360S S3 "Yellowjacket" Build in Upstate SC

[Yoram]

Hello All,

 

1 year and 7 months after placing the order my kit has finally arrived on November 14!

The first pic is the configurator rendering of Yellowjacket.

As the 1.6L Sigma engine became unavailable during my wait I got a no-cost upgrade to the 2.0L Duratec so my S3 kit changed from a 310S to a 360S.

 

It is now mostly unpacked with the CBU on jack stands.

 

 

 

Before going any further I need to pay tribute to the legendary Josh Robbins of Rocky Mountain Caterham who has been holding my hand patiently and helped make the purchase, wait and logistics actually fun!

 

I started a build journal (in a spreadsheet, of course) but was prodded by Josh to post a blog here.  Not sure exactly how to do this -- whether just by posting periodic updates on this thread or is there another format.  I welcome y'all's feedback and guidance on this, as I know I will at many points along the build itself.

 

Had not had much time beyond unpacking and some organizing and celebrating since the kit's arrival.

 

A couple notes from the unload:

 

a) Delivery was by 53' van, and offload of the CBU crate with the help of a flatbed tow truck onto a home-built rolling frame (with 4 swivel+brake casters and sufficient clearance underneath for subsequent lifting out of the crate by engine hoist).  This worked like magic.

 

 

I need to lay my hands on some pics and possibly video from the unload -- it was pretty cool.  Will post them ASAP.

 

b) Offload of the CBU from the crate onto jack stands was very easy with a fully extended 2 Ton engine hoist, a 20' x 2" nylon strap with some quick links and a helping hand to stabilize and guide the CBU.

 

 

 

 

I will post some more pics and details, especially in response to specific questions.

 

I have no timetable or deadline for this process.  Only reason to hurry would be to drive the damn thing while I can still get in and out.

 

Cheers to the madness!

Edited December 2, 2022 by Yoram

[IamScotticus]

Fantastic build!  Yea, just keep adding to this as you go.

What cockpit points are the rear straps attached to? The seat belt anchors?  Very clever.

[Croc]

 

Congratulations on the new kit!  I like the look - simple and classic with a bright color.

 

Keep doing what you are doing on this build thread.  Post some photos, give us an update.  Ask questions on things that baffle you.   All of us have been baffled by something on a se7en before.  

 

Good time to be building - you will be done ready for spring!

[mrmustang]

Congratulations on the kit arrival, look forward to watching your build thread.

 

Bill S.

 

PS: Need an extra hand or two, let me know, as I have "just a little"  experience with the Caterhams

[Yoram]

6 hours ago, IamScotticus said:

Fantastic build!  Yea, just keep adding to this as you go.

What cockpit points are the rear straps attached to? The seat belt anchors?  Very clever.

Thank you, IamScotticus!.  It is just one 20' strap wrapped around the 3 cross tubes at the rear bottom of the tunnel.

 

 

The resulting "roll axis" passes below the CBU C.G., therefore a helper is needed just to stabilize the CBU to not "roll over", which takes one hand and very little force.  A helper is needed anyway for facilitating soft landing on the jack stands, so there is no point in searching for a "stable" but more complicated one-man lifting scheme.

 

[Yoram]

3 hours ago, Croc said:

 

Congratulations on the new kit!  I like the look - simple and classic with a bright color.

 

Keep doing what you are doing on this build thread.  Post some photos, give us an update.  Ask questions on things that baffle you.   All of us have been baffled by something on a se7en before.  

 

Good time to be building - you will be done ready for spring!

Thank you, Croc!  Yes, although it sounds ambitious to be done by spring... we'll just go with the flow and see where we end up when...  

[Yoram]

46 minutes ago, mrmustang said:

Congratulations on the kit arrival, look forward to watching your build thread.

 

Bill S.

 

PS: Need an extra hand or two, let me know, as I have "just a little"  experience with the Caterhams

Thank you, Bill!! I will very likely take you up on it!...

[coffee break]

I see another satisfied "test sitter" has gotten their 7. Looking forward to seeing progress.

[jimmylukeii]

Good to see another one in the Southeast. I am in Atlanta and happy to make a jaunt up there if you need a hand or have a question.  I finished mine in May, so some things are still fresh!

[Yoram]

On 12/5/2022 at 3:47 PM, coffee break said:

I see another satisfied "test sitter" has gotten their 7. Looking forward to seeing progress.

Thank you for facilitating this, Carl !!  Will post shortly a minimal update...

[Yoram]

On 12/5/2022 at 9:39 PM, jimmylukeii said:

Good to see another one in the Southeast. I am in Atlanta and happy to make a jaunt up there if you need a hand or have a question.  I finished mine in May, so some things are still fresh!

Thank you, Jimmy!!  How cool!!  Looks like you squeezed in. shortly before they shut down the Sigma engines...  How does it drive??

 

Beware as I may take you up on it!!  

[Yoram]

A few more unload pics  --  sorry didn't have these handy for the initial post.

 

"Kit Tower" crate on pallet jack barely squeezing under standard 7' garage door.  Standard 27" wide pallet jack works for both this and engine crate.

 

 

 

CBU crate unload sequence:

 

1.  Winch onto flatbed tow truck:

 

 

 

2.  Slide onto rolling frame (all casters must have brakes!):

 

 

 

3.  Roll into and position in garage (all casters must swivel!):

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 8, 2022 by Yoram
pic clean up

[jimmylukeii]

Downright tame under 4,000 - 5,000 rpm, but it really kicks into stride above that.  Perfect for the street / mountain roads and avoiding jail.  Not slow by any means, but the old saying has proven true for me - more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow.  My prior fun cars were mostly fast cars being driven slow around town.

