Hi

I'm sure your blog will be very useful to me. My 160 kit arrives in March. I think there are 3 of us on here awaiting a 160: you, me and Michael Stallard (also has a blog).

At the moment I'm reading the manual carefully. Also reading the Westfield manual, which is much clearer in lots of ways - better diagrams, better photos, lots of general workshop hints.

I look forward to following your progress!

Ned

Great! Now there are three people I can email when I am fretting and swearing over mine. I'm not massively impressed by the manual. Nowhere near as clear as the Westfield equivalent (though that's a much more complex build, admittedly).

I agree with you Ned. When I was purchasing my kit at Crawley in April a 'young thruster' on the sales staff told me he was rewriting the 160 manual to make it more user friendly and I was hoping that my kit would be supplied with this new manual rather than the one on the Caterhan website. Maybe it's time we started asking the question.  

I might have misled with my last comment. I see that in the account holder downloads on the Caterham website there is now a C160 Assembly Guide dated Aug 14 (with a list of amendments dated 20 Aug). This must be the version that I was refering too and although difficult to see the changes v the Dec 13 version, it seems to be better.  

Ah, I hadn't spotted the update to the manuals online. It looks largely the same, though some of the photos are a bit clearer (albeit with some of the labels now dropped off the photos).  

Delivery of my kit delayed 3 weeks - no idea why. However, just bought a number plate 'C16 OPM'. I reckon if I get the 6 and O as close as pos and leave a gap between the O and P (within legal allowances) it will look OK as 'C16O PM'. £399 from DVLA, who are definitely the cheapest unless you want something really exotic.  

Hi. Add another 160 'owner' waiting for his kit (mid-Nov for me) and it's great that there is going to be a '160 Blog' which I shall follow with much interest and constribute whenever possible. Peter and Angie Miles based near Fareham, Hants

C160 kit delivery confirmed as 16 Dec - some crimble pressie this is going to be. Simon - have you any 160 'delivery day' tips I should look out for? Did you get your IVA pack and steering rod ends?  

Ned - you might be interested; Lloyd and Whyte are specialist Caterham insurers and do a separate policy whilst the car is being built @ £78 for a year. This can then be converted into a normal road going policy.   

Thanks for the tip, Peter. I rang round a few insurers, both for build-up and normal car insurance. Quotes varied wildly (Adrian Flux were over £500!). I shall try Lloyd and White before D-Day!

With both of you progressing ahead of me, I feel a warm glow of confidence that you'll troubleshoot it all nicely ;-)

Simon. Advice in due course please. Are you fitting/have you had fitted - a 12v socket (for sat nav, tyre pump etc). If so, I would appreciate a tip on what sort to bought, where you/caterham sited it and into where you/caterham wire it in relation to the wiring diag in the build manual.   

I think there are a ton of posts about this in blatchat - if you can find them... Also there's a link here about how to do this.

I'm going to get a 12v cig lighter to place in the dash (to charge the battery, via an always-on space on the fuse box the other side of the scuttle), and then a weatherproof (capped) 12v-sized USB charger to fit between the seats on the bulkhead (for phones, cameras etc) with a fused wire going along the inside of the tunnel up into the boot.

You can get them from Maplin or a marine chandlers for less than £10. Or on Amazon for less than a fiver.

Fabulous link Ned. just what the Doctor ordered - VMT

Unfortunately the 'weight challenged lady' didn't sing for me today because the left and right hand of Caterham failed to co-ordinate when I was given a delivery date of today. Delivery is now Thurs 18th. 

Simon - when you said you were having difficulty getting the exact Shell lubricants recommended for the C160 I thought you were joking but some 'surfing' shows that there is a problem - or am I being thick. Would appreciate some advice when you finally get yours delivered. 

Having re-read the latest spec I see what you mean re the 'first fill liquids' sub note to the standard kit price. I also see that I might be getting a push button start as standard - I'm sure that was an extra when I ordered the car. 

Ned - to avoid the delivery confusion experienced by Simon and I, nearer the date given by Crawley (Sales), recommend you call Dartford (Production) and ask for Sharon........she runs the delivery drivers schedule!

Arrived safely at last. Start button and Aero filler cap fitted. Some oils (just 5 litres of Shell Engine oil and some clutch/brake fluid) no gearbox or diff oil. I wonder if we can use Shell Spirax S4 AT 80/90 in the gearbox, there seems to plenty of that around in small quantities. No wheels and (annoyingly after Simon's experience) no IVA bag........helpful Derek at Dartford already on the case!

First job done, close look at underside of metal sprayed chassis bars and Hammerite those that are chipped scratched ......quite a few I might add.

If I could find out how to get photo's into this 'blog spot' I could show you the car - any advice on this would be much appreciated as copoy and paste doesn't seem to work..  

Congrats Peter on your new arrival!

Shame to hear about the frame, and having to Hammerite it. Not great. If the chassis is on axle stands, did you creep underneath to do this? Just wondering how heavy the chassis is and whether it can be easily supported upside down first (like Westfields do I think).

For pics, hit the pic button on the toolbar above the message (13th one along), then hit 'Browse Server'. Once you're here, you can upload pics from your hard drive to your space on the Blatchat server. And then select the photo you want, and it should appear in your draft message. The format/size/shape can look a bit weird, but if you hit 'Preview' below, it should sort itself out and you can then Post.

Hope this helps, and good luck.

Ned