Yoram

Not in my case, as my wires run vertical, straight down. My studs are horizontal. This cover is for a vertical post and horizontal wire. If oriented vertically it would stick up bu not cover the actual terminal. Enclosing again the pic of my installation. In any case thanks for the search!

Great idea! No I don't, and question is how much would it end up costing unless folks on the forum can facilitate... I have no feel for these resources. I'm tempted to write to Banner and ask if they send 10 or 20 covers and we will have a small stock for the club/forum...

Yup. You were right (again). Just checked some "old" pics of my CBU still in the crate -- the battery did come with the pegged covers. I must have misplaced them or even absent-mindedly tossed them -- they are nowhere. It's a pity.

Thanks, @CBuff. I will need to visualize how these would install and work with my setup. May be worth a try.

Thank you, @MV8. Will look into those. The small complication is that my cables run straight up vertically so the cover may not fully protect from above. But thanks for the tip, will look into those!

Thank you. I think it is for both. I have had several cars with these covers, at least one of them with flip-up covers with the pegs and a latch feature engaging on the other side. I had investigated the first link - the distance between the pegs is too long, same as in the covers I actually got from a local dealer. I had also investigated the Banner site (2nd link) but no reference to the covers. Thanks again, @CBuff !

Hello y'all, I recently completed my 360S S3 build (documented in another thread) and am now in process of tying up loose ends. One of the things on the list is install a protective cover / shield over at least the positive terminal. There is a pair of round bores near each terminal (see pic) to hold a plastic cover with a matching pair of pegs. I have searched everywhere I can think of and am unable to find a cover that fits. The only covers I found with pegs are for "normal" batteries with much larger distance between the pegs. For now I clamped a makeshift plastic cover over the positive terminal (not shown) with the battery retaining bracket, but am looking for a more "OEM" type solution. Anyone have any ideas where to find such covers, or another "elegant" solution? Thanks! Yoram

... resuming installment plan of Lessons Learned. Sorry for the long pause. 360S S3 "Yellowjacket" Build - Lessons Learned V Diff Install and Fill 1. Brake line routing Prior to diff installation check ability to align the end of the copper brake pipe which is routed from the tunnel with the fitting attachment hole in the chassis. The fitting will connect the copper pipe to the braided hose going to the axle. Should be possible to loosen and adjust the routing of the pipe in the tunnel and bend it to ensure its end is aligned and square with the chassis hole (without modifying the hole, as I needed to do). The brake pipe is not accessible in the tunnel once the diff is in place. Install the fitting to the copper pipe and the chassis hole finger tight making sure the fitting is perpendicular to the chassis surface before tightening. 2. Floor jack fixture A standard loor jack with a home made diff fixture allows solo installation and adjustments working under car. I made mine out of wood and attached it to the jack’s lift point with an M24x1.5 BMX bike fork bolt (your jack may require a different fastener). 3. Shim stacks A feeler gage helps determine the required shim stacks. 4. Diff Fill (after driveshafts installed!) - Save time and shipping cost by ordering upfront 3 x 0.5L bottles. Accounting for some necessary overflow, it took ~1.2 liters. - Make sure the car is level before fill – I needed to lower the front jack stand to level the car. - Easy hose routing to the fill hole with the trunk wood board removed. - Could find no torque spec for filler plug - tightened by feel. Propshaft Bolts 1. Dry run Verify ability to torque all 4 propshaft bolts to the diff flange (torque wrench access and sufficient counter-torque) prior to applying Threadlocker! 2. Access Access and torquing are difficult. Access to torquing one of the bolts is compromised by a grease nipple - requires a spherical hex bit. Orienting each bolt off center, not dead bottom, allows the best access from below with a long spherical hex bit + extension. May consider adjusting the target torque to account for the small angular misalignment (x 1/cos). Access from above is worse. If, like me, you have not installed the engine+gearbox by now, then lifting and supporting the front of the propshaft high up in the tunnel helps improve access. 3. Counter-torque I was hoping that the handbrake, once adjusted, would provide enough counter-torque to allow torquing the bolts to spec. This turned out not to be the case, at least not in my case. I ended up inserting a padded conical punch in the U-joint yoke reacting against the frame. Rear Axle/Suspension 1. A-Frame Make sure outer shim chamfers in each stack face outboard. 2. deDion Tube Ears - Washers: There is some confusion in the instructions re washers at the ear/tube/hub connections. Washers under the middle bolt locknuts, especially the bottom one, are likely to interfere with the tube flange weld -- cannot use washers in that position. No need for washers at anti-roll bar brackets. Therefore, I ended up installing no washers under the middle and front ear bolt locknuts. - Torquing: Torquing is done on the bolts due to difficult or impossible access to the nuts (and no nuts on rear bolts). Bolt heads are shallow and require socket extension which risks damaging them. Difficult to do solo. - In hindsight, based on the above, washers would be useful under the bolt heads, as shown in the IKEA guide only for the rear bolts. Unfortunately I have not installed them there. 3. Anti-Roll Bar - Bushings: The instructions call for stretching and pulling the bushings over the bar’s ends into position. I found that very difficult and potentially damaging to the bushings. Instead, I assembled the bushings onto the bar by filleting each bushing lengthwise on one side and orienting the slit horizontally on the bar. Lubricated the bushing ID, not OD. Once installed and torqued, the bar swivels freely in the bushings (not a bushing-twist design). - Shimming: As installed, the bar has notable axial free play, and in my opinion needs shimming and alignment (centering) vs. the deDion tube ends, although this is not mentioned anywhere. I installed "home-grown" shims between the bar bushings and arms to minimize the axial play. My shims were based on Ace Hardware nylon washers, 12.8mm ID, 19.1mm OD, 1.5mm thick. I split each washer (shim) radially in one spot with a box cutter, unbolted the bushing blocks from the chassis and slid them inboard to make room for shim installation. Lubed each shim with silicone grease and mounted on the bar outboard of the bushing by flexing the shim like a key ring. Total free play initially was 5 mm so needed 3 shims. Biased them left vs. right side to minimize asymmetry vs. the axle ears (drop link attachments).

