Anti-cavitation kit

[John Vine]

(This is my first attempt at posting to BlatChat, so here goes...)

 

I’m about to fit an anti-cavitation kit to my 1.8K Supersport. I’ve got Caterham’s fitting instructions (they seem OK, although the photocopied photos are far too dark to be useful). Are there any pitfalls or wrinkles I should be aware of, either when fitting the kit or in actually using it?

 

[CHRIS CLARK]

People do complain about the oil sealing qualities of the sandwich plate.Care required here.

Yes, the Caterham photos are a joke! The old black cat in a coal hole syndrome. There are some good photos on the Se7ens net. Can't remembwer the exact address, but send Mr Dave Andrews your request & I'm sure he'll send you the correct one.

He can be contacted at DVAndrews@aol.com

[Mick Day]

URL’s for anti-cav info on Se7ens list.

 

1. Go here for decent instructions on how to fit:

 

http://www.se7ens.net/archive/sevens.w3archive/199905/msg00767.html

 

2. Go here for decent photographs:

 

http://pub.se7ens.net/pictures/closeups/drivetrain/anti_cav_kit.zip

 

3. Do a search for past info on Blatchat as this has been discussed recently.

 

4. email me off line if you need further help.

 

5. Good luck

 

Mick Day

 

[CHRIS CLARK]

Thanks Mick. I have these photo's printed off but forgot exactly how I came by them!!!!!!

[John Vine]

What an excellent response! Thanks for the advice, chaps.

 

Mick, the photos are excellent, and exactly what I needed. Re BlatChat history, I'd tried going back 100 days, but the only anti-cav ref I could find was to do with oil changes.

 

The factory quoted me 4-5 hours to fit the kit, so I reckon it's going to take me nearer 10. If anyone's interested, I'll post the results.

[Andrew Dent]

Helped m eout fitting a new sender pressure switch. Wanted confirmation of pipe orientation. Top results.

 

Andrew

[Mick Day]

John

 

Try a search on "Apollo" as well as that is the generic term for the kit. Looks like an Apollo rocket!!

 

Interesting that it takes the factory 4-5 hours to fit as they have access to a vehicle hoist which means one can work at a comfortable level - & they've done it before. It took me (& a knowledgeable friend) 4 hours to trial fit, 3 hours to fit & 8 hours to try & make it oil tight! In the end it went back to Caterham for 1 hour of their time - & it still oozes oil from one union on the sandwich plate!

 

Mick

 

[John Vine]

Well, I fitted it, but it was tricky to squeeze in, and a devil of a job to get oil-tight. Thanks to all for their advice and pointers. Like you, Mick, it took me some hours to trial fit, about five to fit, another four to diagnose and fix an oil leak around the sandwich plate (drain oil, remove oil filter, tighten plate a little more, reassemble, test), and a further five to sort out another leak around the inboard plate/pipe union - that's right, the one that's a pig to tighten (which is why it leaked, no doubt). In the end, I stripped out the sandwich plate, pipes and tank, and started again, this time tightening all pipe unions at the bench. A 25-mile test blat showed just the merest hint of oil under the plate and filter. Maybe that's as good as it gets.

 

By the time I'd done, I'd exceeded Caterham's 4-5 hour fit time by a sizeable margin. (But then, it took me 100 hours to build the car in the first place, against the factory's 70-hour estimate. Just shows how slow I am! Or should that read "ultra cautious"?)

 

One spin-off is that I now have another temperature reading to worry over. On my test run, water was 80-90C, but oil was 85-100C. Is that reasonable? Is it logical even, or does it suggest a measurement error between the two senders?

 

BTW, I offered Roger Green an article for LF about my experiences. He was very positive, so I'll see what I can do for him. Also, what's the best place on the web to lodge a set of warts-and-all assembly instructions for the benefit of other ACK masochists?

 

 

Regards

John

 

PS: My thanks to Nigel Pugh for his excellent digital pics.

[Mick Day]

John

My system is now oil leak free!! - & I don't know what happened. Just left it to it's own devices & it stopped leaking. Interesting to hear you get 85-100 deg c oil temp after 25 mile road blat. 2 days at Spa & I could only see 80 deg c max oil temp with water at 85 deg. Probably shows up the inaccuracy in the gauge & sender.

Mick

[John Vine]

Odd one this...

 

Thoroughly warmed up the engine (25+ miles), then noted the oil and water temperatures (1) connecting the senders via the two-way switch, and (2) individually to the gauge direct.

 

In (2), both readings dropped about 5 degrees. When I wired the switch in again, the readings rose again.

 

At least the difference is consistent, but why should readings via the switch be higher? Is it due to its extra resistance perhaps? If so, is there a cure, or do I just live with it?

 

JV

[Mick Day]

Life's too short! Live with it & do a mental calculation. On second thoughts forget about the mental as it's probably cancelled out the gauges/senders inaccuracy!!

[K7JTA]

Can someone tell the orientation of the pipes?

[Tin Man]

K7JTA

 

The long hose connects to the top of the apollo tank The connection to the sandwich plate is the inner one nearest to the engine. Connect the short hose to the outer connection on the sandwich plate & to the lower connection on the apollo tank.

 

Then hope it doesn't leak!