Build 12. Engine Prep
So with the front end mostly done, it is time to prep the engine (Note I haven't fitted the heater or the radiator yet which I feel will just get in the way of the install of the engine).
What I got was basically an engine on a palette (already semi built and wired up), a gearbox packed nicely in a box and a box labelled "Engine mounts". Most of the blogs install the engine and gearbox as one complete unit, but I'm going to go the other way and install the gearbox first, then just "drop" the engine in. We know the engine can be removed without the gearbox in future, so to me this seems like the logical route. It has also been confirmed from Caterham that they install the gearbox separately too.
To install the gearbox it will have to be installed from underneath and lifted over one of the chassis bars, I plan to mount a wooden board on top of my car creeper, and then mount a motorbike stand on top of this, which should give me a trusty platform to raise up the gearbox from underneath with.
Before all that though, the engine needs to be stripped and the bellhousing needs to join with the gearbox.
For me reading other blogs had actually made me quite nervous about handling the engine and gearbox, but once I got stuck in it was just a lot of fun, and actually they are not as heavy as first though as I could drag my engine around the garage easily on the palette.
When stripping the engine, you will need to remove the following components from the engine first.
First remove the alternator belt before removing the alternator (use a spanner to loosen the belt tensioner and remove it). Then remove all electrical connections (I took photos so I knew what went where, also they came off very easily so don't force them!). Finally remove the bolts. These bolts are fairly easy to remove as "most" bolts are just hand tight, although the starter motor and alternator required a bit of force to remove. .
Once I had removed the parts, I bagged up the bolts for each, masking taped them to each unit and put the units aside for later:
Now you are ready to remove the bell housing and expose the flywheel. What I did for this was to get out the engine hoist and slightly raise the engine (enough that it was still in contact with the palette, but enough it would not topple over!). I also made it so the bellhousing was hanging just off the edge of the palette, and then put some foam under it in case it "fell off" undoing the bolts!
I actually used the method of storing the bolts in a cardboard template when removing them from the bell housing as there are differing lengths of bolt in each location, I also then measured them and noted that down just in case. I was worried that when the last bolt was removed, it would just drop off and be super loose, but actually there are two spacers holding it in place, and I found that I needed to tap it with a rubber mallet to get it off.
Next up is to connect the bell housing to the gearbox, for this I dragged the gearbox in it's box over to near my car creeper. I decided that I'd put it on the creeper and potentially use this with the motorbike jack on it to raise it into position. It also made a good stand to help attach the bell housing at the same time. For extra stability I used the same piece of card on top of the creeper that the gearbox was sent in and resting on, it's very sturdy! I then used a ratchet strap to stop the movement. This meant that I could torque it to the 68Nm required without it rolling over.
The Gearbox and bellhousing come with two sets of bolts in them, You can discard the ones in the gearbox, they are only 10.9 Grade, unlike the others which are 12.9, you will need a 10mm hex key to tighten these up (it tells you to use bolts from pack F in the manual, these are the ones already in the bell housing, see photos).
If you choose to lift the gearbox like I did, be careful as it is 55 Kg!
Engine Timelapse
Gearbox Timelapse
