Exhaust & Cooling

I had hoped that by the time I was writing this the front end would be all wrapped up, unfortunately it's not quite there.

Exhaust

I had already fitted the steering column when I came to fit the exhaust, which I thought was a sensible play, seeing as access to that region would be hampered once the exhaust was in. If you follow the order for the pipe installation as suggested in the assembly guide then the pipes can be installed pretty easily. This is in contrast to what I read later, that said it was impossible with the steering column fitted!

Four exhaust pipes - getting on the nuts to torque them is a challenge

Fitting the collector to the exhaust pipes once installed is more challenging due to the reverse springs Caterham use to hold it all in place. The springs are pretty hard to compress, with that in mind I came up with what I think is a pretty neat solution. If you attach one end of the spring to one of the retaining hooks and then use a screwdriver (or similar) in the other end of the spring, you can lever off the other retaining hook to compress the spring. When the spring is compressed secure in this fully compressed position using 3 to 4 cable ties. With a fully compressed spring it is much easier to install over each of the hooks without involving large forces. Note that it still required some filing of the retaining hooks as even the fully compressed spring would not fit over the span.

Installed spring

Full assembly with heat shield - I hope the positioning is ok

Cooling System

Fitting the radiator hoses, radiator expansion tank and cooling fan is fairly straightforward - and it starts to make it look like a proper car! What is less clear is the poorly worded description in the assembly guide for what happens next. I resorted to doodling out two views of the engine bay and where I thought the cooling fluid should be going.

Radiator and expansion tank installed

In summary:

• Use the hose marked as a fuel hose to run from the header tank around to the rear of the exhaust side of the engine, where there is an "L" shaped fixture. 
• Fit the plastic "T" piece to the short "L" shaped hose and then fit the long "L" shaped hose to the "T" piece. 
• Trial fit this assembly to the engine (short "L" positioned with the "T" piece at the top) and cut the long "L" shaped hose to fit to the expansion tank. Remove trial fit assembly.
• Now fit the long straight hose to the other end of the "T" piece. 
• Install this entire assembly to the engine as before now clamping everything down. Note that the straight hose runs beneath the air inlets for each cylinder and along the top of the fuel rail.
• Install the heater (if not done already)
• Use excess "J" hose to create two pieces to run from the heater to the control valve
• I would recommend installing the control valve at this point and verifying the control from inside the cabin. 
• Now trial fit the "J" hose to the rear RHS of the engine. and trim to length. 
• Fit the "J" hose and the straight hose from the "T" piece to the heater control valve. 

Air box

There is very little information about the air box in the assembly guide, so I just made it up as I went along... Mounting to the car via rubber mounts is easy enough, then the filter slots in. There were then some metal inserts to fit into the trunking. Once these were installed, the ridged end of the trunking could then be fitted to the upper air box. Then use the large band clamp to attach the shorter section of trunking to the engine. Finally, fit the upper air box to the lower air box and you are done!

Installed Air Box 

Uprights and steering

Finally, over a month after taking delivery the uprights have arrived! First job was to assemble them onto the car. The integration of the cycle wing-stays caused a little issues, where the central hole needed to be filed to make them fit (both sides). There are also a few bolts in here that are hard to access with a torque wrench. The lower upright bolt has a surprisingly long thread on it and that prohibits final tightening with a conventional socket... The nut on the upper wishbone is hard to access at first, so tighten the majority of the way using a spanner and then a torque wrench can be used for final tightening.

LHS upright assembled

 I did then get a bit carried away and loosely fit the wheel and cycle wing; starting to feel like a car!

Starting to look like progress is being made

With the uprights installed, I then fitted the anti-roll bar - which was entertaining. With plenty of grease on the balls, it required some serious force and a measured amount of hammer before it would go. With that does the front end is in a tidy state.

On to the steering and a recurring theme emerges. I had to file out one of the holes in the universal joint to allow it to fit - not something I was keen to do at all, but it got the job done. Fitting the upper steering column is a bit of a challenge as the lower white plastic bush is easily dislodged when sliding the column in. My only answer for this was perseverance. I would advise that you position the column such that the curved surface is pointing outward toward the RHS of the car; this will allow the clamp to be installed much more easily as you can actually get on the bolt heads with a socket. The upper rubber bush is also a bit of a challenge - a good amount of rubber lubricant and brute force and it will go eventually. With the steering wheel installed it's starting to look much better in the cabin!

Nice MOMO steering wheel, great size and feel for this car

Odds and ends: 

Other jobs completed included fitting the brake lines to the de-dion tube; my first experience of riveting - quite good fun. The brake lines were also bent to fit, echoing the sentiment that Caterham may as well send straight pipes. With this done the de-dion was set in place, but the upper brake line couldn't be installed due to a dodgy thread on the male union.

