April 2008
This section shows the build process during April 2008.
Summary
It feels like its the final push now to get the car finished. Still a little bit to do, but the end is definately in sight now.
5th and 7th April 2008
Got the front wings and lights on.
These two pictures show a front wing with the lights taken from the rear and from the front. At this stage the lights aren't connected yet - that's the next job.
It was quite a nervy task getting the wings on because holes had to be drilled in the wings for the front indicator repeaters, and also to fit the wings to the wing stays. Also, two holes had to be drilled through each wing stay section and this needed to be accurate so that the wing properly covered the wheels. After a few dry runs, eventually got the wings on satisfactorily, and they look quite good I think.
Before fitting the wings though, the side repeater lights firstly had to be fitted. Then, the headlamps and front indicators also had to be fitted. Fitting the lights was a relatively straightforward process, although they are not aligned properly yet.
These two pictures just show the wings and lights on from the front and rear.
As well as this, a small task was to finish fitting the SVA covers. The correct covers arrived, so this was an easy job but was something that was needed to be done.
Next up is connecting the lights and testing them....
27th April 2008
Attaching the front light wires, a number if tidying up things, and seeing if I could get car out of the garage for the first were the challenges for today....
I was waiting for Caterham to send some covering for the indicator repeater, and when that came it was a question of connecting the lights up to the wiring loom in the engine bay. Thw bundle of wires has to be fed into the wingstay tube, where they then emerge in the engine bay. They are then cale tied neatly in the engine bay.
Something that I've been putting off (not sure why really) could not be put off anymore, and that was cable tieing the electrics in the engine bay. Also, got the nose cone on, as can be seen here, and some more cable tieing of other items to make them more secure.
It was then a case of putting the bonnet and wheels on, and lowering the car to the floor for the first time. This was a great feeling actually - looking at the car on the floor with it finished it actually looks like a proper car and I think it looks fantastic. I'm really pleased with how it's turned out now
The first picture is of it in the garage, and the second is just after I drove out of the garage for the very first time.
I live on a small private road, so I was able to drive it up and down a couple of times. I didn't get out of first gear,
but at least I can say I've got a car now that actually works!
I've put a quick video of the first time out of the garage on the private road in front of my house on Youtube. It'l be available below very shortly....
Just updated the Excel spreadsheet and I've done 155hours on the car, which isn't bad. I'm looking to get the car SVA'd towards the end of May, and I'm planning on driving it to the test centre. Before I do that, I'm thinking of getting my local garage to have a look at it and MOT it (an MOT isn't needed legally, but at least then I know it's safe to drive). Also, I'll ask him to check the wheels and light alignment as I've only guessed at those currently.
So, that's more or less it - I have a car that works. I'll update the site again after the SVA, and in the run up to that I'll go through the assembly guide to make sure I haven't missed anything.
A bit nervous about the SVA, but fingers crossed it'll go through with no problems. Fingers crossed on that one...!