Tony Leigh

Peter, Are you sure it won't come out back to front. When I built mine I'm pretty sure I managed to squeeze the cable in from the top of the tunnel but it was pretty tight and awkward and I may just have been lucky. I did have the tunnel cover off and I guess you have slackened the cable right off before trying.

John, If I understand your post correctly the new mount will work for the SPA mirrors I have attached via the 'Eccles' door mounts in which case I would be interested in 2 such mounts.

Peter, Just catching up on this post, missed a few days and can see there have been lots of comments. If it would help I could pop over with my 2019 420R (so presumably sintered plates in LSD) so you can listen to the noise it makes and take any measurements for comparison. It has Motul SAE 75w140 oil in it as supplied by CC for build, and my car has now done 900 miles and I am pretty sure it doesn't sound like yours, although I do wear ear protection when driving.

Rob, I have just completed my car build and went with the socket and spanner set from Halfords (professional range) that TomB suggested and added other tools as required, to my existing small collection of tools I had collected over the years when doing DIY, tinkering with bikes, etc. You will need a torque wrench (maybe a couple to cover whole range), a low profile trolley jack, and axle stands. I had quite a few tools bought for Xmas / Birthday, so you could suggest Halfords voucher or tools for Xmas. For specialist tools there is a ‘loan’ list on the forum, where members loan out tools for free. I would suggest meeting up with your area group and chatting to them (if you haven’t already). I think most areas meet monthly. I believe the Draper set is pretty good value but if you don’t need all the tools at once you could well get them cheaper and buy them as required rather than in one go. Good luck with your journey. Tony

Thanks Stridey, the lights on my switches do work when turned on (so lamps must be ok), it’s just that they don’t light up when not ‘on’ and lights are on, but as per ChrisC’s reply that is by design for the 3 switches (hazards, fog lamp, and heated screen) on left hand side.

Thanks ChrisC, I can see how that makes sense, but it is difficult to see what each of the 3 unlit switches operate when it’s really dark (no moon or street lights, like it was tonight). Had to get my son to use his phone torch so I could turn on heated windscreen, but I guess you get used to what they do with use.

Thanks for your replies. It looks like my car dash lights are normal.

Just taken my new car (build completed and registered in mid-September) out in the dark for the first time and the rocker switches on the far left (hazard warning, fog lamp and heated screen) do not light up when lights are on. They do light up when switched on and work. All the other lights on the rocker switches light up when lights are on and not activated. I guess this isn’t correct, but thought I would check, and then if this is the case any ideas as to what to check? Tony

Julian, I am looking for a pair of SPA type mirrors to fit to ‘Eccles’ side screen hinge mounts. Will these mirrors fit the side screen mounts or do they just fit screen stanchion mounts? Tony

I am picking up my new car from CC Crawley tomorrow (Friday 20th September). Does anyone know any good routes (or parts of some good routes) from there to Kings Lynn in Norfolk?

Phil, just to add to my previous posts I used ‘purplemeanie’ and CTR mint blogs, both of which show pretty good photos of handbrake cable and just reviewing ‘purplemeanie’ blog you can see he got his adjuster in wrong place initially which is what I was thinking of when I first saw your post, but think you are referring to correct bracket for adjuster so not really sure why it won’t fit. As steveSh3 said the adjuster is on RHS but I think maybe your photo is upside down so is actually showing RHS. Not sure I have actually helped with all these replies, hopefully blogs will as they are pretty good and have descriptions of how they fitted their cables.

Phil, I may have confused you with my post as I think there are brackets on the side of the tunnel not diff where the handbrake cable fits. It’s several months since I did my build and my car is at Crawley at the moment so can’t check. If you look through various build blogs you should be able to find good descriptions and photos.

Phil, That is the handbrake adjuster - it doesn’t fit in the diff bracket. I think all you need to do, from memory, is just loosely run cable in bracket. Other side does have a plastic part that sits in bracket but not particularly well, but that’s just how it is.

Thanks for advice, Jim. I’m hoping I won’t need to contact you for additional mod. Good luck with rest of your build ‘Taped finger’.

The advice back from CC is what they told me, so good that they are consistent. As I said in my previous post my gearbox was tight. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t touching chassis, but it is close. I hadn’t heard of Jim’s wedge idea and my gearbox mounting wasn’t slotted so no way to adjust as per pre-Ikea guidance notes. I can see how loosening all mounting bolts may allow some movement but with my limited knowledge expect that when they are all re-torqued they will go back to pretty much where they were, unless we were expected to slot gearbox mounting plate ourselves. So I am thinking the positioning must be dependent on chassis build / alignment which hopefully is carefully checked before being sent out. I won’t be able to check on the road until I get my car back after IVA, hopefully it doesn’t have any nasty vibrations.

