pickles

Ballistic Orange Caterham 360 … Always a very, very brief history as some have never heard of Lotus, let alone Caterham and then I always refer people who asked about the car back to my wife … “He’s an idiot … I am 10 years younger and given that women tend to live an extra 10 years, I already have a good chance of having 20 years dancing on his grave … but then what does he do? He buys this Orange Coffin. Not only is it going to increase the duration I will have of being a dancing queen, but also I will save on funeral costs … The 18-wheeler that mows him down on the interstate will just leave an orange smear that will blend into the other road markings!” So sadly, I had to sell it! … and buy a 620 … and to quote another notable (Bruce at Beachman Racing) “Are you sure !? … there are probably not many other cars that will try and kill you every time you get in them!” I have not told my wife about this prediction! Pickles

OK ... I came across the YouTube video from James at ACaterhamCalledFern ... the link/email to the maker is in the YouTube summary. I contacted them and got the light in about 5 days. Have not fitted it but it looks good!

Hi Just had to share this, it came via DHL about 10 mins back. Will Post further details once I finish a few tasks. Here's a couple of photos. Cheers Pickles

In CT 13" !! No steering wheel shall have an equivalent outside diameter less than 13" at its smallest radius (except if approved with special license from the Handicapped Driver Training Unit) or have pointed or sharp protrusions

Put a bit of effort into the car today, am gearing up for the dreaded CT DMV inspection. I located the bumpers that I had fabricated and mounted to my previous Caterham. They mysteriously fell off on I95 on the way back from the DMW inspection center in 2018 So have to install these. A couple of other things, have to take out the seats and the existing 4-point harnesses to install a couple of $26 dollar lap belts. (Because they are sooooo much safer as they have an FMVSS-209 label on them) A couple of red reflectors on the rear of the car (Again they may just fall off at some point!) Then lastly (Hopefully!) Got to make the steering wheel bigger! But am a dab hand at this, take a length of garden hose, and use bicycle handlebar tape to wrap the wheel securing the length of hose around the perimeter of the existing wheel. Cheers all Pickles

Hey CarYenta All i can say is you need to write this adventure up into a "How to Guide" ... absolutely confident you will get to the end (after you correct those headlight angles ) Because I may want to steal this, when it all works out! And also, isn't it "Bob's your uncle Fanny's your aunt!" Pickles

What are you saying!! I figure at least 0.25 HP extra

WOW! this is a journey! I do not want to know how many $'s you are putting into this Not to mention the hours! But congrats on getting this far.

OK don't laugh, this is version 0.1(beta) Got rid of existing piece of rubber on the air-box, which was really not doing much. I went to Home Depot and got 1in. x 6ft Rubber Self-Seal Pipe Wrap. Grabbed a few cable-ties, and this what I got. Is it perfect, not yet! But is a better than previously? I would argue yes. It does make putting the hood back on a little more difficult but not by much. I think for version 0.2(beta) I will enlarge the 3 screw holes in the bottom of the air box where it attaches to the car, install some rubber grommets. May also play with some extra rubber washes to change the height/angle the box sites out for a better fit. (Plus, I have another 5ft of rubber tube to play with ) Pickles

Hi Jmaz RE: Maneuvering the crates. So my last 2 builds I did not put the crates in the garage, you will soon run out of room. I unboxed in the driveway, moving what I could on my own into the garage, wheels, gearbox, various parts. Left on the driveway was the chassis and engine, on a few pallets Here I grabbed a few friends, for the chassis I set out my 4 axle stands roughly, and we carried the assembly into the garage with a 5th person quickly moving the stands and directing ... just make sure everybody knows the plan is beforehand The engine is awkward but I had an engine hoist ready to go, so this was just a question of hooking up and then wheeling into the garage. That just left a bunch of crates and pieces in the driveway. I put these on craigslist as 'Free to a Good Home, first come first served!' ... You will not believe this, but both times, the takeaway was to build a chicken coup! ... The last person who took away my 620 boxes drops a couple off a dozen eggs every couple of months! A Caterham build leads to many different rewards! Cheers Paddy

I know this is going to be a source of contention and debate, and has probably been debated many times, but here goes... On both my previous 360 and my current 620 ... the alignment of the airbox/filter intake does not match the hood cutout. On My 360 I replaced the whole airbox with a K&N cylinder filter, at the same time I replaced the Cat with a straight through connector ... It must have added at least 100HP ... obviously I jest! It did not, but it sounded like it did; the intake was throaty, and exhaust sounded like a whaling banshee! So now I come my 620 ... it too has a similar mis-alignment :- Now I could spend time correcting and adjusting the airbox to match the hood opening, so here's the question(s) ... is it worth it? Is there some other configuration I should be looking at? Feel free to beat me up on a subject that probably has already been ... beaten to death! Cheers Pickles

Unfortunately, it sticks when running as well and does not show the correct temp

Oh! Please excuse dusty gauges

So have had running issues, sometimes the car would start and idle fine. And then for some reason it would be 'off to the races', jumping to 2K RPM and then hunting up and down. This would happen even if I were not in the car, so no change in throttle input (Well at least by me) Went over CarYenta's build post and followed his direction to play about with idle setting. Initially via Easimap, Throttle Site was reading 0.1 and the Voltage at 0.54V, would out the idle screw probably 1/4 of a turn, now sat 0.0 / 0.52V. After this have not seen the previous issue. Will need to monitor this, as I am only playing with car at the moment in my garage and driveway, and it is 34F out side, can't get it on the road until I do the dreaded CT DMV inspection. But onto the next issue ... a sticky Water Temp gauge! The two images below are taken with the ignition off. Also when idling the car and checking the cooling fan kicks in correctly I looked at the gauge and it was only reading 60C, turn the ignition off then on the gauge jumped close to 100C, which is where it should be for the fan to kick in.

