CtrMint

I added washers inside the Ali box section as I thought the surface area of the bolt which screws into the seat was way too small. It seems to me the safety is brought from the harness rather than seat fixings.

Yeah harnesses fitted fine, thanks

absolutely, they are correctly orientated. I've just swapped the fittings underneath for the ones that Mark w used. After some significant force on the seat I've just managed to get the remaining bolt in. I guess using the other type of fixings they can get away with such large holes as the washer surface is much larger. So annoying this approach isn't in the any documentation, for a novice like me this is really challenging. I tested the cap head bolts on the drivers side too, they pretty much pass all the way through, i think the holes are drilled to M10, nuts. Drivers side has gone on with greater ease too.

Thanks all. Well I've got to the point of bolting the seats underneath and found that the holes in the floor are all over the place. I can at best get 3 in. The holes are also way bigger than the M8 needed, how the hell do they get away with that! I truly hate this car!

Sorry guys more woes. Thought I'd fit the seats, get them out of the living room. I've got the 620R style seats. First issue I've found is that the hardware kit does not match that in the manual and so I'm missing the appropriate length bolts etc. I received x2 3FV179A but need 30Z1062A for the fixed rail and 30Z1063A for the adjustable rail. That's taken from the new manual. The old manual references a previous design of fixed tube which isn't the same. The fixings I got are totally different. I also received x8 10mm plastic spacers attached to the seats in a bag, the spacers are the same size. The manual clearly states I need spacers of different sizes. I've emailed Derek, but wondered if anyone knows what the correct configuation is? I'm tired of CC. My bolts are M8x35 caphead instead of being a mix of M8x25 and M8x20. Is this because I have larger spacers? Mind you the rest of the configuration doesn't work, for instance I dont have the large washers for under the floor.

The trial and error I ended up doing that anyway.

Jim, I believe I got everything straight. I heated the wrapping up but it just went soft rather than shrink. In the end I cut the wrapping down and applied so other heat shrink, still didn't work.

The situation with the lights...... I built the lights early on following a blog post, which included passing the indicator light up into the headlight bowl etc. The job was a pig and a half, but I did it. I picked them up the other day to finish and mount to the car, mainly because it was an outstanding item I needed to finish and I'd left them off so they didn't get damaged. Each headlight needed the cabling passing through the bracket with the grommet. I tried for hours, tried every trick in the box, including cutting grommets, differing size grommets, put various parts of the cabling in. I even resorted to grinding the hole bigger with a die grinder, Nothing worked. One of the brackets looks really rough now and I still can't get a grommet in. The bracket probably is fine, but I'm a bit of perfectionist so want it look immaculate. This occurred after my despair with the radiator etc. Probably wasn't the best strategy. I need to replace the bracket, but I don't have the inclination to rebuild the light. Thus I approached CC for ready built set, they told me to do one. Thus I'm considering a 3rd party to pay. The problem is I'm so disappointed with car and the service I've no energy or desire for it. I've not updated my blog for weeks which is also a massive shame too. https://www.caterham7diaries.com That said, I did go to the car this afternoon. The harnesses are now fitted, no issues.

PM me your address, I'll send you a spare in the post. I had to buy 4 (min order size) and only needed one so you are more than welcome to one. If you buy one you'll end up with 4 too. Alternatively the company is Polymax, www.polymax.co.uk Item, B2015M820-1.5 Description Cyl. Mount (M/F) 20x15mm M8x20 50 ShA Item Price £2.57

Guys, Its Sunday afternoon and I should be working on the car, but I'm not due the details in the thread, but I am still wondering what to do. Obviously I have some irons in the fire already including emailing McDonald, selling up, but I'm wondering if a 3rd option might be to seek support from an independent specialist? I'm not paying 90GBP/hr to sort issues, however if an independent could help, say supply lights made up etc I might have chance to move beyond the negativity and finish. Is this unrealistic? Any recommendations? Sorry slightly off topic I know.

I've just been searching around looking for new 420R cars to then checking the radiator configs. I cannot find any like mine. I really do think they've sent me a bad configuration. Typical example found https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/caterham/all-models/caterham-420r-brand-new-andamp-unregistered/9161752 Could some one link the PH article pls

What the black plastic mesh above the rad?

John, I informed Simon Lambert of the item when I found it, he dismissed it saying they couldn't warranty it, preferring to warranty a cut item, go figure! I'm still waiting to hear back from Mr McDonald before considering any further steps, either build or sale.

Update on the bobbin. As mentioned in a earlier post I ordered a 3rd party bobbin to avoid cutting the supplied item as I was unhappy with that as a solution. It has taken time time arrive, I guess due to Xmas post. Here is a comparative photo of the two, the left being the supplied item with a diameter too large to accommodate the top hose. The right being the aftermarket. The new item seems to be every bit as strong as the original item. Both are 15mm depth, I've replaced just the one clashing with the top hose. The only thing hacked off is me ;-)

To all again, thanks for the support and replies!!! I have the email address. I'll let you know how I get on.