A Sunny Winter Drive Several Firsts today. First drive with the nose cone bottom screws instead of Dzus fasteners - all rattling from the front gone! Also first drive with full doors and a balaclava -- much much better. First time on the freeway, and up to, uh, cruising speed... Completely manageable for both wind and temp as well as tracking and yaw stability. Finally, first refueling at a gas station (QT Top Tier 93 Octane). Very slow - quite a bit of blow-back. Ride quality on SC poor secondary roads is quite decent considering I'm sitting smack on top of the rear axle... I am a happy camper. 90 miles on the odometer!!

360S S3 "Yellowjacket" Build - Lessons Learned IV Bolted joints - General Various bolts require anti-seize lubricant (e.g., copper grease) or thread locker, may have difficult wrench (especially torque wrench) access, and/or involve challenges in part alignment. Therefore, as a rule, perform an assembly dry-run first for every joint, before applying lubricants or thread lockers. Front Suspension 1. Lower wishbone Installing the 2nd pair of washers in the lower wishbone rear bushing position is easier if you temporarily install 4-6 washers on the front bushing bolt and partly tighten it so that it pushes the wishbone back and increases the gap for the washers. 2. Upper wishbone/Headlight stay Bushing sleeves: The bushing sleeves for the rear upper bushings in my kit were in the bag labelled "anti-roll-bar". Headlight stay (bracket): Getting the bolt through the second (rear) hole is a struggle. I tried two methods: a) Observe in which direction the rear hole is off and bend the bracket ears accordingly in a vice with smooth aluminum faces to create a "mild trapezoid". Apply the bending by hand on the bracket boss. b) Carefully hammer a conical punch through the rear hole with the bolt partly inserted in the front hole. Mask the body and upper wishbone beforehand to prevent damage. Easier than the previous way. 3. Coil-overs 6” long 6mm male hex bit with spherical tip speeds up upper attachments. 4. Upper ball joints Upper ball joint nut requires an adapter for torque wrench access. Used a stubby two-ended 22mm wrench "extender" engaging the torque wrench via a 22mm male hex bit. Requires to calculate a revised torque setting to account for the added lever length. 5. Anti-roll bar Install both ends first into the cups in the upper wishbones and pull ARB mounts onto the frame using temporary longer M8x1.25 bolts and nuts. Front caliper copper washers Washers supplied with my kit did not fit well -- ID too big, OD too small. Note that ID must fit around the small ridge on the fitting - 10.2mm works well. Used washers from an Amazon-sourced variety pack, 1mm thick, 10.2mm ID, 16.0mm OD, home annealed and pickled. Engine+Gearbox Install 1. Frame protection 22mm ID/32mm OD slit foam sleeves work well to protect frame tubes. Zip-ties are magic for everything. 2. Fastener try-out Try-out fasteners and torquing in all mount subassemblies to the extent possible and figure out necessary adjustments and workarounds ahead of time to minimize surprises and setbacks during actual powertrain install. 3. Powertrain mounts - assembly and tightening Gearbox contact with tunnel: I needed to enlarge laterally the 4 M8 chassis bolt holes in the gearbox mount to alleviate contact with tunnel. This meant supporting the gearbox on a floor jack in position, disassembly of the mount, grinding the holes and re-assembly. Tightening sequence: Start with the gearbox mount - first the two gearbox M14 bolts, then the four M8 chassis bolts. Have a helper bias the gearbox laterally with a padded crowbar against the tunnel to center the gearbox. I used hardened oversize washers + regular washers under the M8 bolt heads (2 per bolt) over the enlarged holes in the mount. Next torque the engine mounts -- first brackets to engine block, then rubber blocks to chassis, then brackets to rubber blocks. 4. Propshaft insertion See post re sequence (Lessons Learned II).

