Caterham Blog
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Visit to Millwood for Flat-floor and Stalling Problem ECU Reset
So, after over 2000 miles in the car, it was time to address one of its biggest niggles… low temperature stalling. Ever since I’d built the car it would stall at low engine temperatures. It would stall as I sat on the drive putting my harness on, it would stall at junctions for the first…
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Caterham 420R Build Tools and Trinkets
Note from Future John (Sept 2020): It seems Amazon has changed a lot of the links in the section below and the links don’t take you to where they should. At some point I’ll try and relink them all. I thought I owned them all until I built a Caterham. Sorry to all you non-builders,…
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The Wiper Motor Fuse… and Test Rig Overkill with a Logic Analyzer
Drip, drip, drop, click, bugger! … or in other words… rain… followed by another wiper fuse blowing. The Story So Far: For those of you that need a recap, I’d tested the wipers in December, prior to the IVA (Individual Vehicle Approval) test, and they had also been tested by the dealer that sold me…
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The 2018 Taffia Fish & Chip Run YouTube Video
Warning: this post contains techie stuff. Sorry, had to get that out of the way. Some people will have gone by now, you can carry on reading if you like this sort of thing. YouTube So, this is my first YouTube video and creating this video of the day out was no mean feat. While…
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Taffia 2018 Fish & Chip Run – The Full Story
After posting a quick Drone shot of the start of the Fish & Chip run I’ve gone back to give a longer post on the day, read on… YouTube For those of you that are impatient and don’t like reading my posts… how about a YouTube video… The Main Event The Taffia Fish & Chip…
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80+ Sevens on the 2018 Taffia Fish and Chip Run – Drone Shot
Today, my co-driver (Joel) and I took part in the Lotus7.club 2018 Taffia Fish and Chip Run. I’ll put a longer post together when I get a chance along with hopefully a YouTube Video, but for those interested, here’s a drone shot I took just before we all left from Chepstow to Aberdovey on a…
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Back with Some Stats – How Much Time!
Three months on from the build and time to do a look back at some statistics… It’s been three very cold and wet months since I got the car on the road. We’ve had the Beast From The East and it’s lesser sibling, The Mini Beast From The East, along with a bunch of rain…
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Post Build Update – Registration Documents
Following the IVA test on December 7th, I sent off the registration application to the DVLA (Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency). Their website says they will process an application for a new registration within 4 weeks. I had hoped that the run up to Christmas would be quiet for them, but it seems that was…
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Individual Vehicle Approval – The Test
It’s the big day. The one I’ve been building up to for 9 months! The test appointment is set for 8AM at the Avonmouth test centre… and I live in North Bristol, about 5 miles away. It’s about a 15minute drive at that time in the morning. Getting Going I got up in plenty of…
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Post-Post Build Check and a Dash for Fuel
The Purplemeanie has returned from its PBC and so its time to get all the remaining small jobs done before its IVA test next week. This post will be a catch-all for all those tasks, sorry, it’s probably a long one. Friday December 1st – Return from PBC (6 days to IVA test) I don’t…
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Build Session 37 : IVA Preparation and Tidy-ups
It’s the final shove in the The Big Push – Day 5! We’re pretty much finished now. Everything is installed, attached or bolted down. With the exception of some wiring for the front repeaters it’s all about tidying things up and getting all the finishing touches done for the IVA test. So lets get on…
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Build Session 36 : Repeaters, IVA, Mirrors, Wipers, Rear Hubs, Wings
Day 4 of The Big Push – Phew! This is getting tiring! I’m glad I decided I needed to take some time off to get this knocked out. While I’m not getting as much time on the car as I hoped, I am making progress. All that’s going to change today… no distractions, no excuses! Front…
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Build Session 35 : Front Wings, Handbrake Cable and Tidying Up
Day 3 of The Big Push – a Friday! I was hoping to get a lot done today but instead of a Big Push it turned into more of a Gentle Shove. Still… progress was made. Today I wanted to get going on the spacing theory I’d formulated for the Front Wings and Wing Stays.…
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Build Session 34 : Brake and Clutch Fillup/Bleed, Bonnet Collection and more Front Wings
Day 2 of The Big Push!… and I’m also getting close to pushing the button on putting a date in the diary for the PBC (Post Build Check) back at Williams and then of course the government IVA (Individual Vehicle Test) test too. If I’m really, really lucky it will have passed both before Christmas.…
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Build Session 33 : Front Wings, Lights, Handbrake, Gearbox, Number Plate Light
This is the final push… 5 days to work on getting the car finished… surely it won’t take THAT long! It’s Thanks Giving week this week, which means my US work colleagues will be taking at least this Thursday off work and probably a day or two either side of it too. Normally that’s a…
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Build Session 32 : LHS Indicators, Swap Wing Stays, Repeater Wiring
Another short day I’m afraid, just an hour today. LHS Indicators After all the “mucking about” yesterday with the LHS indicators not working I thought I’d give them another go this morning. I took the bulbs out from the two indicator pods and was determined I’d go through the whole thing methodically. The first obvious…