360S S3 "Yellowjacket" Build in Upstate SC

[KnifeySpoony]

Yeah, just cut it...

[Yoram]

2 hours ago, MV8 said:

I expect the WOT pedal stop, once adjusted, can be trimmed to protrude from the nut to no more than a half inch. When trimming, mark threads with a permanent marker, remove from the car, reinstall the nut all the way down, clamp the end to be cut off in a bench vice, then use a hacksaw to make the cut. Dress the cut end at a 45 deg angle to a bench grinder or flat file, then remove the nut which acts as a die to chase the threads. Run the nut back and forth, off and on by hand until it is easy to turn and then paint the cut end. Don't cross thread.

 

There should be a little slack adjusted with the cable end with the pedal against the UP stop; more if you want to set the height lower to match the other pedals with the ball of your foot. Too tight and it won't return to idle well.

 

 The WOT stop saves the cable from breaking after so many cycles. At pedal WOT, there should be minimal tension against the engine WOT throttle stop. As the cable wears in the sheath and stretches, the stop would be adjusted to protrude further from the firewall and/or the cable adjusted at the threaded ferrule on the engine. For adjusting the WOT rod, I suggest holding the engine throttle fully open with a helper, then lightly taking up pedal slack and adjusting the rod to touch, then jamb.

 

Thank you!  Aware of most of these points but always helpful to get detailed guidance!  I'm not sure I want to disassemble the throttle stop to cut the rod (trying to avoid spending time in the foot well not with my feet), so this morning I slid a sleeve onto the rod (out of a slit 5/16" coolant hose) and zip tied the problem hose to it.  This at least ensures no contact with the steering shaft and no abrasion against the rod.  I removed the zip ties securing the problem hose nearby onto the engine (indirectly) to allow unconstrained relative motion.  Will post some pics as soon as I have more time.  Thanks again.

Edited May 15, 2023 by Yoram

[Yoram]

Throttle pedal stop (and plumbing, continued)

 

As mentioned above, I decided for now to keep the hose routing and the pedal stop rod as is, and instead to pad the rod with a slit piece of 5/16" ID coolant hose and secure the problem hose to it with a zip tie.  This way the hose is kept away from the steering shaft and protected from abrasion.  The downside is that both ends of the hose are attached to the engine while the middle is attached to the chassis.  However I figure there is enough length on both sides to accommodate the relative motion.  Another downside is that I may need to undo this when adjusting the throttle pedal stop, but at least I will know what to do to secure it back afterwards.

 

Here are a couple pics of this solution (the rod and hose "connection" encircled).

 

 

 

 

The way I see it the whole issue comes from the fact that Caterham is cramming into the original 7 chassis dimensions an engine much larger and more complex than originally intended (and one designed primarily for East-West FWD application).  Another manifestation of this is how much the sump sticks below the chassis.  Ground clearance looks alarming...:

 

 

 

 

I suspect the Sigma engine which I had ordered is better in this regard however I was upgraded to Duratec when the Sigma engines dried up during my wait period.

It's like in life - nothing is perfect.... 

 

Cheers!

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 16, 2023 by Yoram

[Yoram]

Interior - Part 1

 

In the meantime I made some headway on the interior.  Here are the main steps in sequence:

 

Carpeting:  The carpeting consists of one large piece on the rear bulkhead ("back carpet" right behind the seats), and two long pieces for the sides of the tunnel.  The carpets need to be glued in place.  Per suggestion from Josh of RMC I used two sided carpet tape instead of adhesive -- much less messy to apply.

In addition there are two thick rubber mats for the footwells.  They can be anchored in place by drilling the floor and installing snaps but I decided to just lay them down.  They are very thick and stiff and fit snugly in the trapezoidal wells and cannot move.  Both sides needed to be trimmed a bit along the sides toward the front to fit.

 

 

Back carpet held at the top by temporary bolts at harness attachment points and taped to roll bar while applying the carpet tape to the bulkhead:

 

 

 

Back carpet in place.  Corners at top of tunnel needed to be trimmed off to fit flat.