I always describe the build as akin to Lego ... this car has been in production so long they have ironed out 'most' of the kinks. Bruce at Beachman Racing thinks I may hold the record for the quickest build, but then again, my wife on more than one occasion came down to the garage at 5 or 6 AM to find me asleep under the car Wrench in one hand ... Beer in the other! Trust me you will have a blast!

Hi Jmaz So pretty much everyone runs into issues for a variety of reasons, our fault as a builder, Caterham’s fault for making a mistake, a mistake out of the blue … But a couple of things stick in my mind … I have now had 2 Caterham’s, and at times I have run into issues for all sorts of reasons… just 2 examples (But there are many!) Bleeding my brakes … I put the wheels on my 360, lowered to the ground as my bleed tube was too short to reach with it on stands … I pumped those brakes and topped up that reservoir, I must have put thru 4 quarts of fluid through that system before I suddenly realized there was 2 bleed nipples, each side of the caliper … I was only bleeding one!! … I was frustrated when I could not get enough brake pressure, but the elation of what a fool I was, wiped the memory of that frustration! My ‘no start condition’ on the 620 … Every time I went through my garage … empty the trash! … get the lawn motor! … etc. I would look at my green anchor and feel depressed … but now I am elated … am I at the winning line? Nah! But am closer 😊 At the end of the day Caterham are a small production manufacturer of some of the most exciting cars to drive (my wife just whispered over my shoulder … it is not a car it is your coffin 😊) There is a great support network out there so do not worry … welcome it and embrace it … you will interact with the best people on both sides of the aisle. (Opps, when I said the aisle, I do not mean the political aisle ... I really meant the 3000 miles from the UK to the US!) In short you did the right thing! Happy building Pickles

A little bit more effort, It is quite dense but will I expect squish down over time I used this:- Yotache Weather Stripping 2 Rolls 1" W X 1/8" T (New Adhesive Craft), Neoprene Foam Weatherstrip Tape for Automotive, 33 Ft Length (2 X 16.5 Ft Each) - Amazon.com It's about 3mm thick, I actually used it on another project and had some left over. For the PPF film on my 360, I did this: The nose cone, I took the original foam strip off, wrapped the PPF, over the lip where the hood meets it, and put a new bit of foam over the PPF to match the original. The Hood I did in 2 pieces, but did not do the louvres. My skills with PPF are not good enough! Will see this time as am sure PPF has moved on in the last 8 years. The sides back to the rear fenders. The front half of the cycle wings and half the rear. I put on the CF Bow protectors. (Bruce sells these) Also put foam on the possible contact areas where the nose cone mates with the main chassis. Lastly a small square of PPF under the gas tank fill. Cheers Pickles

OK ... now finally have the car running. Moving on to Pickle proof the car, I am notorious for scratching and denting things, so I need protect the car from myself! First off, the rear roll bar, noticed on previous 360, passengers (Those mad enough to get into my 'Orange Coffin') would instinctively grab the roll bar and if they were wearing rings they would scratch it. So, a handy-dandy bit of carbon fiber with double sided tape (Because this car really does not have enough CF already ) And then some additional self-adhesive foam to the hood. (And to keep the cat engaged) Next will be adding some PPF in certain places.

Most of the spider cracks come from the inside of the fenders, as stones are spun up from the tires within the wheel well. I used 3M rubberized undercoating from Amazon on my 360 and 620, and then PPF on the external surface of the fenders. Works great! Pickles

Problem finally resolved. Thanks to Bruce at Beachman Racing and Lee Bristow at Caterham for sticking through this. The underlying issue was a problem with the pinning for the Crank Position Sensor between ECU and the Engine loom. Pins on the ECU (11 & 12) are the black and white wire from the CPS, I had continuity on each wire, but the wires were crossed, the connection between the ECU and engine harness had been incorrectly pined. Chose the easy option and swapped pins at the CPS. Car started right up. I wanted to get the biggest glass of hard liquor I could find but sadly in CT, after 6PM the package stores are closed. So a hazy IPA for me! Vroom! Vroom! Now just have to put everything back together There is not a lot of space in the 620 engine bay. It's amazing how much I moved around and disconnected to get access to the wiring loom. If it were easy, we would not do it! Cheers Pickles

I'll let you know ... I thought the rear silencer the ugliest thing I have seen ... I ordered mine with just the side silencer ... If I ever get it running I'll let ya know how loud it is :-)

I think the spacers are only for RHD cars.

Just Booked via CVS for Monday a series of boosters ... As I always say when I go there, I am your pincushion ... have at it!

Hi Well, I certainly stirred a debate The good news from what I understand is that our state governor has signed an executive order to allow the Covid shot. Normality returns Pickles

Yep, sadly got to wait 5 weeks for the appointment ... as my wife just told me ... give it up you have already given up enough! Come volunteer at the Cat shelter ... far more rewarding!