Bluemoon
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| posted on 6/8/07 at 02:20 PM |
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General build advice...
Came across this, others might find it useful..
Cheers
Dan
These notes were put together in response to a query posted on blatchat - as they ran to 5 pages, I thought they might be useful to somebody out
there.
No claims for originality of any of the ideas, not intended to be "must do" instructions, just a few ideas which occurred during the build
of:
1.6K Roadsport, SV
Polish all bodywork a couple of times before bolting anything on. This will be the last time you have access to all areas without bits of
suspension sticking out. (Caterham finish the paintwork with a polishing compound and mop only – no protective ‘wax’ polish is applied.) I
didn’t do this but I wish I had…
Again before bolting anything on, apply Waxoyl / Dinitrol - whatever your poison - I used Dinitrol 3125 ordered from Frosts. Can also be purchased
from some Halfrauds in aerosol form.
Apply with a £1 hand held garden spray and paint brush to all the bits you think might benefit (very subjective this). I waited till 2 months after I
had finished the build, so access to some areas was difficult and it was a lot colder when I did this job, so had to fill the garage with electric
heaters to get the temperature up.
Dab of paint on every nut/bolt after torque tightening – helps the memory and looks professional!
I bought 2 Draper torque wrenches to cover the required torque range (except for the 250 lbf/ft on the rear drive shafts – I was lucky enough to
have a work colleague who has a huge one which goes up to this figure and beyond!)
I checked the calibration at various values by gripping a bolt in the vice/work mate, slipping the torque wrench plus socket on to the bolt head and
hanging weights from the torque wrench handle (weight times distance equals torque etc.). Higher torques can be checked using a length of pipe to
extend the wrench handle – the weights I used were previously unemployed hand dumbbell weights, 2.5lb, 5lb and 10 lb in various combinations.
For tightening rear drive shafts, I drilled 2 holes in a 5ft length of steel bar and slipped this over the wheel studs (without the wheel fitted
of course) - 2 big washers and the wheel nuts held the bar on. The torque wrench then easily did the job with the steel bar end against the garage
floor to stop the drive shaft going round.
Don’t tighten any of the front / rear suspension bolts which go thro’ bushes until the car is on the floor with full weight on the wheels. You
will only end up slackening them off again.
Apply Waxoyl / Dinitrol to all bolts heads, nuts and exposed threads after torquing using paint brush. I did this again once winter had started
and everything was covered in crud/muck etc.. Not all the bolts are all zinc plated and the exposed threads start to rust quite quickly.
Apply Copaslip to all threads before assembly. Note that Copaslip will not wash out of your best polo shirt.
Kitchen roll (or toilet roll if you’re poor) is very useful for cleaning up excess Copaslip from fingers, your best polo shirt, bolt threads
etc.
If you are a f@rt-@rse like me then it will take you 3 attempts to centralise the diff. using the various packing washers, but then you will feel
really smug because you have got it centred within 0.5mm – much better than the +/-2 mm in the manual!
(Ditto on the A frame/DeDion assembly)
The manual tells you to slide the prop shaft into the transmission tunnel before fitting the diff. There is a good reason for this, as I proved
conclusively that you cannot get the prop shaft into position after the diff is fitted.
Protect chassis rails from rear suspension bits by using split foam insulation for 15mm central heating pipes. Cut into 6” lengths and slid over
chassis tubing, this prevented me from removing any paint from chassis whilst fitting DeDion, A frame etc.
When engine was being installed I set the length of the slings front/rear so that the engine/gearbox was horizontal front to back (viewed from
side) but I didn’t notice it was slightly rolled over when looking from front. This roll angle prevented the gearbox from entering the transmission
tunnel and I had to pull out (!!) and start again. I ended up with sling lengths of 6” front, 16” rear which meant that the engine/gearbox was not
rolled when viewed from front but front of engine was higher than gearbox by quite a lot. This actually helped as this was the natural angle to insert
the assembly and it just slid to place like a good ‘n.
Check the manual’s listing of torque figures for every different diameter bolt – don’t try to tighten the bellhousing/sump bolts up to the
same torque as the bellhousing/engine bolts – it’s toooo high.
The big washers on the suspension have chamfers on one side of them. After fitting the suspension, I spent a happy 2 hours turning the washers
round again so that the chamfer side was against the rubber suspension bushes (as stated clearly in the manual!). I forgot this immediately after
reading it and installed them with chamfer facing wrong way but looking ‘pretty’.
Double check the bellhousing to gearbox bolts are torque tightened. After you have installed the engine/gearbox into the car is not a good time to
start to wonder whether you did actually tighten these 4 bolts properly.
Diff and gearbox can be more easily filled using small plastic funnel (swiped from SWMBO cookery drawer) and a length of clear section tubing
(found it in the garage). You can tell when the gearbox and diff. is full because the oil runs out all over the floor
Paint garage floor – oil spillages are more easily cleaned up.
When filling gearbox be aware that some oil is left in following manufacturer’s assembly so you won’t get the full book amount in the box.
This won’t stop you trying though with the resulting oil spill as above.
