Engine Bay Ancillaries

After the engine install, then comes the big connecting-up operation! Actually the first thing I had to do was move the washer bottle bracket over an inch - the factory had put the bracket in a location where the bottle fouled on the starter motor. Doh! After drilling out the rivets, I re-fitted the bracket in a better place. Then I set about fixing up the various electrical connections to the engine: ECU, MFU, sensors, etc. The MFU had to be fixed to a bracket rivetted to the battery tray/holder strap, which is stainless steel and was bloody difficult to drill through...

I've bolted the battery cables & earth straps in places where I think it makes sense, I guess I'll know if this is good enough when I try and start the engine! There's still a couple of loose wires yet to connect up - water temp sensor, rad fans etc., these will be done in due course.

Next I bolted the exhaust pipes on, after removing the sticky paper labels (to avoid the disturbing burning smells when the engine is first started!). This was a fairly straightforward process, note that it is very important to protect the bodywork orifice with card or foam to avoid scratching. The first 3 pipes went in OK from outside-to-inside, but the 4th pipe I could only locate by manouevring it from inside-to-outside. The collector/cat unit slipped on easily, then I supported it's weight whilst tightening up the pipes on the exhaust gasket and making sure there was even space around the pipes and bodywork hole. Finally the 2 spring units were coaxed on, holding the cat unit to the pipes. Point to remember - the hooks on the pipe & cat need to be "knocked in" after fitting the springs, for IVA purposes (according to the Caterham guide).

I'll put the silencer box and the heat shields on when I've done the rear wheel arches.

Next the gear lever and reversing switch went in. I have to say that I felt a bit of a tingle when first moving the gear lever around in the gate - I'm so looking forward to doing this many times in the future!

Finally for this section, I installed the steering column and wheel. This was not really feasible before the engine went in, and in fact I'm glad that I waited until after fitting the exhaust pipes as well. It would have been very tough fitting the pipes with the column in the way.

The lower column and UJ goes in first, then the upper column and joining bracket. The upper column was tough: The rubber & plastic bushes are tight in the column surrounding tube, and it is easy to knock them out of place if you are not careful. Also, I belatedly realised that my quick-release Momo wheel only goes on at a specific rotation angle - you need to line up the steering straight forward, with the lump on the column splines in exactly the right place. I had to re-adjust the lower column UJ spline bolts a couple of times to get this spot on. The wheel looks really good in situ. This bag of bolts is beginning to look like a car!

Next week I will move on to the plumbing & heating...