Had the car on its wheels today in order to pre-load the rear suspension and torque up the fixings. Thought about the method in the manual (lower car onto back axle) but decided (like Simon I suspect) that it was too hairy with a lot of weight in the car. Weighed the car down to achieve 'kerb weight' by adding some fuel and using odds an sods! Torqueing up was no problem although the panhard rod axle end was v difficult to get at with a torque wrench. Next step is the mudguards. 

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Must be a nice feeling to roll it out of the garage!

And it's good to see that the 160 can double as a skip when required...

This is all going to be invaluable advice when it comes to my build. Not long to wait now!

I still reserve the right to pester you both with questions, though...

Cheers, Ned

It must be old age - I went to sleep last night visualizing oil coming out of the back of a gearbox as Ned shipped the engine at a 35deg slant......................!

Well all I can say is it's a long time since I was the subject of anyone's dreams!

Simon - I too am not that happy with the way the hand brake cables lie over the diff; particularly one of them rubs against the (seemingly) fragile diff relief valve when the axle is fully loaded. However, to lift and fix them a bit I used one of the 'special' tie wraps (can't see where else they are needed!) with a black plastic hose holder mounted on it. Tied around the axle about halfway between back plate and diff they make the lie of the cable a lot better. I thought about making a higher mount from the brackets removed from the speed probe and tieing that to the axle but decided it wouldn't look 'neat' so final solution may need to wait until post build check.

Many thanks for the tip re black carbon sill protectors - they look the bees knees don't they. But I had some SS ones delivered with the kit (can't remember ordering them!) so I think I will stick with those.

My diff and gearbox oils were delivered today. In the end they have sent Comma not Shell and an email that says they are the right oils - so they must satisfy the Caterham guarantee and will make DIY servicing a lot easier as Halfords stock it. I have put them in and found that the diff level plug is snagged by the Panhard Rod and the Gearbox level plug is real pig to get at. So I made a 'special tool' out of a bolt head and rammed it into a spanner to get up the small gap between gearbox and chassis rail. 

 Thye also sent some more IVA edging as i didn't have anywhere nearly enough to go around the cycle wings. However, I'm going to start on the rear mudguards this weekend - so I can (unashamedly!) wait to see Simon's blog on the cycle wings before having a go at them. 

Sounds like you are expecting your track days to include a bit of 'bumping and boring' Simon.

Point re oils - they only sent 1ltr of diff oil when 1.3ltrs are required for 1st fill. I have told Derek about this so subsequent supplies might be right, but I went to Halfords and bought another litre anyway. 

Didn't get my back wings fitted this weekend as the SS protection plates take longer to fit than expected. Two bits of advice for anyone else fitting these; clamps are needed, and use a 1/8" drill as the manual says as (although I used the correct drill) I think anything slightly larger runs the risk of pulling the rivet through the glass fibre.

Hi all my car arrived today allegedly with no shortages, I was all fired up till I discovered there is no IVA bag so I left Derek an email, but I did get an extra set of seatbelts!.  I also thought about starting a blog but then my numpty IT skills proved a problem as I wasn't sure how to upload any photos, can anyone assist?

Regards

Martin

Martin - great to hear you are on your way. For photos see Ned's (or was it Simon) answer to my very same question earlier in the blog. 

Simon - taking the car off the axles stands is best done slowly,  one, maybe two steps at a time. As you know,mine was on high, non adjustable axle stands and I felt in necessary to drop it onto (padded) bricks then lower it one brick at a time to avoid tipping it one way or t'other. At the front I used a trolley jack on the centre point under the front of the engine to lift (it balanced OK), at the back I took out one axle stand at a time. I have now put the car back on much lower stands to do mudguards and the interior.   

I have already applied for my IVA (using Caterham's excellent help with their 80% filled in application form) and have got the car 'accepted for test'.....and they have my £450. As recommended by Caterham I used 'ASAP' as a timescale knowing I wouldn't be ready for a few weeks yet, so I will be calling them soon to arrange a more definitive date at my preferred testing station (Southampton). I'm hoping the post build check can be arranged at (say) 2 weeks notice.         

And no, I haven't started it yet; haven't even connected the battery.........it's not that I'm scared or anything............!!  

I'm having a bit of a debate with Caterham at the moment about the 160 car tax. In the IVA document they sent me they identified the tax as £230, I queried this as the CO is 114g/km. Caterham came back and said oops s mistake it should have been £130 as they use cc not g/km.  however the car tax band is only £30 so I'm tempted to put £30 in the application form and see where that takes me. Also Derek had just emailed me back at 8 30pm, something of s star!

martin

Congratulations, Martin, on your new arrival! Please do put a few pics and comments up when you can - I'm just a few short weeks away and the more combined knowledge the better. 

Out of interest: did you get a new manual with the car? Does it differ much from the August 2014 version on the CC website?

Good luck!

Ned

I didn't get a manual with the car, I'm still using the old one from Jan 2014. The August adjustment were 4 minor updates and frankly haven't tackled all the bigger issues in the manual .  Simon I got sent a whole load of IVA bumpf from the dealership and it might be worth chasing them if you haven't got it yet

regards

martin 

You're right, the changes aren't subsantial. There's some new stuff about fitting harnesses, though, if you're going to do that. 

Peter did receive a new manual, I think - newer than the August one. Caterham do seem to be a bit random in what they provide!

Hi All,

I received a Jan 14 manual in a bound form with the kit but am using a downloaded Aug 14 manual at the 'coalface'. Although the differences are mostly torque figures for the back axle fixings there are some minor word changes that have not been promulgated as amendments or, more likely, simply missed out in the newer version - like putting a sleeve in the top radius arm front end is not mention in the Aug 14 version. 

I think the part completed IVA form, + amateur build declaration + Cert of Newness came from 'After Sales' at Crawley; which I think is where the post build check will be done (in the new premises) not Dartford. Just to add more confusion to the likely tax figure; the part completed registration form they sent me says £55 registration fee and £145 tax for 12 months......................so when you've sorted it Martin, please let us know!