Keeping Cool

After the exhaust, I finished the cooling system. All the hoses are in - I had to find the thinnest hose (it was in the 'Shortages' box but not labelled as cooling hose). Lots of cutting later (including trying to decipher the hose requirements without a heater...) and a copious amount of jubilee clips and it was done.

A couple of points about the radiator... Don't over-tighten the nuts that hold the fan on - it's all just aluminium and I managed to pull one of the threaded pins through the support bar. Only tighten until you can see a couple of threads past the nut.

And the aluminium spacers in with the radiator must go between the rubber support bobbins and the rad - two per thread keeps the assembly off the front roll bar.

It's exhausting

Got the exhaust in next. The down pipes are fiddly to get in so make sure you protect the edge of the bodywork where the tubes come through. Find your own way to get them in but keep an eye on their location in the hole through the bodywork.

The rest is fairly straightforward except for one thing. The springs that hold the cat on to the downpipes don't fit so I had to cut the the ends off one set of the hooks. Stretch the spring as far as it will go and mark the length against the other hook. I then just put a Dremmel cutter to it.


Last thing is the bracket that supports the silencer. The Assembly Guide shows a different support bracket (attached to the car) to the one in the kit. Thanks again to the Caterham Motorsport forum community.

Radiator next...

Thanks to Paul

A separate post to say a big THANK YOU to Paul for his help in fitting the engine.

Hoisting the engine in

In with the heavy lifting gear today and I had some help from Paul (he who collected the car with me). He'd lent me his engine hoist and was the best chap to operate it.

Once I'd made sure the chassis was protected, the engine was lowered into position nice and slowly. I recommend the starter motor gets fitted in advance of the engine being lowered in (I didn't and it was REALLY difficult to get the three bolts in).

The engine needs some persuasion to get it on the bell-housing (and on to the shaft coming out of the gearbox) but we got there in the end.

Just keep an eye on the Assembly Guide as there are a few mistakes - mainly which bolt goes where but it's pretty clear where the errors are.

Also, you need a 9mm (-ish) hex-head long reach socket (or, more likely, an imperial equivalent) for the LH mount - but I don't have one and can't find one so torquing it up will have to wait...

Getting in gear

Got the gearbox in today. I know that the Assembly Guide says to fit the gearbox and bell-housing to the engine before you load it but a rumour I might have heard while chatting to some Midlands-based people who work for a niche motor manufacturer who I recently picked a CKD car up from... said to fit it in stages.

It had been filled with oil (keep it tilted with the propshaft attachment up after the oil goes in as it leaks when it's not in the car and attached). So it was heavy. And I know I shouldn't but I fitted on my own. I jacked it up and then lifted it into position. Luckily, it caught the propshaft OK and slotted in nicely. After that, the bell-housing was a doddle.

Blimey - it's a car

Seats went in today which makes it look even more like the finished thing - albeit powered by the Fred Flintstone or Newton method.

It's worth pointing out at this point that it might have been wise to fit the steering column BEFORE the driver's seat went in as you really need to load the lower column from 'inside' of the car. I know I'm jumping ahead but I had to load the column from the front of the car and scratched the panel that the steering rack fits to. And make sure the transmission tunnel trim goes in before both seats, too (it will go in if one has been fitted).

The driver's seat was really fiddly. In short, fit the front bolts into the floor first but don't slide the sliders too far to manage this as it then sits too far back. When they're tight, get in, slide the seat all the way forward, struggle to get out as your 6-foot frame unfolds itself, take a few breaths as you won't have been breathing properly for about 30 seconds, then lift the back of the seat slightly and reach in down the back with the bolts to attach the rear.

Like I said - it's fiddly.

Riveting stuff...

Finished all the riveting on Thursday night in the hope that the seats could go in on Friday. Just watch your fingers...

Incidentally, I had to make sure I used the right rubber strips in the right place. You get four pieces in the kit and two are shorter than the others. I found the longer pieces were good for along the sill while the shorter pieces were good for the shoulder line rail. Make sure you check the lengths are correct before you commit to putting them on. Additionally, I only had to cut a notch in the strips by the sharp bend on the inner panel at the bottom of the shoulder line - the strip fits OK if you drill then rivet each hole one at a time.

Mind your fingers

Now finished the rear suspension - caliper bolts go to 35Nm (it is written in the Assembly Guide at the end of the Rear Suspension section).

While fitting the rubber beading along the sill, I was struggling with a stubborn rivet and all of a sudden it locked into place and the rivet tool slammed shut with my middle finger trapped between the two arms. Cue a huge amount of pain, a lot of wailing, a surprisingly small amount of swearing and a large blood-blister on the end of my finger.

My hearing seemed to have a rest for about 20 minutes after I did it too. Very bizarre...

Heads, shoulders, knees and rears...!?

