CarYenta

One thing that is very obvious is the rear wheels on these 15x6.5" orcus are TINY looking. I like the idea of 13" wheels, but I don't like how there are (as far as I know) no tires which I wouldn't immediately hydroplane on. I run 17x9 245/40 PS4S on my nd3 miata in the summer and 215/45 crossclimate2 on the oem 17x7.5. I get the feeling the avon zzs are probably fine for summer use, but is there a PNW winter tire out there for 13" or actually even 15"?

They came with the 14" longacre mirror set from Pegasus - they can be purchased separately as well, they are these: https://www.pegasusautoracing.com/productdetails.asp?RecID=259 I bought a second pair so I can mount my SPA mirrors plus L brackets to orient it 90 degrees: I might need to slot out the 1.5" a little longer we'll see. I'm hoping I can adjust the rear nut without removing the mirror this way.

Thanks! This is good info. Build support got back to me and said that at the beginning of 2025 (my car was built Jan 2025) they moved to on updated MBE ECU. They are "now becoming aware" that there was a batch of these which "struggle to come awake on ignition cycle and that could be overcome via power cycle" as was shown. They are going to send out a warranty replacement to Beachman. "You can continue to use this technique to overcome the problem until your replacement ECU arrives. It's caused by a tolerance issue with one of the ECU chips. Once the ECU is awake, it will perform perfectly." Whew! Well there we go. Thanks for everyone's help in this! Y'all are super knowledgeable. In other news, longacre mirror is in and bracket mirror mounts are on their way for the spa. The front frame and rear frame of the track day roll cage are 38 mm (1.5") and the curved bars and rear cross bars are 32 mm (1.25"). I also have some Westermann half doors to install, but this particular cage makes that really difficult to fit. I think I will have to make a big cut into the door. Anyone have a photo of westermann doors with this track day roll cage? I've only seen it with the FIA cage where it seems to fit easily.

Update - Caterham cars build assistance asked me to try, when the car won't start, to leave the key in RUN, switch off the FIA switch, switch the FIA switch back on and then try cranking. I did as such - FIA switch was off after having been off over night and recently after a fresh charge the night prior, I then turned FIA switch to on, key into cylinder and key turned to RUN, and everything initialized other than the shift light as per usual. Car did not start as per usual. With the key set to RUN still, I then switched off the FIA switch, then within 5 seconds turned the FIA switch back on, and the red shift light initialized immediately! Sure enough, the car started right away. Sent them this info, will see what they say and will report back. For anyone wondering, I have a black ground battery cable running from passenger seat battery to the chassis below the coolant tank, and a second black cable goes to the engine block. This cable then goes to #11 bolt on the block above the starter motor:

This has occurred since first start of the engine, no changes have been made since. There is spark and fuel eventually at least as it will eventually run, and rather smoothly now at that. I agree a question is, is there initially spark and fuel? I haven't checked that - I can smell fuel odors during cranking from the exhaust, but I can't smell spark I will check the spark and report back asap. For fuel injectors, I only know how to hear them while the engine is running with the old screwdriver stethoscope. During cranking, does one pull a spark plug and use their nose? I also sent an email to build support to see if they can define what this light in question is for.

Here's a new one, now the speedometer is resetting when I start cranking. What?? Plugging in the battery overnight again. https://youtu.be/CWvv53Uh0D0?si=XPpGfzV81u-INIFd

The red light between tach and speedo does not illuminate with a freshly charged battery. After cranking many times and letting sit, upon key in RUN the light appears dimly lit. At crank start, it goes bright red once and remains dimly lit. Here you can watch me try to start it for 12 minutes yesterday (sorry for the fat thumb at the beginning) https://youtu.be/KSHvOY9m6UA?si=pViO6Nx3fvYqQh4m&t=36 And here is 10 minutes directly after where it started immediately https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=q3HjbjqVsdg

My immobilizer light (which was initially popped back into the dash wiring so I couldn't see it, and earlier comments by myself were confused on this) sits right above the three gauges of gas temp oil. If I remove the immobilizer fob from the key chain, the car doesn't crank, so the immobilizer seems to work properly.