When filling gearbox, don’t lift the plastic filler funnel too high to see what's going on in the tube – this pulls the funnel out of
the clear tubing, so that the oil in the funnel runs all over the ECU on the scuttle and the tube drops to the floor starting another spillage –
this causes brain overload as you don’t know which oil puddle to mop up first.
Always have lots of waste rags available for mopping up oil spillages
Where a part is threaded to accept a bolt, have a trial run with bolt and part on the bench or the floor before final assembly. If the fit is
tight and bolt thread looks ok, then obtain a tap of correct profile and carefully clean out thread in component. I needed to do this on the
differential bottom mounting bolt threads. (I reckon I would have stripped the threads or sheared the mounting bolts if I hadn’t done this on the
diff.)
I also found it necessary to run a tap up the lower shock absorber mounting threads on the DeDion tube.
I found that the top steering bush can be more easily fitted if top steering column section is first pushed down thro’ dash tube into engine
compartment and onto lower column section as far as it will go. The top bush popped into place easily without the top column trying to ‘guide’ it
(using rubber lubricant of course!!) under finger pressure and top column section can be pushed back up from inside engine compartment into bush.
Front suspension top ball joints spin as soon as nut nyloc bit hits thread. Use a short length of tube (I used an 11mm off cut of Ø20 steel tube
that I had bought from B & Q) or stack of washers slipped over thread under nut which can then be tightened sufficiently firmly to pull taper
joint together. Nut can then be slackened, pipe/washers removed and nut replaced and tightened properly.
For brakes I used a Gunson Ezibleed (spelling?), but I didn’t use more than 10 psi in spare tyre to provide ‘power pressure’, and after
getting brake fluid over everything at first attempt, I didn’t fill the (Gunson) intermediate reservoir with fluid. Left it dry and just kept my eye
on the level in the master cylinder and made sure it didn’t fall below minimum.
I found DIY bleeding straight forward using this method (plus tapping rear calipers with mallet as recommended in manual, chanting ancient
incantations and only carrying out the bleeding during a full moon) and once the pads had bedded in I had a nice hard brake pedal.
Top tip – if you ever need to get excess fluid out of the brake master cylinder, not that I put too much in of course – excess fluid can be
easily sucked out of master cylinder using a chicken basting syringe, plastic tubey type thing with rubber bulb on the end type thingy. (99p from
Wilko)
Bonnet is fitted with loose sticky backed foam strips under the sides for TRANSPORT PURPOSES only. Don’t immediately peel off the backing and
stick the foam down – it takes ages to scrape off with your thumb nail.
(Although you may end up putting some bits of it back to stop the bonnet fretting and rattling…..)
If you have a 4 point harness, don’t tighten the bolts to the full specified torque – this will crush the assembly (which has a stepped ‘top
hat’ spacer part) and the straps will not pivot. I was advised by Caterham to try a maximum of 35 lbft, (they supplied replacement ‘top hat’
spacers) but when reassembling I tightened up using a spanner until everything was just nipped up and still pivoting.
I found Caterham techhelp and parts people were brilliant at sorting out my problems and queries. I used e-mail when I got to work in the morning
and usually had a reply within a couple of hours. Missing parts were usually in next mornings post. Brilliant service from very helpful people.
Make sure brake pads are well bedded before SVA test. Mine failed on front brake balance test which turned out to be a simple lack of pad
bedding-in, but meant a further return trip to Derby and a re-test fee.
Book SVA well in advance – I waited till I had engine in and running before applying for test date – sent letter off around beginning August
03, first available date at Derby was October 8th, 03.
Ask Caterham for advise on best place to take car for SVA – this can remove a lot of worry.
Remember to replace wooden panel in boot before you take car for a test run – this will prevent loose tools etc from dropping out of the car as
you bounce down the potholed road which runs along to your garage from the main road.
I used heavy duty double sided carpet fitting tape for interior carpets. So far this has worked fine and was easy to apply – I guess much easier
than fooling around with impact adhesive – and it allows the carpet to be pulled away and refitted without problem. The only bit which won’t stay
down is the little strip of vinyl trim which raps around the top of the panel behind the seats.
Think before you drive on the road before the SVA. You will not be road legal. I was going to drive my car to Caterham for the post build check
but I lost my bottle and trailered it there.
I asked DVLA/vehicle inspection section about this and legally you are
“only allowed to drive the car to and from the SVA test and also to and from a pre-booked appointment to have relevant repair work done if the
vehicle fails the test, subject to insurance cover and compliance with the appropriate Regulations. Any other journeys must be undertaken by
transporter”.
For driving to and from the SVA test you get insurance on the chassis number.
[Edited on 6/8/07 by Bluemoon]
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coozer
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| posted on 6/8/07 at 02:30 PM |
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I thought you can drive to the above mentioned garage BEFORE SVA?
As in going for a pre SVA headlight/emissions check.
Please tell me I'm right???
1972 V8 Jago
1980 Z750
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indykid
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| posted on 6/8/07 at 02:42 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by coozer
I thought you can drive to the above mentioned garage BEFORE SVA?
As in going for a pre SVA headlight/emissions check.
Please tell me I'm right???
nope. you can drive to an MOT station, but only if you're going to a pre booked MOT.
some have since said that as an MOT is not required prior to sva, legally, you can't even do that....................
tom
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