rockinroyston

I had a lot of issues with CC at the PBC & they seemed to think it was open cheque book time... Fortunately I had a lot of correspondence with Derek during the build & whose help was invaluable & also took lots of photo's. I had the first section of the pictorial guide which had a lot of mistakes within it (but gave you a false sense of security). Main issues I had were with wiring & cooling pipe distribution which the 'manual' contained wafer thin guidance... I made a fuss & they reduced my bill by 50% (but that was still a significant sum) spoilt the CC experience for me a bit as I went from super helpful Derek to what appeared to be the CC 'final hurdle' profit making department.... But loving my car & it has behaved impeccably, 2 years now!

Rain stopped for a bit & went for a quick blast up Kop Hill, fortunately got stuck behind an old lady lol.

This worked for me, very happy with the mirrors & I can now see behind me.... https://www.lotus7.club/blogs/spa-mirrors

http://spa-uk.co.uk/Products/ViewProds/66 went for the formula mirrors, a bit pricey but they seem well made & do the job!

Got the mounts from 'Eccles' on this site, they are fantastic & fitted perfectly. The mirrors are a transformation as well! I can now see whats beside me which is a massive improvement on the standard ones. I went for convex glass which gives a much wider view as well. A bit of a palver to get them set up on your own without an assistant as you can imagine but got them sorted in the end.

Enjoy! I sold the purchase to the missis based on the 'good re sale value' lol, but so far she's had more opportunities to drive it than I have & loves it, so I think its safe in the garage for a while! (hers got booted out onto a side road...).

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Well took a measure to it & looks like panic over... as suggested by Elie Boone i measured the distance between the Centre & the nut & they are both the same. Visually it looks different so I did it a couple of times (just because it still didn't look the same lol) with the same result! very bizarre & makes a bit of a mockery of the 8 turns on the thread guidance if the threads don't match on both sides.... Caterham must have disconnected & wound them inout as I cant see any other way they could have done it. Wasn't mentioned when it went for its post build check up.... I do recall it hardly managed it up the ramp when they picked it up for its PBC & had no sense of direction... I assumed it was just the tracking... must have been everything....

yes I set it to 8 threads & it came back looking like this (which I hadn't clocked until they mentioned the tracking was out when they did the 1000 mile bolt check. I'll take a measure from the centre of the rod to the locknut. I've no idea what the camber actually is as it was done by Caterham South behind closed doors. & sorry I meant wishbone ball joint, a picture paints a thousand words as Telly Savalas would say. I've also dropped Derek an e-mail to see what he thinks..

I used temporary bolts on the top too, managed to get the diff in on my own using an engine hoist. A lot less dangerous than balancing on a jack! https://www.lotus7.club/blogs/diff-almost

adding two photos was a challenge... heres the other one...

thanks, strange its different on the blogg page.

photos attached on my blogg https://www.lotus7.club/blogs/track-rod-ends

Track rod ends Had my 1000 mile bolt check completed & everything was fine apart from the tracking which they adjusted & there was a noticeable improvement (ive only done 400 miles in it lol the project manager had completed the other 600...). Had a quick look at the front suspension when I got back & one trakrod end has a lot of thread showing & the other one has none? Can this be right? I would have thought they would be identical? I know they started off as identical when I put it together as I had to take the suspension apart to do this... https://www.lotus7.club/blogs/return-front-suspension

Had my 1000 mile bolt check completed & everything was fine apart from the tracking which they adjusted & there was a noticeable improvement (ive only done 400 miles in it lol the project manager had completed the other 600...). Had a quick look at the front suspension when I got back & one trakrod end has a lot of thread showing & the other one has none? Can this be right? I would have thought they would be identical? I know they started off as identical when I put it together as I had to take the suspension apart to do this... https://www.lotus7.club/blogs/return-front-suspension I'm not sure how to add a photo to this query so I'll put two up on my blogg /sites/default/files/images/users/39634/xlarge_2017-09-16%2008.51.01.jpg

New mirrors arrived & been fitted... when it stops raining I may get to test them out :-( went for the convex glass & from my driving seat in the garage it actually looks like they may be of some use... only time will tell... Sustained my first Caterham injury (to me), sunny day plus shorts plus new doors flapping about = burnt leg on the exhaust.... I need to review my car exit technique on the rare warm days! bloody hurt

