JohnCh

Great idea!  I've become a big fan of rare earth magnets over the past year and have used them in various projects but hadn't thought about this.  Are you sourcing from Amazon or do you order from somewhere with better and more consistent quality?  If so, please share 

Westfield used to fit this extension, and I had one on my car until I installed the BGH gearbox. If you do source one, you may want to read this thread which touches on some aspects of the installation process:  https://forum.wscc.co.uk/forum/topic/146517-gearlever-extension-type-9-fitting

17 minutes ago, Croc said:

What about this?

 

https://www.forward2me.com

That looks like a great solution for folks on both sides of the pond.  

Too bad the easiest one isn't the issue.  It could also be a duff gauge.  If Bruce has one on hand, that's easy to swap out and check.  During my build another local owner had a bad oil pressure gauge that he confirmed by borrowing my unused gauge.  

1 hour ago, Timberline said:

I've been ignoring this issue, but my fuel gauge doesn't come on, shows nothing. Is there a connector I am supposed to connect somewhere for this...?

A few things come immediately to mind. The first two are quick and easy.

• Due to the design, the fuel level sensor can't access the last 1.5-2 gallons in the tank.  How much fuel have you added? 
• Have you reached under the dash to confirm the gauge is plugged into the harness and the connector is fully seated?
• If the fuel assembly is incorrectly clocked in the tank, it can prevent the float from reaching the last several gallons in the tank.  Checking this requires removing the boot floor which can be maddening. 
• There could be a break in one of the wires or the sensor is dead.  This also requires removing the boot floor, then pulling out the multimeter to diagnose.  

Martin Phipps is the Caterham archivist and may be able to help. I don't like publicly posting someone's PII without their permission, but if you go to the post below, he lists his email address there.  I'm not sure if his help extends to non C&L7C members, but never hurts to ask:  https://www.caterhamlotus7.club/forums/topic/274739-1983-caterham-bdr-cosworth-engine-nr-bdr001/?do=findComment&comment=2604188

-John

11 minutes ago, IamScotticus said:

Sorry, no link, to avoid poking the etiquette bear.

 

Not sure what is meant by this, a link is fine; however, everyone should be aware that this is for Caterham & Lotus Seven Club members only.  Current membership price for US and Canada is 70 GBP annually (about $90 and 125 CAD respectively).

34 minutes ago, CBuff said:

Can you poach your heater switch for the wipers to pass the inspection.  Not sure on the amp ratings on each switch but it would be a similar 3 position switch.

Are the heater fan and wiper switches physically the same?  They are both off-on-on, but the wiper wiring also has to account for the wiper park mechanism when switched off.  I think it may have an extra pin or have the pins wired differently.  Hopefully someone can confirm or tell me I am wrong as per the norm.

8 minutes ago, Timberline said:

I wonder what they provide their builders for instructions…?

I have been told there is no standard assembly process at the factory.  Each builder is free to follow their inner voice and assemble the car in the order and way they prefer. I suspect this same philosophy applies to the people who pack the crates.  Some must prefer to include the wrong parts, or duplicate part, or save some parts the trauma of shipment altogether and leave them on a shelf at the factory.

@CBuff if the wires are under enough tension that a zip tie is required to keep the connector together, I'd be concerned a wire to pin connection could fail over time or a pin could back out of the connector.  Running the wire from the driver's side frees up a lot slack in the wiring loom.   

I followed @Pokey's writeup here and used the same 3M 08115 panel bond adhesive.  

Fan wires should fit through a slot in the driver's side radiator mount.  Or at least they did on my car. 

Space is really tight in these cars.  Zip ties are your friend.  If you can't separate hoses that look like they could wear through each other, consider adding some discarded hose around one of them to create a sacrificial layer.  You can also cut a short section of hose and place it orthogonal to the other hoses to create a spacer held in place by a zip tie (create a figure 8 around the hoses with the zip tie legs coming together inside this hose section).  Pay particular attention to hoses whose failure will cause you to crash or burn (i.e. brakes and fuel).  It's also a good idea to periodically examine everything as the parts do shift over time.  

@ashyers here is a screenshot from page 3 of the Magnecor catalog.  All the Duratec and most of the Zetec coil packs I've seen over the years look like gen 2.  The one shown in the add-liteness photo has the flat, epoxy-like top as shown in the gen 1 (and is what initially fooled me), but the connector of the gen 2.  I wonder what it's from?  

I just blew up your photo.  That may be an aftermarket gen 2 coil pack.  It has the epoxy top finish of the type 1 but the rest does look like type 2.  

18 hours ago, add-liteness said:

My question isn't what motor I have or whether it should have coil over plugs. I know it's a 2.0 Duratec and that my ECU doesn't support coil over plugs. All I need is which car model and year has the compatible length ignition wires.  

In that case you may want to reread my post.  If you look at page 3 of the Magnecor UK catalog, it shows you are using the gen 1 coil pack that requires different boots than gen 2, which was the standard fitment on the coil pack equipped early 2000's European Mondeo I referenced earlier.   Also, the plug boots in the Duratec are different, with narrower sealing fins than used in the Zetec.  It appears you will need a custom set from someone like Magencor to ensure proper fit.

@MV8 are you sure the plug lengths and boot seals are the same between the engines?  I ordered mine for an early 2000's UK market Ford Mondeo which used the coil pack and had it mounted on top of the coolant junction at the back of the head as in your picture.  The Ford Ranger also used the coil pack, but I seem to recall it was mounted slightly differently and lead length was not the same -- someone may be able to confirm or correct that statement.  I believe all other US Duratec installations had coil-on-plug.  Magnecor has a UK site with a catalog for European cars.  I'd start there, then share that info with the US arm when ordering.  