Thanks for the help! I didn't know leaving the key in run could be harmful other than draining the battery, I will keep that in mind. I think maybe it was misread that I left the key in the run position for that 10 minutes, but I left it "key in but NOT on run". I probably shouldn't have written it that way oops. After cranking over and over the very first time, I could start to hear the cranking slowing down, then waited 10 minutes for one last hurrah prior to giving up (upon which it started). My charger showed up the next day so I left it plugged in overnight to step 7 on the ctek. Following day, some thing. So it's not a battery charge issue I don't think. All electronics work with the key in run, and a few work when not in run like hazards (at least I think I recall them working key out). So my guesses are either I'm soaking the engine with gasoline quite a bit cranking, then after 10 minutes of waiting it creates the perfect firing conditions and that red light is a red herring, or something is wired incorrectly and maybe that red light is trying to tell me something. What happens with the computer during those 10 minutes of waiting? Is something resetting? Why does that light not turn on during all my cranking attempts initially, but does after waiting? Something must be different with the computer and it seems that may be related.

Car didn't start again today. Tried starting it a dozen times over 12 minutes with zero firing. I then waited 10 minutes exactly with the key in but not on run. Turning the key to run, the light bulb between the tach and speedo illuminated. This has illuminated every time the car has successfully started from cold. And sure enough, the car started! I also noticed that about 250 rpm registered prior to firing noises were heard. Should there always be an RPM indication when cranking even if the car isn't firing? For the first 12 minutes of trying to start, the tachometer didn't move at all (checked on video).

Hi Croc, Yes, I bought new via Beachman Racing. I talked to Bruce today on the phone and we're looking into getting the PGM ecu kit. He made a good point to try and get it working normally before adding new variables into the mix. Since it has started from cold, I'm hoping things will fix the self a little and it will start from cold faster. Just last night it started quite rapidly compared to earlier, so I think the 7 miles of driving I've put on it (or the extra 10 gallons of fuel) have done something beneficial. I'll probably end up getting a communication cable anyhow to be able to look at data now and then. For overcooling, I thought that was fixed via the new black plastic thermostat with bypass line compared to the old metal no-bypass thermostat?

My ECU has written on it "30L279B", and looking at the Caterham parts page, the URL says 9M4 https://caterhamparts.co.uk/ecu/8146-ecu-9m4-duratec.html, so I'd assume it's an MBE branded ECU. Is there a cheaper ebay version of this cable?

I saw some first-start recommendations to have 5 gallons in the tank, maybe there is some initial priming pressure that helps with which no longer applies to me. When cold, it cranks rapidly without firing, sounds perfectly normal cranking, just zero firing at all. The two times I've started from cold successfully, I've waited several minutes after the initial cranking disappointment, and after that waiting period, it fires immediately and crawls up to a grumpy idle speed about 1000 rpm. When warm, the engine fires immediately without delay, but again nearly bogs until garnering strength to hold at about 1000 rpm.

Ok - I had only 2 gallons in the tank the first two times cold starting from a jerry can, but have just filled up with 9.5 additional at the gas station. Maybe the additional fuel will help. Does holding the throttle open give additional fuel, or only additional air? Will it be more likely to flood if held open?

Thanks! I have idle set to right about 1000 now and it seems pretty steady, but has some significant delay in response. If I move it up to 1200 or so, it has much faster response but then it starts oscillating between 1200-2000 rhythmically when warm. Would the PGM ecu help fix this? I think Beachman said he's a vendor of theirs. To cold start the car, I seem to require excessive cranking. 5 sets of 10 seconds of cranking, then wait 5-10 minutes, then it starts right up. Would having the throttle very slightly depressed help this, or hurt this? I'm worried about flooding but I also don't exactly understand what's happening when starting a car with the throttle depressed slightly.

Well I've bled the brakes 4 times, there still seems to be air in the system. I managed to melt a hole into my power bleeder hose which somehow ended up resting upon the exhaust also 😆 Also noticed my fuel gauge reads empty even though I just filled it. Should I check the sender on the tank? For the red light between the tach and speedo, I charged the battery with a CTEK MXS 5.0 for the agm battery and the light was no longer illuminated upon turning the key, so that was a correct diagnosis by MV8.

There is only one orientation that would fit with the pipe bend and two spring attachment points for the 4 into 1 pipe. It appears the OEM literature shows it pointing down as well. Hopefully that won't be an issue!

Single throttle body:

Ah ok. For the throttle pedal, it requires bending to have full actuation from the factory, otherwise you only get maybe 1/4 actuation. The way I bent it, it allows the pedal when fully released to have slight slack so that the throttle body idle screw sets the idle, not the pedal stop. Prior to bending, the pedal itself was setting idle, and far too high. When fully depressed and on the pedal metal stop, there's 1 mm or so extra that the cable could move, so it should be ok on that front.