Been putting off this job for ages as the thought of duradotting the roof was just too hideous to contemplate... but as the rain looks like it will never stop I finally decided to do it... Rolled out the roof & what a surprise most of the dots were already on! result! it still took ages to do the doors etc... I have to say doing the soft goods has been the least favorite job of the build really. All done but didn't get the vote of approval from the project manager & admittedly it did look like it was wearing an ill fitting mac (but it was fitted correctly...). Having been caught once in a hail storm I did have some motivation tho... The difference the doors make to the wind noise is a massive improvement tho! but even number one son said I should leave the doors off... Fitted the mirror mounts supplied by Eccles & these worked a treat! temporarily fitted the standard Caterham mirrors but I do need to investigate something a bit more elegant & they also contribute to quite a large blind spot which is not great on roundabouts. So far I've racked up about 900 (s)miles most of which have been trouble free. & have my 1000 miles check up booked in with Caterham for mid September (holidayskidsworkweather have played havoc with my diary...). Left hand indicator is going at double speed which I assume must be the indicator relay as all the lights are working, & the drivers side 'windscreen wiper' flew off at speed during a thunderstorm... fortunately I managed to retrieve it but a bit embarrassing as I had a piss taking passenger on board... Hopefully there will be some 'proper' Sun before we reach Autumn :-( update: Found the issue with the indicator, the crimped wire on the back of the front indicator hadn't been crimped on properly by Mr Lucus & it had become detached... bit of a pain as access is zero to crimp it back on.. going to have to put in a wire extension piece & crimp into place, bit of a bodge but its either that or taking off the headlight stalk & redoing the wiring. Having done this a few times on the build I don't intend to re visit that little project :-(

Project manager driving carefully.... looking forward to getting home so I can have a drive... 2 weeks to go....

Well happy, at least I had the car for a week before I had to go away for 2 months :-( and pity it rained virtually everyday! I've left it with the 'project manager' to look after..... fingers crossed! still haven't put the roof or doors on yet & I still need to put get few miles under my belt to get used to it but its great to drive (pity about the driver at the moment tho lol). Reversing is interesting & not as much lock as I had expected, certainly seems less than both the tin tops. Haven't got into the garage in one go yet (its straight off the main road & no drive) which is a bit embarrassing.

Picked up the car from Caterham which was a bit of a low tech 'here are the keys & see you later' affair. Car sounded great! and everything seemed to be in order! so set off in bright sun shine but then hit the M25 & the clouds & rain soon appeared. It has to be said driving a Caterham with zero miles on the clock in the rain with no doors or roof (on the M25) is not the best way to spend your first few hrs with a new toy! The wind & road noise above 70mph was just ridiculous so had to play with the trucks & random drivers in the inside lane which is not my normal road position... felt very vulnerable, cold & wet... not a great start but managed to get home in one piece. After a thaw out & some food (& the sun came out) I took the boys out for a spin around some of the nice local driving roads which was much more fun! I also found my ear plugs & put a coat on... altogether more pleasant & the heater works well! Also took the project manager for a spin & she lasted a mile before she wanted to drive... & did well! So quick summation... loving it! but I wll be selecting 'avoid motorways' on the sat nav. Due to a local 'do' on Saturday night my plans for a drive on Sunday were canceled... probably for the best. Unfortunately my work is mentally busy at the moment & I'm going away for 2 months next week so will leave the car in the project managers hands... Looking on the bright side at least I have a week of driving before I go which wasn't necessarily going to be the case. Not going to get a chance to do the doors & roof yet & so far I haven't even taken the bonnet off to look at the new pipe work & wiring... on the list... I don't think I am man & machine in perfect harmony as yet & its going to take a while to get used to it, I can also see my ex biker 'defensive driving skills' will need to be re learnt... p.s. the wing mirrors are rubbish on the motorway... but amazingly the windscreen wipers were surprisingly effective... I had intended to get the go pro sorted for the first drive but ran out of time. I'll get it sorted for a drive in the sunshine on nice roads! never been a fan of the M25... even less of a fan now...

My car now officially exists! picking it up from Caterham South on Saturday! very excited!

seemed odd to me too!

I used Dinatrol anywhere I could spray it in... & underneath the whole car. A bit shocking when you first put it onto a nice flat clean surface lol, but dulls off & whose going to be looking underneath... I'd rather it didn't go rusty...

Footman have been really good & were also the most cost effective of all the company's I went to. Some of the so called 'specialist insurers' were less than helpful! The valuation thing confused me tho, I could understand it if it was an old car or historical car but straight 'out of the packet 'I would have thought would be a formality. I'll give Guy a ring anyway!

Thanks Jonathan, I'll give him a ring!