Handwheels

Now I've removed my leaky rad I've had a closer looked at the mounting brackets - and I'm now thinking of ditching the silly Z brackets and welding a small tab on the bottom of the chassis-radiator bracket. This would be aligned with the mounting points on the radiator and set back enough to allow the use of significantly longer & slightly narrower bobbins. It would be possible to fit in 25mm dia. x 30mm bobbins instead of the existing 30mm dia. x 15mm ones. Unfortunately, I can't see a way of using longer bobbins at the bottom of the radiator, but I think it's a case of 'every little helps'! I wouldn't make any other modifications to the chassis-radiator bracket, so in theory I could remove the new tab and return to the factory set up if required. I'm also planning to follow the lead of others, and cut back the rigid top hose and use a straight connector to fit a section of silicone hose. I bought a silicone 620 top hose, as recommended, but at first glance it doesn't seem to align with the angled top hose connector on the radiator - so I'm looking at other silicone hose options. Also, once I've finally got a new radiator fitted I will never use the towing eye as a jacking point again!! The attached pics show the existing set-up and my bobbin bracket proposal. I'd welcome any comments on my plans 😁 Thanks for all the comments & advice I've already received Cheers, Richard

@raw I noticed your alternative to bobbins in an older post. Have you had to replace them since you first installed them, or have they lasted well? Sure they must be more effective at damping vibration than the 'token' ones Caterham supply Also, what silicone hoses did you use for the top and bottom hoses? Cheers, Richard

Thanks for all the comments. For clarification it's a 2021 (not 2001!!) self-build, & I've always used the Caterham spec Motul OAT coolant. I am aware of the discussions about what is best coolant for the rad, but (as others have previously said) I've been concerned about it for the engine first. I also used washer on rads 2 & 3 to eliminate any twisting of the rad, & I've found the fixing holes on the brackets line up perfectly with the mounting holes in the rad so not sure if I would benefit from enlarging the bracket holes. I've not noticed a need to adjust the brackets to ensure they are parallel to the rad, but I'll double-double check that next time. When I built it I was aware of the issues some have had with the mounting bracket touching the top hose, but I've got a 2.5mm gap. I've been concerned about the top hose being so rigid and also not being in perfect alignment of the rad coupling - so the idea of a 620R silicone hose sounds good. I've looked on Caterham Parts - is this the one (currently out of stock of course) people have used? Thanks

I hadn't spotted those discussions, so I'll do some homework :). Thanks

My 2001 420R has got through three radiators in just over 13,000 miles - they have all leaked in the same area near the upper hose connection on the left hand side. The first one failed after 4400 miles and was replaced under warranty. This second one lasted 4480 miles (at least they failed at consistent mileages!). I then decided to try a non-Caterham rad in the hope that the cause of repeated failure was the (poor) quality of the Caterham supplied rads, so my third one was supplied by Radtec - they sell rad without the oil cooler (which I've not had a problem with) so Radtec were considerably cheaper which was a bonus. However.. this rad failed started leaking after 4120 miles. Radtec repaired it but over the winter I've noticed it has leaked coolant while the Seven has been laid up. I am convinced that the issue with post-2018 420s unrelated to the quality of the rads, but the negligible amount of isolation from engine/chassis vibration - although Caterham beg to differ! The mounting bobbins are so small that there can only be a few mm of rubber between the end of the stud that fixes to the chassis brackets and the threaded female sleeve that the radiator is bolted to. The rad is also rigidly held in place by the inflexible upper coolant hose and the oil hoses - the oil cooler is fixed directly to the bottom of the rad. Pre -2018 420s had a separate oil cooler and much bigger bobbins because there was space to mount the rad slightly further forward because the fan was fitted to the back of the rad. From speaking to owners it appears that these earlier 420s don't have the same issues. Caterham has accepted that they have had a lot of warranty claims on 420 rads, and as a consequence have recently changed supplier - I don't know who they have switched to. I'm not convinced that will solve the issues . Is there anyone out there who has modified their set up and managed to get a rad to last more than 4480 miles, or have any suggestions? Cheers, Richard

Unfortunately, I've had to abandon plans for Blyton Trackday tomorrow (Fri 22/09/23). On the off chance anyone wants a free twin room at the Black Horse tonight then let me know. Cheers, Richard

My main piece of advice would be go in convoy with a support vehicle with a boot full of tools, a spare pair of hands AND arrive early enough to deal with the issues you discover on it's first ever journey. On my drive to Gillingham I discovered the speedo stopped working at about 65mph - bear in mind it had never been faster than 10mph before! Fortunately, I had enough time to jack up the car in the nearby Screwfix carpark, get out my feeler gauges and adjust the speed sensor by a fraction of a millimetre. When they put it on the rollers at 70mph I discovered I'd correctly adjusted it :) Good luck - it's a stressful but fantastic experience. Richard

I took my 420r to Gillingham in 2021. It was a bit stressful but also hugely satisfying - getting the certificate at the end was much more enjoyable than any academic award I've ever achieved! I wouldn't have wanted to miss the best bit of the build process. The guys there were very friendly and helpful- giving me time to adjust the Speedo tyre size setting and headlight alignment (both of which had been incorrectly set by Caterham!). Don't forget the added bonus of going to the IVA yourself is that you get the chance to drive it on the road. While heading down the A12 I discovered that the Speedo cut out at 70mph - but I had enough time in the Gillingham Screwfix car park to jack up the car and adjust the sensor, before going to the test centre. Going across the Dartford crossing for free (because didn't have registration plates) was the icing on the cake.

