700newtons

Hello Peter, There is no way, that I can see, that this fuse cover fits. However, it seems rather pointless; there is a very good plastic fuse box already in place. Maybe this is a Roadsport piece of kit. Simon

Yes, I would be up for a meeting of 160 owners, if I am available. The bits we forgot will be revealed...

Ah Ok, I'll give that a go. I put the wings on my car this evening. I also dropped the nose cone in place - for the benefit of the fellow from PPG when he comes to measure up for plastic films. although it looks nearly ready, I still have a fair way to go.

Thanks Ned, it was my car he was intending to measure up. i just got a bit behind with shortages and having to earn money.

Are any of you interested in getting a plastic film to protect your rear wings from strone chipping. Premier Paint guard are considering making a template for the 160.

Ned, yes I think your idea would work (except that you would need to ensure that the engine is supported on it engine mounts so that is is level). i suppose another way is to make a dipstick to insert down the plug. i am considering just filling it with the recommended 1.2 L if the level plug gives me problems. My home made 3/8-cut-down-steel-bar-with-spanner tool looks fairly promising through. simon

Hello Martin, you seem to be storming ahead. A lot of stuff is a tight fit. My rubber dead bow hammer is been more useful than my expectations. Peter's nightmare about gearbox oil came true... Simon

Hi Ned, Now the tunnel top is in place, I'll add brake fluid, bleed the brakes and set up the handbrake from below. I'm getting near the end, but there are still quite a few bits to do. I'm looking forward to turn the engine for the first time. Simon

I am trying to sort some film protection for my rear mudguards and I have been in touch with Dave at Premier Paint Guard. At the moment he does not have a template for the 160 rear mudguards but he is considering getting one sorted. Would there be much interest from other 160 owners (of which there are growing number)? website here (no commitment) thanks Simon

I fitted my sill protectors after wrestling in the knee trim panels today. (I got the holes in the knee trim panels to align by using a screw driver as a lever). I note that I had 7 screws but 8 holes for the knee panels. However, the front-most hole is not visible and doesn't seem to serve much function. I cut Vs in the curved section as it suggested in the manual. Riveting was quite fun. However, my technique was perhaps a bit crap and in managed to scatch the powder coat. After that, I surrounded the rivets with masking tape, while fixing them, to reduce damage. Having finished the side trim I slotted in the tunnel top. Getting it over the handbrake required a lot of swearing and persuasion. The handbrake really does have to be very high up (you would have no chance if the handbrake was set up normally). Although I have bought carpets, I have decided to fit them solely in the boot for the time being. After sorting the interior trim I set about getting the correct torque on the rear suspension. I moved the axle stands onto the ends of the live axle and loaded the car with about 80kg of water in plastic Jerry cans (unwittingly sponsored by my school DofE department). I understand that it is important that the car is loaded before torquing the bolts. The next job is bleeding the brakes and rear mudguards...

Another thing... I managed to wrestle in the knee trim panels this evening (harder than I thought - I found aligning the holes with a small screwdriver and pushing hard worked best). peter: did you get to the bottom of the metal fuse box case in the end? I doesn't possibly seem to fit.

Has anyone else (I think it might just be me and you so far, Peter) got a unusual clutch set up? i had forgotten about it for a while, but the cable lacks tension and the pedal is very high. I can't be right, and adjusting it does not help. any one else find similar?

I have virtually finished the cycle wings now (one completed done; for the other I am waiting for IVA trim). To get the repeater wire down through the wingstay, I first fed garden wire up from he bottom hole to the top. I then dragged the repeater wire back down the hole and out of the bottom (I had to bend the clip to do this). Bolting the cycle wings is certainly a faff; and I can apprciate why many choose to bond them. However, I seem to have got through it with out any 'damage'

Thanks Peter, I'll send you a private message with my email. I have been working on the front cycle wings today and have virtually finished them. I have to say that they are quite a faff. your back end looks tidy, if you don't mind me saying. i hope to get a similar date for the IVA.

Would anyone be able to email me a copy of the part completed IVA form from Caterham. I rang the Crawley office today but they didn't seem to recognise the form I was talking about. Any other pearls of wisdom about the sorting the IVA would be gratefully received. I think that I might go for an IVA at Bristol. (It looks like Taunton no longer does IVAs.) Does anyone have any clever (cost saving) plans about getting their car to the post build check?

Thanks - I get the picture. I'm drilling away.

hello folks, It says in the instructions to attach the earth lead of the repeater to he wingstay using a pop rivet. I'm thinking that in this damp environment there is likely to be rather rapid corrosion between aluminium and steel. Am I being over sensitive, or is the least of my worries... advice please.

Ah my bad, maybe I meant £145 for a year's tax. Anyway, I'd rather pay £30 if Caterham can register the the emissions, or whatever they need to do.

I don't think that I have the IVA form that you have been given... I'll ask Derek. When I test drove the car in feb 2014 the salesman told me that he tax was £30. However, all the evidence from tax discs etc point to it being £130. I think that the Co2 emissions put it in the £30 bracket. I wonder what happened?

Congratulations Martin. I'm looking forward to hearing about your progress. I expect you might have the same things missing that we did (like the IVA bag etc). Unless caterham have corrected the bugs in the picking list. However, as Peter said, the bits come through the post as soon as you point out the fault. Regarding posting pictures, here is Ned's advice from near the beginning of this blog... For pics, hit the pic button on the toolbar above the message (13th one along), then hit 'Browse Server'. Once you're here, you can upload pics from your hard drive to your space on the Blatchat server. And then select the photo you want, and it should appear in your draft message. The format/size/shape can look a bit weird, but if you hit 'Preview' below, it should sort itself out and you can then Post. - See more at: http://www.lotus7.club/blogs/caterham-160-build-blog#sthash.AiGErwyY.dpuf Peter, thanks for your advice. I better get on an sort my IVA then. I'm going to go for Taunton I think. I'll trailer the car up to Dartford for it's post build check beforehand.

Martin... Did it arrive today?

Another thing... Have you thought about how you will get your post build check and IVA sorted?

Great, thanks for this. It'll be a few days before I work on the car again but I look forward to getting the oils in. Have you started it up yet? Another thing, did you have any problem taking the car off it's axle stands? I was just planning to put the Jack under the tow hook and lower it gently.

One other thing, that has been past onto me, is to consider plastic bolts for the rear mud guards. I'm told that if you nudge the mudguards when driving, the bolts give and there is less damage to the skin. I think I will probably do this...

NB See my comment below the photos of the cycle wing hole positions. 8cm separation seems too wide.