Carterham 420R kit has arrived!

[Calvink]

Took delivery of my 420R kit last week. Just under a year from placing the order to getting the kit. Super excited to get started on it. Body is in Aston green and detonator yellow.

Edited June 29, 2022 by Calvink
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[Anaximander]

BEAUTIFUL!!! Congrats in a big way on such a wonderful car.

[JohnCh]

Looking forward to watching this and having another car in the area!

 

-John

[Croc]

Color looks familiar!

 

Good luck with your build.

 

 

[lucky dawg]

Can't wait to see it on the local roads.

[mdork]

Exciting! Enjoy!

[Rooster18221]

I like your prop.  What do you fly?

 

[Calvink]

Prop is a 1942 Sensenich, with stickers and inspection marks still intact. Afraid I don't fly, but am an aerospace engineer by training so have always had the plane bug. 

[MV8]

Imho, old props look good over a fireplace mantle.

[Rooster18221]

Absolutely not.  It needs to be on the front of a tail-dragger!  I grew up very near a local grass strip, bicycle distance in those days, and got the bug early.  However, it was much later in life before I had an opportunity to get into it.  Anyway, I had a coworker who was a flyer and told me in no uncertain terms; you cannot do airplanes and cars at the same time!  I didn't listen to him, and thought it was only a ruse. Anyway, I am here to tell you, I learned the hard way, but it is definitely a true statement, unless you want to farm out some maintenance.  Airplanes takes all of your time.  There is always something to do.  I actually spent a vacation in England and dropped by the Caterham Works in 1979.  Wow, what a cottage operation.  Then I stopped in at the Morgan Factory for a tour and it was the same.  The only difference was Caterham was in an old building with about three bays.  It resembled what we call here as an old service station with mechanics on duty.  The Morgan Factory was a line of Old Quanset Huts from WWII that had been repurposed for their manufacturing.  Will never forget that trip.  Anyway, I had to have a Seven and was lucky enough to find one in  late 1983.  Had it ever since.

[MV8]

Rooster, don't you know the safest plane and pilot is on the ground? HA! If safety were actually first, we'd all still be walking. I should have said props with defects or better yet, tell a story.

I always see potential aircraft and car projects then remember how many I have stored away and unfinished. Never enough time for it all so I enjoy the moments. They can let it all go at the estate sale.

You might enjoy British Top Gear Season 15, Episode 6. They tour the remains of the Jensen and TVR factories. An interesting mix of funny and sad. For the sake  of humor, they literally throw together a Caterham as fast as possible in Season 8, Ep 7. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOxHV6QfJkg

End of thread hijack.

[Calvink]

Had a slow start to the build as the kids insisted I actually take them on vacation this year rather than working on the car. Damn inconsiderate if you ask me.

 

Anyway, have the uprights installed and about to start on the lights. Did have one question though, after I installed the drivers side upright, I found that the brake rotor was tracking about 10-15 degrees to the left, so I added some turns to the track rod end such that it was parallel to the track of the car – at least by eyeball - when the rack was centered. Unfortunately, I neglected to check the orientation of the passenger side rotor before I tightened the track rod onto the upright. So the passenger side rotor is now oriented about 10-15 degrees to the right. Obviously the car was going to have to be aligned post build, but I wanted to at least line it up as best I could during build process. My challenge is that the passenger side track rod end is pressed into the upright now. I tried putting a hydraulic jack under it to push the bolt out but all this does it raise the suspension and eventually the car – obviously the car doesn’t weigh enough to get the track rod end to unseat. Meanwhile there doesn't seem to be any place to attach a puller on the track rod end to extract it. Anyone have any thoughts on the best way to get it out? 

 

I could wait until the build is finished and use the jack then when there is more weight. I could also just adjust things by turning the track rods, but I'd rather have the rod ends starting in roughly the same place if I can. 

 

Thx,

Calvin 

[MV8]

Pull back the black sleeve on the silver link toward the rack to expose the jamb nut and flats on the tie rod body. A wrench is placed on each to loosen the nut to free the silver link to rotate freely on the inner tie rod joint that is inside the gaiter on the rack.

For separating a tie rod taper from a steering arm, a tool is used to apply a reasonable amount of force. If it is still stuck, with the tool still applying force, the steering arm boss is struck with a hammer a couple times.

One of the tools in this kit will fit but there is no need for adjusting toe:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/403709361501?epid=19012854471&hash=item5dfef3fd5d:g:Zq4AAOSw5XViov2P&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAAwDlIOqPEKhY%2FOtnU4M%2BY4rlVi%2B070Cz4YtSja1pJOJ7LlQ9jXQVwZgpwW01UHGcXBXY7miNEiDX9XrCj5%2F1FkPRpYWewAAXkqo4JzlacnfM6ncv5CTJ5BbbTlvW%2Bt0j6tV%2BUR7b%2B8vcrn6wMvXuaowc6UaYPLO3bEjjvhwIkSE%2F6o60phA1izOL1FyGFBDvfaOu1AzVhjO1jrZ1Tv3%2Fnb4%2Fmx63rc6nV%2FV8NbR2mt72n6V46f7D9q7T7KsiTiDKv%2Bg%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABlBMULz7jJTGYA

Edited July 24, 2022 by MV8

[Rooster18221]

There is a tool made for this sort of pin removal.  Check at the Better Tool Sources, Snap On, Matco, etc., and see what you can locate.   There is nothing in my opinion better to use than a tool made just for a purpose.  Besides, once you have it in your tool box, no worries going forward.  You might also call your local Distributor, Beachman Racing, who is located in Redmond for their recommendation before you move forward.

[Rooster18221]

Or, you can follow what MV8 recommends.

[Rooster18221]

Invest in a two pound hide mallet.  They do wonders for this sort of thing when nothing else seems to work.  I try never to use a hammer on anything except a nail!

[Calvink]

I have a puller, but not clear how I can get purchase on the upright without tearing up the boot on the track rod end. Tempted to just adjust the tie rod at the rack side (per MV8s suggestion) but the idea that the rod ends aren't aligned (in the sense that I'll have less play to adjust one vs the other) bothers me. As to Beachman, I fired off some mail to Bruce this weekend to see if he has any thoughts. Working on the headlights for now so no need to find a solution immediately. Would like to find a way to pull the end and get it lined up however. 

 

Thx,

Calvin 

Edited July 24, 2022 by Calvink

[MV8]

The yellow ring on the boot is not in a groove on the tierod pin. The boot will slide away from the boss so you can get a lip to pull against but there is no need to remove it.

 

Don't worry about the alignment now. Part of that process will correct anything you've done.

[MV8]

If you want to adjust it, you can rotate the silver link without removing the tierod end from the spindle boss by loosening the nut I mentioned before.

[Rooster18221]

I agree, run it by Bruce, while at the mean time moving forward with some other components in the assembly.  If I recall, MV8 is correct in that you can adjust the tie rod end without removing the rod end, itself.  But, I'll need to look at mine before I can verify that.