Blatting around Pendle

I am slowly finding a good set of roads to take the car on around Pendle.  Not main roads as they are too busy, not B roads as the car bottoms out.  On top of the that there are some great views to be had if you hit the road at 6.30am.  I do think we are enjoying a very unusual summer / year.  Only once have I been prevented from going out for a blat.  Certainly getting my money's worth out of it this year.

Parked up on Pendle Road just outside Downham.

Parked up on Pendle Road just outside Downham.

Near Newchurch in Pendle.

A lovely day for blatting.

Prop Shaft Grease ???

I decided to jack the car up today and take the torque wrench to all the bolts now I have covered nearly 1500 miles.  Rear Wheel hubs were spot on as were most other bolts.  However the exhaust side engine mount bolts (3 No.) needed 1/4 turn each, the gearbox to chassis needed 1/4 turn and the long diff bolt needed 1/4 turn.

Whilst under the car I noticed a black line of something where the prop joint is.  I had coated the tunnel in Dinitrol before installing the prop so the brown stuff is just dinitrol.  Should I be concerned about the black line?  It does look like grease and certainly lines up with the prop joint.  Is the joint losing grease and should I be worried?

Propshaft with line of what appears like grease on the inside of the tunnel which is itself coated with dinitrol.

Solenoid / Starter Motor Connections

It seems a few of us struggle to know which wires go where, myself included so here is a picture of my connections now that I am up and running.

Right Hand Connector has the red from the battery, two browns from the loom and a cable with heat shrink.  The Left hand connector has a solid cable to the starter and does not need touching.  The Middle Bottom connector has two white/red wires from the loom.

Another picture although not that clear.  There's not a lot of room in there.

Forest of Bowland Blat II

Got up at 6.30 to get out to beat the traffic (cyclists), had a fabulous two hour drive around Waddington, Newton, Chipping, Longbridge and Haslingdon.  Kids were just getting up when I got home.  Gotta love summer and sevens.

I have never been one for sat navs, always preffered to read a map the night before and trust my memory.  Call it age, blame the seven, I don't know, but even the basic Nuvi 2497 is a godsend in a Caterham.  Draw the map on the computer, download it and off you go.  Effortless and if you speed past a turning it sorts you out.

Can't remember where I parked but it must have been near Dunsop Bridge.  A lovely drive and the heater was very welcome given I set off in shorts and a t-shirt.

Cadir Idris - July 2014

Having walked up Cadir Idris a few years ago and seen nothing due to the weather it seemed ideal to take the Caterham down for a long weekend and have another go.

We set off early on Friday and used the motorways for 50-60 miles before heading through Mold, Denbigh, Llansannan, Llanfair TH, Llangernew, Llanwrst, Blaenau Ffestiniog, Dolgellau and Tal y Llyn.  We stayed at Dolffanog Fach in the Caroll room and cannot recommend it enough.  The place is just perfect, luxury all the way with fantastic hosts in Carl and Sara.  Parking for the Caterham is also perfect and with the Caroll room you can keep an eye on your loved one.

Had a clear walk up Cadir Idris on Saturday before heading home on Sunday via Dolgellau, Porthmadog, Cricceth, Abersoch, Cricceth, Beddgelert, Betws y Coed, Llanwrst, Llangernew, Llansanan, Denbigh, Mold and then the motorways.

We had to use the roof for half the journey there and home and to be honest I found it fine.  A little noisier than without or is it just a slightly different kind of noise.  The wiper fuse kept blowing but it seems it may just be too small at 7.5A and it needs a 15A fuse.

As I learn more about the car, the clonks worry me less and less but the vibration / resonance does get a little bit annoying.  It seems to be at it's worst at 3750 on my car, I suspect other cars are different.  The easy remedy is to blitz through it, but the wife's not keen on that approach.

The car parked up at Dolffanog Fach.  The finish sauna behind.

Parked up in Dolgellau.  Three times we have stopped there for a look around and three times we have been disappointed.  I think we are done with the place now.

Parked up outside the Gelert shop in Beddgelert.

