OK ... Not so much as a build thread ... more an unboxing!! 620r Arrived today.

[Pokey]

Have you considered splicing to create enough length to make the connections before the transmission is tucked into the tunnel?  

[pickles]

Finally, some progress!! Have been running around the country catering various events and weddings which has put me back at least 6 weeks. But I reached out to Caterham UK for some advise. The Sadev box has 3 different electric connections.  There is an access panel just above the gearbox in the engine bay. You have remove the engine bay side of the heater / ECU /Battery (Who the hell Spec'd the vehicle with a heater ? ... Oh sh*t! that would be me!) and then drill out a few rivets to expose the gearbox ... plus all the flesh and blood spent trying to do this via hand manipulation!

 

Took me then 30 seconds to connect the electrics. I was  ecstatic!! But ... the next question how do I fill the gearbox with oil?

 

Anybody out there with the Sadev gearbox ?

[pickles]

So I almost cried !!

 

I resembled the various pieces I had taken off to get to the access panel above the gearbox. Just as I was tightening the final bolt on the car heater, I noticed a small rubber hose cable-tied to the chassis. Traced it back to the oil catch can. Oh! It must be a breather for the tank … but in that case why has it a piece of tape on the end with another cable-tie on it, also there is already another tube on the tank as a breather…what else is in reaching distance of the pipe that would need a breather? Hmmmm the Sadev gearbox? Yep that’s the culprit, and guess what? to get it on I have once again take out the heater/ECU/access panel to get it to fit!

 

Now this was the bit got me laughing! In a sort of mad-man way.

 

While I was now attaching the breather tube, why not fill the gearbox with oil as the fill plug is really only accessible via the access panel. Took out the fill plug and then looked for some tube to insert and pour in oil. No tube so I went to local H/W store to procure some … before I left, just in case I get waylaid I put some masking tape over the exposed hole in the gearbox (I took the plug with me to ensure I got the correct size tube)

 

Job done! Breather pipe fitted, gearbox filled with oil! Re-assembled heater etc, all good to go!

 

I did a bit of a tidy-up and picked up the piece of tape I had put over the gearbox oil fill hole … see photo for what I found!

 

Again I am taking out heater etc to now fit the cooper gasket … I am laughing like a mad-man rocking back and forth in an asylum!

[Pokey]

Ye gad, you are triggering my own PTSD.

[pickles]

On 6/16/2025 at 6:34 PM, panamericano said:

Story and suggestion. My son and I changed out the inverter on his Prius.  Tuned out foolproof because of, say 40, electrical connections and mechanical fasteners, none were alike.  Not the job for just a couple 10mm wrenches.  All quite brilliant stuff until the last electrical connector, on back, underneath.  No way to see it or tell how the connector might release.   Many tries.  I went to a little auto-electrical shop (real deal, not alarms r us).  Explained to the maestro and offered  for him to come to the house.  He showed up, undid the connector in one minute and offered to stay till we did initial fit on new inverter so then he connected the blind one for us.  Experience and tricks of the trade.  Well worth the $50 I gave him for 15 minutes.  Maybe you can find a specialist.

LOL ... you are right ... the need for a 'maestro' occurs a lot, luckily mine was the build support team back in the UK. 

[pickles]

OK Fluids and some blood!

 

Engine Oil ... 3 ltr in engine 3 ltr in dry sump tank … check

Gearbox … see earlier post … check

Coolant … 5.1 ltr … check

Supercharger fluid … on the to-do list … check

Diff … hmmm… lets tackle this!

 

I was under the assumption just like my 360 build, no fluids are in the car or components!

 

On the 360 build, to fill the differential you need to lift the wood floor in the rear of the car to access diff for filing.

 

So I removed the pre-fitted carpet … cursing the glue holding it down … to then realize the wooden section could not be removed due to the 2 support struts on the chassis to diff casing.

 

OK …. My brain gears rotate … lets treat this like an outboard motor, remove the lower plug and fill/pump the oil into the unit from below!

 

So!

 

You have to imagine this …

 

 

I am under the car lying on my back.

 

I have just hacked my finger on the fitting and the chassis … it is bleeding profusely … I am a qualified EMT … Hmmm probably going to lose the nail and need a stich or 2 … Nah! Some Super Glue/tape/rubber glove should tie me over. (I am such an idiot)

 

 

 

 

I get the bottom fill plug removed …

 

1.2 ltr of fluid pours over my face … chest … garage floor …

 

I am laughing like a madman … and then I spot this!

