NedK

Simon

Your track walk was really helpful. Much appreciated! Esp the bit about shaving off the Molehill...

All the best

Ned

No glare at all, even on a dark night. The inside of the hood is black, and doesn't really bounce the light around at all.

With the normal hood on, of course, the LED strip doesn't show through the window if you mount it on the standard rollover bar. I'm not sure whether there's any detectable glow from behind - probably looks rather nice if there were!

Ned

Hi Mark

I definitely recommend a high-level brake light, fixed to the top of the rollover bar. Very cheap and easy, and makes a real different to visibility. Loads of posts on here about how to fit etc. You'll need the small extra loom from Caterham, unless you're a dab hand with connectors and soldering irons...

Ned

Ditto. Corbeau are really helpful people. One technical guy called me  out of the blue the day the order was shcedule to arrive, to explain in detail how to re-rig the buckle so the 'fixed' connection was the crotch strap rather than the inboard lapstrap. Top people.

Ned

One bit of prep advice: buy some cheap thin foam carpet underlay in Homebase - about 13 quid for a big roll - and cover every inch of the car bodywork with it (taped on with normal masking tape). And some cheap pipe insulation to cover every inch of chassis tubing around the car. Doesn't guarantee a scratch-free build, but certainly helps.

On engine hoists, does anyone have one to lend near Twickenham? I need one for a few weeks while I do the engine/chassis/bodywork shuffle on my Elan. (Happy to donate to charity etc)

All the best

Ned

I'd support the idea that there needs to be a clear distinction between the Assembly Guide (which is written, edited and owned by Caterham), and the wiki, which is the property of the L7C. One forms part of the sales contract between an owner/builder and the company. The other is a very useful source of tips and tricks.  

Otherwise, it's going to be very hard to figure out who's to blame when something goes wrong. We can't expect CC to pick up the pieces if somebody follows a blog or wiki article to do something not specified in the AG, and then comes unstuck. 

Ned

It can definitely happen. Once you've got the kit, my advice would be to make sure you've got next weekend's jobs planned by Wednesday, so that you can call Derek and he'll get you the parts by Friday... This happened several times to me.

N

All sorted. thanks to Simon's code. Now it has a modest over-read, which is more acceptable. 

By using GPS data from my phone, combined with the car's ECU data, I can log the two speeds on the same graph, and see the variance. Luckily, I've got better things to do!

Thanks to all

Ned

Of course, Simon, you've reminded me! Thanks very much for the info. I will have a play and put in the new code.

You're right about the badger. I was worried it would have smashed the nosecone, or even just knocked the dzus fasteners out of alignment. But luckily not. Tougher than you'd imagine, given the bloody great clonk I felt through the car!

All the best

Ned

Hi Jonathan

I agree on the under-read. The speedo looks like a standard Caterham one, though its scale goes up to 160 (geddit?). There are two senders, which plug into each end of the live axle, and are collected up into the very complex loom. 

Everything presumably is added up by the ECU, so I imagine any calibration would be done there, rathe than in the instrument itself. It was good enough to pass its IVA, but presumably they weren't caning it on the rolling road..

Ned

I'm not sure if our speedo is exactly the same as others (we have a different rear axle, and a different ECU...). But I've realised that my speedo is out of whack with GPS speed.

• 60 on the clock is about 63 on the GPS
• 70 on the clock is actually 75 on GPS
• 80 on the clock (on the track, don't worry) was 87 on GPS

Are you finding the same? I first noticed it as my MPG via the ECU didn't match what I was finding using the speedo's odometer. There must be a way of reprogramming I guess...

(Peter, FYI I use a simple cheap OBD2 transmitter, plugged in by your right knee. It connected immediatetly with my phone, and lets me log GPS and engine sensors - hence my Goodwood video telemetry! )

Ned

PS had my first prang yesterday. I hit a badger on a dark backroad when it ran out from a hedge. The only damage was the front number plate, which flew over my head and into a hedge. The badger (once I'd reversed to get him out from under the nost cone) ran off, presumably with a bad headache!

Ha! If anyone can tell me how to delete an unwanted post, I'd be very grateful...

One thing worth checking if you combine road and track insurance: does a prang on the track affect your no claims bonus for the road? I'm assuming it would, if you're combining the two. 

I've gone for Moris, who were really helpful today.

Ned

I was thinking the same thing... Let's have a look tomorrow!

Ned

It was a great day out. Looking forward to next year!

Ned

I bought my vent tube from Tayna batteries. Very helpful and quick, and only £3.83 + P&P. Fits into the battery side perfectly, and I just popped a couple of rivets and tiewrapped the pipe down towards the road under the car.

https://www.tayna.co.uk/Banner-Battery-Vent-Tube-P9171.html

Ned

Mine was taken to its first IVA on a trailer/transporter. Because it failed on a brake problem, CC drove it to Dartford for the next one, and the brakes were fine.

I recommend talking it through with Paul Gilchrist nearer the time. He's a very helpful and  resonable chap, and I'm sure will be sympathetic to how you want to do it.

Ned

Not sure if this is helpful, but the standard yellow stripe on mine is called 'Firecracker Yellow'.

A search for that comes up with:

L24 Firecracker PJ 6170X5150

on a site called Seloc which is for modern Lotus cars. It's a great wikipedia-style resource. Wish we had one too!

Ned

That's an elevatortuous pun, JK. But I bet there slots more where that one came from.

FYI, I ordered a LH and RH pair from Caterham recently. Even though the boxes were marked LH and RH, inside the harnesses were identical. I didn't fancy swapping one over, so they resupplied me a correct one.

Both mechanisms are now on the inside of the car, which I find is more convenient.

I spent quite a while setting Bigheads up on my new build - following the excellent R500 blog by Daniel. Same thing happened to both of us: Caterham covered them over with Sikaflex during the PBC!

OMP Nurburgrings are nice boots. They don't make my wide-ish feet any narrower, but they don't add any more width.

N 

Where on the IoW do you find yourself in stop-start traffic...?! Garlic Farm at teatime?

Back on topic, the pre-fitted insulation that Daniel mentioned feels like good quality, and is nicely stuck onto the chassis panels around the footwells etc. I think it would be very hard to retro-fit, though, unless you're willing to pull a lot of stuff out of the way.

Ned

Is there a master list of where parts come from? I've picked up some clues here and there (mostly on lights, and turbo things specific to the 160), but it would be very useful.

Something for that Wiki...

Ned

Thanks to all. Today is D-Day. I picked a great day to drive to Crawley... 

N