360S in Charleston(ish)

[UglyFast]

How's this for creepy?  I typed Fjallraven here and then a minute later flipped to IG...

[Vovchandr]

6 minutes ago, UglyFast said:

How's this for creepy?  I typed Fjallraven here and then a minute later flipped to IG...

 

Damn cookies! FB is always listening. 

[UglyFast]

45 minutes ago, Vovchandr said:

 

Damn cookies! FB is always listening. 

I tell myself I’m doing good cause I’m not actually on Facebook, but IG equals FB, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ lol.  ZUCK, if you're listening, stop being so creepy dawg. 

[Austin David]

Back to the build: Other blogs go into the exhaust fit-up.  If the alternator is ON, go ahead and remove it.  Side note, pretty sure I will have completely assembled this car (at least) twice by the time I'm done.  With the alt out, fit 4-3-2 VERY LOOSELY, then carefully snake #1 in.  4-3-2 will go to the bottom corner and that's enough room (with the alternator out of the way) to get #1 in place.  

 

The collector wasn't hard for me to fit, BUT the springs were super annoying.  I ended up using a set of very long needle-nose pliers to fully compress the springs.  I also had to stretch the loops a little so they would seat fully on the hooks; the radius of the loop (as shipped) was WAY smaller than the hooks, which ate up too much space, which prevented me from seating them.  Fully compressed + widened loops did the trick.

 

I conveniently have an O2 sensor wrench.  If you don't, be sure to fit the O2 sensor to the collector/cat BEFORE fitting the cat to the primaries.   There's not enough room to tighten it with a spanner, while mounted to the car.

[Austin David]

7 hours ago, UglyFast said:

I tell myself I’m doing good cause I’m not actually on Facebook, but IG equals FB, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ lol.  ZUCK, if you're listening, stop being so creepy dawg. 

"being creepy" is literally his job.  But seriously, uninstall any FB/IG or "Meta"-owned apps.

[KnifeySpoony]

Yeah I was swearing up a storm doing the exhaust springs. I did the ziptie trick but was still a massive pita. Primaries were a non issue, even with the alternator in place. 

[UglyFast]

@Austin David pics man PICS, for those who come after you. 

[Austin David]

7 hours ago, UglyFast said:

@Austin David pics man PICS, for those who come after you. 

ha, my bad.

 

Here's a photo of my missing plumbing.  The kit came with 4 very nice, branded 5/8" tubes.  Relatively short.  No J for the submarine (5/8) and no 3/4 material at all.   There was some bulk 1/2 and 5/16-- the 1/2 was used to protect the rear brake hose, the 5/16 is perfect for the clutch hose, the rest for the smaller line on the overflow tank.

 

From talking with Josh (therefore indirectly with Caterham) it might be that they intend to splice some of this together, and mostly use the two Ls for the modines.  I'm not 100% sold, in that the modines are a full 1/8" larger...

[Austin David]

More photos: the valve arrangement for the heater.  My switch/pull is on the LHS, I am planning to route it under the airbox, behind the battery, and doubled over for the valve.  It seems to fit correctly and with a tolerable bend radius.  The 5/8 tube pictured was acquired locally.  I may later replace it with the (much nicer) Caterham tubes, once I sort out what-goes-where.

[UglyFast]

Brilliant stuff.  Thanks

[Austin David]

One other build oddity: my rear brake hardline didn't align with a hole in the aluminium support.  It sort of matches the Ikea manual, which shows the hardline penetration, a lightening hole, then the washer passthrough.  On my car there was a hardline NOT aligned with a hole, then the lightening hole.  So I had to drill out a new passhthrough fitting.  It was fun, as there's basically zero space.  To do it again I'd find a right angle adapter.

[Austin David]

Here's a pre-engine photo which shows the older-style "2 brown wires", and also my RHS ground point by the battery.  Also this shows I think the first time I had the airbox installed (I'm on #3 now)

[Austin David]

Sequence update:

 

- the starter is sort of in the middle of everything.  Hook that up fairly early.  The Ikea 2.x manual more closely matches my build; brown wires + alternator + battery on the starter solenoid(?) terminal, the red/white ECU control to the lower terminal.  There is a 3rd, not shown in the book, which is soldered to the starter motor.

- the lower modine is sort of blocked by everything else.  The inside (toward centerline) port can take a 90* 3/4" tube up to the tee with plenty of room to route around everything and up along the skin.    The outside port gets another 90* 3/4, which splices down to 5/8.  The 5/8 snakes from the heater, around (probably under / TBD) the upper cooling hose, between the starter and the steering column, then to that junction.

- the upper cooling hose to radiator needs some trimming.  I got the older EPDM host, it's SUPER THICK.  It runs under the "plenum" and inside the dipstick (wet sump).  It blocks most of the access to the plenum bolts, esp the furthest-aft. 

- set up the lower / modine tubes, rest the upper radiator hose on the path to the radiator, position the dipstick, loosely fit the plenum, RE position the cooling hose and get the 5 plenum bolts in place, then it looks like there's room to fit and snug up the radiator hose.  

