The Screws Of Shame

TL;DR while the perceived quality is not a bad target in any way, some proper QC should be the main concern at the factory. We pay some serious cash for those toys and deserve better than this.

EDIT : part II is here

Yes, I assume that it has to show some British heritage in some way or another. But coming from the world of the classic Mini, any sign of rust triggers some kind PTSD in me. It is really MG-Rover bad but it's since been confirmed it was a supply issue.

So here I was, calmly checking if the spark plugs I got from the Suzuki dealership would do, when a vision of horror struck me : the screws attaching the expansion bottle mounting bar to the chassis were badly corroded. They looked like an artifact from the Titanic, with rusty juice marring the bracket, chassis and main 12V lead.

The other side was as bad looking, although hidden behind the 3 hydraulic hoses that feed the brakes and clutch master cylinders. A whole festival of zipties would have to be removed to reach those screws.

Caterham assembly guide shows that a pair of bolts with 10mm hex heads would be expected. On mine, M5 x 12mm button head screws are used.

Thankfully, the corrosion was mostly a cosmetic issue, only affecting the screw heads. The threads and chassis were in good condition on all but one screw.

As nothing suitable was available from the local DIY store, an order was placed to Aliexpress for black button heads in 304 stainless steel. Those will retain the 100% OEM look. They were delivered to me on the next Sunday. The perks of having the "last mile" office right next to the main European Alibaba hub where the cargo planes land from China.

My advice is to replace one screw at a time, keeping the bar in place.

On the right-hand side, a single ziptie had to be removed. The miniature 1/4" bit ratchet and a long 3mm allen wrench were used. Once a screw was removed, the area was cleaned-up with a wet piece of paper towel. I did apply some grease on the threads before fitting the new screws.

On the left-hand side, multiple zipties that hold the rubber hydraulic lines have to be removed :

two quite far away that support the brake lines against the diagonal member of the chassis,
one that keeps the clutch line on top of the pedal box
one that ties the 3 rubber hoses together
one that supports the brake pedal switch loom over the bar
one that secures the connector of the lambda sensor below the bar

The green connector was disconnected to give more wiggle room. The same miniature ratchet was used to unlock the screws, then the long allen wrench took care of the rest. Again some cleaning, grease on the threads, and the new screws were installed.

After that all the zipties were replaced by new ones. Having pictures of the original ones helped me in not forgetting anything. You wouldn't want your DOT4 feeds to come too close to the exhaust.

(shame and scandal in the family)

(a stainless-steel M5x12mm allen screw for a test-fit)

(the old and new screws - identical but stainless steel...)

(the ton of zipties that were removed from the hydraulic lines)
(the new screws on the right-hand side)

(and the new screws on the left-hand side, note the disconnected lambda sensor)