tomperkins Posted April 1, 2016 Share Posted April 1, 2016 I recently had my throttle stick wide open at around 90mph. Thankfully I was on a fairly open stretch of road but still eye opening to say the least. To avoid the same thing happening again I took a look at the linkage between my throttle cable and my Jenvey throttle bodies. There was slight play in the linkage so I improved this with some plastic washers so there's now zero play. When doing this I also re-balanced the throttle bodies using a Synchrometer that a friend lent me (thanks Alex). The result of these mods, which cost a couple of quid and no more than an hour or two, is the car feels a million times better. The throttle response is much improved and the engine responds really smoothly at lower revs. In light of the big difference this simple adjustment has made, I wondered what your best quick win has been? What simple change have you made that's made a big difference? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revilla Posted April 1, 2016 Share Posted April 1, 2016 Z&F (now KMaps) remap of my ECU. Really sharpened the car up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickh7 Posted April 1, 2016 Share Posted April 1, 2016 Slowing down and thinking faster . Improved my driving no end Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrightpayne Posted April 1, 2016 Share Posted April 1, 2016 Turn the rev counter around a bit so I could see the important range through the 260mm momo.The other, not seven related, concerns the original mini heater which was either screen or feet where the basic mechanism had a curved piece of metal with two notches for these settings - i ground an extra one inbetween for screen and feet. You could place it half way but it could vibrate either way. I always wondered why it wasn't designed with the mid stop??Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julian H Posted April 2, 2016 Share Posted April 2, 2016 Free- removing rubber mats (1.266kg) and boot carpet (453g)At low cost- upgrading to LiPo (5.66kg) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomperkins Posted April 2, 2016 Author Share Posted April 2, 2016 Sounds like money well spent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomperkins Posted April 2, 2016 Author Share Posted April 2, 2016 "Turn the rev counter around a bit so I could see the important range through the 260mm momo" That's a great one, simple but effective Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomperkins Posted April 2, 2016 Author Share Posted April 2, 2016 "At low cost- upgrading to LiPo (5.66kg)" LiPo? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
makingff Posted April 2, 2016 Share Posted April 2, 2016 Always had a problem with the speedo needle jumping around and, on track, just dropping to zero. The speed sensor in the rear hub had very little space and the wires were bent and prone to chaffing. So I made a small bracket from scrap aluminium which positioned it much better and I haven't had a problem since! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LesG Posted April 2, 2016 Share Posted April 2, 2016 Without a doubt, the best 'free' mod I ever did was to remove the redundant engine mount bracket from the front of my K Series engine, and blank the hole in the timing cover with some spare alloy sheet. On a similar vein, swapping out the ancient XFlow radiator fan for a modern Spal version gave another 2 kilo (approx) weight saving, for almost no effort, and in my case, pennies cost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julian H Posted April 2, 2016 Share Posted April 2, 2016 Good call on the engine mount Les, c1kg saving for free Tom, LiPo is a lightweight Lithium battery Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Jonathan Kay Posted April 2, 2016 Member Share Posted April 2, 2016 Without a doubt, the best 'free' mod I ever did was to remove the redundant engine mount bracket from the front of my K Series engine, and blank the hole in the timing cover with some spare alloy sheet.I've seen that mentioned a couple of times. Are there any details available?ThanksJonathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julian H Posted April 2, 2016 Share Posted April 2, 2016 JK, it's at the front of the engine, 4 bolts, just remove the cam belt cover, undo the bolts, blank over the gap in the cam belt cover, reaffix cam belt cover. Pic shows it upside down. You can see the shaded part (with empty threaded holes in it) looking up at you when you peer down from above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Jonathan Kay Posted April 2, 2016 Member Share Posted April 2, 2016 Thanks. I'll have a look.Jonathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mankee Posted April 3, 2016 Share Posted April 3, 2016 Template for a blanking plate at the bottom of this page, if you wanted to make it yourself and not buy one (~£12 from Caterham last time I checked):http://www.hoymotorsport.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/pace_pages/fitting_the_pace_dry_sump_system.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Jonathan Kay Posted April 3, 2016 Member Share Posted April 3, 2016 Thanks. Is that plate sealing anything or only keeping muck out?Caterham parts, £13.86, out of stock.Jonathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mankee Posted April 3, 2016 Share Posted April 3, 2016 It's just part of the cam belt cover and serves to keep junk out of the stuff that's whizzing around in there. Some people choose to run without a cam belt cover. I would much rather leave it in place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomB Posted April 3, 2016 Share Posted April 3, 2016 One of my quickest wins was fitting CR500 after heavier tyres. I could feel the difference straight away in the reduced rotating and unsprung mass. Then they wore out and Ive not run them since, too expensive ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomperkins Posted April 3, 2016 Author Share Posted April 3, 2016 I'd agree with that Tom, I love CR500's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Area Representative Golf Juliet Tango Posted April 3, 2016 Area Representative Share Posted April 3, 2016 Much as above:- better tyres are a free win. From Michelin "Pileups" (why did Caterham fit them?) to AO21Rs. You have to choose something after all, so choose something good. (I don't want tyres to last forever) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloucestershire AR Posted April 3, 2016 Share Posted April 3, 2016 Proper 1950s old fashioned Bakelite indicator switch (with red light) replacing the toggle switch that I kept hitting accidentally.A few quid from somewhere like the Kit Car Show. Now have two visual signs that I'm indicating and it just looks so right!Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Jonathan Kay Posted April 3, 2016 Member Share Posted April 3, 2016 Photo, please, Andy.Is it the type where the whole face of the switch rotates to show it's on? Morris Minor?http://www.classicvehicleandparts.co.uk/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/.pond/dscf0007mmindicator.jpg.w300h299.jpgJonathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloucestershire AR Posted April 3, 2016 Share Posted April 3, 2016 Thanks Jonathan.Yes, mine's very similar except in brown. It's very touchy feely and has a good solid 'click' when you operate it. The lamp flashes at the same speed as the indicators (so I guess would also run faster if you have a blown bulb too?). It's bolted onto the dash and as it has screw electrical fittings I just removed the old bullet connectors and connected the two bare wires to the switch.On my to do list is learning how to attach pics... Just tried on another post but it rejected it as the original file was 9.7mb. Sorry!Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomB Posted April 6, 2016 Share Posted April 6, 2016 Fitting Mintex 1144 pads are another quick win on a car with standard brakes, as are fitting better headlamp bulbs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Jonathan Kay Posted April 6, 2016 Member Share Posted April 6, 2016 Agree about headlight bulbs.Knee pads in work trousers.On tools: Buying a multimeter and getting familiar with it. A smaller socket set. I was told this before my build and was amazed how much it helped. T-shaped plastic-handled hex keys. Haven't used them much on the 7 but on the bikes and other tasks they make a big difference,JonathanPS: Has anyone already suggested joining the Club? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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