Heading up Cadir Idris

About 1/3 of the way up.

Heading back down.

The roof going on at the Black Lion in Llanfiar TH

Wifey taking snaps on route.  An intelligent go pro if you like.

Roof on but no wipers.

Spare Oil

I am just about to change my running in oil to a fully synthetic and I found I have ~3 litres of running in oil left.  If anyone wants it then let me know and come and pick it up.

Betws Yn Rhos Road Trip I

Thanks to the Betws Yn Rhos Classic Car club for letting my new car join the trip.

Having just washed the car this morning I am pleased to say I don't have any stone chips despite the numerous roads we managed to find which had fresh stone surfaces.  At 40mph on the 20mph stone roads it might be luck or maybe that 3M film does do a good job of protecting the paint.

Stunning views and weather all day long.

A series 1 Landy, 48 years old.  A TR7 and Escort (proper classics), then me.

Speedo Woes and Fix

UPDATE : It is 81 miles to my mums and the drive yesterday recorded 81 miles in the Caterham.  The speedo didn't drop out once, nor did it flicker or mis behave.  After 320 miles to and around Wales I can safely say the speedo is fixed.  Thanks to James at Caterham and of course Blatchat.

Previous Post : I never really noticed when taking the car to the IVA but the speedo was not really working properly.  It would work up to ~60 mph then drop to zero.  Also it would cut to zero when the brakes were applied and flicker when the indicator was on.

Blatchat has been very helpful and I have tried the fixes posted on there, e.g. Check and redo the earths on the front brake union, add an extra earth from the battery to the chassis and check the distance between the sensor and the toothed wheel.

Whilst trying different settings, I had one sensor fail and blow the speedo fuse.  Caterham very quickly sent me another one.  We then pondered over whether I needed a new speedo.  However this week a fix arrived which simply involves cutting the existing earth wire to the sensor plug and socket and putting a new one in locally to the plug and socket.

It all makes sense when you think about it as the current earth runs to the front of the car with all the power cables and as such spikes could be induced which would affect the pulses created by the sensor.

I took the car out for ~25 miles tonight and all was well.  I have a longer drive around North Wales tomorrow so I should know for sure if all is well.

This is the speedo sensor plug and socket.  The black cable is the earth and goes to the front of the car somewhere.  This can either be removed from the socket and a new cable and pin fitted or cut short and a new cable crimped on.

This is the length of cable I left in there so I could crimp an extended earth onto the existing pin and cable.  

With the new earth cable  crimped on and the plug and socket taped up and tie wrapped to the chassis again, you then need to put a lug on the other end of the earth and drill into the chassis and use a self tapper to connect the earth.  

I would suggest you check with Caterham before trying this fix so you can be sure it is for your car.  Also check with them where to drill for the self tapper.  They are super helpful.

In the post today came a recall letter.  Apparently the bolt on the throttle pedal may need tightening up on late 2013 to early 2014 cars.  No big deal, bonnet off, pedal box lid off, tighten to 25Nm, put everything back.

Adjustable Damper Kit Installation

So last week the car was scrapping on the ridge of the steep drive and from feedback on Blatchat and a review of the car it seems the drive needs sorting but so does the car.  The feedback was that the front clearance to the rear wishbone (measure to the underside of the chassis rail), needs to be 150mm.  I had 130mm.  The back should then be ~15mm above that and I had 170mm ish.  So during the week aswel as sorting out a new speedo from Caterham I ordered the adjustable damper kit.

During the week my spare throttle cable arrived.

The new throttle cable was tie wrapped to the existing one in the engine bay.  It is there should I need it one day.

A top tip from Peter and Paul at LADS is to fit the jack under the nose cone so as not to take up room in the boot.  Top Tip number 432 they have given me.

This is the adjustable damper kit. 

Got the first shock / damper off ok.  Now need to wrestle with the spring when I don't actually own a coil clamp.  

Not the safest thing I have ever done but I seemed to get there with only one clamp taking flight during the process.

The sleeves sit on a small circlip (amazing it takes the weight really).  When you put the adjustable sleeve on you need to move the circlip to suit the starting point of ride height you want. 