 

 

[pickles]

Radiator / Intercooler / Supercharger plumbing!!

 

1.     Bottom radiator hose to engine thermostat.

What a PITA!

 

Please see diagram below. The bottom radiator hose is 2 pieces of black rubber tube with a connector approx. halfway secured with hose clamps; with the engine/thermostat side having a curved 90 degree bend My first try gave me this (excuse crap drawing):-

 

 

 The only way to subsequentially fit the supercharger to cooler outlet pipe would be to crush the engine coolant pipe. So after referring to a document that Caterham sent me (It is a workshop doc that I am not sure I am allowed to post) , I could see the engine coolant pipe was a slightly different shape and shorter after the 90 degree bend.

I removed the pipe at the union and began the dance of cut a little bit, refit, cut a little more etc. I did this about 4-5 times and probably removed at least an inch until I created enough clearance to be able to fit the super charger exit pipe (it was still incredibly close). See below, again another crap drawing 😊

 

So finally I was able to get the clearance, but I had shortened the hose so that now it was too short to fully engage with the connector piece to the other side that went to the radiator. But luckily on the radiator side the bottom aluminum outlet is very long and the hose was fully mated so I just loosened the clamp and moved the hose forward to give me the extra length … see below (Not a crap pic, an actual photo 😊)  :-

 

 

 

2.     OK, Now the Supercharger => Cooler lower pipe.

 

Don’t bolt super cooler to chassis … leave it loose.

Pay attention to hose clamps, position in relation to other items to be fitted and also access for tightening. I had to loosen, twist, take off, rotate a number of them, a number of times!

Put (Force!) the lower pipe onto the supercharger outlet. This is again a PITA but after twenty attempts I got it to fit … took a break in the middle to go to the ER room for a broken knuckle! But hey it was worth it!

Make sure it will fit to the cooler at the other end before tightening the 3 clamps.

I had to remove the plastic tie clamp and rotate this connection to get the other end of the pipe to fit under the cooler.

 

 

Do not fit the pipe to the cooler just yet. But eventually it should fit like this.

 

 

3.     Need to tackle the Air filter to supercharger pipe.

Test fit this pipe several times, but the final sequence is…

First bottom rubber hose to charger and clamp (Note orientation with indent to clear the engine mount) , take off air filter box and then do final install of the long inlet pipe, refit the air box and tighten both hose clamps.

 

 

 

4.     Fit the Air Intake plenum back on.

This is going to seem weird, as you would think putting the tubing from the intercooler to intake would be first. I beat this square … I beat it round … but in the end I put the intake on first … remember to attach the throttle cable first! Then attach the intake to the head.

 

 

5.     Attach Intercooler outlet to Engine intake

So you need to try this fit many times and wrap that pipe in tape because you will be scratching it! But take a look at all 3 photos below, especially the last one to see the orientation. You will need to move the rubber hose in twist and depth on insertion to get to fit (that almost sounds sexual! ... but it is truly orgasmic when you get it to fit) Also move the actual super cooler to create more room

 

 

 

 

[S1Steve]

Your drawings are fine, your pictures are really good. If your skills aren’t being tested, you’re really not having Fun.🤣When I start thinking about a supercharger on my Seven, I’ll review your pictures to talk myself out of it. Thanks for sharing..

Edited July 31, 2025 by S1Steve

[pickles]

OK ... now finally have the car running. Moving on to Pickle proof the car, I am notorious for scratching and denting things, so I need protect the car from myself!

 

First off, the rear roll bar, noticed on previous 360, passengers (Those mad enough to get into my 'Orange Coffin') would instinctively grab the roll bar and if they were wearing rings they would scratch it. So, a handy-dandy bit of carbon fiber with double sided tape (Because this car really does not have enough CF already )

 

And then some additional self-adhesive foam to the hood. (And to keep the cat engaged)

 

Next will be adding some PPF in certain places.

[CarYenta]

Good idea on the foam on the hood rails. Does it make it more difficult to close?

 

I got some ppf pieces from premier paint guard a long while ago that I've been meaning to put on

https://www.premierpaintguard.com/car_ppg/caterham_620r.aspx

[pickles]

20 minutes ago, CarYenta said:

Good idea on the foam on the hood rails. Does it make it more difficult to close?

