January 2008
Summary
4th January 2008
As was mentioned last month, I checked that I had the correct brake pads. Caterham confirmed that I did not have the correct ones, so sent me the correct set.
I've also recently received a letter from Caterham about changes to the registration procedure. In summary, as well as the SVA test the DVLA reserves the right to request an independent inspection, as they always have done. However, these inspections are currently being enforced 100% of the time, according to Caterham's experience.
The point of the test appears to be to check that the builds are being done properly and photographic evidence needs to be presented. Caterham have said that I shouldn't have a problem in light of me producing this build diary. Unfortunately though, these extra inspections are not offered by the DVLA on a 'while you wait' basis. Also, as the car will not be registered, the car will need to be represeted on a trailer or simiar.
No doubt I'll cross these bridges at a later date, but won't worry about it for the time being
5th January 2008
Had another look at the car today....and got it started!! Very pleased indeed - and it sounds fantastic too! It was something obvious in the end - I had the incorrect wire going to the ECU. The wire I actually needed was coming out of the RHS of the car and was no where near where it needed to be. I cut a number of the cable ties and routed and connected the cable and imeediately the immobiler light started flashing!
There is a start up sequence that involves cranking for oil pressure first. To do this, the inertia switch is firstly disconnected and operate the ignition switch until oil pressure registers. On my car, this took around 30-secs.
Then, reconnect the inertia switch, turn the ignition switch, press the ignition button...and the engine started first time!
Not really many pictures to show here, but I thought I shold record the moment in someway.
This is a picture of the dash with most of the lights on.
This is a picture of me in the car gently revving the engine. I put the wheels on incase
the vibrations made the car fall of its axle stands, which fortunately didn't happen.
Also, a 20-sec 215 KB low quality video from my mobile is here. It's a 3gp file. If you get a load of text when you click on the link, you can save the target to your machine and run it from there.
I can't say how pleased I am to have got the engine started. It's a big step forward, and I feel that I'm getting there with the build now! There's a little way to go yet, but it's all coming together.
12th January 2008
Received the new repalcement brake pads today, which have the correct part number on them. It was fairly tricky getting the pads in and then sliding the calliper over the disks, but got there in the end.
Had a go at bleeding the brakes, but they are still not quite right so will need to do it again. There is some pressure there now, but they still feel a bit spongy, so they're definately not right.
The bleed process is:
There is a note in the build manual that the rear brakes can be hard to bleed and the advice is to gently tap the callipers through the process to help release trapped air pockets.
This shows the RHS rear brake calliper and pads fitted. The water is where I washed it down to ensure
that no brake fluid was on the car or parts, as it corrosive to paint work and powder coat
I was able to borrow a torque wrench that is able to go up to 270 Nm from someone from the South West Lotus Seven club who lives near me. This is needed to torque up the 41mm nut that secures the disk to the driveshaft. As an aside, it was really good to see another Caterham fully built....I've defiantely made the right choice!!
Got the RHS torqued up correctly, but a bit of a disaster on the LHS. The LHS is a reverse thread, and I was very careful not to cross thread the bolt. However, as the nut was approaching the correct torque setting, the nut failed and the thread of both the nut and the LHS driveshaft is damaged.
I've explained this to Caterham requesting a replacement.
14th January 2008
Caterham contacted me agreeing to supply a replacement, which is great news. Also asked them to send new nyloc nuts for the de dion ears (incase they get damaged when I remove them) and some more diff oil, as I will more than likely lose some when the drive shaft comes out.
To hopefully prevent too much wasteage, I may tilt the car so it's on its RHS wheels, and keep the LHS side on axle stands. This is all a bit of a pain, as to fix this will probably take a whole day, but at least I'm getting replacements for what is required, which is good. Caterham do want the old one back to test it and/or fix it. I'll send this up (along with the propshaft which was incorrect) when I take it for a service.
As well as that, I've been having a think about SVA and where to take it for its test. As part of the kit price, there is a 'free' post build check offered by Caterham, but Dartford or Glucestershire are a fair way to travel. Alternatively, I can take it to Exeter for its test and maybe get someone to look at it locally prior to the test. I need to make my mind up about this as I need to get the SVA form sent off, but I'm currently leanign towards the Exeter option.