 

On track, I could use more power, but these things corner and handle like nothing else.  They inspire a TON of confidence.  In fairness, Josh at Rocky Mountain Caterham thought that I would want more power given my past fun cars.  I suspect that I would have enjoyed a 360 or 420, and my second one may very well be one of those (if they still exist).

 

Seriously, very happy to help if I can.  Good luck!

[Yoram]

08Dec22 Status:

 

Little progress so far due to holiday travel and other distractions.

As of tonight the steering rack, front wishbones, headlight brackets and coil-overs are installed.  All just hand-tight.

A few "lessons":

 - Lower wishbones:

Installing the 2nd pair of washers in the lower wishbone rear bushing position is easier if you temporarily install 4-6 washers on the front bushing bolt and partly tighten it so that it pushes the wishbone back and increases the gap for the washers.

 - Headlight brackets:

Getting the bolt through the second (rear) hole is a struggle.  Used a different way on each side, neither one truly uplifting.

First way:  Observe in which direction the rear hole is off and bend the bracket ears accordingly in a vice with smooth aluminum faces to create a "mild trapezoid".  Apply the bending by hand on the bracket boss.

Second way:  Carefully hammer a conical punch through the rear hole with the bolt partly inserted in the front hole.  Easier than the first way.  Mask the body and upper wishbone to prevent damage.

 - Coil-overs:

These were surprisingly straightforward.  Not sure why the upper bolts come screwed in so tight.

 - The IVA condoms are useful to contain the bonnet front catches.

 - Pandora Reggae station helps smooth little kinks.

 

 Next step will be front brake corners and anti roll bar, hopefully tomorrow.

 

Cheers!

 

[IamScotticus]

Just Reggae?

[IamScotticus]

You may have already read it elsewhere, save the radiator installation until after the engine bay bits, or as late as possible.  Prevent any damage to the fins from working around the front.

[Yoram]

1 hour ago, IamScotticus said:

You may have already read it elsewhere, save the radiator installation until after the engine bay bits, or as late as possible.  Prevent any damage to the fins from working around the front.

Yes, thanks!  Got that tip directly from the Source (Josh Robbins).  Also the headlights.

[Yoram]

13Dec22 Update

 

Front suspension is complete for this stage with one open issue:  LH track rod end ball thread arrived defective and wouldn't let the nut on without the ball spinning.  Josh Robbins is facilitating a replacement.  For now it is marked on top with a red X.  Both sides will be torqued when the good part arrives and gets installed.

Also wishbone and coil-over mounts are only hand tight.  Joints torqued to specs have yellow paint marks (except... of which later).

(why yellow?  because my Amazon paint pen set does not include green...)

 

 

 

 

Highlights and lowlights (?)

 

1.  Lower ball joint installation

Neither the 2015 Text guide nor the IKEA guide include any reference to the parts in my kit.  I guessed and winged it and afterwards it was confirmed to be correct.  Here is my documentation...

 

2.  Upper ball joint installation (and wing stays)

At first I messed up and installed the nyloc nuts all the way (not torqued) without the wing stays...

They are now installed and torqued with ThreadLocker Blue, as are the stub axle nuts, since there were no replacements in the kit.  These get marked blue.

One of the wing stays needed some gentle twisting in a padded vise to go in.

Both need drilling a 1/8" hole for electrical ground.  Initially I freaked out a bit until I started drilling and realized it's aluminum... With a drill press and rudimentary fixturing there is no need to drill a thru-hole as suggested in the IKEA guide notes.  It's actually a bad idea because if your drill bit is not centered on the diameter you can break it (this happened).

Conventional torque wrench access to the upper ball joint nut (with the wing stay...) is impossible, so I rigged an extender with a stubby double 22mm wrench engaging a 22mm hex bit socket (must adjust the torque spec!):

 

 

 

3.  Anti roll bar

Realizing early on that I will lose a physical fight with the bar, I decided to try leveraging and manipulation...

I was able to (kind of) seat both ball ends with the middle of the bar hanging loosely on a couple zip ties off the frame.

 

 

 

To pull the bushings/mounts to their positions on the frame I bought four "temporary" long M8x1.25x90 bolts and matching nuts.

 

 

I threaded the nuts up the bolts and threaded the bolts through the frame into the welded nuts on the mounts, same as you would with the "correct" bolts.  To get the bolt to engage with no risk of cross-threading requires padded vise grips to "tilt" the mount on the bushing so it is perpendicular with the bolt.

Now you very gradually tighten the new nuts down the bolts, a thread or two at a time, pulling the mounts and the bar towards the frame.  Need to make sure each mount stays near parallel to the frame and both have about the same gap from the frame.

You eventually get the mounts tightened on the frame without anything breaking or flying off.  Now you remove one temporary nut and bolt at a time and replace it with the actual bolt and spring washer (I used the flat washers with the temporary bolts as well).

 

 

 

Now the only remaining issue was that the ball end on one side got seated all the way in but the one on the other side (bottom pic) didn't...

 

 

 

This was solved by whacking (over a protective piece of hard wood) on the knee of the bar near the problem ball end with a decent size hammer, as if you were trying to straighten the knee.  After a few whacks it got the message and went in all the way.

 

 

This was fun.  I hope to make some more progress and post another update before Friday the 23rd, when I'm scheduled for some outpatient back surgery which will ground me for a few weeks.  But I will continue lurking around here.

 

Thanks for spending time on my post.

 

Cheers!

 

-Yoram

 

 

 

Edited December 14, 2022 by Yoram
wording clean up

[mrmustang]

Coming along nicely, you'll be on the road before you know it.

 

 

Bill S.

[UglyFast]

Upstate you say!  Lol. Happy to come help, or just bring coffee and stare in silent admiration. 

 

Looking very good so far.