 

I got some ppf pieces from premier paint guard a long while ago that I've been meaning to put on

https://www.premierpaintguard.com/car_ppg/caterham_620r.aspx

 

A little bit more effort, It is quite dense but will I expect squish down over time

 

I used this:-

 Yotache Weather Stripping 2 Rolls 1" W X 1/8" T (New Adhesive Craft), Neoprene Foam Weatherstrip Tape for Automotive, 33 Ft Length (2 X 16.5 Ft Each) - Amazon.com

 

It's about 3mm thick, I actually used it on another project and had some left over. 

 

For the PPF film on my 360, I did this:

 

• The nose cone, I took the original foam strip off, wrapped the PPF, over the lip where the hood meets it, and put a new bit of foam over the PPF to match the original.
• The Hood I did in 2 pieces, but did not do the louvres. My skills with PPF are not good enough! Will see this time as am sure PPF has moved on in the last 8 years.
• The sides back to the rear fenders.
• The front half of the cycle wings and half the rear.
• I put on the CF Bow protectors. (Bruce sells these)
• Also put foam on the possible contact areas where the nose cone mates with the main chassis.
• Lastly a small square of PPF under the gas tank fill.

Cheers

Pickles

[pickles]

So have had running issues, sometimes the car would start and idle fine. And then for some reason it would be 'off to the races', jumping to 2K RPM and then hunting up and down. This would happen even if I were not in the car, so no change in throttle input (Well at least by me)

Went over CarYenta's build post and followed his direction to play about with idle setting. Initially via Easimap, Throttle Site was reading 0.1 and the Voltage at 0.54V, would out the idle screw probably 1/4 of a turn, now sat 0.0 / 0.52V.

After this have not seen the previous issue. Will need to monitor this, as I am only playing with car at the moment in my garage and driveway, and it is 34F out side, can't get it on the road until I do the dreaded CT DMV inspection.

But onto the next issue ... a sticky Water Temp gauge! The two images below are taken with the ignition off.

Also when idling the car and checking the cooling fan kicks in correctly I looked at the gauge and it was only reading 60C, turn the ignition off then on the gauge jumped close to 100C, which is where it should be for the fan to kick in.

 

 

[pickles]

Oh! Please excuse dusty gauges 

[MV8]

The voltage applied to the gauge is part of what determines the indication. I would not be concerned about the non-running indication. A traditional temp gauge is normally independent of cooling fan control. A gauge uses a variable resistance where a fan or fan relay uses a thermo-switch that is open or closed. There are computer controlled systems that use one variable resistance temp sensor to control the gauge and the cooling fan among other things.

[pickles]

56 minutes ago, MV8 said:

The voltage applied to the gauge is part of what determines the indication. I would not be concerned about the non-running indication. A traditional temp gauge is normally independent of cooling fan control. A gauge uses a variable resistance where a fan or fan relay uses a thermo-switch that is open or closed. There are computer controlled systems that use one variable resistance temp sensor to control the gauge and the cooling fan among other things.

Unfortunately, it sticks when running as well and does not show the correct temp 

[pickles]

Put a bit of effort into the car today, am gearing up for the dreaded CT DMV inspection. I located the bumpers that I had fabricated and mounted to my previous Caterham. They mysteriously fell off on I95 on the way back from the DMW inspection center in 2018  So have to install these. A couple of other things, have to take out the seats and the existing 4-point harnesses to install a couple of $26 dollar lap belts. (Because they are sooooo much safer as they have an FMVSS-209 label on them)  

A couple of red reflectors on the rear of the car (Again they may just fall off at some point!) Then lastly (Hopefully!) Got to make the steering wheel bigger! But am a dab hand at this, take a length of garden hose, and use bicycle handlebar tape to wrap the wheel securing the length of hose around the perimeter of the existing wheel.

 

 

Cheers all

Pickles

[KnifeySpoony]

Is there really a minimum steering wheel size? Seems an odd regulation.

[Croc]

39 minutes ago, KnifeySpoony said:

Is there really a minimum steering wheel size? Seems an odd regulation.

Quite a few states have this requirement.   I think I used a steering wheel cover once to grow an inch in diameter.  

[pickles]

50 minutes ago, KnifeySpoony said:

Is there really a minimum steering wheel size? Seems an odd regulation.

In CT 13" !!

 

No steering wheel shall have an equivalent outside diameter less than 13" at its smallest radius (except if approved with special license from the Handicapped Driver Training Unit) or have pointed or sharp protrusions