Graham Hutton

Thanks v much. BTW, I completely love the look of your car in mint green. If I build another, that'll be the colour for sure!

Thanks very much everyone! Easier than I thought. I've never really heard of people replacing the oil in the turret but clearly that is important too so I'll do the lot. The MX5 video is very helpful and I am going to use something like the swepco or redline oil because the Motul stuff is permananetly on back order it seems :-) Really appreciate the advice everyone.

Oh and also, any recommendations on gearbox oil and any oil based black magic for the diff that stops it making noise when manoeuvring at slow speed :-)

I've never changed any gearbox oil on any car I've owned and so would really appreciate any advice you all have for doing so on my 310R with the mazda 5 speed gearbox. I have a fully carpetted tunnel so would prefer to do it all from underneath if I can. Is it as simple as removing the plug on the side, sucking it out with a syringe and then squirting some clean stuff back in until it reaches the height of the plug? I guess the same would apply to the diff if I didn't want to remove the boot floor? Any advice appreciated although I am sure many of you may be disgusted by my oversimplification here!!

You're probably right to do that Alastair as it'll certainly remove the stress. I took mine to IVA myself down here in Exeter and to be honest I loved pretty much all of it. It was great to see the fruits of your labour and (despite being a jobsworth) the tester had me fully involved in the whole thing including operating the brake pressure testing etc. He had me take the pedal box cover off but nothing else destructive. I may be a bit nerdy but I found it pretty interesting to get under the car on a decent ramp, understand the weights and braking efforts. 3 hour test which at times felt like longer but in the end my car was born! Anyhow, I only say that for balance as I know many people on here bemoan the IVA process as pedantry and unnecessarily stressful. For me it was a good one largely because the test centre gets about 1 caterham per decade down here and they were interested in it. I suspect it is different at Gillingham!

Glad you raised this issue. I have only driven with my half hood on once and hated it. I definitely get the fumes smell and also a horrible droning resonance. Only to be used in emergencies I reckon.

Good luck with the blog! Just had a look and I will keep checking in on your progress. I absolutely loved every minute of building my 310R.

I use the Sealey thingy and it has been pretty good. I was building a new car and so was quite suprised at the volume of fluid I got through, once I'd realised how pointless it was to top up the bottle with the stuff full of air bubbles that had just flushed through....... We live and learn. Anyhow, it works well and made it a single person job without difficulty at all.

Mine is an SV chassis so things may be different. However, I had all of the same symptoms as you when I first got it on the road. The kit comes with no guidance on what spring lengths/platform height to use and so I had to take a bit of advice from the caterham technical chap when building it. The springs lengths he gave me (161 front and 330 rear) looked pretty sensible but on the road it was skittish with loads of bump steer even though the ride height wasn't too far wrong. I then arranged to do a flat floor setup with a lformer motorport mechanic. I set it to about an 85mm sump clearance and a 15mm rake and the corner weights worked out really well with me sat in the driver seat. Hey presto, everything, and I mean everything was sorted. No need to pack under the steering rack or anything. In fact, he advised me against eliminating 100% of bump steer because it makes the steering feel a bit numb. Mine is on 15" ZZS tyres btw. In terms of the other suspension geometry we set the wheel s to point dead ahead with no toe in or toe out as this is a decent compromise for track and road driving. Front negative camber was about -1.75degrees from memory and we made no changes to castor or rear geometry. I really can't tell you how big a difference this made and to be honest I thoroughly enjoyed the process. It took us about 3 hours of workshop time and I worked with him all the time to get it just so. Hope that helps a bit

Yes, I have about 15mm rake on my 310R with the progressive rear springs and adjustable platforms. The front springs as standard are not progressive. Ride height under my sump is about 85mm and everything feels good :-)

I went last year and it was really good fun and with an open pit lane format. Sadly I can't make it this time as we'll be away on hols :-(

Oh 7SW!!! This sound marvellous!! Can't wait to see your creation. I can see it now, 3D printed and wrapped to look like carbon. Definitely passes the unnecessary test but the time taken to design, prepare, install etc will be golden... Top man, great effort

Good effort 7SW!! That's quite a list there and I like the mutley sticker. Saw a 7 the other day with a carbon rear diffuser. Anyone on here got any experience of them? It was a quick glance but I think it looked cool and would match my other carbon bling....

