Richiemouse Posted August 29, 2002 Share Posted August 29, 2002 OK here is a story: At the end of June I bought a 1.8vvc Roadsport 7 from a friend. Less than one week later I crashed it during a visit to the Ring, resulting in a broken arm and a trashed front end. The car eventually ended up at Caterham in Dartford where it has been repaired over the last 5 weeks or so. We picked the car up last Friday and drove it home to Hertfordshire. All was well but I was being careful due to the recently rebuilt front suspension/steering components and the brand new AO32R's. On Saturday I took my 6 year old daughter out for a drive, she doesn't like going fast so we were gently cruising about vaguely heading for Grafham Water for an ice cream. The car was going well but just before a sharp right hander we hit a largish bump and immediately there was a horrible clanking noise from the engine. A quick check revealed oil pressure and water temp normal so I whipped in the clutch but the noise didn't stop so I killed the engine and we coasted to a stop. We were eventually recovered by the RAC but this took hours being a bank holiday! The car was picked up by Caterham yesterday and it appears that a dowel pin has come out of the cam/vvc assembly resulting in valves hitting pistons and breaking part of the vvc mechanism ☹️ I asked whether this could have been caused by the crash but apparently this is highly unlikely and is more likely due to the car being revved too high at some point in the past lossening the pin. I guess it's been sitting there loose and the bump we hit just threw it out. Caterham are going to fix the car but I'm going to have to stump up for it. Has anybody else had this happen or am I just *very* unlucky? Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Flatters Posted August 29, 2002 Share Posted August 29, 2002 Not a great start to your 7 ownership . You wern't born on Friday the 13th were you 🤔 Sounds like bad luck - hope the engine rebuild is not too pricey. Still, look at it this way, hopefully you've got all your bad luck out of the way so you can now look forward to years of trouble-free blatting 😬 *arrowright*Harry Flatters *arrowright* AKA Steve Mell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richiemouse Posted August 29, 2002 Author Share Posted August 29, 2002 Harry, your the second person to say that today Thing is I was literally just thinking " Ah, this is what it's all about" on Saturday when the engine let go ☹️ Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Flatters Posted August 29, 2002 Share Posted August 29, 2002 You were obviously a bit premature - not birth-wise you understand But how would I know anything about your birth - oh bugger ❗ - time to stop digging that hole *arrowright*Harry Flatters *arrowright* AKA Steve Mell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Bees Posted August 29, 2002 Share Posted August 29, 2002 "more likely due to the car being revved too high at some point in the past lossening the pin" Sounds like a load of old flannel to me. The similar-sounding 'classic' failure on the VVC is for one of the cambelt pulley bolts to either shear off or work loose (i.e. incorrectly tightened). This has been featured at some length on the MGF technical bulletin board, the URL for which escapes me right now. I believe I'm right in recalling that some MGF owners had their costs covered by Rover for this failure, but my memory could be faulty. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Stewart Posted August 29, 2002 Share Posted August 29, 2002 Rich, Would you be husband to Susan. We stayed at the same place at the 'Ring at the weekend. She said then about your 'ring adventure . Sorry to hear the latest ☹️ It sounds pretty similar to my experience so far but i still come back for more I bought mine last August. Needed a new gearbox not long after at £2.5k. Lost a wheel at the 'ring earlier this year just after the foxhole Had that fixed locally by an ex-chief mechanic of Zakspeed Got trailered home the next day due to an electrical problem. Spun this weekend at vey high speed but got away with murder 😬 I haven't been injured yet though so i must be quite lucky Jon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Carmichael Posted August 30, 2002 Share Posted August 30, 2002 Rich, The VVC is inherently vulnerable to lubrication woes and has excess complexity. Perhaps, seeing as you are shelling out cash, the time has come to convert to a throttle bodied fixed cam conversion in the VVC. You have a trashed VVC. The time is ripe! A reliable 180+bhp is just around the corner... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richiemouse Posted August 30, 2002 Author Share Posted August 30, 2002 Jon - I am indeed Susan's other half. If I'd been out at the Ring on Saturday I wouldn't have broken the car although I guess it was always going to happen sooner or later. Peter - Unfortunately your post came too late and Caterham are already fixing the broken bits, besides I don't think I'd be able to afford a full conversion to throttle bodies at the moment. Just out of interest what sort of money would you be looking at? Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Sullivan Posted August 30, 2002 Share Posted August 30, 2002 Rich, When you say you bent it up at the Ring at the end of June, was it on the Wheeltorque event? There were some pretty horrendous accidents there that wekend, but I don't recall seeing a 7 in trouble. Matt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Carmichael Posted August 30, 2002 Share Posted August 30, 2002 Pistons are a good idea 450 new one piece valves 200 ECU +mapping 800 solid cams + conversion blanking - 450 Pair of alloy vernier pulleys £150 Throttle bodies - 450 Sundries (gaskets, air filter, trumpets, throttle linkage etc.) - 200 So it looks like 2.2K+VAT and somebody to do the work. The big choice is whether to stay with a hydraulic cam profile. If you decide to go mechanical you will need to think about the following, although Oilyhands is keen on converting the hydraulic followers to mechanical (might need different spring caps) and he likes offset dowels instead of verniers which could