It turned out the plunger wasn't quite home, so we rectified that straight away. However, even cranking for a minute showed no signs of pressure. Without wanting to do more damage, we called it a night and went back to the drawing board. The following day, we decided to check the sump, pickup and filter. At the same time, I order a new pump, just in case. Taking the advice of Oilyhands, we cranked the engine some more with the plugs out but still no pressure. So off with the sump, a poke around
The problem: On start up, oil pressure would show 20 PSi. On hot idle, it would show 20 PSi. When revving hard, it would rise to over 60 PSi. The theory: The pressure relief valve was stuck partially open, allowing oil to bleed at all times, but not enough to not let the pressure rise when revved. The mission: To strip, inspect and fix the oil pressure relief valve. The conclusion: After having to remove the engine mount, and skinning knuckles on sharp zip ties, it was discovered that the PRV wa
The new calipers arrived and were duly fitted, no dramas there apart from getting brake fluid over everything! Ian came over to help bleed them with his EziBleed, a brilliant tool! It took some time to get a good pedal feel, as, unbeknownst to us, all by spannering and pillockness had caused some air bubbles to work their way up really quite high! All sorted now though, and it now feels reasonably firm. I do think I need a race master cylinder though...! The prop got regreased too, and, assuming
The weekend started well. A nice lie in, followed by a whole, uninterupted day in the garage! And the weather was nice, too! Started by ignoring the brakes (and the little puddle underneath them) and cracking on with torquing up all the suspension. I set the top joint and steering arm to the same each side (same each side worked last time), and to the same measurements as when I removed them. Hopefully I should get the nice neutral handling I had before. With everything torqued up, she was ready
It all started so well. I torqued up all the bolts that needed doing. I cleaned the wheels ready to put them back on. I dumped 1.5 litres of water in the cooling system. I then thought it would be a good idea to tackle the brakes. Having got these fancy new speed bleeders (nipples with a one way valve so that you can just undo a quarter turn, pump away, close again - nice and easy) I thought I'd fit those. A little bit messy but the rears went on ok - though there wasn't as much thread in the ca
After a quick organise of the space, I slid a plastic washing up bowl (don't tell Mum) under the radiator and popped off the bottom hose. Let the draining begin! The top hose was a little messier, but nothing compared to the hockey stick and J hose removal - which went everywhere! A quick clean up later and with the coolant decanted in to old Irn Bru bottles... It's amazing how much space there is when you get the hoses out of the way, so I gave the engine bay a quick clean, and popped the front
It was such a nice evening I thought I'd leave the garage door open - big mistake, the midges swooped in and bit me to buggery! Anyway, the paint on the wishbones was dry, and, although it wasn't the best paint job in the world (hey, I used a brush!) I was much happier with it and I reckon it will last until next year when I can perhaps get them nylon coated. So without further ado, I popped everything back on. Surprisingly, I didn't have any problems at all! It's all back on and I just need to
So, I decided to whip off the wishbones and give them a lick of paint! First coat went down last night, and I will give them a rub and another coat next week. One thing I am amazed at though is just how bad the powdercoating is - it's so brittle, and comes off in big chunks. The car is only 3 years old, it has been used in the winter, but not a huge amount. Still, the paint should keep it for another year or so, then I can have them blasted and coated in nylon perhaps... I also gave the new mirr
Getting the old joints off the other day was a hassle, it has to be said. A tapered joint, whilst very effective, is difficult to separate! So the new design, where the steering arm is drilled out to make the hole uniform, will ease any dismantling issues one might have in the future! With the joint off, and the wing pushed to one side, the arm was DeWalted. Opening out the holes was not easy, and while a pillar drill would have been preferable, I didn't have one! So hand drill it was, and hand
When the Banner died a glorious death, and refused to do anything a good battery should do, I replaced it with the RMD 25 - the Rally Design equivalent of a Varley Red Top, at a third of the price - couldn't turn that down! To get the car moving again, I just wedged the new battery in to the old holder, jammed a lump of wood in so that the cradle held it, and left it. With the car in bits, I thought it was time to get a special tray the right size and use that. As the battery is sealed, it can l
So I finally managed to get some work done on the car! I started with very little direction - I really had no idea what I wanted to do today, so I started by trying to glue my fog light lens back together. It didn't work. Since I was at that end of the car, I decided to tackle the rear. I still had to fit the screws that hold the FIA bar from underneath, so it was off with the shocks and in with those. A little bit of a struggle, but it was easier if the top fixings were removed first. They were
Which means I can do a trackday - finally! Well, that is if I ever finish the car. I've managed to source the last silicone hose, it's a different colour, but who cares? I also need to pick up an Apollo too - that should give me a little more peace of mind on track once I get round to it. I'm think of going down the brooklands aero route, but not many seem to come up for sale - perhaps I can save a bit of money by making my own stanchion, but I honestly wouldn't know where to start. For the mean
Back in the garage the other day, and I decide once and for all: that ball joint is coming off TODAY. There was no turning back, no backing down, and certainly no mercy. I attacked it with the splitter again, but once again, I was repelled. I got two hammers this time, and once again, the balljoint refused to yield. A new tack was needed - I was filfthy, sweaty, and not getting anywhere fast. If I carried on, I was going to break something else. Time for a little subtlety, and a search on BlatCh
Over the weekend, I managed to get in a few hours tinkering time, which was quite relaxing. I decided to go about fitting the fog and reverse boxes, but, surprise surprise, the fog light has become brittle from too many drenchings with petrol, and breaks in my future brother in law's hands. He's pretty cut up about breaking my car, but I reassure him that he wasn't the one to break it and that it had probably been broken for ages. So, perhaps I'll get another, or perhaps I'll crack out the super
Will I be able to fit without ruining something? We shall see... Thanks to 666 for offering the bulk buy deal! Update to follow... And maybe a pic or two!
