sainthoo

No, I’m central Virginia. I have seen one original 7 at a cars & coffee, nothing else. They might be around, I just haven’t seen any.

Anyone know which way to route the heater cable? Right hand drive goes around to the right of the battery. Left hand drive? Seems like a lot of twisting to go around battery. But, going straight and it is too long with valve having wrong orientation. seems like a bad idea:

@Pokey I downloaded the guide off the Caterham website a couple weeks ago. I’m not sure how to check which guide I might have? I had assumed it must be the most up to date. Edit: It says “edition 1.2” Edit2: just found 2.0 with an internet search. I am guessing you just saved me a TON of pain. Thank you!

@Pokey I think I might have seen those…. Will have to go rummage through some parts. Thank you!

So far only thing to do different vs the directions: put the horn on before the steering rack.

New to the forum- had no idea it was here, so happy to have found it. I am a car enthusiast, and I do a bit of amateur track stuff. Bought a kit, so started a build thread. Brand agnostic, but a bit of an Anglophile (currently own a M3W and Ginetta too. Had a Lotus Evora, like the looks of the Emira)

So far, one of the biggest challenges is interpreting the directions for my kit (420R with wide body) and finding the appropriate hardware and fasteners. (organization of these parts leaves something to be desired, especially given that parts are included that will not be used- currently wondering how much extra “stuff” will be left over when complete - looks like quite a few fasteners…)

My first real impasse: there are no directions for the 420R radiator. I managed to find the bobbins (don’t match the visual in the directions- only 1 bolt). getting the chassis bracket together was easy, but I have no bracket to mount fan (fan is also forward of radiator which is the opposite of the directions). I either need a bracket which wasn’t included or I need a different way to assemble radiator / fan assembly or I need a different fan. Sent an email inquiry, waiting for an answer.

The headlight wire pull was not fun, not at all. I sprayed some silicone grease, gave wires a light coat of grease…. Complete PITA. I fed the marker lights wires through before the headlights. I was able to push and pull as much as I dared until the black wrapping was just coming into the chassis. Once I got about 3/4’ of the black sheath, I used a piece of string to get a lanyard around sheath which I could pull. That was the answer. Saved what could have been hours… The stuff of nightmares: If only one headlight comes on, or their problem here… I will be cursing for 10 min straight.

Got a lot done yesterday 9-4:30 with a lunch break- had oldest son home, youngest jumped in too. Steering rack went smoothly. Dampers we’re tricky getting the top bolt past the body work (have to gingerly bend the body work to allow the passage of the bolt- a pucker moment, but not the worst so far, see below). Wing stays and uprights were okay. Horn, brake lines okay too. The torsion bar was tricky. I put the ball ends in first, then contemplated how to bend the bar close enough to the brackets to get the bolts started? Ultimately, using a 2x4 (salvaged from crating) to press the bar to chassis wedged into the lower frame made it easy.

Looked at the board that has no treatment that is left unpainted…. Seems like a bad plan. Got some sealer and applied a generous coating. Had my daughter home for a couple days, so she got to jump in too.

Getting on the wishbones was okay. The washer fitment was just a bit aggravating (did have to look up what chamfered meant and how to orient everything) I thought I would be cautious and dry fit everything which was a bad idea. The surface rust and tight fit made it brutal- adding the copper grease made it much easier (didn’t even know that copper grease existed prior to this).

Unpacking:

The end goal (almost- switched to smaller wheels for go over show at the last second)

Hello everyone, got sent to this forum from another (thanks LightGuy). I ordered a kit in July of 2020, supply chain, shipping, yada, yada..... it arrived in late January, 2022, 1 year later than hoped. This was supposed to be a father / son project with my oldest son before going to college. I have zero mechanical knowledge, so if I manage to get this done, so can literally anyone.