You're right Daz. The problem is that having looked on Pistonheads I know find myself contemplating building another car in that peppermint colour. They look so cool!!!

Brilliant, thanks everyone. I like the tool tubes idea as I have been thinking of making something similar from a packed lunch box bolted down to the flat surface in front the airbox where the pedal box would be on a left hand drive car. I'll check those out for sure. Youds7 - we should meet up sometime, I live near the rugby stadium in Exeter and head your way a fair bit as my favourite fun roundabout is at Clyst st George!! I've not measured my wheel studs but will do so when I get the wheels off at the weekend. From memory there are lots of turns to tighten but I'll check. I notice that Redline components do stainless steel wheel nuts which I might go for as my chrome ones are already corroding. On it with the exhaust wrapping research.... Keep it coming

This is great. I have added wrapping my exhaust primaries to the list now after reading #14 Tom B. Anyone got advice on what kit for wrapping to get? I don't want them to come undone. Also, why longer wheel studs Tom? I like the oil bottle solution and did something similar with my tyre goo using velcro straps riveted to the inner arch skin on the driverside.

Thansk 22daz. They look awaful, decision is clear!

Thanks Beagler. I guess it beeps rarely because you stay above the limit!!!

When I built the car I bought a big box of assorted rubber grommets and the right size just happened to be in there. Luck more than judgement! It tidied things up a bit though

Thanks Chris and yes, it was great to chat at Brands the other day. Julian sent the pics which I really appreciate! Most of your list is covered off too although not the exhaust. Given it is pretty much the last remaining silver thing on the car I have been considering getting it coated with that black enamel that many motorbike exhausts have. I even got a price for it of about £400. That'd have to be a winter job though. Cutoff key is a good idea Doug. It'd stop the Jeremy Clarkson type of irritation too. I've also put rubber grommets in all the bolt sleeves through the trackday roll over bar and the bolt holes for the 3 point seat belts which are unused. Hmmm

Good job there Beagler!! Much of that already done as I have the big brakes already. I love the idea of the rivnuts and mushroom screws on the tunnel plate. It is both uneneccesary and very time consuming which is perfect. My driveshafts are OK but I did notice a bit of rust on the diff casing....maybe I should paint that again. Where are you going to put the USB sockets? In the fusebox cover or in the dash? What fun

It's always a pleasure looking at the little things people do to their cars to upgrade them. Most completely unnecessary but the joy is in the time in the garage faffing around and generally being undisturbed. So far I have done the swanky handbrake sleeve, high level brake light, heel & toe pedal extension, LED light upgrade, made a phone mount, changed my wing mirrors etc etc. It's been hours of time to myself!!!! Next jobs are to carbon wrap the steering arms and put black bonnet catches on but I thought I'd ask on here what other little things have you all done just for the fun of it.... I guess I am worried that I will soon be running out of excuses to be quietly faffing around in the garage

The first set of Avon ZZS tyreson my 310R are getting close to needing replacement and they seem great! I really like the look of the 15" wheels over the 13" (I know I will get some abuse for this) but the standard 195 rear tyres do look a teeny bit skinny from behind. Has anybody put the wider 245 rears on? Do they fit on the standard rims without modifications/spacers etc? Is it a stupid idea based upon looks alone!!!?? Thoughts welcome as always :-)

Thanks Beagler. That's pretty neat. I presume you fabricated the fixing brackets?

Thank Tim. Bizzare, although there would be no problem if they provided something better than a 50p plastic catch can. If it were baffled there'd be no splatter. In other news I can confirm that my little breather filter solution has worked perfectly and despite a 400mile blast on the Taffia run, there is no oil misting in the engine bay at all :-)