13 hours ago, nc7s4 said:

Quick update regarding my new springs and shocks. They do not work!! 

 

10-In heavy springs are too tall.  Even at the top of the shock perch the ride height is too high. 

 

Need to figure out how to fit shorter springs.  I think that only the rear of the car has clearance issues, front will fit industry standard 2.25 ID springs. 

 

The rear of the car will probably still get 1.875 ID springs, but the problem with that is that they are limited in what you can get. It looks like the heaviest 8-in option is 250 lb.  That may be what I end up with in the back.

 

If the front can fit 2.25 in springs then there is any rate imaginable in that size 8 in long.

I've moved the resulting thread drift back to core thread starting here but have left the initial post about the spring error above as a quote to ensure it is not lost here.

Thanks @Rashid_seyadi, Here is a link to the new thread:  

1 hour ago, wdb said:

My problem is, how to separate them. There is spiral hose wrap, but stuff that will properly stand up to underhood temps is pricey. There are hose separators, but they assume the hoses run in parallel which mine do not. If I could find some slim separators that had a floating connection between the clamps, I'd be a happy camper.

A quick fix is to cut off a short piece of rubber hose, split it lengthwise and attach to one hose with a couple of zip ties.

Great spec!  A couple of comments:

Regarding the LED headlights, @Outbound is a lighting engineer and shared this post with the source of the Caterham headlights at a fraction of the price.  I believe he may be using these now, and if so, can comment effectiveness.

Delving into engine upgrades, it's a potential slippery slope with a lot of options. Fortunately, there are a number of people here with firsthand experience who will hopefully chime in.  I won't rehash what we've already shared via email, but for the rest of the group I will highlight that you are used to cars with much stronger acceleration than a 420R, so the usual comments about it likely having more power than you need, don't necessarily apply.  A big question you'll need to answer is how much work you want to do now vs. how open you are to doing an engine project in the future?  By all accounts, switching to factory roller barrels or aftermarket ITBs wakes up the engine and adds to the aural experience, and can be pretty straight forward.  Any meaningful cam upgrade in the 420 require tearing apart the engine to accommodate valve lift -- the 420 cams are close to the limit with stock pistons -- at which point the slippery slope has arrived.

In addition to SBD and Raceline in the UK, there are Esslinger and Hasselgren in the US.  I know there is also another Duratec builder in the Portland area but can't recall his name.

During the build, a couple of modifications to keep in mind: replace the scuttle rivets with rivnuts and bolts to make future under scuttle work much, much easier; and if you need to remove the honeycomb boot floor for any reason, cut it in half to make future removal/installation easy rather than an exercise in frustration.

42 minutes ago, Austin David said:

I had to go back and read my post to remember...

One of the best reasons to create a build thread   

I've started a sticky post of build blogs on the web.  I will update this initial post with new links from the community that are provided below, but I want to set the ground rules to ensure this post remains valuable and doesn't simply become a huge list of links that overload a new builder with options.  

1. These are dedicated build blogs or web sites, and not build threads on various forums.  People can easily find those on their own by visiting the sites.
2. For a link to make the list below, you must have personally referenced the blog during your build, or referenced/reviewed it later, and can personally vouch for its value.  Let's face it, some blogs are a lot better than others.  We shouldn't muddy the waters with those of lesser quality.  
3. You must include the following information: manufacturer, model, approximate year, and engine if applicable.  If the builder gave their blog a distinct name, please include that as well.  

I will group the links by manufacturer.  The hope this continues to go grow over time and become a valuable resource to builders regardless of kit purchased.

Remember that many official build manuals are available for download in the Library.

Caterham

A Caterham 420R SV Build  ~2023 420R SV
420 Detailed Build Blog ~2019 420R S3
Team420RBuild  ~2019 420R SV
Caterham 7 Diaries  ~2018 360R SV
Purplemeanie  ~2016 420R SV
Caterham 310 R SV Build Blog  ~2019 310R SV

Tigger's Annotated Build Manual -- 2023 420R

I'd ping Lifeline USA to confirm that their current 3-hole adapter will still fit your setup.  Their phone number is in the upper right corner of the page: https://www.lifeline-fire.com/lifelineformulacarweld-onquickreleasesteeringadapter.aspx

48 minutes ago, Rashid_seyadi said:

ill keep you guys posted. With the updates or shall i start a new build thread?

As others have said, welcome and sounds like a fun project.  Definitely start a build thread in that forum so everyone can follow along and help out.  It also makes it easier for people doing research in the future to find the thread and learn from what you did.  https://usa7s.net/ips/forum/41-build-threads/

I learned this morning that Skip Cannon ( @scannon ) has passed away from natural causes at the age of 80.  I knew Skip virtually since he popped up on the old California Caterham Club forum in 2005 where he causes a bit of a stir with his plans to install a turbo Miata drivetrain in his new Caterham SV.  The transmission wouldn't fit without surgery, leading many people to question his sanity, but he carried on with his plans and made it work.  In the end he created a very well-sorted beast of a car.  It's not lost on me that many years later, Caterham adopted that same transmission to replace the Type-9.  But he was the first.  

Skip was passionate about se7ens and Miatas, always happy to share his experiences and insights, and was not one to let circumstances get in his way.  For me, there is no better example of that than his infamous butt-extractor, built to address shoulder issues which impacted his ability to exit his car. 

Although I only met Skip in person once, we shared many emails over the years.  I always looked forward to those exchanges.  For those interested, there is a very nice post about Skip on Grassroots Motorsports and another thread on Miata.net.

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/miata-guru-skip-cannon-has-passed-away/274255/page1/

https://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?t=787195 (Note: this thread is in the Water Cooler forum which requires registration to view.)

Here is a picture with the scuttle removed that shows the wiper motor bolted to the metal platform.