For the rears the ali discs need to be this way up, i.e. thick section at the top and thin section underneath.  For the fronts it is the other way around.

Rears done.

I now have 155mm at the front and 168mm at the back with me in it.  The car however has not been out of the garage since having the adjustable kit fitted so I think the car needs a drive so it can settle and then I should measure the heights.

The bonnet has rattled whilst driving and when I removed it today I have six marks similar to these.  It seems the bonnet needs more foam or a complete respray :) 

I probably spent about 4 hours doing the adjustable dampers.  The best advice on blatchat was to clamp the rear damper in a vice and heat the bush head to soften the threadlock.  Only when I heated the bush head was I able to remove it and slide the sleeve over.

Blat 1 - Lancashire

I kept it local for my first blat, up the rake, along Grane Road almost into Blackburn before heading out up the hill towards Edgeworth and around Rammy and up to Scoutmoor.  Had a fab time.  Love it.

I do now understand why people where baseball caps as you have no visor and the sun is a killer in your eyes all the time.  Also the speed sensor is knackered so I clocked up no miles and have no idea how fast I was going.

The pics are from up near Scoutmoor and my garage.  Now the spare wheel is on the car the underside scrapes the drive so I will have to get adjustable dampers.  I knew I should have ticked that option.

The view I had driving over the tops by Scoutmoor.

The car in glorious sunshine.

Hmmmmm.  Wasn't quite expecting such a small puddle of dung to travel up and over the door.  Note to self, where a hat.

Scoutmoor Windfarm in the distance.

The steep drive where the car bottoms out.  I need adjustable dampers.

156 Days Later.....

The car arrived on December 12th 2013 and on the 16th May 2014 I was able to legally take the car for a drive.  The smile on my face today when the postman delivered my original documents back to me and a seperate brown envelope with the V5C was as good as when the car passed the IVA; as good as when I first started the engine and as good as when the bits arrive back in December.

Next is basically learning to drive the thing and tinkering and getting out and about with LADS and family.

Thanks to everyone who has so far helped me.  Peter and Paul of LADS in particular but many others aswel.  Massive thanks to Caterham who have been faultless through the whole process.  From the first visit to showroom down South, Anthony taking the first £2k deposit.  Through to the car being delivered, Derek the materials co-ordinator (perfection itself), the PBC in the Midlands, Sharon at Dartford and everyone else who had a hand in getting me on the road with such an awesome machine.

The build and the PBC / IVA / DVLA process feel like a big deal at the moment but I am sure the it will become only a small part of the ownership of the car as I blat around the UK and Europe.  I will keep posting here but maybe not as often.

Now I am off to sort a route out for tomorrow morning.

Day 30 - Tinkering

I am currently waiting for DVLA to return a V5c, tax disc and registration number.  So whilst I wait I am doing all those post post build check jobs like moving the mirrors etc.

I am still waiting for DVLA to send me some reg details and a tax disc.  So using my time wisely I added some velcro to the seat belts so I don't get slapped in the face by the loose ends.

Hole drilled ready to install a 12V socket.

Socket installed and wired to the battery.

Charger plugged in.

New map pocket installed in the passenger footwell.

Wires identified to connect a third brake light.  Black/Green is positive and black is negative.

Spare wheel rack installed.  The car suddenly looks correct.

Another wheel rack picture.

Wing mirror moved to the doors.

New front shot with mirrors moved.  I prefer them lower down although I suspect I will see very little through them.  On the way back from the IVA test the mirrors vibrated so much I wondered what the point of having them was.

High level brake light taped into place whilst the glue dries.  This is the 60 LED CBS unit.  I have angled the LED unit slightly up as the LED's are only bright when viewed straight on.  I figured if I mounted it horizontal then it woudl be fine if another caterham was following me but not so good for the muppets in 4x4's.

3M paint protection film added where the door stopper will strike the bonnet.  The square patch will dry and be almost invisible.  I have a small 3x3" piece left which I will put by the fuel filler.

This car has door stoppers (studs) which is the only parts which will hit the bonnet.