Carpet  

We finished by putting the three remaining boot carpets in, all using Velcro strips so we would later have access to the wing bolts. This ended up taking quite a while trying to force the bottom edges around the bottom edge of the floor panel, which we had up in order to make the job easier. After fitting the corner carpets we just placed the floor piece in and left it to settle in the bottom until later on. We then quickly noticed that the fuel filler shroud was wrong, however this was not surprising as the the label on the bag said SV fuel filler shroud.

Carpet in.

Shorter shroud.

Build Day 27- Sill Protectors, Fusebox Cover, Interior Carpets, and Harnesses.

Day 27- Sill Protectors, Fusebox Cover, Interior Carpets, and Harnesses.

To start we continued to finish fitting the sill protectors, but, in addition to the steps previously taken we applied some silicone sealant under the sill to stop squeaking when any force is applied causing movement. (We have however, a few weeks later, that the RH sill has settled and has stopped making a sound whenever pressure is applied, which would have driven us insane every time we got into the car.)  

Fusebox Cover

This took a lot longer than expected due to it being oddly confusing as to how the panel fits in relation to the fuse box. However eventually after a small strip of Velcro and a couple strips of IVA trim to stop vibration noise it was eventually in.

Small strip of Velcro along front edge. I believe this is an IVA requirement (according to the build manual). 

Small length glued in place.

Tidied the 12V Socket wiring, the smaller plug is not used.

Interior Carpets

This got a little messy as the spray adhesive is hard to control. After warming the can in-front of the fan heater we started with the rear bulkhead carpet, then the tunnel carpet, then fitted a couple of the boot carpet pieces, (namely the forward triangle pieces, and the rear rectangle piece). We found that excess came off fairly easily with a little WD-40 on a rag, and that the solvent designed for the adhesive worked a tad too well and started removing paint.

A bit of a stringy mess. 

It was at the point of completion that we realised that the bulkhead carpet only had trim on the LHS and not the other, so we will email Caterham to see what the best remedy is to the situation. (In the end they decided that they would remove the carpet and glue at the post build inspection and then replace it with the correct one.) 

                              

After the carpets were in we cut the Harness bolt holes into the vinyl strip along the chassis tube under the roll-over bar.

A small Stanley knife worked a treat.

We decided that if we ever needed to remove or replace the rear wings it would be much simpler if we attached the corner carpets with Velcro instead of with the impact adhesive.

Harnesses 

This was done for aesthetic reasons more than anything as we knew we would have to remove then later anyway for the boot cover fitment. We quickly found that the bolts were too long to screw in under the roll-over bar due to lack of clearance, and even using the either set of bolts, as there to two varying length of bolt in the Luke boxes. In order to fit them we had to cut roughly 10mm of the end of the bolt for it to fit. 

Later turned out that Caterham suggest fitting the harnesses before the roll-over bar, and thus technically before the rear suspension, and along with the boot cover and interior trim. 

Also now we have done the post build inspection (22-01-2016) it turns out that they didn't agree with our arrangement as they have spent a 1/2 hour changing the bolts!?!?!

We felt that the fitment of the harnesses would be better if we substituted the cardboard washers with rubber ones as we feel that the card ones would degrade quickly in wet weather. Also we don't see much point in the metal rings, that we can only presume are for inserting into the boot cover, but would be crushed under the bolt head. Also in order to reduce the amount the vinyl strip creases under the rotation of the bolt we applied silicone grease around the hole. 

Just remember the red buckles attach to the tunnel and the handle points downwards. 

We'll have to see what Caterham thinks of the way we have done this...