Obodiah

I didn't bother with the bracket. Just used 3M Dual Lock to tape the Caterham ACES unit to the dash. Works fine.

Another vote for the oil / water heat exchanger. I also have the F225 upgrade but without the combined oil pressure/ temp gauge, however I do notice the oil pressure dropping down to its warmed up range very rapidly (within a couple of miles), indicating that the heat exchanger is doing its job.

I understand changing the tyres based on time if they have not worn out through driving but out of curiosity how many road miles would a set of typically ZZR's last ?

I had the cold idle issue after I finished the build of my 420R last year. The throttle body upgrade was always part of the project but because of the lockdown delaying the IVA I asked Stuart at Premier Power to do one of his F225 upgrades with AT throttle bodies and a new ECU which was mapped on the rolling road at Northampton Motorsport. The idle issue has gone and the noise + performance + drivability is fantastic. The setup squeezed out about 230hp with the cat bypass and the map also stays within emissions with the cat in place. It passed the IVA first time in October and I've run it with both the bypass and the cat since then and don't notice any difference on the public roads, I'll keep the bypass for track days. This is an expensive way of sorting out the irritating cold idle but the overall performance gain and drivability improvements are the main benefit. As far as I am concerned the car is a keeper and as i built and will service it myself I'm not too worried about the warranty implications of a non CC upgrade.

Fair point but remember that the aluminium rivet is fastening the aluminium floor to the steel chassis, so there will always be some galvanic reaction going on if the base and fasteners are different materials. Environmental conditions have a big influence as long as you don't use it as a beach buggy you should be fine

I've got the F225 upgrade with the foam air filter, noise at ~7500 rpm was 105db measured with an iphone noise meter app and standing about 1.5m from the filter (+20metres above sea level, 85% humidity, 11 C). Attenuation is around 6db for each doubling of the distance so the noise level should be under 100db 3m away and around 95db 6m away. Lots of factors to consider and hardly laboratory conditions but hope this helps.

I had to drill out and remove all the rivets in the aluminium interior side panels before fitting carbon panels. The rivets that run along the floor plan are definitely stainless steel and I replaced them with the same spec (albeit black coated for cosmetic reasons) 4mm x 12mm black A2 stainless dome rivets from Accu.co.uk. An air rivet gun is highly recommended if you are doing more than a couple ! Also a good idea to spray Waxoyl / Dinitrol in the chassis tubes as you have access through the rivet holes.

I went for the 420R to build with my son as a 'keeper'. The good thing is that they are all upgradeable in terms of performance and specification. I built mine this year but had a Premier Power F225 upgrade done before the IVA and registration. Stuart can also squeeze a hell of a lot out of the 1.6 Sigma which is about 20Kg lighter than a Duratec. They are all great fun and if you intend to keep it you don't have to shell out for the highest spec right away...and there are several options in terms of 'high spec' whatever your starting point is. FWIW I love the sound, smell, driveability and performance of the 420R with AT throttle bodies

I've just got my 420R registered and the standard exhaust was perfectly fine on the IVA (Caterham do not bother fitting the rear exhaust these days for the IVA). The Tillet carbon seats with padding are super comfortable even after 1.5hrs of mixed road driving. I'm still waiting for my half hood from CC despite the kit being delivered in March, however the full hood is not terrible to put up and is fine to drive in once you are inside (although getting in and out does require a little more flexibility). It is also good if you have to trailer the car anywhere or leave it out overnight. The Caterham branded ACES shift lights work for me as I've never seen the single shift light illuminate, apparently it does at maximum revs but I've got my eyes firmly on the road at that point and the limiter would kick in before I could react.

I've got the 620 dash in my 420R and does toggle between the blue main beam light in the rev counter and the green LED above the headlight switch (ie blue main beam light goes on green headlight switch goes off). I don't think it will be a problem once I get used to it.

Vintage Airstream restorers use Nuvite aluminium polish for a mirror finish (the stuff was developed for the aircraft industry)

I've just fitted this unit on my 420R. On my loom the three wires were each terminated in a separate connector and were cable tied together along with another red/white cable that was terminated with heat shrink (ie not to be used). These are the connections I used: Green - live Black - Earth Black/White - tacho feed to ACEs unit

I've just fitted this unit on my 420R. On my loom the three wires were each terminated in a separate connector and were cable tied together along with anothe red/white cable that was terminated with heat shrink (ie not to be used). These are the connections I used: Green - live Black - Earth Black/White - tacho feed to ACEs unit

Great idea, thanks. I'll give it a go this evening.

Does anyone know how to remove the plastic handbrake handle from the original unit in order to fit an alloy handle? I've tried pulling and twisting but the thing does not move and I wonder if it is a friction fit or glued in and whether there is a non-destructive technique. Thanks in anticipation of any help.