I think you are right. I have not raced mine yet (and likely never will) but that's how I was driving so far. I noticed though that I could move the tip of the nose up and down a bit with my hand with the top ones fastened. I also noted the occasional rattle of the nose against the expansion tank cap. I like $hit to be tightened down, hence my quest to fix the bottom fasteners.

Scott, thank you! This should be a pretty straightforward installation from my current stage - drill out the rivets and remove the pin flanges in the cone, mount these latches instead on the underside of the cone (drill 2 holes, backing washers and pop rivets). Then need a #8 (or M5) screw, washer and locknut to clamp each "bushing" onto the chassis tab; maybe add two fender washers if need to use the existing large hole in the tab. Would take some finagling to get the bushing lined up with the latch and clamped tight in latched position but seems quite doable. I will keep this as the next step if my current screw solution proves too tedious in practice. P.S., the vertical free play I mentioned as a minor concern in my previous reply can be taken out by shims under the latch, so scratch that.

The other minor concern I see is that this latch does not clamp the cone against the frame; it will hang down and rest on the land under the head of the pin (the land above the head in installed position, with the pin pointing down). Probably not looser than with the Dzus pins and much easier to engage.

Interesting!! Possibly. I like this; the sliders should fit nicely in the longitudinal recesses on the bottom surface of the nose cone. The only potential challenge I see is that the cone would have to be slid on lowered at the front to clear the pins which would be protruding down from the tabs, and then lifted into position while threading the pins through its holes. That may be a bit tricky. But should be doable. Do you have a link to the source with dimensions?

Excellent!! I was imagining such solution but never got to dive into an actual design and fabrication. Please keep us posted!!

I added a pic from underneath of the installed screw in the original Dzus fasteners post.

Thank you! Based on what I found out after removing the bottom fasteners they could not engage due to the major misalignment between the cone and the chassis. Also, I use a stubby flat screwdriver and I have no major problem engaging the top ones. Now that I had to move the bottom connections aft (enlarge the holes) it would be difficult to install new S-springs on the tabs (find room for new rivet holes). I get the dimensional error, but it amazes me that Dzus fasteners are the best Caterham (or anybody) could come up with. In my book they should be outlawed...

Nose Cone Dzus Fasteners -- Conversion to U-Nuts and Screws A few months ago I mentioned my struggles with the nose cone Dzus fasteners. More specifically, with the bottom ones. There seemed to be no way I could engage them. I found the top/side ones were manageable as you can see the slotted pin and guide it to engage the S-spring, but with the bottom ones you cannot see anything. So until a couple days ago I was driving with just the two top/side ones engaged, and the nose cone seemed to stay in place... However I also noted the occasional rattle from it touching the coolant expansion tank cap and in general felt that this needed to be fixed. After some noodling around I decided to keep the top/side connections as is but to convert the bottom ones to U-nuts clamping the chassis tabs and screws inserted from below. I chose 5/16" thread as that matched the Dzus pin OD and therefore the screws would fit well in the existing holes in the nose cone. I cut off the tips of the Dzus pins at the slot with a Dremel tool to remove them, and drilled out the rivets of the S-springs from the chassis tabs (access from underneath). When fitting the U-nuts onto the chassis tabs and trying to insert the screws I found that long U-nuts inserted laterally from the inside work best to get the nuts to reach anywhere to line up with the holes in the nose cone. However, while playing with the U-nuts I also realized that the main reason the bottom Dzus pins would not engage was because the bottom S-springs were located about 1/2" too far forward relative to the nose cone pins with the top/side connections engaged. Of course this condition may be peculiar to my car, but to prevent it from recurring with the U-nut solution I enlarged the holes in the chassis tabs in the aft direction with a Dremel tool, which I later used (with a different implement) also to smooth out the upper and lower faces of the tabs. Before installing the nuts "for real" I touched up the tabs with a chassis paint stick. I also added a large washer between the upper face of the tab and the nut in order to increase the clamping force to help the nut stay in place when removing the nose cone. I chose 5/16" socket hex button head screws, 1" long. The reason for socket hex is that a small Allen key is easy to carry along, and also quite handy to poke in and align the nose cone and nut holes before inserting the screws. Nose cone with Dzus pins removed: Removed Dzus parts per side: U-nut with washer on chassis tab: This is the U-nut you want (Lowe's): 5/16"-18 x 1" button head socket hex screws: I repeated several install and remove "test cycles" and satisfied myself that the solution is reliable and manageable in "field conditions". Best order of fastening is first bottom screws (use allen key to first align holes), then top/side Dzus pins. I certainly like how tight and rigid the nose cone feels now vs. before the fix. Next, I hope to resume my Lessons Learned compilation soon... Cheers!