No Michaela. I've lowered myself to using Twitter!!

I've resent my last email adding Simon. I am so angry, I'm not even sure why this person is even involved..... This was a last ditch attempt to get a 7 on the road, but once again they are just taking the Michael. I just don't get it, how on earth they feel this is an acceptable way to do business.

My frustration gets worse! "Michaela, Thank you for the email. I am completely amazed by the response. Can you please forward me Graham Macdonald’s email address so that I may express my views in writing. Thank you, Mark" ------ "Thanks for your email. Would you please be able to outline your issues so that I am able to feed this back to our Service Manager. There is an escalation chain of command and therefore I must pass this on to him first. Many thanks,Michaela" ------ "Michaela, I am not satisfied with the quality of the product period which has resulted in my decision to quit the build. Passing this to you as a dealer is not an acceptable outcome, nor is it a dealers responsibility to address. Thank you, " ------ "Hello, I’m sorry to hear that you’re disappointed with the product. We were under the impression that you wanted us to finalise the build for you, however if you wanted to discuss the quality of the product then I would recommend that you contact whoever you purchased the kit from and they can escalate this accordingly. Sorry I cannot be of any further assistance to you Best regards,Michaela" ------ "Michaela, Oakmere are not responsible for the quality of the kit and cannot do anything to address my issues. Please can you supply the details as requested. My only alternative is to reach out via Twitter publicly which is neither professional nor beneficial for either party. Thank you." ------ I'm supposed to go back to Oakmere!

In a desperate last ditch attempt to salvage the car I asked CC to collect and finish. This is the response. "I hope you’re well? My name is Michaela and I work at Caterham Gatwick, I have been contacted by Derek Howlett to help you with the following. I understand you have expressed an interest to have your Caterham 420R collected from the Isle of Man and for the remainder of the build to be completed by ourselves. The build would not be completed at the factory itself, it would be built here at the Gatwick Service Showroom, or if you would prefer you could have it built more locally to you at Oakmere. You would however have to contact Oakmere directly for their availability and costs. Please see below for a clear and concise breakdown of our advised costs: Collection: Approximately £1500inc Vat for collection. This is subject to ferry charges/ dates available and would be confirmed once we have agreed a collection date only. Build completion: This is difficult to advise on as we would first need to inspect your vehicle to determine the status of the build. However as an approximate guide, we recommend approximately 60-70 hours to complete a 420R build from start to finish. Therefore if you have made some progress already this could reduce the hours required to complete the build. Vice versa, if you have built some items and these are incorrect then we may need to undo before we can re-build. We would inspect the vehicle and agree an amount before commencing the build. Our hourly labour rate is £90inc Vat. Once the build is complete, the next steps are to present the vehicle for an IVA test & register the vehicle. IVA Test: £450 payable directly to the DVLA IVA Presentation Package: £495 for Caterham to present your vehicle for the IVA Test. We cannot guarantee a first time pass, therefore if your vehicle were not to pass we will cover the costs of any re-test fees (£90 per re-test) and rectify any failure items, with no additional cost to yourself. Registration: £310* payable directly to the DVLA. Combines a one-off £55 registration fee plus £255 for the 12 month road tax. *Prices subject to increases from the DVLA. Once the vehicle is registered you may wish to visit us and collect the vehicle to drive home, this would be an incredible chance to run the Caterham in and to meet our team. You may however need to consider return delivery costs should you wish to have the vehicle returned to you. Our earliest availability for collection and to schedule through our workshop would be February 2019. Again, to re-iterate as you purchased your Caterham from Oakmere you may wish to contact them directly for their costs etc. We look forward to hearing from you." Anyone want to do the math on that. Many of you have suggested getting a hold of Graham McDonald... its time! By my calculation CC can build a car at the factory in 27.7 hours, based on those rates.

CC have refused to supply lights which I can bolt onto the car, stating I will need to get those doing the PBS to quote!

Thanks John. I don't think it will result in less than perfect work, it might be part of the problem why I don't accept some of the topics discussed. I'm the sort of guy that hand details under their car at least once a year. I do need to get the car completed or sold as it's blocking my Exige in. I have a small double garage with worktops in, which means there isn't a fantastic amount of room and I've only managed to achieve sufficient space by using dollies to push the Exige into the corner. I can't get it out without moving the Caterham out. I also can't swap them around due to the work tops and internal door, the Exige being a V6 is too long. I do recognize its probably going to take time to sell, and I do want to be transparent, for this reason I'm reluctant to sell via PH which tends to be a nightmare of speculators. Worst time just before Xmas too.

