CharlesElliott

Hi Peter, and thanks for the note. Where exactly is the thermostat? (I don't have a heater BTW). One problem is that being a novice I have to follow the build guide in the event of any prior advice. The build guide says to fill through the expansion tank, run the engine and open the bleed screw which is what I did. On the first run the temperature did rise very quickly, getting to ~100 on the gauge but this now seems to settle around 80 and then rise very slowly. Charles --- My Caterham Academy 2004 Diary

My thoughts are: 1) As does the 5-speed . 2) Fine for me . 3) Fine for me . 4) Fine for me (and I did check them). 5) Yes, the manual doesn't seem to mention this one. The wiring diagram/checklist says that it should go to the engine block, attaching to the lifting eye bolt. However, on my engine (1.6 K) the bolt is too big to go through the hole so I also attached it direct to the -ve battery terminal. 6) Fine for me . 7) Yes, even my 1.6 sounds good! Much better than the 1.8 I used to have in the Elise (100% due to the exhaust I would suggest). 8) Sounds like I've fixed mine but still need to check - and I thought it was supposed to be simple without a heater. 9) Mine did/does the same . 10) Haven't played with this yet. 11) I think this is the immobiliser auto-arming itself. Charles --- My Caterham Academy 2004 Diary

Tricky, Steve, It sounds like I didn't run it for long enough. When the temp gauge stuck at 80 for so long I started wondering whether there was something wrong with the sender..... Still haven't got the fan to come on but it sounds as if it will now with a longer run. Anyway, I now need some more coolant so that delays things for a bit 🙆🏻 Charles --- My Caterham Academy 2004 Diary

Ran the car with the front up in the air and the bleed screw undone. I did manage to get coolant all over the floor and the raidator did get warm this time, but the temp gauge didn't move above 80 and I got worried so switched it off. Charles --- My Caterham Academy 2004 Diary

Thanks Steve - I didn't expect an airlock to stop water flowing through the rad properly. I'll give it a go. Charles --- My Caterham Academy 2004 Diary

I only centered the bottom as well. Charles --- My Caterham Academy 2004 Diary

Hi all, Well, it started! Apart from leaving the solenoid lead off by mistake there were no real problems. However, I haven't yet managed to get the radiator fan to come on and may need to bleed some more air from the system. However, the radiator itself doesn't get hot except for the top 'plain' section which the temp switch goes into. Similarly, the lower hose back to the engine remains cool. This doesn't seem right to me - any suggestions? Oh, and the Apollo drain plug leaks but hopefully a bit of a tighten will sort that out. Charles --- My Caterham Academy 2004 Diary

Guy, My number plate light bracket is still in the 'shortages' box - yet to be attached... Charles --- My Caterham Academy 2004 Diary

I'm just filling the 5-sp gearbox on my car with oil. The manual says it will take ~2l. At first, I was filling with the rear of the car on axle stands and after about 1l it started pouring oil all over the floor. I've now lowered the car down onto the level and I think I got some more in (difficult to tell) but I doubt that there is more than 1.2l in there and oil continues to pour out at something approaching the same rate as I'm pouring it in. Is this right? Could the capacity be much lower than the guide? I've tried moving the filler hose a couple of times and checked that it is in the drain plug hole properly but the only place the oil is going is into the catch tray under the car . Charles --- My Caterham Academy 2004 Diary

Guy - just been looking at your pics. Is your fuel pump missing 🤔 Charles --- My Caterham Academy 2004 Diary

Close to start up. Just need to get the gearbox oil in. For some reason the two litres I had might not enough now and there might be a Halfords trip coming on. Charles --- My Caterham Academy 2004 Diary

Guy - good to hear you made progress. The jobs sound simple in the guide but the execution of them is more of a challenge . I loosened the lower bolts off a lot in order to get the top one in. I don't think that there's any other way. Charles --- My Caterham Academy 2004 Diary

A 'mate' of mine just did a really stupid thing whilst building his Caterham. He had made a funnel and knowing it was likely to take around 2l he merrily kept pouring. He didn't realise that having the rear of the car on axle stands would mean that it would only take around 1l before oil started spilling out all over the floor. And it took him ages to notice!!! 😬 😬 😬 Charles --- My Caterham Academy 2004 Diary

I did fit it on my own, but used a Black & Decker workbox plus some bits of wood to get it to the right height. I didn't have a suitable bar so used the actual top bolt to hang it from, but it was getting the bottom bolts in that was the real pain. It doesn't help that on my car with plumbed in extinguisher, you can't remove the boot floor. Good luck Guy ❗ Charles --- My Caterham Academy 2004 Diary

Are the holes in the 'X' not for a headrest? Charles --- My Caterham Academy 2004 Diary

Great, thanks Myles. Charles --- My Caterham Academy 2004 Diary

Quick question on the assembly of the alu collar and the fuel filler neck. They weren't available at the time my chassis was built so I need to put it together myself . The alu collar rivets to the car - that bit is obvious, but how does the collar attach to the fuel filler neck. There are two small holes in the collar and two self tapping screws, but there are also two threaded holes in the fuel filler neck which don't line up with anything on the collar. Should I just drill two small holes in the filler neck rim and screw the self tappers through the collar and into the filler neck? I'd be grateful if someone could have a quick peek at theirs.... Charles --- My Caterham Academy 2004 Diary Edited by - CharlesElliott on 7 Oct 2003 19:47:43

Thanks Ian. Correct (I hope) wire now connected. The assembly guide says that you can't fit the switch for dual oil temp/pressure until after SVA - did you do this or did CML fit it for you? On a related question, did you rivet the heater blanking panel in place or drill extra holes in it and use the heater fixings? Charles --- My Caterham Academy 2004 Diary

Thanks Peter. Caterham also confirmed today that I got it right (yet to test it though). Which means that the Assembly Guide is wrong - but I'm getting used to that now. 😬 Charles --- My Caterham Academy 2004 Diary

Er. You haven't put the rear suspension on yet have you Bob? You should have some fun when it comes to the seats and the crutch straps . No - none of my bags had any labelling on them. This was the start of the problem. Me: I can't find the roll cage bolts. Anything special that I should look for? James @ Caterham: There should be a few cut down bolts. Can you find those? Me: Oh yes, they are in a bag with some blue bolts. Is that them? James @ Caterham: No, that's not the right bag. The blue bolts should be in a bag with 'Misc' written on them whereas the bolts you need are in a bag with 'Cage' written on it. Me: I don't have any labelled bags. And I've only got a few bags. James @ Caterham: Oh. I'll send you the right bolts then. Edited to say that James is a star and I would have asked Caterham to come and collect their random collection of bits by now if it wasn't for him. Just in case it was read another way. Edited by - CharlesElliott on 6 Oct 2003 16:50:20

I've probably had about 10 different deliveries from Caterham ranging from small and fairly unimportant (extra bolts etc.) to very important - ECU (to be fair, they knew they had forgotton this), radiator hose etc. Charles --- My Caterham Academy 2004 Diary

Yes for the 'standard' bits. But the bolts for the roll cage (wrong as it turned out, they were for the old cage), brake pads, propshaft bolts etc. etc. are all in one large 'Misc bag'. Charles --- My Caterham Academy 2004 Diary

Thanks Steve, Tricky. The person that packed my kit decided to put everything in one big bag, just to make it more challenging to find 'special' bolts.... Charles --- My Caterham Academy 2004 Diary

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