BigCol

I don't recall querying the orientation at the time and the way I fitted it made sense (to me!)... though, as pointed out in comments above, in retrospect it was obviously wrong! 😳

Quoting Alaskossie: What doe the CC assembly manual say about the correct way to orient the heater vent panel in the cockpit? It doesn't! No destructions, no photos... nuffink! Which is why Caterham charged me to refit it at my PBC....!

You're a star, many thanks!

Result; thank you so much! 😶‍🌫️ BlatMail en route...

Thinking about it, I reckon it was your comment about enlarging from M5 to M6 and it was certainly your pictures that you posted years ago that convinced me that this would be the neatest installation! I'll take your advice and go for the meatier fixing. Haven't bought the screws yet (wasn't sure whether would need M5 or M6). Don't suppose you have some spares I could ponce? If not, there're reasonably priced items available online.

Cheers! Not sure of the size but seem to recall reading elsewhere that the existing hole (where the IVA mirror mounts) is an M5, so I'd drill/tap a second one the same size (that said, think I have also read of people enlarging them to M6 for a bit more strength) So, rather than posting a whole set, if I could borrow both M5 and M6 taps and the wrench, that'd be great. As you say, unless someone closer can help!

Having taken the plunge and ordered a pair of Spa mirrors and decided (contrary to a post elsewhere) to mount them on the windscreen stanchions by drilling and tapping a second mounting hole, I need an appropriate tap. In 30+ years of pottering in the garage, DIY etc this is the first time I've needed such a thing so am loathed to buy a set to thread two holes! So could some kind soul near West London provide me a set temporarily; either for the price of a pint or an equivalent contribution to NtL?

Just spoken to Demon Tweeks' Caterham Guru... He says they don't offer a mount/adapter for Spa mirrors but do for the "Race part" (presume Racetech) mirror. He suggested the best way of mounting them on a windscreen is as per MartinH's comment - drill/tap a second hole on the stanchion. He added that this arrangement does make adjustment and tightening the mirror awkward though. I think if I go for a pair of these mirrors, I'll follow andy_h's lead and fabricate a simple bracket which I'll secure with the sidescreen hinge bolts.

Quoting Smiffy69: I...therefore taking the guess work out of what's going on behind you a fundamental quality of rear view mirrors!

What're people's preferences of Spa mirrors...? GP Race or the larger GT Saloon... and/or flat or convex glass?

Quoting Jonathan Kay: More photos of where you've put them, please. Thought there was another thread with such info but can't find it. I've mounted mine in the engine compartment so that it can be accessed without removing the nosecone and it contains this stuff. Edited by - BigCol on 21 Oct 2013 20:17:05

I dropped the car off at Caterham in Dartford on Monday and picked it up yesterday. It now has another gearbox. There's a marked improvement (though the 'left hand' gears, ie R, 1 and 2, still feel stiffer than the 'right hand' ones, ie 3,4 and 5) so I'm a happy bunny. They also attended to a brake issue which I mentioned when I dropped the car off. Both jobs were done under warranty with no charge at all for parts and labour (just the cost to me of my time, fuel and train fares to get the car and myself to/from CC) Given the frustrations suffered by others with Caterham, it is only fair to say I got the overall result I wanted without too much "assertiveness"! (It could be argued with some compromise... with my other car, I would have pushed for a loaner, collection and delivery back etc but the dealer is closer and much less of a cottage industry. Plus, of course, acceptable compromise is what negotiation is all about!)

Quoting TomWoodis: "Inner Heater Panel - fitted upside down"No need to feel stupid - I did the same and given there's no description of how to fit this (or a photo of it) in the build manual, I didn't feel bad. Depending on what else they reckon needs doing, I took the path of least resistance and got all issues sorted by Caterham whether IVA-critical or not. That said, I did argue the toss on things I thought I'd done as per the guide that if they were wrong, the fault was with the guide and so CC, not me and the timings allocated to jobs (30 mins to adjust the handbrake? Hello?!) and so seriously chipped them on what they originally wanted to charge me. I assume the desired 1 Oct IVA didn't happen... ☹️ Do you have a date booked?

