ChrisC

I think it was dropped due to cost, after all the 140 and the 150 make about the same power, they use the same cams (I am told) but the 150 had the expense of the throttle bodies, and they sell if for the same price. Ok the 140 has the flywheel, but I can't imagine that cost more than the TBs. My 150, when first converted had a poor TPS setting, which mad is almost impossible to drive slowly around town. It ran like a car with a very aggressive cam, ie not clean until a given amount of revs, then it was fine. TPS set as per spec and the cars a dream.

Mine tends to move a bit over the year, but its easy to reset (providing you have the tools needed). Mine is very easy to drive part or low throttle, it pull clean from little more than tickover, and has no vices at all while all balanced. I love the 150, and the nice is fantastic.

Glad its sorted :-)

Hi All I am selling my wife's VW Polo (she does know ;-) ) It has 12,000 miles, is coming up to two years old, and has 1 years VW warranty remaining. Full VW Service history (first annual service in February 2014), and will be serviced before the sale (due end February 2015). Its has a lot of factory options Oryx White (Special Perl White) RCD 510 Touch Screen radio MDI (Media Interface) Leather / Alcantara Seats Heated Seats Sensor Pack 17" Unmarked wheels No marks, dents or kerb rash. I am looking for £10500. If you know anyone who is looking for a loverly little car, please pass my details on. Chris.

Well I have a grey aeroscreen, in the area and wear a helmet, but my car is not out this time of year. Chris.

Just looked at James Whiting's web site, they recomend 12,000 service anually at a cost of £266.38 for a Sigma, thats £1598.28 + your cam belt change.

The cam belt on a 140 (and 125) can't be set using the normal Ford main dealers tools, where they lock the cams using a bar. Therefore you need to find a specalised that knows the actual cam timing used, or be prepaired to pay for someone to get the dial gauges out. I would say most service their Caterhams every year with an oil service as a minimum, So six oil and filter changes could soon add up. Based on Caterham Parts prices 5-50w Motorsport oil at £32.68 and £9 for the filter, thats £250 on just parts DIY. I know other sources are cheaper. Also this doesnt factor upgrade, paint repairs, new batteries, etc etc. I have spent way more that £900 in the two years of ownership, and I have not finished yet.

Don't the numbers on that diagram allow you to trace individual wires?

Trust me if I am stuck it will be going to a decent engine builder, but I have helicoiled a head and block before (just not ally). We will see what happens at the weekend.

Anyway helicoil kit ordered watch this space Thanks guys

I could run the bolt intital in the direction the coil was installed that should clean any bur left after the tang (didn't know what it was called earlier) is removed, fingers crossed. If that works I should be able to just do a simple helicoil repair, and not event remove the locating pin. I hope this works Chris.

Can I fit a Helicoil from behind?? I have only every fitted a handful to Mini thermostat housings, where rust had eat the thread, but can they be fitted in reverse? i.e so the end the bolt goes in, goes into the repaired thread first and the bolt come in the from the opposite end from the repair?

Any advice on removing the locating pin?

Hi Duncan I am like that, its sounds possible. I would have to remove the locating pin, helicoil the thread, and get a colar made to replace the existing pin, get a long bolt (cutting the head off so I am left with a stud). Put the stud in the helicoiled thread put the colar on the stud, the fit the bell housing. Once all the other bolts are fitted, remove the stud a and fit the bolt as normal (fingers crossed) That sounds like a plan, the best I have at the moment. Chris.

Hi 7 Wounders Removing the current dowel may be within my technical limits, adding a new dowel is a bit beyound my facilities. :-( Jonathan, PM sent Chris.

Hi All I am posting this, because I am not sure I know how to fix the problem that I experienced today. I was in the process of attaching my gearbox back to my sigma engine, following the build manuals torque setting 47Nm (bell housing to engine) and 20Nm (bell hosing to sump) with new bolts and a new digital torque wrench. As I came to torque up the last bolt I heard a sound I haven’t heard for a very long time: the ping of a thread going in the block! The strange thing was, that I was nowhere near the torque setting (according to the wrench) yet. Ok, so ordinarily it’s a pain, but a helicoil kit and a bit of work will sort the problem, but not this time. The thread that has gone in the block is one of the two that are inside / combined with the locating pin for the bell housing. So, this means I can’t just drill it out and tap it again for the helicoil, because this would destroy the locating pin. There is also not enough room to fit a nut and a longer bolt, because of the shape of the casting of the block. I feel gutted, I don’t know what I have done wrong, it’s not like I don’t know how to use a torque wrench; I have been kicking myself all afternoon. I am hoping someone can come up with a smart solution to my problem. Or have I got to find another block?

Hi Bubs I put night breakers in my 7 before I went touring last year. They are a masive improvement over the standard buld, but I also found my headlights had lost some of the mirror over time so new headlights where also fitted. I found this very strange since the car is only 4 years old. Finally it seem some people like to cut and re connect the wiring instead of removing it properly, so check for that if your light are a bit dim. A new headlight wiring loom cost about £5 from SVC, so if it have been chopped, its a good investment. I am happy with the performance of my 7's lights, ok they are not as good as my tin tops, but they are more than acceptable for the amount of time i drive it in the dark. Night Breakers get my thumbs up. Chris.

If you didn't - offer still stands, I have the lead and the clip on timming light

Mine was a very small amount between the bell housing and the gearbox. Once cleaned at the end of a blat no more oil would be dropped. The gasket was dry (no sealant) under the selector shaft hole with oil running into the first section of the bell housing, but not into the clutch/flywheel area. My gearbox was also over filled, I took out nearly 2lt out, not the correct 1.2 lt.

Nothing is going to help if the ECU doesn't have the right map :-) BUT Your not that far away, and I am off work until Monday, so your call. Send me me a private message if you want. Chris.

Being a 140, you don't need the lead, hence not many owners have one, but it's does tell you exactly what's going on, so if you have access to one it's the perfect fault finding tool. It's a MBE CAN USB lead, from SBD Motorsport, which is no cheap at £117, the software is just a download. A standard OBD lead does not read the information from the MBE ECU, so your a bit stuck to the source of this lead. Finally the lead could be used to map your MBE ECU but the Caterham supplied ECU is locked down, only a few know the codes needed to bypass theses locks. Hope this helps

Do you know someone local who has the lead to plug it into a laptop to see what's going on? I am in Essex if that helps.

Isnt the 160 fly by wire?

Thanks guys All out no problem.

Thanks Ducan, will do :)