De-dion and driveshaft in place

Having the brake lines in place I kept the rear brake calliper assembly attached to the aluminium ears for later.

LHS ear with the calliper attached

With a final view of the rear I looked at installing the rear dampers and found that the roll bar needed to be installed. I had it loosely bolted in place previously, just to put it somewhere. Actually installing it was a bit of a pain. More filing of the rear mounting holes and a good bit of hammer action enabled the bolts to be fitted.

Roll bar fitted

When I got a bit carried away with having a wheel on and pondered adding the cycle wings; however, there was no clear marked positions for the two holes required to start the drilling and assembly process, just an orange dot...?

No clearly marked positions for holes 

Moving Rearward - Differential

Following the engine install, I had hoped to get on to the steering column, cooling system and exhaust to finish off the front end. However, I start reading the AG for the steering column and it starts with needing to position the uprights in the straight ahead position; not so easy with no uprights! Without the steering column in I did't want to start on the exhaust as it would probably hamper the installation of the steering column at a later point. As for the cooling system, looking at the from of the car the radiator installation is probably better done after the ARB. With the front end sort of stuck, I moved rearward to the dreaded differential install.

It is at this point I will apologise for not posting anything last week, that was due to the "revenge of the diff". I, somewhat foolishly, went in with the "how hard can it be" attitude, and it turned out very. After realising my predicament with the front end, most of last Sunday was spent trying to install the diff. In summary there were many failed attempts, due to the limited jack travel and the awkward nature of the mass of the diff and the space you have to manoeuvre.

Removed boot floor and diff handing in place from the engine hoist

By the end of play Sunday I had a new plan. I removed the boot floor (wooden section only - 4 screws) and used an engine crane to lift the diff up through the boot floor. This was a much better plan! With a busy week the diff just hung in place throughout the week while I did some other small jobs, like drilling and installing the indicators to the cycle wings.

Nice neat job - drilled the holes progressively (i.e. 4mm, 7mm then 12mm) then filed out for a good finish 

This weekend the diff was installed, quite swiftly, when done with two people. One to man the engine crane and another underneath the diff to manoeuvre it into position. Once it was in position it was pinned through the upper bolt holes using a screwdriver and a short metal tube. the lower bolts were ten fairly simply installed allowing the top bolt to go in. For the top bolt, my tips would be to leave one of the temporary pins in, use lots of grease and do not be afraid to beat it with a hammer until the bolt pushes the pin out of the other end.

Spacing the diff is something I am still confused by. I am unsure what I am meant to be measuring to, in order to centre the diff. If i measure to the edge of the car or the ARB brackets it suggests I am nearly 3cm out and it will not go any further in that direction. Conversely it already looks like the propshaft is angled slightly in that direction, suggesting I need to align it back the other way... Another issue was the washers to be used as spacers, I scoured the supplied fastener pack and found what I thought it must be but they did not fit over the lower bolts, as I decided I only needed two, I filed them out to fit.

Original (LEFT), filed out to fit (RIGHT)

Getting the BMW hubs out of the diff is an interesting job. It feels as though you are being very destructive and requires a remarkable amount of force. Putting a screwdriver in and prising the hub off little by little (top then bottom) is a way to do it, but don't be afraid to use some serious force as nearly all the components your levering tool will come into contact with are to be discarded.

Removed hub, quite a large bit of waste. Note the groove in the splined shaft, I thought it may be circlip-ed in place, hence why it is a brute to get out 

It was fairly simple to fit the RHS driveshaft to the diff once the hits had been removed, but as I write this the LHS is still and unresolved mystery. We tried filing out the ends of the splines as they still had some metal burrs on them and adding a taper to the end of the shaft to try and help it fit, but to no avail - a question for Derek.

LH driveshaft (LEFT) and RH driveshaft (RIGHT), has the left one not finished manufacture? (no taper etc?)

Moving on from that issue, I looked at the rear brake line assembly. With the assembled callipers in place, the brake lines were quite a bit out. Any tips for bending this tubing? I really don't want to cause the walls to collapse...

RH brake line and calliper, brake line is supposed to terminate in the hole currently filled by a red bung

Hopefully, I will have some uprights next week and can get the front of the car finished. In the meantime here are some diff install tips:

1. If you are going to use a jack to lift the diff, ensure it has enough travel. 
2. Again, if a jack is to be used, consider the lifting feature on the jack and how it will interact with the diff to make sure it lifts in a stable manner
3. My recommendation would be to remove the boot floor as it gives you more visibility 
4. With the boot floor removed, it is better to use an engine crane to lift the diff into place; it is a much more stable way of lifting. 
5. DO  NOT UNDERESTIMATE - this is a two man job. 

