New Build

[JohnCh]

I would not dare instruct the Croc on his work (?) habits. I was just thanking John for posting the mud flap pictures. I do hope John also has the sense of humor.

 

No, I don't have a sense of humor, and I'm borderline pathologically vindictive. I smell a ban coming...

 

The line "looking good" should have been your tip off that it wasn't about you.

Okay, that scores you some points and pacifies my ban finger.

 

Now back to our regularly scheduled build updates from Greg.

 

-John

[wemtd]

Oh. please show us a picture of the mud flaps. Sounds like a good idea. Are they removable?

 

here ya go...

(best pic i could find) i epoxy'd a pair of BigHeads benath the trailing fender edge; then used nyloc nuts. I cut them out of ? 1/8" lexan plexiglass from the home center. They are more flexible than I'd expected: flexing if i run over something big yet otherwise rigid enough to stay in position.

Edited June 4, 2020 by wemtd

[Pokey]

Can't recall where I read something about front flaps causing rocks to eject over the bonnet (note the effort I'm making here by not calling it a hood) and into the windscreen. The takeaway is the flap creates a trap for the rocks such that rather than follow a predictable trajectory (which appears to be to the rear wing) they go places unexpected. Don't suppose anyone with flaps here agrees with that hypothesis?

 

The folks with Premier Paint Guard were quick to respond to my questions and will ship to the US for around 35£. I'm going to order up the rear wings and the nosecone at a minimum. I thought about paying someone to do this work but a bit of looking has me thinking it would be expensive, as in a few hundred dollars expensive, and I'm not likely going to save money by buying in bulk and cutting pieces myself.

 

Still need to find that fuel line retaining clip. What I ordered from Dorman didn't work and I'm having a heck of a time finding a Ford part number. Guess it is time to email Bruce.

Edited June 4, 2020 by Pokey

[JohnCh]

Kudos for calling it a bonnet. To achieve elite status, you'll need to start making aluminum a 5 syllable word. I still struggle with that one There is some truth to rocks ejecting over the bonnet with mud flaps. I live down a long gravel driveway. When driving it at low speeds, a small piece of gravel will occasionally kick up and land on the bonnet. However, I've never noticed this occurring on the road.

 

-John

[Pokey]

Another option that many do not like the look of, but is protective, is covering the front half of the rear wings with truck bed liner paint like LineX It stands up well to the abuse wings get over time.

 

That would certainly protect the wing. I've settled on the use of the stone guards with the addition of protective film for the bits not covered. Hindsight being what it is, I would have opted for carbon like you did.

[FE07]

When I first bought mine it had flaps installed and bedliner type protection on the rear wings.

 

Mentioned that I wanted to remove the flaps and was HIGHLY recommended not to do so. Have been on there since. Have never noticed any rocks going over the bonnet. Most of the little ones bounce off the rear wings and end up in the cockpit when driving without side curtains on. The bedliner has held up well.

 

Jim

[Pokey]

When I first bought mine it had flaps installed and bedliner type protection on the rear wings.

 

Mentioned that I wanted to remove the flaps and was HIGHLY recommended not to do so. Have been on there since. Have never noticed any rocks going over the bonnet. Most of the little ones bounce off the rear wings and end up in the cockpit when driving without side curtains on. The bedliner has held up well.

 

Jim

 

So far everyone with an opinion has favored having front flaps. Any detractors out there that wouldn't want to see a newbie MacGyver flaps on a brand new 420?

[Vovchandr]

So far everyone with an opinion has favored having front flaps. Any detractors out there that wouldn't want to see a newbie MacGyver flaps on a brand new 420?

 

*Raises hand*

[JohnCh]

I think a lot of people don't like them simply because they don't care for the aesthetics. Nothing wrong with that. How do you feel about that aspect?

 

-John

[Pokey]

I think a lot of people don't like them simply because they don't care for the aesthetics. Nothing wrong with that. How do you feel about that aspect?

 

-John

 

I'm not thrilled with the esthetics, no where near as bitchin' as the Yosemite Sam flaps I had on the rear of my '69 Chevelle in High School.