Moment of truth! Cranked with fuel unplugged, no pressure. Cranked more. And more. And more. Hmm. Took out spark plugs and sure enough after 15 seconds of hoping I'm not ruining everything, oil pressure! Plugs back in, start, nothing. Try again nothing. Huh. Start playing with the lights and indicators, then notice there's a red light in between the tach and speedo that is now lit up. What's that. Was my immobilizer not being recognized? Crank, starts instantly. Except it goes to about 4k revs so I shut it off immediately :P Had to bend the throttle pedal a bit more as it wasn't closing all the way and my throttle return bolt was maxed out. Try again and now butterfly is too closed. Idle screw is extremely sensitive. Once I had it going, adjusted on the fly to a normal sound. Good! Supercharger .rimer is working, I'm spraying coolant all over now so it's bled. After another 10 seconds running I start smelling things. I see white smoke out the back. Reminds me of a blown head gasket. Turn off, inspect, try again, smells like burnt paper. After about 10 seconds into regardless of the idle screw, the throttle seems to surge up and down rythmically a thousand rpm. Running at about 3k and it doesn't do that anymore, but that seems too high. Tightened up the intake manifold a little bit more, seemed to reduce some intake noise. Didn't seem to help the idle surge or smoke. What do I look for next?? Can see that red light between the gauges is illuminated when the key is in run, and it blinks bright red once upon starting then maintains red. What is it? Why wasn't it on at first? Is it the battery and then my battery is getting low from all these starts? The manual says it's a gear change indicator but I think not...

Finally got the bits to route the exhaust sensor. There were no attachment points from the factory, so used purple meanie's method. Drilling at this angle is a bit difficult. Added in 3x rivnuts and m3 bolts with some tiny cable dealies from Amazon. Also put on the engine cover sticker....but it looks a lot smaller than others online. That is odd. All fluids are in, I'm only waiting on a Rotrex priming bulb which was omitted in my kit (thanks Pickles once again!). These come from Greece. They sent me an oil filter the first time by accident. Hopefully can do first start next week when it finally arrives. I think the flow looks like: 0) radiator plug is out. 1) primer bulb the supercharger until the bulb is firm. 2) with inertia switch unplugged, crank the car for a little bit until oil pressure shows. 3) plug in inertia switch and press it. 4) turn ignition on and off a few times to help prime the fuel 5) check supercharger fluid level and primer bulb again to firm. 6) start car and idle, supercharger fluid flow indicator should be sort of flowing after 40 seconds, but must be solid flow above 3k rpm. 7) meanwhile idling, bleed the coolant with the radiator plug out. 8) hope to god you bled the brakes and clutch properly. Priming guide for the C30-94 appears to be the same for all (I think that's the supercharger model)

14% is a real bummer. I try to think how cheap cars are still compared to a lot of other countries like Australia, Switzerland, Denmark, or the real crazy Singapore for things like this. And who knows, maybe Caterham won't be around much longer and this will be priceless to have a new one you created.

I recommend you drive it! At that price it really makes me want two...

Car is now registered in WA state! Wahoo, only took about 2 hours at the DMV. The state patrol also granted me a front license plate exemption as a separate document I need to carry around in the car at all times. I'll just put it in the glovebox... I attached the throttle cable at what seems like a reasonable starting position. Bent the pedal with an Allen wrench and a piece of wood. Good to note that there are two things that bend - the little throttle stop arm that limits travel towards your leg, and the main tube. I initially only bent the large tube, but then it required the throttle stop to be all the way out, so the pedal was far too high in the air compared to the brake. I then bent the little arm a little, but that didn't do it so stuffed some wood vertically into the foot well so that I could bend the main tube back using my foot. What a dumb throttle pedal design! I appear to have full throttle actuation now at least. Anyone have a photo of what their idle screw / butterfly arm gap looks like?

Alcantara 1-24 momo steering wheel showed up from Caterham as they mistakenly gave me a leather 1-21. Attached is a drill template Bruce graciously created for me. All I can say is, drill from the back onto a piece of wood, and expect the bit to slip if your initial tap isn't quite deep enough. Really give it a thwack and start with the tiniest of drill bits. I ALMOST was off by about 2 mm on the top center but caught myself before making it all the way through and made a second start. Whew. Bolts fit perfectly snug with a 1/4" bit. Now everything is fuzzy Momo QR Hub Template V3.pdf