Engine install

Using an engine crane borrowed from my Dad's friend (which handily fitted into the boot of Fiesta), the engine was all set to be installed.

Successfully borrowed engine crane!

I had expected this to be a bit of a job and a half, but it really wasn't the case. Clearances were tight (especially on the gearbox and the transmission tunnel) and the LH engine mounting had to be removed from the engine part way through and re-installed later. The gearbox required the support of a trolley jack to help the vertical alignment of the whole system, but those issues aside it was a fairly smooth process!

Engine nicely installed.

Gearbox visible in the transmission tunnel

Looks much more substantial with the engine in!

All in all, a pretty successful evening. I feel much better now the car has an engine, it's a bog step forward. Roll on all the cooling, exhaust etc. jobs!

Front End Pt2

Having been stuck waiting for parts, they began to come through. As a result the headlights are on; quite a tricky job, due to the wires, shape of the mounts and the bolt through the wishbone, chassis and headlight mount.

Looks good with some "eyes" now

With the arrival of the bolts for the dampers they were installed. Again the upper bolt for the dampers requires a great deal of patience, as access is somewhat of a challenge.

Dampers installed

But alas that is where the progress on the front corners has ceased. I have no upright assemblies, and Caterham have informed me it will be at least another week!

In the meantime, I have moved on to the engine and gearbox, which is now all bolted together ready to go in the car.

Ready to go!

The engine bay is also (nearly) ready for the engine, with the engine mounts installed, washer bottle and horns installed. Unfortunately when installing the LHS engine mount Caterham had drilled holes in the chassis but not through the external bodywork, so I found myself drilling holes in the bodywork. Roll on the weekend and an engine crane!

RH engine mount

LH engine mount and washer bottle

Another aspect I had a little look at was the handbrake, having got some missing items. All was going swimmingly until I came to bolt the handbrake assembly to the chassis. The front bolt went in ok, but the rear bolt holes in the pre-installed brackets aren't even remotely close to lining up. Pending further investigation...

Pretty unclear photo, but it's hard to get into the transmission tunnel! Basically the bolt holes are so misaligned the bolt will not go in, even without the handbrake assembly in the middle

Front end

n line with the Caterham build guide I started at the front end the car. Prior to commencing any "true" build tasks, I followed the advice given in Andrew Bissell's blog, which was to start with the IVA trim around all the openings in the bodywork. I followed a similar technique, by cutting V shapes in the back of the IVA trim where it was necessary to fit around some of the front suspension supports. On the whole this seemed to go pretty well, although it was quite a fiddly little job, but, with the help of a few plastic golf tees (used to shape and support the rubber trim) it's all in place. Considering the fact it was so fiddly, I am glad I did not leave this until the end!

All nicely siliconed in place

Following the IVA trim was the initial fitting of the steering arm (with IVA trim), which was a nice straightforward job to start with and a good introduction to the Caterham system of fastener packs and how the instructions were going to refer to the content.

The lower wishbones were  assembled several times with a few different washer arrangements to get a good fit and spacing, before finally being torqued up; this is definitely easier as a two man job. For the upper wishbones the rear bolt was inserted and tightened, while the front bolt opened a new avenue - front lighting!

Since the front headlight mount needs to be installed prior to the front bolt of the upper wishbone, it is advised that the headlights be assembled. Cue the return of the horrible IVA trim tat was required on the indicator cones. Eventually, I gave up with silicone and superglued the trim in place; this worked much better. as for the rest of the assembly, it was pretty painless, if a little fiddly and required a new hole drilling (the Caterham pre-drilled holes were miles off!). Unfortunately, I then realised I could not put this on the car, due to a lack of rubber grommets to protect the cables.

This turned out to be the start of a bit of a trend... I went on to try and fit the dampers only to find that the bolts that should be in the chassis, were absent. Undeterred, I looked for the uprights and brake callipers to ensure they were assembled, alas none were to be found...

That pretty much sums up the front end at the minute - stuck, with a lack of parts...

It's Arrived!

After many months of waiting the kit has arrived!

 

 There is something strangely satisfying about seeing so many boxes and car bits with your name on them!

More good news, it fits nicely in the garage.

Opening all the boxes was like Christmas morning all over again! I have sorted and organised the boxes into what seemed like a logical placement and order, but who knows. I'm pretty happy with all the bits that have arrived, although I haven't seen any wing-mirrors yet... Who needs to see behind anyway!

Job one as many others have suggested was a good bit of rust protection. For me this involved a Dinitrol 3125 for the engine bay, with special attention given to the "grot traps" and at the rear around and behind the fuel tank. This was followed by Dinitrol 4941 for the general underbody. Not the most fn job to start with but an important task. I am still debating making some infill pieces to block off the grot traps, any thoughts?