More on Lit Whip This is a follow up to my post here from Dec 18. I received since a replacement fiberglass whip from Buggy Whip and on its own this one works fine. They are good and helpful folks. BTW, a belated thanks to @CharlesG for the Buggy Whip lead! But I discovered a weird situation: When I turn on the lights with the engine off the whip lights up fine. However when I turn on the lights with the engine running, all of them light up fine, including my added high mount center light, but the whip light does not! I suspected it had to do with my separate ground wiring for the whip through the unused fan switch, which proved to be the case. As described in the original post, I ran the positive feed to the whip together with the center mount light from the rear lights loom, but ran the ground wire separately through the fan switch in order to be able to kill the whip if needed while keeping the lights on. (Default is whip works together with lights.) Originally, I cut the original "load" wire of the switch and connected it to the ground wire running from the whip. However, I kept and used the original "ground" wire of the switch which I had verified for continuity with the battery ground post. It appears though that the ground of the switch was fluctuating in voltage with the engine running and as a result depriving the whip of proper 12V. So today I cut also the original "ground" wire of the switch and connected it directly to the battery ground post, and the issue is solved. I drilled a small hole in the rubber plug I had installed to seal the bulkhead hole for the (unused) heater valve cable, and passed the ground wire from the switch to the battery through it. The positive feed to the whip still passes through the lights fuse so it is protected. Cheers!

360S S3 "Yellowjacket" Build - Lessons Learned III Optimal (in my view) Entire Build Sequence (yes, I know, this is a long one) Steering rack Front suspension (incl. headlight stays); leave bushing bolts/nuts snug, do not torque to specs Roll bar (cockpit) Handbrake lever Engine+gearbox install Propshaft and diff Gearbox top-up Diff fill Torque propshaft to diff Rear suspension Rear brakes Steering shaft Radiator Engine wiring and plumbing Plenum+throttle cable Rear bulkhead carpet Shoulder harnesses Tunnel carpets knee trim panels and fuse box cover Rivet interior panels Lap harnesses Rear tunnel plate Tunnel top Brake & clutch system fill Brake bleed Clutch bleed Adjust handbrake Tie down handbrake cables Heater-delete blanking plate* Header pipes and cat Install steering wheel (non-quick-release) Mount wheels, lower onto ground Torque driveshaft nuts Ride height and cross weight setting (in Loaded condition) Torque suspension bushings (in Curb) Ride height and cross weight check (in Loaded) Alignment (in Curb) Jack up back on stands Floor mat retaining studs* Seats Rear wings & lights License plate bracket* and light Washer bottle & fuel filler cover Front wings & repeater lights Headlights & pods Muffler Airbox Fill and charge battery Engine oil fill Engine coolant fill Fuel tank fill Connect fuel line and battery Start-up Center mirror Side mirrors Drop on wheels Nose cone Bonnet Maiden drive TPS setting High-mount center brake light* Lit whip* Trunk trim Custom build plaque* ___________________ * Optional (non-kit) items

