rob spencer

unfortunately the bolt is just behind the painted side skin so heat is out i'm afraid. I think lots of penetrating oil before I have a go with the centrepunch. I'll have to see if I can find a left-hand fluted drill...but I've not heard of one of them before. Local ironmonger has everything! Kenny, you anywhere near Chesterfield if I can't sort it? rob

Spent all day yesterday fitting engine, box, cooling system, electrics etc etc. Got to the exhaust in the manual and that was a piece of cake until... b*gger...I sheared of the head of the 5/16 bolt holding the rear bracket to the chassis. 10 to 5, rushed out to buy a centrepunch and a stud extractor. Just in time. Two qestions 1. how do you drill a hole in whats left of the bolt in the chassis? I centre-punched it then tried using a 3mm, then 2mm, then 1.5mm HSS drill bits on the fastest speed of my leccy drill. They all broke without making much impression. 2. When I eventually manage to drill a hole to fit the extractor tool, its got such a small square shank to grip and twist. How do you get a good enough grip on the thing to exert enough force onto the stuck bolt to remove it? Spoiled what was almost a perfect day! Rob

excellent concept. don't know about the practicalities but I would certainly use such a thing rob

forgot to say, 1.8K in standard form rob

can't find a spec for engine oil in the build manual only "synthetic". does anyone know what it is for a mainly road use? rob

james I have been fitting my cycle wings on a new build over the jast couple of days. My layout is the same as john's. Caterham supply a thin self adhasive neoprene strip to stick onto the carrier bars to cushion the wing. I have also stuck large 25mm penny washers using silicone sealant to the underside of the GRP wing to help spread the load a bit more. I did consider sticking the wings rather than bolting them but after reading a few horror stories in these columns I decided to bolt.

I agree Peter. If its a collapsable column, just undo the clampholding the two bits together, take the steering lock off, and give it a good tug. i've just done done it on my SV. rob

Andrew where did you get the Nylon coating done? 80quid sounds a pretty good price for a good job! rob

Last night i moved the axel stands back under the chassis and removed the nearside rear damper unit, compressed the spring and tried to move the damper. I was surprised to find that it moved quite easily (ie wasn't stuck). I checked the movement of the DD tube which seemed to be fine so i refitted the damper unit. i moved the stands back under the DD tube and now i have "suspension" when i put my weight on the car. the off-side is now working aswell. maybe the dampers were stuck slightly from having been in the fully extended state for a while. anyway it now works and thanks for all the comments rob

i'll compress the spring and see if the damper will move before i send them back to caterham rob

but peter, when the weight of the car is lowered onto the de-dion tube, surely the springs should compress and the dampers shorten. I have just released one of the damper units at the bottom mounting ( after putting the car back on stands under the chassis). There is plenty of movement in the de-dion tube without the damper unit fixed but none with it fixed rob

i'm putting together my first 7 which is an SV (de-dion and watts). i have assembled the back end with the chassis on stands. I then moved the stands under the de-dion tube to load the suspension to tighten it all up. I know that a 7's suspension is firm but there is no movement whatsoever, as if the damper units are seized. I have even jumped up and down on the back of the car to try to free them. Caterham tell me that the dampers don't need releasing at all but can offer no other explaination. Any ideas?

I'm new to 7s and am trying to decide what kit to buy. I'm 6'3" tall so I'm considering a wide SV version with a 1.8K. I've not taken a test drive yet but then I won't have a lot to compare it with when I do. Has anyone got anthing good or bad to say about the SV. I need to decide if the extra £1250 is worth the cost and the del;ay in saving it up. Help, please.

just a test