My experience and judging by comments elsewhere, it is partially the luck of the draw. My 7 failed its first IVA earlier this year. My examiner was a nice chap and we chatted a lot whilst he went through what he had to go through. The regional supervisor who accompanied him was also friendly and a bit of a petrol head. Whilst they were pragmatic on certain things (rear visibility, exhaust noise level), they did fail me on five (yes... 5!) things: - dodgy brakes - rears locked ahead of the fronts (why Caterham missed that in the PBC I don't know but...) - no bonnet catch covers (Caterham returned the car from its PBC shy of them, so that was not unexpected) - misaligned headlights (yes, cue another comment re Caterham, PBC, WTF etc) - sidescreens lacking an 'e' mark - indicator visibility being not to standard Having looked up the exact standards online, I was able to call to he test centre and leave a message for the examiner. He called me back promptly and I talked him through how I thought he'd misinterpreted the rules and that the indicators were OK. Graciously, he agreed. He also said it'd be fine to represent the car without the sidescreens (and hinges) and to adjust the headlights using their gear at the retest. He also said the brake issue wasn't just down to a lack of bedding-in but something more intrinsic in the design/set-up. Meanwhile, Caterham got the catch covers and some more aggressive front pads to me in time for a retest a week later. The pads did the trick after a circuitous route to the retest to allow plenty of heavy braking to bed them in. This story is not to worry your mate at the strictness, unpredictability and inconsistency of the process (which I am sure others will corroborate) but that the testers (well, the ones at Yeading I met were!) are approachable, very helpful and whilst they've rules to apply, they are on your side and want your car to pass. Whilst I was grumpy with Dartford having not checked the car thoroughly, at having to take the time, spend another £90 and not be driving my 7 as soon as I wanted, I did come away being fully confident that the car was safe, legal, to standard etc. I would have worried if the VOSA chaps had given it a cursory look-over, even though I was confident I'd built it well.

2GBR, YHM!

Mine have just arrived - many thanks for organising this Jonathan!

I presume it is one of these: Map Pocket what are its dimensions?

don't suppose you'd like to dispose of your SV's sidescreens too..? 😬 if you do, let me know!

the build guide is going to be updated Having been through it, I now see the grief of the Build Guide, the frustration of shortages etc as some sort of a rite of passage - you're not a real 7-builder unless you've been through it. Derek is a first class chap though who made my build significantly easier than if I'd been left entirely to my own devices!

Similarly, I found threading the wires through difficult... In the end, I cut the connectors off, got the cables through OK and then soldered the ends back on (covering the joint with heatshrink of course) before plugging them into the block thingy.

When I spec'ed my Sigma 140 Supersport that I built earlier this year, the choice of exhausts was "track day" or "peashooter". There was no cost difference. My understanding was that the latter was thinner, so had less packing and was therefore louder. Reckoning that the car would be loud enough as it was, I went for the "quiet" option. Just as well, as at my IVA, the new, unsooted-up, exhaust was borderline on the sound test! I don't know but guess Caterham would fit a track day unit temporarily for the test in the same way at the PBC, they put a different steering wheel with collapsible column on to prevent it failing for that (and all testers know that gets changed moments after they hand over the pass certificate!)

Marcus - depending on how much money you have burning a hole, Caterham will have stock of brand new items arriving this coming Friday - the 13th... bargain £330-odd by the time they're shipped to you. (see: screen and armrests)

as the title says, am after a pair of SV armrests (assuming they're different on the S3 and the sensibly-sized versions) please... (or as listed elsewhere, SV sidescreens with then fitted... or SV half-doors...) Edited by - BigCol on 6 Sep 2013 17:11:01

I'm after a pair too - for an SV... If they're the same for the S3 too from posts above, I'm probably second in the queue behind Gregs79... (though looking at Caterham's website, they list different products with different part numbers for the S3 and SV) Edited by - BigCol on 6 Sep 2013 17:01:53

or... a pair of standard SV side screens... which I am sure with some ingenuity and care could be "converted"