360S S3 "Yellowjacket" Build - Lessons Learned II Build Sequence General: Overall I followed Josh Robbins' recommended sequence, with front suspension followed by propshaft, diff and rear axle, and then the engine+gearbox unit. This sequence is based on the idea that once both front and rear wheel-ends are installed you can mount all 4 wheels and roll the car around as needed to position it for engine+gearbox installation. In hindsight, I would have chosen to install the front suspension, then engine+gearbox, and then propshaft, diff and rear axle. I found it easy to maneuver the car in the garage on the front wheels and a floor jack with a rubber cushion supporting and "steering" the rear (under the diff in my case, but could have been under a rear chassis junction before diff installation), with rear wheels not needed. And I am convinced that having the engine+gearbox in place and then inserting quickly the propshaft into the gearbox (instead of maneuvering the engine+gearbox hanging off the hoist to mate with the installed propshaft) would have been much easier and would have minimized the spillage of gearbox oil. Engine plumbing sequence: - Throttle pedal travel stop should be provisionally set to a forward position (protruding into engine bay), before starting plumbing and wiring, in order to stake its space and force hose and wire routing accordingly. (Ended up securing the submarine-modine hose to the travel stop bolt with an Adel clamp.) - Hold off installing the lower radiator hose until after the steering shaft installed and rack rotated and torqued. - Leave upper radiator hose near last, just before re-installing plenum. - Final coolant hose length adjustments and tying down need to await plenum installation. - 5/16" expansion tank hose should be routed last with the plenum in place to avoid interferences. Chassis set-up sequence: I performed my own ride height and cross-weight setting as well as front alignment. In that case the preferred sequence in my opinion is: 1. Ride height and cross-weight setting (iterative, in Loaded condition) 2. Torque suspension to specs (in Curb) 3. Verify ride height and cross-weight (in Loaded) 4. Alignment (in Curb) Sequence subset: seats, wings, muffler 1. Floor mat studs (not in kit, highly recommended) 2. Seats 3. Rear and front wings and lights 4. Muffler

360S S3 "Yellowjacket" Build - Lessons Learned I This will be a series of posts covering steps which in hindsight I would have done differently, as well as a few where a method or approach I came up with actually worked... Disclaimer: This compilation is by no means complete or definitive. It reflects my own experience and opinions. Arrival Logistics My kit arrived in 3 wooden crates – a long CBU (chassis/body unit) crate, a small engine crate, and a tall and heavy “Kit Tower” crate. Here are approx. dims and weights (courtesy of Josh Robbins): CBU crate: 331x130x117cm (130"x51x"46"), 292kg (642lbs) Kit Tower crate: 97x181x206cm (38"x71"x81"), 398 kg (876lbs) Engine crate: Appx 3’x 3.5’ x 4’, 350 lbs. Plan ahead where and how you will place them in your build area for subsequent unpacking and access. 1. The CBU crate is too long for a pallet jack. Building a rolling frame out of 2x6 lumber for receiving it off the flatbed truck or trailer and rolling it into and about the garage works like magic. See early posts up this thread. Following is a sketch with dims. Use four 6” swivel casters with brakes. 2. Need narrow (27") pallet jack to move the “Kit Tower” and engine crate. 3. Kit Tower on pallet jack will barely clear an 8’ high garage door. It is heavy and has only one side removable by unscrewing - position it so it's accessible before you return the pallet jack... 4. Once off the pallet jack, the engine crate can be moved on garage floor by hand if needed. Unpacking 1. Group related parts together (engine plumbing, suspension, etc). Mark boxes you keep. Cut out the lists off boxes you discard and keep with the parts. Keep some of the air bubble packing to protect parts while stored. 2. If you have available floor space but not enough shelf space, the Kit Tower makes for a good storage unit with one side removed and the top free corners bridged with a piece of wood or pipe for stability. You want to unload everything except the gearbox, sort and reorganize and then put back in the Kit Tower bulky and easily marred parts such as seats, wings, nose cone, bonnet, etc. 3. CBU offload from crate with an engine hoist: A 2-Ton engine hoist is really desirable due to longer boom which provides more reach and height. (You will also appreciate the longer boom during engine+gearbox install even though you don’t need the 2 Ton capacity) Details and pics of this offload method can be found towards the top of this thread.

Folks, thanks for all the insights! I had used 3M non-metallic pads (I think both gray and green) and WD40 for small aluminum surfaces I fabricated - the heater-delete blanking plate, the speed sensor wire routing bracket and the license plate bracket. They came out not too bad, but wasn't sure about the body skin. I especially like the idea of water and car wash mix, Bill's suggestion to use a sponge over the pad, and the detailing spray for "sealing" afterwards. Thanks again! I may wait for slightly warmer days before attempting this. Cheers, Yoram

Graham, is the resulting finish more "brushed" or more matt/satin? And how do you rub out light scratches (if you have any) before using the 3M green pad and Simple Green? Thanks! Yoram

Guys, thanks a bunch for the quick and great responses! @fastg, in Simple Green I assume you are referring to their all purpose cleaner, correct? @wdb, thanks for the pad info. Both the 7448 and the 6448 are classified as ultra fine, and the 6448 as "light duty", whatever that means. Will this combination deliver the matt / satin finish I'm after and not a shiny one, or a brushed one as @mrmustang mentioned? --> What about rubbing out light scratches? Thanks again.