We've got the JAL set up; Bluetooth for driver and non-Bluetooth for passenger with a cable connecting the two. And another cable if I'm using the radio. You can change the settings so that you can speak to each other without needing to press the talk button - which is handy at times. This setting uses up the battery quicker (although battery life is normally good) and you get a little bit of background noise from the microphones (which I don't really find much of an issue as I keep the volume a bit lower and can still hear the passenger's words of wisdom). Richard

Yes, but I declined to pay for it!!

When I took my Seven to Gatwick for its Post Build Check they told me that the steering wheel was incorrectly aligned - which made me chuckle because they had just done the steering alignment

Hi - if the tool tube and dry bag are still available I'd take them Richard

Andrew that's the second time you spotted me in BS - until you get your Seven back on the road I think you need to put a flag on your Fiesta so I know to wave to you. I pass through BS quite a lot as son lives in Stansted Mountfitchet and it's a nice wiggly drive from Chelmsford. However today having a great drive in the sun up to Derbyshire

1 night in Ilam near Ashbourne & second night near Buxton. Thinking of heading home via the Motor Museum at Gaydon

I've just booked a couple of nights in the Peak District at the end of this week. Wondered if anyone has suggestions for a Seven-friendly route up from Essex, & any 'must-do' roads I should experience while I'm Up North. Cheers, Richard

I used Premier Paint Guard to supply & fit protection to my newly built Seven too - I'd definitely recommend them. It's worth noting that Dave also does a 'supply only' service if you fancy fitting the film yourself. Richard

At my IVA it was tested at 5k roughly a couple of metres away. Think they said limit was 100dB

Patrick - I'm taking my relatively new 420R to the novice session at Blyton too. Iv'e got the standard side exhaust (minus the cat, which seems to have disappeared over the winter!). When I put it through the IVA test last August it recorded 95dB - not sure how that compares with the drive-by testing at the track. However, I'm assuming I'll be able to be a bit more gentle if required to keep myself off the naughty step. Look forward to seeing you there Richard

I've booked & now have to decide on what Eurotunnel crossing to take on the Thursday morning. Wondered if anyone else is heading down via the tunnel on Thursday & would fancy joining up southbound, or if there is a group of you already who would tolerate an additional 420? Cheers, Richard

Small

I followed the exactly same route as Adam; set my heart on the super stretchy Classic Additions one. But once I'd seen good reviews for the Cosmos/Amazon one I couldn't justify paying about £100 more for the Classic Additions cover. I did pay a few quid more to get my Cosmos cover in BRG. Only had it since November but very pleased with it so far Richard

The engine management light has just flashed up son's 2006 Fiesta & I think it's time to add an OBD 2 reader to my toolkit, so I can look at the fault codes - presume it will be useful for my 420 at some point too. Wondered if anyone has got a recommendation on what to go for? In particular, what are the pros & cons of plug in & wireless Bluetooth ones? Cheers, Richard

I've used 2 small pieces of 3M dual lock velcro along the top edge of the plate so that it sits just below the grill. I have also stuck a couple of pieces of plastic angle towards the lower edge of the plate to stop it 'peeling' off the velcro at speed. The angles are aligned with the bottom of the oil cooler grill - my 420R kit came with this slightly new style of nose cone last June. It's a legally sized 5 digit plate. So far done almost 1900 miles and reg plate has been rock steady - despite my initial scepticism that such a small amount of velcro (which isn't even on a flat surface on the nose cone) would be sufficient.. Richard

Brett - looks like you've done the same as I did on my 2021 build. When I took it to Gatwick for its PBC I mentioned that I had spent a while trying unsuccessfully to align it above the bottom chassis rail - as I was concerned it was exposed & therefore vulnerable. When I collected the car they had cable-tied a split hose around the oil hose - not sure how much protection that will really give but I suppose every little bit helps. Cheers, Richard

Don't want to tempt fate but CC have been pretty good with me since I got my 420R kit last Summer and it's run well for 1800 miles. Got the common stalling issue when cold (unless I adjust the tickover too high) but pretty confident I can get it sorted with a bit of assistance from my local club expert (you know who you are!) - I just haven't had time yet. I found a slight leak from one of my rear brake calipers after a short while so I took it back to Gatwick and they swapped it out for a new one - while it was there I also got them to check/adjust a couple of other things. As it was a kit build I had wondered if they would just give me a replacement to fit, which in theory I think they could have done according to the warrenty conditions. My frustrations are more around the relatively straightforward things they could/should do. When I took it to Gatwick for the PBC the expansion cap was touching the nose cone (which I knew was a common S3 issue). I was told it could be resolved for a fee - obviously I challenged why I should pay for a design fault & they immediately accepted that, & then modified the bracket. But why aren't all new S3 420s supplied with this modified bracket? Also, I ordered the interchangable aeroscreen which I haven't used yet - sure I'll figure out how to fit it, but surely someone at CC could find a few hours to take a few pictures and produce an installation guide. Think the main issue is that they don't need to sell Sevens, they sell themselves.