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Session 5: 18th September 2020
Session 5: 18th September 2020
As touched upon in the previous session, this is a story of two halves, as the right damper was fitted last time and only the left damper fitted this time.
The job itself wasn't that hard. It was similar to the wishbones in tightness of fit, but with fewer connections. The challenge was that, with the weight of the component and the bodywork being as-thin-as-humanly-possible aluminium panelling, there's a risk of one swinging into the other and denting the bodywork. Hence the cardboard padding.
My main confusion here is that, from my RC days, I'd have put the damper the other way up, so reducing the sprung weight and moving the weight closer to the centre-line of the car (improving the cornering response by something completely immeasurable). The reason one might go for this way round is if the seal wasn't perfect and slowly leaked the damper fluid under gravity, which isn't an great excuse if true. There is a possibility that it's a space issue, and the other way up it'll clash with the hub somehow. Here's hoping it's that.
Edited to add: Caterham claim it to be fitted this way round in order to avoid a clearance issue, but don't seem 100% sure...
They swear it's the right way up, but I don't believe them. Photos of new Caterhams all look like this, though when you look at owned ones there are clearly some people who agree with me.
I returned to finish up a couple of jobs from the previous session (see "edited to add" comments on this page) and had time left to get the left damper in place. I've elected to leave them upside down for now, at least until I understand what the clearance issues might be. So, I moved the chassis back over from the right wall to the left one (this is going to be a regular occurrence until the sides are finished) and got on with it.
Having had the experience of the wishbones and the right damper, knowing what tools were needed, and all parts out and standing ready, this was quite a quick process. The whole unit is only held by one bolt at each end, albeit a really awkwardly-positioned one at the top. Ten, maybe fifteen minutes and a little swearing and it was done, which means that, pleasingly, at the start of my next session I'll be turning to the next page in the build manual with everything up to date.
That's stopped the lower wishbones from flapping in the breeze. Next time, we'll do the same for the upper wishbones and the steering track rods.
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