DJ.

The thing that annoys me about this diff business is that the Ford one can be made quiet, but a lot of them aren't. I'd read up about diff problems before I test drove the Sigma 125 at Caterham south, and the diff on that car was silent. There was no noticeable backlash and no whining on the over run. Surely it must have been possible to raise the quality control to a satisfactory level. Asking an owner of a car less than 1 year old to cough up over a grand is very poor customer service to my mind.

That's interesting. As I've only just fitted my diff to my new build, I'm hoping that they might have given me the new one already, but I bet they haven't! It must be a completely new design to need driveshafts and propshaft changes. Duncan Some pictures of my build: here

I've just had this problem with my new build. The washers/shims Caterham supplied weren't quite thick enough to get the discs central. I'm sure they would have worked alright, but I sourced some similar sized thin washers and they are now centred. It makes me happier, but probably wasn't worth the time and effort 😬 Duncan Some pictures of my build: here

I've just done mine, and with the suspension at full drop, I put one ball right in and then had to bend the anti roll bar to get the next in. There didn't seem much chance of them coming out again in a hurry due to the width of the bar. Have you got wide track suspension? It may be different to my standard set up.

I'm no expert, but I can confirm Caterham still recommend Comma Dot4. That's what I got in my first fill kit Duncan

Thanks for the advice everyone. I emailed Sean at Caterham today, and he was very prompt to reply. I am supposed to use the plain washers supplied on the uprights between the calipers and uprights. This gives some clearance, but the disc isn't central in the caliper. As I'm a bit of a perfectionist, I'm going to make up some washers of the correct thickness Sean also confirmed that the manual is incorrect with regard to the steering rack bolts. It still says that a washer is needed under the bolt head above the clamp, when it's obvious from the way it is machined that the cap head should drop into the machined recess. Oh dear, only done the front suspension, and I'm already doubting the manual

Thanks very much, I can source a slightly thicker washer to get the disc central. Duncan

I've tried to search for this and didn't find anything. I have the standard calipers, and have just tried to bolt them to the front uprights. Before the bolts were home the caliper hit the inner surface of the disc. The calipers came in the upright boxes and the only fixings I've found are 4 bolts with spring and plain washers that were already in the uprights. It seems I need some sort of spacers. If I use the plain washers between upright and caliper rather than under the spring washers, the caliper clears the disc, but the disc isn't centred in the caliper. Help please Edited by - DJ. on 10 Dec 2010 12:03:54

Thanks, I'll have a think about it 😬

Thanks, I have the Motolita fixed wheel. It has a plastic cap without any button, and a horrible spongy pad for IVA. I've seen centre caps with horn buttons are available from Motolita. I didn't want to order these parts and find out they don't fit. My main concern is weather the contact ring: here will fit onto the current steering column. Duncan

I've been reading the build manual for some time, and when I received my kit last week, I found the horn button is now on the dash. The manual still shows instructions to fit a contact ring and spring loaded contact for a wheel mounted button. I can see there may well be IVA reasons to move the horn button, but is anyone aware of any reason I can't fit one after the car is registered? Caterham still sell the parts, so I was thinking of buying them and taking a wire from the horn button on the dash. I seem to remember the earth was down the column on my old elan, so I thought I'd have to buy the spring contact, contact ring to press onto the column outer and a new horn button for the wheel boss. Thanks Duncan

myothercarsa2cv said: I'm using the standard 14 inch wheels with the Avon Zv3s that are so unpopular

Thanks, that's great Peter I'll set mine like yours and correct it once I've borrowed Richard's gauge. I never cease to be amazed by the power of Blatchat. Duncan

Thanks Richard, I was just reading about that meeting. I've checked the calendar, and my wife has booked us to go to the Pantomine that night. I would like to borrow your gauge, I plan to go to the meeting in January, so maybe we could meet then if it is convenient for you. Duncan

My car arrived last Monday just before we had 12 inches of snow I've got the wishbones and dampers on (managed to chip the paint bending the alloy to get the bloomin upper left damper bolt back in despite covering the area with tape), but that's another story. When you are next in the garage, could someone please count how many threads are visible outside the adjuster nuts on the upper ball joints please? I've noticed that the two sides are very different as supplied, and it would be helpful to have an approximate position to start with. I'm building a series 3 with standard suspension and metric chassis. By the way, what is the difference between the upper wishbones? I've been careful to fit the one marked RH on the bag to the offside, but can't see any obvious difference unlike the lowers. I'm sure I've missed something obvious Thanks in advance Duncan Edited by - DJ. on 5 Dec 2010 20:27:38 Edited by - DJ. on 5 Dec 2010 22:31:39

I wouldn't drill extra holes as they will weaken the tubes. If you really want to I suppose you could drill out some rivets, spray in and replace them, but I wouldn't bother. By the way after searching for rust treatments (and having problems with waxoyl in the past) I ended up buying Dinitrol 3125 and 3654. Here's a link to the Frost website: Frost Duncan

I'm no expert, but it seems to me that it depends what you are going to do with the car. If it's mainly track driving then go Superlight, you'll want the 6 speed box, but I notice you still have to pay extra for a LSD on the R300. If it's mainly for road use, the higher top in the 5 speed will be useful, and it'll save quite a bit of money, particularly as you plan to spec a screen on the Superlight. Nice choice to have Duncan Edited by - DJ. on 17 Nov 2010 22:58:56

A tyre radius calculator online seems to show that you raise the ride height about 20mm by changing to 70 section tyres which must be the cheapest change you can make

You could drill holes in the washers to save weight 😬

I was thinking of painting on some black rubbery underseal. It worked well on my old Elan Edited by - DJ. on 5 Nov 2010 19:51:00

Thanks for the link. I remember that article on Rapfix, it looks an elegant design and should wear well.

Sorry, I meant the starter button 😳

Thanks for all the suggestions The top build tips is very good. I'll leave the wheel I think, but I am tempted to fit my own horn push for less than £9. Thanks for the offer Richard, my brother and I went halves on an engine hoist a couple of years ago, but I've made a note of your number in case. I'm down in Eastbourne, but there's no way I'd expect you to deliver anything to me.

I can see why the removable wheel makes sense, but I decided I would find carrying around a steering wheel a bit of a pain when out for the day. I've also wondered what happens if the driver leaves it on the car and someone else pinches it? Starter button would've been nice though. I was trying to be strong willed with the options in case I got carried away, and had to tell my wife the car wasn't "under 20K" as I'd promised.

Thanks for the offer MartinH I like the idea of Blatchat in the garage, very reassuring. I'm not sure my daughter would be too keen on copper grease finger prints on her keyboard though 😬