save you ~400 all told. Oily also has all the details for an airbox and throttle linkage solution produced by Bernard Scouse, which solves a lot of the installation issues. You could also go to town with the following from Piper: Price(as at 01/01/01) Mechanical Followers inc shims £315 Steel spring caps VHPD type £47 Double valve springs £120 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scooby dooby doo Posted August 30, 2002 Share Posted August 30, 2002 the airbox kit is 230 quid. it has airbox, trumpets and mounting bracket for throttle. it uses the airfilter off the std plenum and really does keep the noise down with little/no power loss. Also means you don't need a hole in the bonnet. available in red or black. HOOPY CYCLE WINGS CUCUMBER Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richiemouse Posted August 30, 2002 Author Share Posted August 30, 2002 Matt - it wasn't on the wheeltorque event. I've never been to any sort of organised thing there. Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Bees Posted September 3, 2002 Share Posted September 3, 2002 The one-piece valves aren't a must-have unless you're going for mega power and mega rpm. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHRIS CLARK Posted September 3, 2002 Share Posted September 3, 2002 I like the ease of (and lack of extra) work with the hydraulic followers so used the Piper 285H cams with these existing followers, the DTH TB's and a ported V V C head.For safety, it has the forged 'Omega' pistons. It gives over 200BHP and the cost wasn't that stupid considering. What is the estimate for the rebuild as at present? Hope your luck gets better. Don't they say it comes in threes though? Clamshell Club Founder Member. Edited by - chris clark on 4 Sep 2002 18:49:03 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richiemouse Posted September 3, 2002 Author Share Posted September 3, 2002 Hi Chris Catherham reckoned 750-1000, assuming the cam itself isn't b*ggered. I don't know if this is expensive/cheap/reasonable, to be honest when I told them to fix it I didn't care much, I just want the damn thing back and running. I'm really happy with it when it's running but I really didn't appreciate how much of a money pit it was going to be...are they *all* like that? Myself and my two Caterham owing friends seem to have spent the entire summer having them fixed or plugging leaks rather than driving them! With regard to bad luck shortly before I bought the car I stupidly let the oil get low in my Yamaha XT350 so that's in the shed in bits too. What with the crash and the trashed VVC I *really* hope that's it for now! Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boughtoneatlast Posted September 4, 2002 Share Posted September 4, 2002 Well Rich - not quite such bad luck but getting there!!!!! Bought my 1.6ss (170bhp - Throttle bodies, new and remapped ign - etc....) what a great car, has had flat floor suspension setup the lot and was really pleased with it - already done 700 miles THEN wallop, beginning of August take the boss out in it, just turning up for a lunch and steam starts coming out of vet slats in bonnet............. So get car back bleed system etc, you guessed not resolved. So take car in to Ratrace - head comes off - not head gasket but head has gone porous and where engine had been ported too much metal had been removed and there was not enough metal to repair.... so new head and re-porting now involved. Then as we get to the point of the whole thing being put back together the sump was taken off to re- baffle and although it was apparantly recently replaced the baffle has disintegrated and so now we need to clean out oil pump as a precautionary action... seems these baffels are causing a problem from what I have seen in blatchat recently....... So from a mere head job my bill has also grown massively - hope thats the last of the big ones for a while I would like to drive it and enjoy!!!!! Gary Gary Wheal - 170bhp K Series Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richiemouse Posted September 4, 2002 Author Share Posted September 4, 2002 Hi Gary Sounds like a similar story to me. What do you think of Ratrace? My friend the Ringmeister had his car fixed by them and from what I gather wasn't impressed, it seemed to take them a very long time to finish what was supposedly a fairly simple job. I've been very happy with Caterham so far, not having bought the car direct from them, their aftersales is my first experience of them. What annoys me about my engine is that as far as I know it hasn't been messed around with internally. So a stock 1.8vvc only lasts 20k before it breaks...I'm pretty sure that wouldn't be tolerated in any other sort of car! I expect the gearbox will go AWOL when I get it back ☹️ I hope you get yours back soon, looks like we'll be just in time for the leaves falling, making the roads nice and greasy Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Bees Posted September 4, 2002 Share Posted September 4, 2002 "So a stock 1.8vvc only lasts 20k before it breaks...I'm pretty sure that wouldn't be tolerated in any other sort of car!" - try polling a few MGF owners... Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scooby dooby doo Posted September 5, 2002 Share Posted September 5, 2002 how hard do you reckon the average MGF is driven 🤔 can't rustle that new hairdo.... 😬 HOOPY CYCLE WINGS CUCUMBER Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boughtoneatlast Posted September 5, 2002 Share Posted September 5, 2002 Rich I have been impressed with Ratrace from a helpful perspective although it has taken a while for the car to be completed, I have confidence that the wait is worth it as they have been rectifying niggles along the way as well and I did have to wait my turn to have the head reworked! However the proof is in the pudding and I will know more soon when it comes back - so long as no other little niggles it should be this weekend - just as the weather breaks into rain!!!!!! Still have to say not discouraged much rather a Caterham than my other choice the TVR, so much more fun!!!! Gary Gary Wheal - 170bhp K Series Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now