 

 

 

Tunnel carpet tape in process:

 

 

 

Tunnel carpet complete; foot well mat also visible:

 

 

 

 

 

Shoulder harnesses:  My car has the 4-point harnesses and Track Day roll bar.  I installed the shoulder harness at this stage to help hold down the top edge of the back carpet which get wrapped around the upper cross beam.  The supplied 45mm long bolts are too long to fit in the outside positions (and shorter than the 52mm ones shown in the IKEA guide!...), so I ordered and installed four 7/16"-20 x 1.5" Grade 8 zinc-aluminum coated hex head ones.  They thread all the way through the bosses in the cross beam so I have no idea why any longer bolts are needed.  Applied ThreadBlocker Blue and torqued to 40 Nm per the IKEA guide (2015 text guide shows 47 Nm).

 

 

 

Continued in Part 2...

 

 

 

Edited May 22, 2023 by Yoram

[Yoram]

Interior - Part 2

 

Knee trim panels:  Knee trim panels are screwed with supplied sheet metal screws onto the upper chassis rails.  It helps to hold the rubber piping in place and punch a hole in it before starting the screw, although getting both hands in there is awkward.  The LH side panel has a hole for the OBD II port - a bit "out of context" in a 7 but then again so is a Duratec...  The hole gets covered with a rubber plug.  The panels look different from the drawing in the IKEA guide and initially I did not identify them and thought they were missing.  The pic shows the driver's side panel with the plug over the OBD II port.

 

 

 

 

Fuse box cover:  The fuse box cover looks even more different from the drawing in the IKEA guide and here again I initially thought it was missing. The reason here is due to the different location and configuration in LHD cars (the guide shows of course only the RHD version).  The cover gets wedged and held in place between the front bulkhead/"firewall" and the lower lip of the dash relying on its own springiness.  No need to glue velcro strips as shown in the guides.  To make identifying fuses and relays handy without the clutter of a cheat sheet or the manual I decided to have stickers of the fuse and relay layout on the inside of the fuse box cover like in many cars.  I used the PDF of the owner's manual from the Caterham site and snapped the respective images in good resolution, sized them to fit and uploaded them to carstickers.com.  Will post pics once I receive and affix them.  The pic shows the fuse box cover in place and the passenger knee trim panel.

 

 

 

 

 

Riveting:   The sills and tunnel rear plate require riveting.  I had initially bought an inexpensive pop rivet tool at Harbor Freight and used it to rivet the brake line clips to the De Dion tube and the catch bottle bracket to the chassis.  Having tried now to use it again it jammed "permanently" after the second rivet ( after less than 10 rivets in total), so I ordered and got a more expensive one from Blind Rivet Supply.  It is a FAR K39, made in Italy (for a change a tool not made in China), and has worked great.

The sills required drilling (5/32" cobalt bit) through the rubber piping and the stainless steel sill protectors.  Again need to hold the rubber piping in place to ensure it's straight and snug.

The tunnel rear plate requires 18 rivets and its pre-drilled holes do not match perfectly the ones pre-drilled in the chassis tubes, so I had to enlarge a couple of them to fit the rivets in.  However, I made the mistake of not proceeding to rivet from the center out in a growing star pattern and re-drilling as I go.  As a result I got a ripple in the plate which I tried to hammer out with a piece of smooth hardwood.  It got smaller but is still there.  At this stage I decided to let it be.  As Josh says, a character mark that happens in almost all of them...

 

 

Before....

 

 

 

... and after riveting the plate:

 

 

 

 

Continued in Part 3...

 

 

 

Edited May 22, 2023 by Yoram

[Yoram]

Interior - Part 3

 

----- pics to be added ! ----

 

Tunnel top:  Left only the front ~2" of the tunnel horizontal heat insulation in the gear lever area (cut off the rest), and folded it down to act as an air flow deflector.
Installed the tunnel top.  Drilled and screwed in two purchased #14 black sheet metal screws at bottom rear corners.
Tightened handbrake sleeve below the handle as neatly as possible with a zip-tie.  I know there are fancier ways to do this but this will work for now.  It might resurface as a continuous improvement item...
Installed the gear knob  Secured with VC-3 thread locking tape (a first use trial) and the supplied set screw.

 

The tunnel top in place.  Note the screw at the bottom rear corner.

 

 

 

Note sleeve tucked around handbrake lever:

 

 

 

Gear knob (color is distorted here - it is a nice light matt gray):

 

 

 

 

Lap harnesses:  Installed the lap harnesses with the supplied thin-head bolts (necessary to keep room for the seats).  The Buckles go on the tunnel side to prevent banging against the outer panel when released and moved out of the way over the sills.  Applied ThreadBlocker Blue and torqued to 40 Nm per the IKEA guide.

