Today we wenet to Silverstone to compare some of the kit that will be needed for next year. The race suit, helmet etc. The idea is that we go to GPR-Direct which has a store at silverstone race circuit so that we can try before we buy, get siceses and compare to demon tweaks.
The store at GPR-Direct is not large, but the warehouse does hold arge amounts of stock, so they had no problem trying sizes etc for anything I wanted.
I am doing this on an very limited budget, so was looking at the bottom to mid range gear (not worth going cheap when it is your life that you might be slashing).
I have produced a comparison for the items that I selected, and have put a small review on my Academy 2012 page on this site (click here).
Plesae go and have a look and let me know what you think.

Well time to go and register the car today and get it road legal.
Firstly filling the forms... mmmm seems to be something missing here the V55/4 form is there, but the example is not... I called Caterham and they kindly emailed me a copy of an example form. So it is off to the local DVLA office (well not so local in Northampton, but since postal registration can take up to 2 weeks it is worth the trip to cut that down to 72 hours (ish).
the Guys at the DVLA were extremely helpful, especially since I was registering the car in my Daughters name (it is an Xmas pressie for us both).. I get to do the build and race season, she gets ownership and all the track days she wants.
Well the car is registered and all is good.. waiting for the post so that I can keep the surprise until Xmas will be the hardest part...
wish me luck !

Today was a long day, i Got up at 5am to make sure i was at Caterham North for 8.30. The plan wsa to collect my car from thier and drive it to the Nottingham VOSA centre for the IVA.
Well I got to caterham on time, and I even got to the IVA centre with half hour to spare. I will say with just the doors on and no heater, an hours drive up the motorway is a cold experience on a chilly day.
Once at the IVA centre i put the car in place and waited for my alloted slot. There are a number of checks, both visual and technical, from checking the finish of the vehile, to setting up lights, checking brakes on Rolling roads and emmisions tests. The IVA guy was extremely helpful, and happy to explain why they do the checks, he helped set up the car's headlights and the only other thing that needed to be altered was teh angle of the catalyser heatsheild (it needed to be less on top of the cat and more around the side and top to stop people catching themselves on the devices.
Well i am happy to say i now have a pass certificate and about 150 miles already on the clock as I drove the car home on the motorway back to Bedford.

I am now looking forward to filling out the V55/4 for registration... if i can figure out how... (there may be a call to Caterham on this as i cannot see any example which should have been in my dopcument pack.... )
Well happy days, and hopefully happy motoring days...

I went rhough my check list of all the things i new were not complete or wrong when i handed in the car for the post build check, and yesterday i suddenly realised i had not mentioned that the Wheels were un balanced.. so i had to call them to let them know.
Seemed a little strange that three of the wheels had no weights on them but one fo them did, when i spoke to sean a couple of weeks ago he said occassionally they get wheels sent in which were not balanced by their suppliers. but they should have been. So caterham will do the changes as a part of the post build checks for me.
Monday is D-day, and i am starting to get a little nervous about getting the car into the IVA test centre and hopefully passing the test. Tomorrow i will do some prep and make sure i have everything i think i need liked
- proof of insurance
- proof of test date and time
- tools to do any alterations
- cable ties
- Tape incase they think i have to tape something

I may just give Caterham North a ring and make sure that i have everything they would normally take to the centre.

anyway wish me luck.......

Well that was the first meeting for us 2012'ers and I think it was a very good meeting. My car was on display in the garage so that when people talked to the echanics they could show them what they were talking about, i.e. what to do and what not to do.
As far as the racing is concerned, it was a little bit daunting about all the things that need to happen and when they will be occuring, but i am sure that story will unravel with time.
As for my next steps it is time to take the car to the IVA next week, at the mometn Caterham are finishing off the IVA and post build checks, and I will collect the car from them and take it to Nottingham test centre. I am told by all (inclusing he insurance company) that i am allowed to drive the car to and from the vehicle test centre, so that will be the first time the car will have been driven any distance by me.
Well i hope the IVA gods are kind to me, and i look forward to registering the car next week i hope.

Well not much to do at the moment except wait and see what happens next monday.

Well finally done as much as i can, and tomorrow i have the post build check. i am going to trailer the car to Caterham tomorrow morning, and get the car checked with them.
Yesterday i also had the nottingham test centre call me and i have provisionally booked the car into the IVA for the 28th, so if the IVA gods are willing i will have the car ready for December (I hope). I am still undeceided whether to take the car for the IVA myself or to get Caterham to do it, persoanally i like the idea of doing it myself, but not sure what to expect). 

To make things even more of a hectic week, we have the first Academy meeting on Saturday, so i am lookig forward to a week of focusing on what the racing is going to cost me for next year.
 

There were a few items missing in the kit for the IVA, and i have had a few little problems which i hope we can sort out at the pst build check stage.
1) rear fog and reversing lights have to have rubber seals, i stuck these on, but could not get the len's back into the lights.. so not sure how to do this.
2) the front grommet for the wiring, i have spent many hours on trying to get this in place, and will ask Caterham if they can do this
3) I have run out of rubber strip for teh friont flares around the wishbone holes.. so i will ask Caterham to do this as by the time the semd me more, i will be taking it to them.
4) there were a couple of peices missing which Caterham will put on for me
there are about 4/5 minor things that need to be completed here, but de to time i will ask midlands to comeplete these little bits ready for the IVA.

STARTING THE ENGINE
no real problems here, except the oil pressure was not there... the guage seemed ok, but there was no pressure reading. So time to switch off and ring Caterham.

Adendum -
Caterham are convinved teh engine is sound and i sould run to temperature, so have done that, and they are sending me a new oil pressure sender to replace the existing one.. lets see how that goes.
SOUNDS GREAT... after a little fine tuning on the idle screw it runs well (it doers seek a little whilst cold, but will get Caterham to check that out at post build).

Well engines in, electics are working, transmission completed wheels are on and the interior etc is up and runninf ... so the time now to see if it all works...
Brake fluid -  had a major leak when i filled the brake fluids up.. the fron joints between the brake flex hose through the skin of the car into the brake lines would not tighten and leaked all the fluid (clearing up was painful) (see build tips for more information).
Once the leaks were fixed this has been fine, had to blead the brakes 3 times to get any level of firmness in teh system, but will see what it is like once start to drive it and once it is checked.
Engine oil - no problems here... filling was fine (just over 4 litres to max)
Clutch fluid - well this filled ok, but had to be bled 3 times to get it operating properly
Coolant - this was not an issue, one minor leak from teh top of the engine rail, but it has been fine
Petrol - 15 litres of petrol later it was time to start the engine

This was a little fiddly today. I began to wish i had fitted the boot cover at the same time as the roll cage. Since i have a full rollcage and seat harnesses on the car, the boot cover requires that the bolts for harnesses are removed (not easy with the full roll cage as there is not enough clearance (by about 2mm to remove the bolts easily, and that makes getting them back in even more of an issue.
In the end i got it all fitted, but i do need to improve my skills with the Dot punch.. i am sure that the fasteners could be tighter.