My SV chassis and 5 speed box was very similar (build completed early July). I queried this with Derek Howlett at CC and he basically said there is no adjustment and that provided all mounting bolts were tight that was OK. In the old manual it talks about adjusting gearbox left to right but that is with an old mounting plate (as I understand it). My car hasn’t been run very far yet as it’s due to have its IVA on Tuesday, so not sure whether there will be any ill effects when running. It has had its PBC at CC and they didn’t mention any issue with gearbox, so am assuming that Derek is correct (he has been on other queries I had). So, in summary I think that’s just how they are.

I am finding this post interesting, but it is way above my understanding on the IT side. I can see how it would be really useful to see what data the ECU is transmitting. I wonder how much it costs to get password access via CC. I believe one of the posts mentioned this was an option. Just wondering if anyone knew, as using and configuring all the kit Mark has mentioned sounds like it’s starting to get quite expensive. Good luck with your continuing quest. I will read with interest but unfortunately I can’t add any advice/expertise.

I queried this with Derek Howlett at CC when building my car last month and he confirmed no earth lead is required from engine to engine mount (chassis). This used to be what they (CC) did, but now just go with lead from battery to chassis (unused tapped hole on bulkhead area) and battery to engine housing bolt. It confused me at the time as they actually sent me 3 earth leads and only 2 are required. You will no doubt find as you go through your build several parts you don’t require and probably some missing that you do require. Good luck with rest of build.

Peter, That’s a shame about seal. We aren’t away on 12th, but we have friends visiting. My friend may be interested in coming to look/help so will let you know (assuming you don’t mind another person cluttering up your garage ) but he may decide it’s not fair to leave our wives on their own for the day. Hoping for a sunny September and October to try and get some nice blats in my car when it is finally registered!

Jim, I have thought about it but when I spoke to man from DVSA he was looking at all test locations. He thought there may be a slightly earlier slot in Exeter. Out of the 3 closest to Crawley - Northam, Gillingham and Kidderminster, 3rd September is the earliest date. I live just outside Kings Lynn so logistics without using Caterham to transport car get a bit complicated. We are on holiday in middle of August for 2 weeks so would need to find somewhere in next 2 weeks to improve on September date which I think is unlikely, based on what DVSA said. Just conscious that once I have IVA certificate then need to get car registered with DVLA and that will take another 2 weeks, possibly longer. There is a chance of a cancellation which CC will try and accommodate if that happens.

This post may not strictly be tech talk but I have put it here for any current kit builders who have booked or are close to booking their IVA. I chose to use CC to send my car through the IVA test and arranged for this to happen after the PBC. I arranged all this a few weeks ago and my car went down to CC at Crawley on 18th July. The IVA had been arranged for tomorrow (2nd August). Today I received a call from DVSA saying that there had been a computer problem and they could no longer do the test until September . I contacted CC who have also been in touch with DVSA and the best date they can get at any suitable test centre is 3rd September. Obviously I am somewhat disappointed, as I was hoping to get my car on the road whilst we still have some warm, dry sunny weather. CC have been sympathetic and are surprised at the last minute delay but it is a DVSA problem so outside their control. So, as I stated at the start, my reason for raising this is to highlight potential booking problems for anyone else who has booked, or is in process of booking their IVA. I suggest if this impacts on you, you should contact DVSA to get confirmation of your IVA date.

Wiring of indicators / headlamps is a bit of a pain, but not sure you will be able to make it much better by trying to widen hole in brackets. I have seen some blogs where a dremel has been used to de-burr the hole. I eventually got grommets in place, use lots of silicone rubber lubricant and either cut out bits from back of grommet or split in half and use super glue to stick back together when in place. It is one of those really fiddly jobs that probably when you’ve done it 10 times doesn’t seem so bad but only those who build lots of cars or work at CC get that opportunity - be prepared for some frustration. Grommets don’t really seem to be correct size but you can get them to fit.

Julian, CTR mint and purplemeanie blogs are really good. They are for 420R but presume it should be pretty much same for 360 as it is same base engine. Not sure how to attach links but if you search this forum you will find lots of threads from CTR mint and link to his blog on his posts. He has set up links to other blogs including ‘purplemeanie’ on his blog. Tony

Thanks for all your comments. Fuse box cover fitted, not perfect but good enough, I hope. Looks like an improvement opportunity for a keen design engineer, but I guess it is only a minor item in grand scheme of things.

Hi, I am hoping someone can help with fuse box cover fitting. I am nearing the end of my 420R build and have relied so far on old and new user guides, Derek, and the many very useful build blogs but can’t quite work out best way to fit the fuse box cover. I plan to use Velcro on end closest to fuses and just wedge the other end underneath the dashboard. It all seems a bit Heath Robinson and to get end to wedge under dash I am pretty sure I will need to trim several mm of metal off from this end. There is a bit of a cutout on this end which I can’t see any reason for and the new guide shows what I believe to be sticky foam applied to it - I can barely wedge the thin metal of the cover between bottom of dash and supporting tube so putting any foam there is not going to work. I’m sure Derek will respond in the morning, but I only have a week to finish build before car is off for PBC at Crawley so any advice from those of you not out enjoying summer sun would be much appreciated. Tony