 

 

 

 

Steering boss:  Used my rack travel center marks to place the boss on the spline as symmetrically as possible with one hole on top to match the steering wheel.  No direct torque spec found; Caterham generic for 1/2" UNF is 61 Nm (45 ft lb).  Torqued to 40 ft lb (per Josh).  Provided counter-torque with a thin adjustable spanner on the flat in the upper section of the steering shaft coupling, and vise-grip as lever.

 

 

 

 

Main remaining interior tasks are seats (after torquing the radius links), steering wheel and rearview mirror.

 

Cheers!

 

 

Edited May 22, 2023 by Yoram
added photos

[Yoram]

Quick Update:

 

Fuse Box Labels

 

Received and affixed the fuse and relay stickers inside the fuse box cover.

I had captured and formatted the images from the online owner's manual on the Caterham site and ordered them from car stickers.com.

They are vinyl, good quality, and arrived within less than a week by first class USPS.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My "official" next step is brake and clutch fluid fill and bleed, so I can adjust the handbrake and then torque the propshaft flange bolts and the driveshaft nuts.

However, I "detoured" to mess further with the throttle pedal stop and to set up the front wings (position, measure, drill).  I will fully install the wings only near the end of the build, but in the next posts I plan to share status on these two items to keep current.  Otherwise I will have a ~15 day pause in the build due to travel.

 

Cheers!

 

 

 

Edited May 30, 2023 by Yoram

[MV8]

Nice labels! I like to print on paper then cover with clear, 3 inch packing tape to protect them.

[Yoram]

2 hours ago, MV8 said:

Nice labels! I like to print on paper then cover with clear, 3 inch packing tape to protect them.

Then you would like these.  Very legible and look OEM.  At under $11 each and free shipping I think they are well worth it.  Wouldn't bother in a regular car with a regular glovebox for the owner's manual...

 

 

[Yoram]

Hi All,

 

Took a few weeks break in Michigan (couldn't take the kit with me).  Now back at it.

Did not mention that I have been working for a while "in the background" on the front wings.  They are now ready to install however I will delay that to as late as possible to maximize access and minimize risk of damage.  To keep things organized I will report about the entire front wing process in detail when completed.  This task turned out trickier than meets the eye.

What I will report now is brake + clutch fluid fill and bleed, handbrake adjustment + cable routing, and torquing propshaft flange bolts.

 

 

Brake + clutch fluid fill and bleed

 

Filled the system with Motul RBF 600 racing brake fluid.  After completion of bleed the system took a total of ~540 ml.

 

 

 

Started bleeding using a MityVac vaccuum system.  For the brakes followed the standard sequence RR, LR, RF, LF.  At each front brake bled the inboard bleeder first.
Repeated the brake bleed sequence twice, the second time tapping the rear caliper body while bleeding to help move trapped air bubbles per the text manual.  However at the end of this attempt the pedal was still soft and bottoming out against what felt like a stop.  Realized that I will need to complete the bleed the old fashioned way with a helper to pump the pedal.
Clutch pedal feels good (but of course without the engine running it is impossible to confirm whether disengagement/pick up works properly).

 

Resumed and completed the brake bleed successfully with help from my good friend and neighbor Stevie, using the same sequence.  Rear brakes took many pump-and-bleed cycles and some more tapping on the calipers with a rubber mallet.  Front outboard bleeders took more bleed cycles than the inboard ones.

Pedal now is firm and steady with what feels like about 1" of max travel.

 

 

The MityVac reservoir replenishment bottle is handy and I used it also in the "manual" (pedal) bleed.

 

 

 

 

The vacuum bleeder "kind of" worked on the inboard bleeders of the front brakes but proved useless on the rest.

 

 

 

Next Post:  Handbrake adjustment and cable routing, and torquing propshaft flange bolts

 

 

 

Edited June 22, 2023 by Yoram

[Yoram]

 

Handbrake adjustment and cable routing

 

Adjusted handbrake to max 5 detents and verified discs can be rotated by hand in fully released position.  After completion of adjustment inspected cable routing.

RH (adjuster) cable seems to require no further securing. LH cable required securing with zip-ties to ear on top of diff. Verified routing clear of driveshafts (for now in full rebound only). Cables are too short to secure to the A-frame without excessive bending and tugging.

