Monday 9 April 2012

Day 6

Quiet day today so fitted the brake light switch to the pedal box, fitted the number plate light at the rear and then moved on to the headlight and indicator assemblies.

RH head light on, looks a bit forlorn!

Close up of headlight assembly. I need to sleeve the cabling then feed through to the engine bay. Easier said than done!

Both lights fitted. That looks better!

Next job is the diff and the rear suspension. I have heard the diff can be a pig to fit so we'll see how that goes later!

Day 5


Things are progressing well. With the engine in its time to fit the two part steering column.
The UJ attaches the rack to the lower column.

The top part of the column slides over a flat part of the lower column and is clamped in place. The top column sits in two plastic/rubber bushes and was quite a fiddle to fit.

QR column complete! Just needs a steering wheel.

Back to the hose dilemma! We think the tee arrangement goes like this then attaches to the block near the bottom radiator hose connection

Tee in place!

Steering wheel fitted, Zoom zoom!

Tunnel carpets, rear bulkhead carpet fitted and tunnel top in place. Looking more like a car now!

Day 4

Now for the big stuff! I've borrowed an engine hoist so its time for the engine and gearbox to go together.

The use of a workmate makes a good platform for attaching the engine to the gearbox

All ready to lift!

Easy does it, steady as she goes!

Looking good. Carefully easing the engine down and back into the transmission tunnel.

Engine in place.

RH engine mount

LH engine mount

Next is connecting up the wiring loom. All fairly straight forward, but there is one small wire to connect to the ECU. Not quite sure on this so an email to Caterham tonight!

Next up is the cooling system! Now which hose goes where? Perhaps a job for tomorrow!

Clutch hose attached.

Engine loom earth and MAP unit

Radiator and fan ready to install. The brackets didn't appear to fit but a fellow Supersport builder, Andrew pointed me in the right direction to fit some separate clips to the side of the fan! All sorted now.

Inertia switch connected.

Trial fitting of the J hose

Expansion tank vent hose.

The all important gear knob!

More odds and ends


Front anti roll bar fitted.

LH front complete

RH front complete

Handbrake installed. The build manual says the switch isn't needed but there is clearly a wire! I search on blat chat was not quite conclusive, so an email to CC cleared it up and yes is is needed!

Hood stick fitting and webbing straps installed.

Handbrake cables fed into the transmission tunnel and clipped into place.

Saturday 17 March 2012

Day 3

With the prospect of a delivery of part from Caterham, I set aside another full day to try and get the car ready for the engine installation.

First job is the fixing of the rear brake pipes to the de dion tube. The de dion ears and calipers are fitted temporarily to allow correct fit up. Caterham supply the brake pipe partially pre bent but the final connection to the calip is left to do. once pop rivetted to the tube the brake pipe can be eased round in a smooth arc to the connection on each caliper.




Whilst waiting for the parts from Caterham I had a go at fitting the heater. I had heard this was fiddly but I didn't have too much trouble apart from some wiggling of the wiring loom behind the scuttle to get the interior vent panel in place. I couldn't find the two set screws needed but they are only short M5 screws so I'll find some that are suitable later.



Next up is the horns, an easy fit to the front cross member behind the steering rack.


Now armed with some heat shield material and carefully some patterns, I covered the drivers side footwell to try and reduce any heat build up from the exhaust manifold. I think I will have a look at the passenger side but I don't think this is really necessary, especially considering the plastic washer bottle is fitted that side and would melt before my feet!


Next we finished off the front end by fitting the anti roll bar and then lowering the car to try and get the front suspension settled before torquing up all the fastners. Finally the engine mounts were fitted ready for the next big job, engine installation!!

Friday 16 March 2012

Bits and bobs

What with work commitments and some missing parts I've not done much in the last few days, but have laid out all the parts for the de dion tube ready and made some patterns for the heat shielding of the engine bay. Thanks to Andrew for his tips to use Woolies Trim for the heat shield material.

Andrew also got me to check my front brake hoses and make sure they are for the wide track suspension and not narrow. I had not fitted both ends so didn't notice that they might be too short, but as suspected they are the wrong ones. Another email to Sean!


Thursday 8 March 2012

Day 2

LH shock finally installed after some wiggling and gentle filing of the fixings 
Upright and wing mountings added
Same on the RHS
Front end nearly finished, just  front ARB to fit!
Gearbox mated to bell housing