tomwood

Another vote for the Fuchs Pro S in the 5w-40 grade. It really is an excellent oil. A suitable alternative from millers might be the CFS 5w-40 nanotechnology oil. Tom

I run MTL in my 5 speed gearbox and it works really well. its a bit of a squeeze but it’s possible to get your hand down the tunnel so you can access the top panel of the gearbox with an Allen key. You can do the whole thing relatively easily simply by feel as you’ll not be able to look at the panel whilst you have your hand stuffed up the tunnel. Having got the panel off you can then suck the oil out of the top with an oil extractor. ian - interested in what you said. I think mine is a single piece top panel I don’t remember there being any other bit of it to have to locate. Are there different designs? Tom

Why not build a 420R and then after the build have it upgraded so it has the roller barrel throttle conversion. Caterham will do it for you so the car remains under warranty etc. They may even let you build the car in kit form and fit the roller barrels yourself. Not sure about that, you’d need to ask. i built a 360R and then had Caterham upgrade it to 420 spec + the roller barrels on top. It’s a completely different thing to drive now being both more rapid and more responsive (and much louder). Tom

Hi, can i ask about the half hood please? Will it fit a car with the double diagonal FIA roll bar? also what colour is it and is it Mohair or vinyl? any chance of a couple of pics? thanks, Tom

My advice would be to fit some 3M protective film on the wings before you do anything else. Wish I’d done this but I didn’t and now I regret it. The protectors do their job but the bit at the edge of the wing that they don’t cover gets peppered by stones big time. less than 5000 miles in and I’m already thinking of taking them off, respraying, fitting the film and then putting the carbon protectors back on again.

Here you go: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&t=1782529&d=0#seperator no pics from him as yet. Perhaps say hello on the thread and that you’re the one after the images? Might just prompt him into action. Tom

I’m inclined to agree, I don’t buy the ‘improving things’ line either. Why fix something that clearly isn’t broken and has been proven to work. I suspect there is some kind of supply issue. Perhaps the original supplier has upped the cost to CC or the race ones are cheaper and they make a better margin. Over cooling rather than under cooling seems be the norm for those using the old arrangement but I can’t see CC feeling this is reason enough for ‘improving’ the design.

If you fancy doing the same, there’s more on now to do it in this thread. Final post has a wiring diagram that I put together which may prove useful: https://www.lotus7.club/forum/techtalk/water-oil-temp-gauge-switch-mod-advice-needed?page=1 Tom

Yup same mod that I did as well. Works really well. Just make sure you drill the hole for the switch in the right place, it will annoy you for ever more if it’s not exactly in the middle between the two existing gauges. Tom

Wow, fair play to you, that’s some seriously impressive work! Really enjoyed reading through what is a very thorough and well written piece, thanks for sharing.

https://caterhamparts.co.uk/battery-leads/6675-battery-master-switch-kit.html and there’s this one as well: https://caterhamparts.co.uk/battery-leads/236-battery-master-switch-kit-ford.html?search_query=Master+switch&results=139 Tom

John - I'm a short arse so the chances of me reaching it are low when harnessed up Searching some more, it looks like Caterham do a rather nice kit with all the bits in it including the various bits of new wiring although I suspect like most other things I'll be paying over the odds for it. Thanks for the suggestion on Redline, will give them a call and see if they do a similar kit. Tom

Jeez, just caught up on the latest. Really feel for you, I'd be similarly cheesed off if I was in your shoes. I totally agree with your point on inefficiencies as well. You'd think after all this time making essentially the same vehicles that they would get their packing lists and ability to select the correct parts against those packing lists down to a fine art form. Alas it seems they are still sending out the wrong bits in kits. What I really can't understand is how they think this is cost efficient. You'd think it would be one of the key areas they would focus on as it must damage margins ultimately. Odd. When I built mine 5 years ago I must have had 3 or 4 deliveries of additional bits to sort out missing items along the way. The amount of bits I had left over was also quite staggering. I agree with you, it's no wonder the cars cost so much! I do echo what others have said though, particularly if you are 75% of the way through the build. You need to get it done so you don't loose out financially. Derek is there to get things sorted for those that are building kits, I doubt he knows any of what has happened to you previously with regards to the delivery issues so I wouldn't worry about talking to him directly, he may even sympathise with your position. It strikes me that there is a good chance his brief response is simply down to being busy, perhaps ask if you can call him to talk it through with him. Whenever I spoke with him directly he was always helpful. Tom

OK, so that does answer a few questions then but others remain unresolved and you'll need some answers Resolved Q's: 1) The photos prove it's possible to get a much better fit with the top radiator hose than you've got so far. The issue you currently have is that your Bobbins appear to be of the non waisted kind whereas in all the Caterham pics, they are clearly using waisted ones which are narrower in the middle than at the ends to give better clearance. If you haven't got any in your kit then ask Derek to supply some and I'm sure he'd be happy to send some. In addition it looks like you will need to cut a bit off one of them to get the hose to butt up against the radiator properly. I suspect the Jubilee clip can stay positioned where it is and it will be fine, you just need the hose to push on further. 2) Whilst the routing of the top hose right over the catch tank is undoubtedly a poorly engineered solution, in reality it will work just fine. The probability of you ever needing to empty the catch tank is pretty low. Your biggest risk is overfilling the sump tank with oil when you do an oil change. I've not had any spat into mine through general running on road and hard running on track though. With the hose attached to the radiator, is it flexible enough to be pushed out of the way so you can access, and lift (remove) the catch tank if needed? Unresolved Q's: 1) Is the nosecone that you currently have definitely going to fit over the race radiator? We know there is a 420R 'upgraded' nosecone that can be purchased for your car but this does appear to be an upgrade over a normal nose. If the upgraded nosecone is necessary to fit over the race type radiator then they need to either: a) Supply you with the right nosecone b) Send you the other type of radiator and separate oil cooler so you can work with your current nosecone 2) How best to get the Dry sump oil lines to correctly fit onto the re-positioned oil cooler connection points? The hose kit they have supplied is almost certainly orientated correctly for the other style of oil cooler with vertical connections underneath the oil cooler (same as mine). Some advice has been given that suggests the existing lines can be reconfigured and the connections rotated, perhaps Derek can advise if this is the expectation? I would also re-iterate what I said in an earlier post. Derek is likely to better respond to your inquiries if you speak with him over the phone. i suspect a 5 min call will have most of your outstanding Q's addressed and will avoid you having to play email tennis with him. Tom

Guys this is great info thank you. BigCol - I like that idea, it’s a neat solution. I suppose it has its pros and cons though. On the plus side it’s an easier wiring job. On the negative side I guess it’s not really possible to reach the switch whilst sat in the drivers seat with a harness on? having said that, Caterham fit them to the outside of the car don’t they, what’s the reasoning behind that? So a Marshall can throw the switch if the worst was to happen? getting the proper FIA switch would seem to make sense even if I just used it as an isolator for now. apart from Caterham themselves are there other places to purchase them from (noted the mention of SVC above, will look them up) thanks also for the wiring diagram pic and link to the guide, much appreciated. Tom