So the missing parts arrived from Caterham today, which meant I could crack on and install the missing Coil, as well as the throttle cable.
The throttle cable was an easy fit at one end, but at the other it is too long – there were 2 options to fix this – one was to bend the pedal, the other was to cut the cable and then use electrical blocks to fit it on. I decided that I didn’t want to bend the pedal and went for the cut and block approach. This worked fine, but I have to say that I am unconvinced that over time that this will be OK, but we will see.
Feels like a proper kit car now!
I then cracked on with fitting the air filter (which was simple), and then the oil catch bottle (I still need to drill the holes for the pipes)
Air filter fitted
Oil Catch Bottle Riveted to Chassis
At this point, I just got too excited and decided that I wanted to see if I could start the engine – so off I went to get a Jerry Can full of fuel, and then filled the car up with 20L. I then filled the cooling system up, and then followed the instructions to start the car for the first time — removing the inertia switch and seeing if there was oil pressure.
So, here we go, connect the battery, and press the start button …. nothing. Oh dear. There is power to the dash, so there must be something wrong near the starter motor. Nothing obvious, so I re-tightened all the electrical connections, and then had another go … and it turned! After about 15 turns, the oil pressure was bang in the middle – that is a good sign.
So, then to reconnect the inertia switch, and then lets go for it … It starts! Happy Days!
I then decide to back off the throttle a little, but it stalls. Try again, and again it stalls – looks like the idle needs adjusting. To keep it running whilst I can check everything over I use a block of wood to keep the throttle held at a higher RPM.
So, the third start and things are looking good. I can feel the exhaust manifolds heating up, and then – wow, they really are smoking – alot of smoke. Apparently this is normal, but a little scary. I then check around the engine and the coolant seems OK. I then recheck the engine, and one of the exhaust manifolds is a different (non-hot!) colour!
Spot the cylinder that isn’t firing …
It was probably my poor fitting of the coil, so I push all the cables down again and try again, but no change.
Hmmm — so off comes the engine cover, and I recheck the end of the offending ignition cable and try again – after about 30 seconds we get smoke from the manifold – great! It appears that the cable wasn’t connected properly to the spark plug.
I then run the engine for about 10 mins, checking the coolant (which needed topping up), and then making sure the fan comes on at about 100 (ish) degrees, which it does.
I even made a celebratory video 🙂
I am a very happy bunny – the car I have built starts and runs!
