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 25- Side Screens, Knee Trim, and Sill Protectors.

Day 25- Side Screens, Knee Trim, and Sill Protectors.

While I had been away on my oil Tanker Course dad had been fiddling and had managed to wrap our  

Side Screens

First we attached the hinges onto the windscreen using the black bolts, black domed nuts, black washers and some loctite to hold it together. (On this part be careful with the bolts as the heads are very easy to gouge out with allen keys so use minimal hand torquing) Then we put masking tape down the leading edge of the RH side screen, lined the screen up with the hinges and marked the drill holes with a pen. This is tricky as the holes comes very close to the edge of the internal metal frame, when trying to get the back of the screen to align concentrically with the rear wing. 

Aligning the side screen.

Cleaning out the screen.

After drilling the holes we cleaned out the swarf, with a paper clip, from under the vinyl exterior. Finally we gingerly attached the rest of the hinges to the door and fitted it to the car.  

We then intended to move onto the other door, however when we unwrapped the other screen we discovered that it was a scuffed second hand one that had been drilled already. We will have to get Caterham to send us a new one as soon as possible. The second hand one can go onto the pile of things that are going back to Caterham at the post build inspection.

Knee Trim and Sill Protectors

Before any of the interior panels can be riveted the sill protectors and the knee trim panels have to be fitted. We started at the front and worked our way backwards, firstly by inserting the knee panels then marking the holes as the pre drilled ones, as all have discovered, are nowhere near being in the right place.

Panel holes centred and clamped ready for drilling. 

When going to fit the panels we decided to fit them using self tappers instead of rivets so we would later have the opportunity to remove the windscreen if and when we buy an aeroscreen.

Tappers in and rubber trim sandwiched in-between the body and the side panels.

We continued to put the self tapping screws in until they reached adjacent to the scuttle edge, then moved onto fitting the carbon sill protectors. First we ran a length of masking tape along the bottom edge of the deeper side of the protector. Then held it in place with the front edge in line with the rear corner of the scuttle, and marked the holes for drilling. After drilling the holes we did the same with the armrest catch having aligned it with armrest pin. 

Surprisingly tough to drill these little bits of stainless.

Sill in and looking great, thankfully we remembered to fit the rubber trim. To fit the rubber trim we drilled holes through in transit so as to guarantee the tautness of the trim.  

Riveting finished. As we don't have the other screen we can't move on to the other side.

Speed Sensor

While Dad finished the riveting I decided to fit the speed sensor. In order to protect the cable we covered it with heat shrink, then installed it in the bracket. Hopefully it will work properly as others have had trouble with it in the past. 

Shrinking to fit.

Hopefully this is enough gap between the sensor.

Heater Hoses

To finish the evening we had a quick tinker with the layout of the hoses as there are many things that restrict the layout.

The 'J' Hose on the right had to go over the top and pinned thus otherwise the shape would kink thus restricting flow. The submarine T piece has to go upside down due to the long end of the T piece not fitting inside the P-clip, and because the earthing lead not being long enough to actually reach the lug anywhere else. The P clips are just being used in order to remove kinks. This is made worse by the fact that trying to get the T piece any close puts a kink in the hose coming from the heater control valve, no matter how we arrange the hoses.