Frankly, the last few days have been very productive. I spent Friday, some of Saturday and some of Sunday working on the car. On Friday, I set about trying to finish the rear suspension - starting with loading the driveshafts. I wasted a long time trying to re-sit one of the metal bands that keeps the rubber boots on the driveshaft - I got it eventually...

Before I got to fit them, I had my wife help me load the roll cage onto the car. It's a big, heavy frame and needed both of us to get it in position. Sadly, I managed to scratch one of the rear-most posts but these things happen - it's a racecar but I'm still a bit disappointed.




So I could be getting on with the rear, I attached the flexible brake hose, and started on the ends of the De-Dion tube. Pretty simple stuff and no problems putting it together. You have to properly attach part of the roll cage in order to get the rear spring/damper units in. A major point to note is that the bolts needed to attach the top of the spring damper unit comes from the Rear Suspension fastener pack (the Assembly Guide suggests they're from the Rear Axle pack). The bottom bolts are important to get right and resulted in my only major swearing from the weekend. Despite the advice in the Assembly Guide to remove the rear bolt from the A-Frame, I ploughed on and started to cross thread the lower bolt. As it's an imperial bolt, my metric thread restorer struggled but an M12 x 1.25 was just big enough to take the edge off the damage and the bolt went in OK. MAKE SURE YOU REMOVE THE REAR A-FRAME BOLT BEFORE TRYING TO FIT THE REAR SPRING?DAMPER UNITS!!!

While I was here, I fitted the nylon washers to the rear A-Frame bolt which I found in the Rear Axle box (they're in a small plastic bag with the big washers used under the hub nuts).


The knee panels were next and these have proven to be the most difficult parts to fit. At first glace they don't fit but to cut a long story short, I slid them in behind the rubber beading and re-drilled the holes in the inner black panel. This put new holes in the knee panel and I was able to put the screws in - but I missed the furthest forward hole as there isn't enough screws!


So just the rear brake pipes to bend and attach to the calipers before finishing the rear suspension (I've also got to attach and set the handbrake cable - after the transmission tunnel trim is in). Next is to finish the rubber beading and riveting on the inside panels before getting on with the gearbox, bell-housing and engine.


Just a footnote to say I got to take a look at one of 2009's cars as John Whittaker lives 20 mins from me. From the trip I found the speed sensor is now fitted to a rear Anti Roll Bar bracket (the speed sensor bracket doesn't seem to exits), and the knee panels look different. Thanks to John for this - it was a great help.

Here, there and everywhere

Just to complete the pictures of the front suspension...

You'll see the steering rack is now in - I can't finish the front until the engine's in.

As I need some help in getting the engine in, I figured I should start on the rear suspension. As the diff is now firmly in place, I put the brake pipes on the De-Dion tube and set about assembling the calipers {note that when you offer the rigid brake pipes against the De-Dion tube, you have to form them to the shape of the tube by pushing them GENTLY against the De-Dion. Additionally, the ends that will ultimately attach to the caliper will stick up in the air - these will require bending to suit}.

Sadly, the caliper assembly instructions are incomplete in the Assembly Guide. Therefore, I can't be sure of the torque to apply to hold the two halves of the caliper together. There is a good guide on the Caterham Motorsport Forum sent to a 2009 racer. Follow this link to find it.

As I can't get the rear spring/damper units fitted until after the roll-cage goes on, I set about putting the seats in - starting with the seat belts (or racing harnesses!). There isn't a torque value quoted for the shoulder straps so I've assumed them to be the same as the lap straps for the time being.

Anyway - there are a couple of things to look out for. There are two holes in the transmission tunnel where you have to mount the inner lap strap - make sure you use the forward one (it's the one with the riveted indented panel beside it). Hopefully this piccie will help - I got it wrong the first time (and I felt like an idiot!)...

Secondly, you need to drill two holes for the crotch straps for the 6-point harness through the floor. I checked several times to make sure the holes were in the right place BEFORE I started drilling. Additionally, I started with a small pilot hole from above before drilling the hole to the correct size from below.

Once I got the harnesses in, I tried fitting one of the seats - but I had to stop before fitting it altogether as I need to add the rubber piping on the inner panels (by the sill) but I can't do that until the roll cage is in.

The harnesses look good...

Just make sure the lap straps are fitted the right way round...

So I went back to the rear suspension. I got the radius arms fitted OK, and then the A-Frame. Only the upper radius arm bolt is torqued at the moment so still lots to do. Driveshafts next...

So I've been from the back to the middle and to the back again. I've got three potential options for continuing - the engine and gearbox, the roll-cage or the driveshafts. Not really sure which to do next...

Missing parts have arrived

Just to mention that the steering rack arrived on Monday and has been fitted as much as the Assembly Guide allows (it has to be finished when the engine's in).

