CAT170

I'm sorry I can't help at all, though as a relatively short 6'2" specimen your original post made me laugh out loud. So thanks for that.!

It seems like sacrilege do this on a new car but as Ainsley says, you will have to push in that panel with your thumb to create a permanent 'dent' in order to get a hex key onto the bolt that secures the damper. It's also the way Caterham do it in production. As for IVA trim on the front body panels, it is definitely only needed on the top halves of those two apertures. Confirmed by Caterham technicians and also by the inspector at my IVA. Not needed on the other holes but useful as temporary protection when fitting suspension and steering.

That's quite a price for 2 days of insurance. I had a similar situation with FJ and thought the extra fee was a rip off and found it cheaper to just change to KGM via AF as the cover for IVA (never asked for PBC) was included and the insurance rolled over to 'on the road' after registration. My premium was inevitably cheaper as a 170 so only £97 !!!! (Age 62, semi-rural, no issues/points, £30k, garaged, no commuting or track days, 3000 miles pa, £150 excess)

I would also go top down. Main reason (from experience) being it was much, much easier to hold the bolt head in position with a hex key from above than to try and tighten and torque a nut from above. You might be able to use a hex socket which would be better but I couldn't get one to fit in the tight space available. Note also if you do it this way that placing a thin piece of hardboard/plywood between the end of the Allen key and the foil will help protect it when you inevitably haven't held it tight enough with your hand! Another tip is to check beforehand that your engine mounts actually fit on the chassis in the correct position with holes aligned (many of us had to file down the edge of the mount as the chassis welds can interfere) and that the M8 bolts will go through the chassis holes (usually have to drill out or file the aluminium skin). Clean out the rubber from the chassis mount threads too and make sure Caterham have supplied you with the 4 Schnorr washers that you will need under the heads of the large imperial bolts that go through the engine mount brackets into the rubber mounts. And don't tighten ANY nuts or bolts until every one of them is loosely in place. Enjoy, as it's a great feeling when the engine and gearbox are in 🙂

Isn't it odd that AF would change their approach, but then again, there are quite a few contradictory comments about various insurance brokers in this thread. The person I spoke to at MSM for instance took a while to appreciate that the car would not have a registration number while I was building it, and also had some difficulty understanding that whilst it had 2 seats it did not have any doors (well, it won't pass an IVA with doors!). Their quote otherwise was ok but they called back to say they had made a mistake (surprise!) so they had to use another insurer at a higher price - I gave up at that point. Perhaps there is a higher than expected dependence on the knowledge and experience of the person that answers the call at the insurance broker. We are also naming insurance brokers here but in reality the eventual cover depends on the specific insurance company they offer. For example, through Adrian Flux mine is with KGM Motor which is actually part of A-Plan/Howden and underwritten by Zurich

A few potential issues with your modification which might relate to unlikely scenarios in an impact. If your head strikes the foam/plate above or below the centre line, the plate could twist around the roll bar and hit your neck or head at an angle If your car rolls over or you have an impact whereby your head is above, below or either side of the plate edge it will directly hit it at an angle If your head hits the corners of your plate, it is much sharper than the Caterham design which has very large chamfers. These are just a few points which are completely resolved in the original Caterham design, which is not brilliant either. The race seats with built in restraints might be a better solution for you.

Make sure that whoever you speak to understands it is a Caterham fully supplied new kit and not a home built special or a donor car build. If they don't understand a Caterham, ask to speak to someone else or go elsewhere. Despite what was said in an earlier thread in this post, Adrian Flux were quite happy to insure mine against the chassis number while I was building it and the cover also applied for to/from the IVA (unlike Footman James who would insure the build but not to/from IVA which would have cost extra). Adrian Flux insurance also covers 'on the road' when the car is registered. A point to note is that some of the companies I contacted had a build time limit of six months - I knew that in my personal circumstances I would take longer than that so it is something to consider.

There is a discussion on this here: https://www.caterhamlotus7.club/forums/topic/237161-wheel-torque/ When building my Seven I put a small amount of oil on my threads and wiped off excess (so that threads then looked dry but would have retained a small amount) then torqued . The nuts and the studs as supplied in my kit were absolutely bone dry as they were probably cleaned after machining so applying no lubrication at all did not seem a good idea. Standard engineering practice for torque tightening is 'lightly oiled' so I guess Caterham applied grease as proposed in the original post. I also applied a thin film of grease between the hub's mating surface with the aluminium wheel and again wiped most of it off - probably overkill as I don't envisage driving on salty roads and will remove wheels at each service so unlikely to get corrosion and a stuck wheel anyway.

As a minimum, take tools to be able to remove pedal box cover if asked and to align the headlights. My tester was super friendly, helpful and knowledgeable - he even knew how to recalibrate a Caterham speedo (my 170 only just passed that) and I didn't know that the low brake fluid light only comes on if handbrake is off (it is the same light!). I failed on emissions and my wife could not understand why I was grinning when I got home, but I'd just driven the car I'd built for 20 miles on a sunny morning of course!! Enjoy your drive and the IVA. (By the way, I realised after I got home that I needn't have been quite so cautious with speed cameras as no registration plate 🙂)

The best tip I received was from Dan Randall who now works for HWM Caterham. Buy a pair of side cutters to ensure you cut each and every Tyrap flush so you won’t cut yourself and more importantly perhaps, neither will the IVA tester.

I assessed the fit wing then fit arm route but realised that it sets a specific alignment point without much tolerance and the rest of the fastener positions did not align at all well with the pre-cut holes in the wings, so much more fettling and filing/dremelling would have been needed. One of the holes you'll drill for the protective wing plates also aligns perfectly such that the rivet or nut/bolt you attach it with impacts or gets very close to the radius arm, therefore, having a cut-out gives you a bit of leeway to move the wing out slightly. Re nylon nuts/bolts, if you need to attach the earth from the petrol tank to the wing nut/bolt on your model, you should use a conductive nut bolt or attach it somewhere else

I had a pair of battery covers delivered from Banner today My method was to go to their website https://www.bannerbatterien.com/en-gb/Contact/Infoservice, click Contact - have a general enquiry -I need information - other matters - filled out form with request for replacement set of 53034 terminal caps as UK suppliers did not stock them. I got an automated email reply in German after a couple of days then email from Banner Batteris GB asking for my address. Email was from barrie.newton@bannerbatteries.com

Of course. I just emailed John to say that I have had an email from Banner UK who will send me a pair of caps. If/when I get them I'll update email details etc. on this chat

Hi John, I have PM'd you but to be fair, Britspud posted this originally so I will back down if he still wants it.

Tayna came back and explained that Banner do not supply spares. Emailed Banner but seems like I should not expect an answer. Jonathan makes a good point and being frank, a) I did not think laterally about that as an option, b) the flip up caps are quick/convenient and c) much less important but even though these are under the bonnet, the caps look neat and better in my view 🙂.