The first task was to prepare the chassis for the build. It arrived with the roof fitted and the bonnet in place. The rear wings, cycle wings and nose cone had been transported, protected by bubble wrap, in the chassis along with a few miscellaneous boxes. These were all removed and safely stored.
Next, the side skins were protected with cardboard to prevent accidental damage to the paintwork and the delicate aluminium panels. Pipe lagging and garden hose was used to cover the front members of the chassis - the latter on the inside of the cruciform which will maximise the clearance as the engine goes in.
An area of a couple of centimetres at the junction of the side skin and chassis rail was masked off and Dinitrol 3125 was applied to provide some corrosion prevention. This is a strange compound and it's not easy to get a good looking finish after application - but then again this area is the fabled "grot trap" and it's in the engine bay.
While the chassis is open and spacious, I also wanted to do as much preparation as possible for the things that will be required in future build steps - including drilling the hole for the horns, fixing the Catch Tank bracket but I relented when it came to drilling the top tube to locate the bracket for the Expansion Tank.
Since I've opted for a different build process than the approach recommended by the manual and will be installing the engine first, the next task was to prepare the engine. I positioned the engine at the edge of the pallet such that the Bell Housing was not resting on anything. The delicate and shiny Coil Cover was removed, stored and replaced by cardboard. The Plenum, Alternator, Auxiliary Belt Tensioner and Alternator Bracket were all removed and set aside. At this point I discovered some damage to the Throttle Position Sensor and connector at the end of the Plenum. This had been damaged in transportation and a quick call to Caterham confirmed they would replace both parts under warranty.
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