And the Gearbox Fastener pack and gear lever arrived on Tuesday.

I've now got two more boxes to add to the dozen-or-so I already had...

What a 'differential' a day makes...

Having spend most of Friday looking for parts, Saturday was a day out of the garage. On Sunday afternoon, I decided to tackle the differential as I couldn't make any headway on the gearbox.

The diff is a big lump of metal used to direct drive from the propshaft (which runs parallel to the car in the transmission tunnel) through 90 degrees to the rear wheels. A point to note here is how essential it is to place the propshaft in the transmission tunnel before the diff gets fitted - if not, you have to remove the diff again.

Once we (my wife helped with this) had done all the lifting, measuring and general fettling to get the diff in place, we tried to line the bottom mounting bolts up. This is where progress ground to a halt for a while. Much head-scratching, swearing and chin-rubbing later and we were no nearer - the distance between the mounting points on the chassis was LESS than the two mounting points on the diff.

A plea went out to the Caterham Motorsport community and they didn't disappoint. Use a narrower bolt to support the diff through the top mounts and the bottom mounts line up. Get the lower bolts in and replace the temporary bolts in the top with the correct long bolt.

Those who feel nervous about gratuitous use of a rubber mallet might want to get someone to help with the next bit as having coated the top bolt with copper slip, it needs to be soundly walloped to get it through the diff. After 10-15 mins of smacking it (good for the aggression relief), the bolt was through and I could get the nut on as necessary. Except, I'd forgotten to put the washer under the bolt head which was 11 inches, two chassis mounts, two diff mounts and about 15 washers away! I was not amused...

Anyway - after all that, the diff's fitted. But not before I had to remove it for a third time to make sure the washers were fitted the right way round. In places, they're chamfered and the chamfer has to be towards the rubber mount where appropriate.

So I can now choose to press on with the gearbox/bell-housing/engine fit or continue with the rear suspension.

Found it...

Done absolutely nothing on the car today but thanks to those who answered my plea on the Caterham Motorsport forum, I found the clutch release mechanism.

That is all.

A frustrating day

So I'm not getting the steering rack for a couple of days. I carried on today trying to prep the chassis for taking the engine and gearbox. All I achieved was fitting the horns, the engine mounts and the handbrake lever and cable.

I spent most of my day looking for parts, breaking them, going to the shop to replace them, or looking for parts. I also spent a bit more time looking for parts.

Eventually, I found the earth cable that fits to the LH engine mount - it was in the right box but had slipped under one of the flaps at the bottom... What hasn't turned up is the clutch release mechanism and gearbox fixing pack. I'll have to order these from the Caterham factory but they won't receive the order until Monday...

In the meantime, I think I can get on with the propshaft, diff and rear suspension (which is why I fitted the handbrake).

Some front suspension pictures... finally

Finally my pictures are working so here are a couple of shots of the front suspension going in. I've moved on a bit since...

The following is a picture of the bolt at the top of the spring/damper unit. As mentioned below it was a real paid.

Still waiting for the Steering rack...

Bizarrely, I can upload images taken on my mobile so if these don't look as good it's for that reason.

Right, I've fitted everything at the front except the steering rack. You should know that it's not arriving today after all. It was only sent today and assuming the courier Caterham use deliver on a Saturday, I'll now get it tomorrow.

I've now attached the braided hoses to the calipers which was tricky as the hoses aren't too flexible. Additionally, the Assembly guide describes a small and a large copper washer to go on the banjo bolt but all the washers are now the same size. I still need to find out if the anti-rattle washers supplied with the banjo bolts are needed...



Roll bar went on OK but bear in mind that the balls shouldn't be pushed all the way into the sockets as the bush mounts might go past the chassis rail. This picture might help...



Or it might not...

I'm now moving on to some chassis prep before the engine goes in. I've drilled the holes for the washer bottle bracket but as the Assembly Guide doesn't specify which rivet is needed, Caterham Midlands have suggested 'any that's long enough that will also accept a small washer on the inside'. There is a long rivet in the Fastener pack with all the others so I'll take three of those.

The horns are relatively easy once you've got the 13mm nut loosened (which I did by holding the horn on the boss that the nut is on in some grips). Up next was the washer nozzle which is horrible. In order to hold the plastic nut so that the nozzle can screw in, I taped it onto a 10mm socket which was on a 6" extension. Tighten it with a 13mm socket on the extension but only by hand - even then I managed to split the nut (which resulted in the first swear word of the day). A quick trip to Allen's Motor Services and a replacement was sourced (along with a spare nozzle). For the record, it's an AUTOBAR WASHER JET - DOUBLE - 841. It's exactly the same.

I'm off to tackle some riveting - I really hope that the holes are in the right place.

And there's an additional item turning up tomorrow: a fuel filler cover (which I think I've got already...).