 

 

 

 

At max pull (5 detents):

 

 

 

LH cable from below:

 

 

 

...and from the side:

 

 

 

 

RH cable from below:

 

 

 

... and from the side:

 

 

 

 

Torquing propshaft flange bolts

 

My original plan was to use the handbrake, once adjusted, to provide counter-torque when torquing these bolts.  However, this proved not feasible due to not enough brake bite.  I suspect this may be due to the pads not being bedded in but it could be that the handbrake alone will not generate sufficient torque.

So... I reverted to the time-tested shade-tree mechanic way with a protected pin punch inserted in the propshaft front yoke and reacting against the chassis rail.

Well, I guess the shade-tree mechanic process skips padding the pin punch....

Used ThreadLocker Red and torqued the bolts in a cross pattern to 47Nm (per IKEA guide) with a 6" long 8mm spherical hex bit and a drive extension.

Applying controlled torque with this long combination extension is not "clean", but as the pics show, there is no clearance for a torque wrench and a short straight hex bit.

 

 

 

 

 

My upcoming next steps are quite exciting:

 

- Install steering wheel (non-quick-release)
- Mount wheels, lower on ground, load up, roll back and forth
- Torque suspension bushings
- Torque driveshaft nuts
- Install seats

 

Back soon...

 

Cheers y'all!

 

 

 

[Yoram]

Submarine hose routing, or...  Finished Plumbing! (hopefully...)

 

One of the loose ends from my engine plumbing phase has been the routing or securing of the submarine-modine coolant hose in a way that will prevent chafing against the throttle pedal stop bolt and/or contact with the steering shaft.  I had left off with zip-tying it to the starter solenoid housing - not a very robust solution.

So after some more pondering I decided to try to secure it to the throttle pedal stop bolt with an Adel clamp.  Granted, it would attach the middle of the hose to the chassis while both ends are attached to the engine, but I figure there is enough hose length and bends on both sides to ensure no over-constraint.

So I proceeded to do this.  I used a 1" Adel clamp and a separate M8 nyloc nut on top of the existing jam nut on the throttle pedal stop bolt.  Had to enlarge the clamp holes to fit over the bolt - must use a 15mm wide clamp (net metal) to ensure sufficient material around the enlarged holes. The little reinforcing tabs at the clamp ends separated during drilling so I glued them back on with super glue before installing.

The installed clamp provides around 1/2" clearance between the hose and the steering shaft and also keeps the hose from touching the sharp left rear corner of the engine block.

 

Installing the clamp requires disconnecting the main upper radiator hose from the head, so it's best done before coolant fill...

 

 

1" 15mm wide clamp:

 

 

 

 

Clamp installed (view from below)

 

 

 

 

With this I consider the plumbing phase complete! (until proven otherwise...)

 

Cheers!

 

 

Edited June 26, 2023 by Yoram

[Yoram]

(Note/apology:  I am writing this away from home and am missing some pics which I will add late next week when I'm back. I wanted to use the time that I'm not able build to catch up a bit on documentation.)

 

 

Prep for coil-over adjustment and suspension torquing

 

I decided that before proceeding with wings, lighting, seats, exhaust and body trim I am going to set the ride height and corner cross weight, and torque all suspension joints at proper ride height.  The idea is to maximize access and minimize risk of damaging the wings.

I decided that I will try to get this done by myself in my garage at very low cost.

In order to perform the ride height and cross weight adjustments one needs individual corner scales defining a plane.

Ideally the plane should be exactly horizontal, however it can slope 1-2% longitudinally (typical garage floor slope) with negligible error.  It should be horizontal laterally (no sideways tilt). And of course you need 4 scales, capable of measuring the corner weights of a moderately loaded Se7en.

Well... a quick search on Amazon shows that a standard bathroom scale sold in the US market is rated for 400 lb... Pretty scary, huh.

My 360S with all fluids, my 192 lb and 1/2 tank of gas should weigh about 1480 lb with close to equal weight distribution over the 4 corners.

So I ordered 4 identical highly rated scales from Amazon at $20 each. They are a bit under 12" square.

And I proceeded to build a frame which will position them on the garage floor at the exact tire patch locations and allow the wheels to roll gently onto them, hopefully without breaking them... Hey, this is R&D - no risk, no fun.

All the lumber was repurposed from the rolling frame I had originally built to unload and move the CBU crate.