Guys I'm not sure what to say. I'm going into the garage on an evening to try and work on the car, but coming out swearing at the car and feeling totally frustrated having achieved nothing. For sure the radiator is a massive joke and you are correct CC's response is likely to be bull, though they did offer to swap the rad if I was prepared to wait. I declined as I couldn't face another fitment of the oil hoses. I tried the final fitment of the front ARB and headlights this week. I can only get one side of the arb in, and sorry I've withheld from swearing but, but there is f*ck all chance of getting that grommet in the head light bracket. I resorted to drilling/grinding the bracket hole wider but that hasn't worked either, I'll need to get another 37GBP!. The one head light I have been working on now looks like its done 50k miles. Luckily CC sent two extras by mistake, their failure sometimes pays off! So that's basically how I feel, there is no enjoyment now, I don't want to finish it, other than to remove parts from the house or get the car on the road. Unfortunately every job becomes a nightmare, it just pisses me off. Nothing works with it. A couple of owners have suggested give it time, but you just go back to the same issues. Now you might be wondering if I'm being impatient or not giving the car chance, and possibly not prepared to work to resolve issues. That's not true. I've worked on and modified many of the cars I've owned and while this has included typical stuff which might be considered easy its not always been the case. For example I replaced the OEM suspension on my DC5 for a set of Bilstein B16 from a Civic EP3 which work great. Unfortunately the rear top mounts and bush inserts aren't compatible. The supplier didn't know this or have a solution, and I must have trial fitted the suspension at least 3 times while researching the comparison between the DC5 and EP3 standard parts before I worked out which additional components I needed. I know this isn't rocket science, but for a complete novice, I stuck at it and got to the bottom of the problem. Additionally I swapped the rear camber arms for adjustable units. My DC5 has HIDS with the leveler float on the camber arm. The after market item didn't support that so I had to template a new design and get it fabricated. I designed it and it works a treat, again I overcame that. My point here is the Caterham just seems a botch of crappy parts which don't fit or are poorly designed and the consumer is left to fudge a solution. Why is the grommet on the headlamp so dam tight etc. Revise it, its not practical and it is important, its an IVA requirement. The accelerator pedal isn't right, so lets bend it! I've never mentioned this in a previous post but what the hell is plywood doing on a boot floor. I got a carbon dash and a boot floor made of plywood ffs! Sorry I think my frustration is leaking out here, and I certainly don't wish to come across poorly, everyone here has been fantastic, its not your fault. But the sum of the parts here just leads me to say what the hell am I doing with this car. If I was in the UK I'd get it collected and completed, but I'm not and doing so will be terribly expensive from the IOM. So I feel my best option is to sell up, take the hit and go back to having fun in my Exige. I'm ready to put the tunnel carpet and top in, but just can't find the motivation to tackle what should be a simple task. Also the knee trims, they need to go in, but how the hell do you wedge them between the chassis and the rubber trim? Just can't find the motivation as I know it will turn into a botch. For what it's worth, before posting the advert I wrote to Derek asking for a fully built set of lights/bracket I could bolt on. If by some remote chance it comes through it might restore some motivation, but I think there is zero chance. I did offer to buy, but that was before I saw the pricing.

Thanks Jim, I dont really consider that a solution. It's up for sale, I've simply had enough.

For Sale : New 420 R S3 Incomplete Build I’ve taken the decision to advertise my new kit 7 due to a poor customer experience and subsequent lack of interest in the product. A history of my issues are documented on the forum. I will continue to build the car until a sale is achieved, but will not progress into IVA or reg. The car is located in the Isle of Man so a buyer will need to collect. The build has progressed such that the chassis can be quickly made to moved on its wheels. Car was ordered through Oakmere. The car is not advertised elsewhere as I want to ensure any buyer understands the issues I’ve faced. i.e. complete transparency. Equally I will reserve passing comment on how Caterham warranties work and the post build inspection cost included in the purchase etc. Spec of the car is as follows. Caterham 7 S3 420 R Delivered Oct 2018. Paint Lotus Toxic Green Decal Pack Double Stripes (Silver and Black) Painted Cam Cover Lotus Toxic Green 13” Apollo Black alloy wheels ZZS (6” Front & 8” Rear) Tonneau cover - carbon vinyl Boot cover - carbon vinyl Full weather equipment with interchangeable composite wind deflector Heater Seats - carbon seats with padding Fully carpeted interior Track day roll barI have no experience of residuals but understandable want to recoup as much as I can, hopefully a forum member is looking to short cut the delivery wait. 37,000.00 GBP. Build has progressed beyond the supplied image.

The assembly is off the car, but there doesnt seem to be any room to get a grommet in no matter what I do.