 

Wemtd with his clear lexan bling seems to have found a balance between function and rock chips. If I go with front flaps I'll do something similar.

[Pokey]

*Raises hand*

 

Gracias

[Vovchandr]

Personally I'd like to add that I really wanted to have the guards on the wings but unfortunately there is no circumstances that works with the carbon fiber wings in the way I wanted. Caterham ones will match weave on one side but be opposite on other. Kcd I believe was the same. I also didn't want to drill into carbon fiber to mount them and finally I was told it was a little redundant. CF wings themselves don't get damaged but might need to be relaquered and that's where I am at now.

[Croc]

Caterham ones will match weave on one side but be opposite on other. Kcd I believe was the same. I also didn't want to drill into carbon fiber to mount them and finally I was told it was a little redundant. CF wings themselves don't get damaged but might need to be relaquered and that's where I am at now.

 

 

That was exactly my thought process with my current silver Caterham. The standard wing protectors looked terrible on the carbon and I did not want to go the LineX approach on nice looking carbon. The 3M film was a sort of a desperation choice as I had never used it on any of my previous Caterhams/Lotus 7 but it worked so well I will do it again. I think it will work the same on the fiberglass wings although you will probably need to redo it every 7-10 years or so. My 3M film is a little pocked after 10 years of road and track miles (thanks Kitcat) but the underlying carbon is still in great shape.

 

I think Paul's (Wemtd) approach is the nicest compromise for protecting a fiberglass wing. You can always put the offroad baja mudflaps on later once you trial your car by driving it and assessing things.

 

 

Great build progress Pokey! Looking good.

[Pokey]

All of you old pros can ignore this post, but for us present-day and those future newbies out there - this one is for you.

 

Caterham has us glueing the front wings to the wing stays. I'll be frank, when I first read this I thought it asinine, and had it in my mind that I would figure out a better solution. Fast forward several weeks, too many hours of reading opinions and researching this and that and here I sit on the couch waiting for the adhesive to set.

 

I had it in my mind that the job would be frustrating and the results subpar but so far so good. So if you are of the same mindset, wondering how this job might turn out, I'll share with you what I've done and the final result once reached.

 

First of all I measured, marked, measured, marked and measured and marked until I was completely confident that I knew where the wing would sit on the stay. Then I removed the coating from the stay where contact would be made with the wing and either side so that 150 degrees or so of bare metal showed, followed by a course file to abrade the bare metal to create more surface area for the adhesive.

 

While I can't tell you what the best adhesive to use might be, what I can say is I used 3M 08115 panel bond. Research it yourself if you are interested, but there are a lot of options and even more opinions on this topic.

 

I'll pick up there with the photos. First the adhesive, mixing nozzle and gun.

 

 

 

Measure and mark. This is the hardest part of the job in my opinion. We are dealing with three dimensions, so mark aligned with the stays as if you are looking down the barrel of a rifle.

 

 

I used a plumb bob and level to measure from the stay to the front of the wing, and visually centered on the tire.

 

 

Clean the coating off of the stay and remove the gloss from the wing.

 

 

 

Next I laid down a bead of adhesive to provide complete contact coverage but not so much as to be unruly. My intent is to go back a second and maybe even a third time to build up adhesive along either side of the stay.

 

 

And then I smoothed the bead down for the purpose of getting a uniform amount along the entire contact area.

 

 

 

 

I couldn't come up with a better way to create a clamping force than what Caterham has in the build manual other than I opted to use a bungee cord rather than tape. I believe this was a good decision as the bungee cord provides ample force and was easy to get around the wing and tire without the wing moving around, but given I haven't tried doing the same with tape perhaps the method I chose was actually harder.

 

Word of caution here. My initial thoughts were to find a way to clamp without having the wheels on, but you really do need the tire to align on center as there are no other reference points to use.

 

 

 

And one more round of measuring to make sure the two sides are symmetric.

 

 

Now I wait for the adhesive to cure before building up more on either side of the stays.

 

 

Turns out there wasn't really a need for more adhesive, but since I already had a cartridge open I went ahead and smoothed a new bead down on either side of each stay and called it good.