 

 

The frame.  2"x10" sections serve here as dummy scales.

 

 

 

 

To simulate load I filled 24 collapsible bags with water ballast -- 10.9 lb each.

In addition I will use 2 kitty litter containers filled with water -- 18 lb each.

 

 

 

 

The next challenge will be to level the scales.  You need some level-type device to indicate when the tires of the same axle are on a horizontal plane, and ideally also between front and rear.  First I borrowed and tried one of those laser levels for hanging pictures etc., but it proved useless.  Whenever you level it carefully and then rotate the beam turret sideways, the vials would come out of level. Junk.  So I proceeded to rig a simple siphon system with two portable 2' tall 4x4 posts and a ~10' long 3/8" ID clear hose (filled with water) between them.  I will post some pics as soon as I'm back home.  In order to level the scales I will use 12"x12" vinyl tiles to shim them as needed.

 

 

Steering wheel + first "Wheels Down"!!

 

It may be symbolic, but on 4th of July the car got to touch the ground for the first time on all 4 wheels!

My good friend Mike helped me push it, from the bay in which it had spent all its life on stands, out to the driveway, into the adjacent bay and onto my corner weighing frame.  It was surprising and delightful how light and easy it was to push and steer the car (without sitting in it)!

The prerequisite for that, and another first, was to install the steering wheel.  Interestingly my kit came with the wrong screws (for the quick release wheel which mine does not have), so I had to get the correct ones (three M6x1.0-20 class 10.9 flat-head allen key black oxide) from Ace Hardware.  I plan to unscrew them and apply ThreadLocker Blue before taking to the road.

 

 

Steering wheel on!!  The center pad is not mounted for now (Velcro pads).  Ace Hardware screws match like magic...

 

 

 

 

Car on the frame with dummy scales. The four real ones can be seen stacked under the hanging level.

 

 

 

The next steps will be:

1.  Load the car with the water ballast

2.  Roll the car off the frame 10-20' to settle the suspension

3.  Position and level the scales

4.  Roll the car back on the frame and onto the scales

 ... and assuming none break and all give valid readings:

5.  Adjust ride height at all 4 corners, probably to 160 or 170 mm in front, +15 mm in back

6.  Adjust the cross-weight to 50% (of which more in one of the next posts)

7.  Torque all suspension joints

 

 

Cheers!!

 

 

 

 

Edited July 7, 2023 by Yoram

[KnifeySpoony]

I would let the springs settle prior to adjustment - I know that the topic of springs settling is controversial, but I have seen it first hand and it can be significant.

[Yoram]

1 hour ago, KnifeySpoony said:

I would let the springs settle prior to adjustment - I know that the topic of springs settling is controversial, but I have seen it first hand and it can be significant.

 

@KnifeySpoony, thank for the tip!  For how long do you think (and obviously in static state) ?

[KnifeySpoony]

I think you really need to drive the car and get the springs compressing a bit to let them settle. I don't know how long it really takes, but I can say that I put new springs on my exige, drove around my neighborhood for around 20minutes, thinking that would be enough. I had it corner balanced, then did a trackday. After the trackday the springs had settled by over a centimeter.

 

 

[Yoram]

3 hours ago, KnifeySpoony said:

I think you really need to drive the car and get the springs compressing a bit to let them settle. I don't know how long it really takes, but I can say that I put new springs on my exige, drove around my neighborhood for around 20minutes, thinking that would be enough. I had it corner balanced, then did a trackday. After the trackday the springs had settled by over a centimeter.

 

 

 

Thank you for this good info.  I'm wondering whether it's the springs or the rubbers (spring seats, top and bottom mounts, etc).  My guess would be the latter.

Either way, I will get the car set up for ride height and cross-weight and check the settings after some driving and adjust if needed.

Cheers!

 

[KnifeySpoony]

In my case it was 100% the springs, as there was no rubber or bushings to break in. 

[Yoram]

59 minutes ago, KnifeySpoony said:

In my case it was 100% the springs, as there was no rubber or bushings to break in. 

Quite surprising. I do not understand this from steel stress-strain characteristics. I don't doubt the settling but am wondering what is the mechanism that causes it. I wonder whether the springs get better seated.  Baffling.

[KnifeySpoony]

Yeah a quick internet search will reveal that many people don't believe in it at all. I was skeptical as well until experiencing it first hand.