David Mirylees

It may be a load of scaremongering and I'm opening a can of worms but... it appears that from 1st January 2012 the MOT is getting a little bit silly. I recently had an MOT on one of my cars and was informed by the garage owner that things are changing in 2012 and that if there were any warning lights showing it would constitute a fail. (mentioned to me as I have a constant lamp waring showing as, after fitting air-horns, the voltage change was enough to hoodwink the warning system). There are many discussions about the coming regs. but here is one link to one such discussion thread MOT thread It may also be of interest to owners with removable steering wheels, that if a steering lock is fitted to the vehicle, then it must operate... (don't shoot the messenger...)

I fitted a set of Land Rover rear lamps - 2 x stop tails and an indicator each side. Luckily they pretty well covered the holes where the caravan light originally sat. Very pleased with the - in my opinion - better look. Another local owner has also used the LR lamps but using 1 x stop/tail, 1 x rear fog and the indicator (also now using LED bulbs in them)...

One of the old boys... Leyland Part number absolutely correct 😬

Been using the Rose jointed A Frame since the part was introduced by Caterham. The present joint has been on the car for some 15 years and done something over 85,000 miles - still feels good. Before going over to the Rose joint I probably went through 4 or 5 sets of rubber bushes a year (got really used to doing roadside changes...) On my car, with the old x-flow, they were always covered with oil so it was unsurprising and anyway they probably were never meant to get the sort of wear and environment of the A frame as they were originally the Austin A35 top link bushes 😬...

Bit of lateral thinking - I couldn't recall ordering a new gearbox mount when I replaced the 2000E box with the type 9, so yesterday I ordered a Lotus Elan mount ('cos it's either a 2000E or very similar) it arrived today and it is identical to the old one. It is almost identical to the Caterham item but has the lower metal face on both sides! That solves that problem...

Now it starts to get ever more confusing!! Caterham tell me that the higher face should be on the engine side but two knowledgable owners say the opposite (one of which contacted me offline and mentioned that he had to turn the mount thro' 180° to get everything to fit)(thanks Niclas for the input). As an engineering designer, I can see the merits of the lower face facing the engine but it gnaws at me that Caterham say otherwise...ho humm...

(Aeroscreens) I have the spacer between the box and bellhousing but no spacer at the gearbox to chassis mounting...

The mounting when bolted through the chassis has a higher side (both metal and the bonded rubber) and a lower side. Presumably one or the other should face towards the front (engine) side? What makes the X-flow different regarding the spacer? (I have a Zetec) thks

Just refitting my type 9 gearbox after a rebuild and see that the Caterham supplied (universal) gearbox mounting is not symmetrical - there is a higher metal and rubber on one side compared to the other. If this part is actually correct - which way round does it need to be? I also see on the Caterham parts web pages that they sell a "Spacer-Gearbox Mount". Does anyone know what this is for and whether it is required for a type 9? Cheers, David

May well be an SV - unfortunately all I can see in a 7 at my tender years is a SIII - unless I can count the windscreen hood studs!! Regardless, here's a link to the Canadian Hyabusa installation (in an SV) which may be of help/interest

Always thought that this was just about the quickest 7 I'd seen. Supercharged Hayabusa, and I can't see any bonnet cut-outs - there may well be further videos showing the installation. Cheers

Thank you John - it all becomes clear now :-) The additional bracket for a couple of springs looks like a perfect solution (and for me the simplest) - just a case of sourcing the ideal springs to get the required tension then. I appreciate the offer of the Word doc. I'll blatmail you my email address. Very many thanks!!

John, Thank you for the help! Pic here Bulkhead - not a pretty sight but a well used 7 :-) I can fabricate any required bracketry but at first sight I can't see how I retain the "release" area of foot on pedal towards the upper end (level with the other pedals). Cheers

Any ideas on how to get a decent CRB (correct) pre-load on a 1988 chassied car? (old type with no pedal box housing/cover) cheers

Thanks chaps - it would therefore appear that the "straight cut" noise is actually clutch generated. I take on-board the comment about the clutch cable and I'll pull it up a tad. I also see on previous posts that the CRB nowadays wants to be kept in contact with the housing fingers. Any ideas on how to get a decent pre-load on a 1988 chassied car? (old type with no pedal box housing/cover) cheers

The output shaft rotates with the driven wheels. Understood The first motion shaft (input shaft) and the layshaft and associated components are attached to the clutch plate. Understood When the relevant gear is selected the appropriate syncro hub locks the gear to the output shaft, unless it is a direct gear then the first motion and out put shaft are locked together. Understood When the clutch pedal is depressed the clutch plate is disconnected from the clutch cover and flywheel. Understood Although internal frictions of the box will cause the out put shaft to turn with the input shaft when not in gear if the is no force applied to the output shaft. Understood ------- But if the box is in gear and the car is in motion, will the internals of the box still rotate (as they presumably are still meshed and driven by the motion of the rear wheels) when the clutch is depressed?

OK, I'm getting old and the memory's failing and I should know this but... I have just fitted a new (rebuilt) gearbox and all of the clutch paraphernalia. When driving the car I can hear a sound - rather like a straight cut gear noise - when the loud pedal is relaxed. The noise disappears when the clutch pedal is depressed. Question is, when you depress the clutch pedal is it only the clutch plate that is free of the flywheel or also the first motion shaft? Or, when the car is moving and in gear and the clutch is depressed, does the gearbox effectively still rotate being driven by the rear wheels? Is the noise therefore gearbox or clutch? Cheers, david.

I used an old hood as a basis for my '5 second' roof back in the early 80's, still used today when it's really bad weather and stays rolled up on the rollover bar when not in use over the worst winter months. Looks absolutely fine, no detrimental remarks (yet) and pre-dates the current offerings - must have been a good idea.......

QED, unleaded conversion etc. 142BHP

Thanks for the input everyone - consensus appears to be pump in the tank area with a regulator in the engine compartment. I'll be moving mine when I do my gearbox change in the next couple of months.

OK, so I am a newbie with a 7 - only had one for 43+ years and still learning........... I notice that many later cars have their fuel pumps mounted adjacent to the fuel tank but I have always mounted my electric pump in the engine bay. What is the thinking behind the location of the pump and what is the recommended pressure that the pump should be set at for a 2.0 litre Zetec running on 45's? Cheers

I had my twink in my Europa rebuilt by QED QEDLink many years ago. Superb job. Just by the bye, I don't often rev my engines over 6K rpm and QED sorted my engine to give really good performance at the rpm that I like. However, as mentioned earlier in this thread, quality doesn't come cheap.

I did the conversion on my standard cockpit live axled 7 back in 1993 - works perfectly. I did a write up for "Low Flying" at the time and it's included in the 7 Hints and Tips that was collated. The pdf Hint & Tips can be found here 7 Hints and Tips and the conversion text is from page 69 with the modified bracket diagram on page 97. Some things may have changed over the years as far as suppliers etc may be concerned but it may give you a general idea as to what needs to be done.

If it's an early type Zetec (Silver Top cam cover) then 5W30 must be used...

There's actually supposed to be a small amount of play - see the articles in recent Low Flying articles covering this. (at least on trunnion type upright vehicles)