 

Edited June 8, 2020 by Pokey
Added final picture.

[Pokey]

Argh! Caterham sent me a fuse box cover for a RHD car. I spent 30 minutes futzing around trying to figure out how to fit it before thinking to check the packaging, and sure enough, RHD.

[Pokey]

That was exactly my thought process with my current silver Caterham. The standard wing protectors looked terrible on the carbon and I did not want to go the LineX approach on nice looking carbon. The 3M film was a sort of a desperation choice as I had never used it on any of my previous Caterhams/Lotus 7 but it worked so well I will do it again. I think it will work the same on the fiberglass wings although you will probably need to redo it every 7-10 years or so. My 3M film is a little pocked after 10 years of road and track miles (thanks Kitcat) but the underlying carbon is still in great shape.

 

I think Paul's (Wemtd) approach is the nicest compromise for protecting a fiberglass wing. You can always put the offroad baja mudflaps on later once you trial your car by driving it and assessing things.

 

 

Great build progress Pokey! Looking good.

 

I ordered protective film from the outfit in the UK that kayentaskier recommended that comes pre-cut. For the rear wing they offer a version that goes around the stone guard or provides complete coverage. I opted for the latter but will probably cut out the section that the stone guard would otherwise cover for use on the stone guard itself.

 

And, of course, because shipping from the UK was going to be the same amount regardless of how much film purchased, I would up buying the pieces for the leading edge of the front wings, where the doors rub when open, under the fuel filler for where the cap dangles when undone, etc., etc.

[Lucky-7]

Looking good Greg! I smeared a ton of that stuff on my wings, totally encapsulating the stay and bonding it to the wings. Probably too much, but what the heck, the tubes were open. They feel as if I could lift the car off the ground with them. LOL

 

On my fuse box, they put the flasher where the starter relay was supposed to go, and consequently fizzed them both. Took a while for me to figure that one out. Their wiring diagrams are little more than build sheets for the wiring harnesses. Very confusing, here's to hoping you'll never need one:cheers:

 

Make sure you check the engine oil. I never would thought it would've shipped full, but mine came with oil in it, same as the trans, but the diff was empty.

[Pokey]

Looking good Greg! I smeared a ton of that stuff on my wings, totally encapsulating the stay and bonding it to the wings. Probably too much, but what the heck, the tubes were open. They feel as if I could lift the car off the ground with them. LOL

 

On my fuse box, they put the flasher where the starter relay was supposed to go, and consequently fizzed them both. Took a while for me to figure that one out. Their wiring diagrams are little more than build sheets for the wiring harnesses. Very confusing, here's to hoping you'll never need one:cheers:

 

Make sure you check the engine oil. I never would thought it would've shipped full, but mine came with oil in it, same as the trans, but the diff was empty.

 

I've never seen a fuse box installed and the manual is a bit lacking with regard to positioning so it took me a while on my back with my head in the foot well to figure out something couldn't be right. I'm sure that I would have figured it out quicker but all of the blood from my lower extremities had settled in my wee cranium space. I really, really, hope I don't have to do any under-the-dash troubleshooting like you experienced....

[Pokey]

Does anyone know what this pair hanging off off the harness at the front of the engine bay is for? My initial thought was oil temperature sensor as there is bunghole in the sump tank for a sensor, but from what I can find searching the harness does not come with wiring for the sensor from the factory. But if it is the sensor why a pair? Is one side for ground?

 

 

And as a hint or a distraction, I have matching spade connectors in the lighting kit and received two sensors with different stampings (which I've written in red on the bags). Presumably one of these sensor is for the sump tank, but which one and what is the other one for? And, yes, I've already got the water temperature sensor installed in the submarine.

 

Edited June 11, 2020 by Pokey

[Pokey]

Yes, I'm just full of questions, this one is related to the dash switches. I've got the front lights completely wired but can't figure out how to turn on the running lights. Headlights work, both dim and bright, and the indicator pods and wing lights flash as they should, but I can't trigger the wing lights to come on as running lights which I'm assuming they should. This leads me to what is probably a related question, what is the toggle switch that sits immediately left of the horn button?