 

It's all super tight in there and the heater-to-modine will want to rub on either the steering column or starter or maybe both.  I will add some sort of protection, probably a nylon jacket on the steering column and use that to secure the hose off the starter.

 

 

The knee panels under the dash: I've read that the holes don't line up sometimes.  My holes are spaced perfectly (at least on RHS), but the panel itself won't fit under the dash plastic piece far enough to get the holes in line.  I would either trim the back-facing edge of the panel to shorten it, or tap new holes in the lower edge.  I'm inclined to the latter because it's easier to get right, and will be covered by the interior.

Edited March 6, 2022 by Austin David
more deets

[Austin David]

more pics / catching up: the "Submarine".  My loom left very short leads for the two temp sensor wires, so I made a set of extensions: male spade on one end, and the other (red) female spade, or (black) ring terminal.  

 

Here's a shot of the final submarine.  I used an "LS Heater Bypass" which apparently is super common and easy to get in your favorite color or material -- 3/4 to 5/8 in a 180* U

Hard to see in the shot but it clears the firewall just fine.  The other end of the sub is one of my straight 5/8 "Caterham" fancy hoses, which makes the run up to the valve and needed only a slight trim.

 

 

[Austin David]

Starter wiring: as noted, I sourced the battery -> starter cable locally.  The terminal is pretty fat, which ate up a lot of space on the screw.  The nut does seat on all threads, but there's not room for an extra washer.

 

I will tie off the red/white wire to be sure it doesn't lay on that modine nut.  The rest are off the column and generally tied up along the loom running above the footwell.  They all come from above (and don't leave a lot of slack).  They need to splay out enough to let all the rings seat (and not bind on the crimps), but obviously there's not a ton of room to spread out.  Also that locally-sourced starter cable had a BIG terminal and needed to be oriented mostly-vertical, to fit behind the insulation on that solenoid.  Not obvious here, but that aims it right at the steering column, so it immediately makes an outboard jog to the frame tube where it routes with the rest of the cabling.

[UglyFast]

All this is incredibly helpful stuff. Really. 

[IamScotticus]

I seriously doubt Arch had inexperienced blokes pounding out frames.   

Perhaps what you got was a frame from existing stock that was suitable with workable compromises?

Either that or wait a few months more...

[Austin David]

The welds generally look good and everything appears true so far.  Some oddities (like the RHS ground point) have me confused.  There's a covered hole on the LHS in about the right spot, but the kit also came with an extra ground cable.  Can't tell if they meant to move that to RHS because my LHD pedal box is in the way, or a series of offsetting errors, or what.

 

Not documented, I also ended up with an RHD clutch hose.   No idea why.  The proper hose was fit to the bellhousing with the engine parts, which came indirect.  I assume someone just pulled the wrong part and threw it in a box.  Also if anyone needs an RHD clutch hose....

[Austin David]

Quick question: the "fuse box cover" goes on LHS in the book, but is it really meant to be RHS on our LHD cars?  My fuse panel is on the RHS.  The cover is being shipped over from England, so I haven't actually seen it yet.

 

A departure from the Ikea book (page 151), the knee panels under the dash.  Book says to drill the 7 holes for the knee panel (do not), and acts like the outer 3 holes are pre-drilled (they are not).  The 7 are OK, the last 3 needed to be drilled out.  The 2015 book / page 148 matches my experience -- drill out the sill panel, the rest are ready to go.

 

Some shots of the LHS knee panel under the dash.  The hole pitch looks perfect from the outside, but the elbow in the panel interferes under the dash which prevents the whole thing from lining up correctly.  The OBDII port lines up pretty good (hard to tell from the weird angle).  I think these are offset by about 1/4 - 1/2", not quite sure.

 

Both sides are like this.  They seem to fit up nicely when tucked under the dash, between the plastic dash cover and the metal frame, apart from the holes not aligning.  I haven't yet decided what to do about this, options are either "trim the edge of the knee panel" or "drill new rivet holes in the knee panel."  I'm holding off till the last minute before I decide what to cut.

 

Finally, note that there are at least 3 holes per side that have to be drilled out if you have sill protectors.  To fit the knee panels, the side interior skin is left 3 rivets short from the dash toward the back along the sill, plus 6 straight down.  The skin/interior panel has holes drilled in them, but the rubber insulation bead is intact AND the rollover polished steel arm / sill cover is not drilled out.  I broke a titanium metal bit going in there, so I invested $6 in a stronger 5/32 HSS impact bit, which was a lot easier.  

 

And, naturally, the sequence of events is important: these 9 rivets should go in LAST, after the knee panels are in place.  Leaving them all out gives room for the interior panel to give a little while you're fitting the knee panel.

 

[KnifeySpoony]

I was supplied the fuse box cover for a RHD car with my kit. I had to get the LHD version sent out, but ended up not installing it. I also didn't install my knee panels. I figure easy access to under the scuttle was a bigger priority than any cosmetic concerns. Not to mention the weight savings!!! My plan is to wire my 12V socket wires to an SAE plug for battery maintainer. Haven't got around to it yet.