As is the tradition in my family, I ordered my own Christmas present. This time, I went to Carbon Bits - I'd met Richard at the facotry one day, and only heard good things about his work. Tragically, shortly after I placed my order, he fell ill, and never recovered, and the whole club felt his family's loss. My one regret was that I hadn't ordered something of his sooner so that he might live on in a small way on my car. Sometime in January, Henrietta gave me a call, and informed me that there w
DRE offered the club a good deal on their neat little shift lights, so I took them up on the offer. When it arrived, I set about drilling holes in the scuttle, snipping wires in the tacho lead indescriminantly, and somehow, it all worked when I turned on the engine again! Go figure! Using some motorsport putty (blu-tac) I popped the unit on the scuttle, and went for a little drive with the lights set to flash at a low RPM. Brilliant! Now everyone can see that it's a real race car. With adjustabl
The standard coilovers on the Caterham do the job well enough. They compress, they rebound, they damp. But they're not adjustable in the slightest, and that means the car is as high as they want to be, and the weight is distributed as they see fit. To improve handling, ground clearance and weighting, adjustable platforms can be fitted at each corner - compression and rebound remain unadjustable, but it's a good start. I managed to pick up the platforms at a Freestyle garage sale - score - and SM
An engine mount left over from the days when these peppy little engines were fitted to granny-mobiles, it is held on with four bolts made out of pig iron, and consists of about 1kg of aluminium. It had to go. Actually unscrewing the bolts was hard - they were wound in tight, but a breaker bar persuaded them out. Removing the mount left a massive great hole in the cambelt cover though, and that had to be filled. Luckily, a garage sale at Freestyle yeilded a blanking plate in aluminium, and that f
Commonly referred to as the "Oily Mod", taking a screwdriver and soldering iron to your standard 48mm Rover throttle body is said to give 90% of the gains that swapping it out for a 52mm throttle body would give. So, armed with a little knowledge dished out by the great man himself, I set about modifying my throttle body. Removal was easy. Dismantling the throttle body was also quite easy. I'm good at taking things apart. The wedge was removed from the butterfly, leaving two gaping holes. With t
The standard roll over bar that comes with the car is good for maybe a short person. I am, however, 6'3", and that meant that my head stuck over the top of the roll bar. Knowing that in a crash, should the car roll I would lose my head, I thought it time to get something a little taller, and more robust. I could also get an FIA approved bar to allow me to participate in club trackdays and sprints (if I can actually save up enough to go!). Caged were kind enough to agree to make me a one off bar
The road harnesses that the car came with were good for one reason only - passengers could figure out the buckle. Other than that, they were a pain to get in and out of, and I thought I should get something FIA approved if I wanted to go sprinting in the future. Budget (of nothing) meant that I had to sell my nearly new harnesses, and buy some out of date FIA harnesses. I managed to get a pair of good condition harnesses, and swapped them over. Result - easier for me to get in and out, and extra
I had had the car on the road for just over 3 months when I had to call the insurance company to extend my limited mileage policy. In that time I had been blatting in earnest, with trips to Goodwood, Brands Hatch, and nowhere in particular. I already had over 500 miles on the clock when I got it registered! So with the running in done, the car was running nicely - it was exciting, this lightweight, rear wheel drive, rubber burning, tyre spinning, pant wetting beast. Having driven something with
Welcome to my blog. I've not done one before, I don't really see the point, but I'm bored, and what better to do than muse? Hopefully I'll be able to provide a few useful snippets of information, and perhaps a chuckle at my expense and misfortune. I've owned Talloulah from new since 2008. I bought her in kit form, built her in a friend's garage, and, with a little help from a mallet and Lady Luck, managed to pass the SVA first time and was one the road within four months! I ordered a Classic, wi
