Gridgway

the action of the suretrak is the same as an open diff on the "turn wheel the other goes backwards" front. Graham

I think if you put it in gear and have both wheels in the air, you can test the pre-load on a plate type LSD with a torque-wrench on one hub-nut. Best to do it on the wheel where the clockwise turning of the hub nut is in the do-up direction (ie off-side on a DD caterham). It's the torque required to turn the wheel. Graham

yes! Yes! What are you trying to show? Graham

a bit less than QT? Graham

you see, yer problem is that you 'as got the Vectra immob. If you had steered clear of that vauxhall rubbish and gone for the Vecta immob, you wouldn't have any probs! very helpful> Sorry! Graham

the joint may well be quite tough to get out if it is help in the bearing compound and/or rust and gunge. Careful patient effort with a hammer and punch going all the way round worked for me. Graham

they all drop out sir! it's no good anyway. You either need to make a dipstick and dip (9.5 inches IIRC from the bottom of the tank, mind the knobbly bit at the bottom), or use the absurd (hah got in there first), fill it up until it comes out into the catch tank in use (so called) method!!! Graham

Thanks Angus, That has made me re-read the build manual. It says "[place] a 3/4" OD, 1/2" ID plain washer either side of the Everymans bush." The next sentence says "Nylon race washers should be placed either side of the Everymans bush." The table of torque settings only mentions the plastic washers (that's prob the same as the "nylon"). The picture only shows the race washers. That's 2-1 for the plastic washers only! Graham

I'm in the 'replace them' camp. It's far too critical to monkey about! Graham

I used a flap wheel in my drill to remove the powder coat off the flat ends of my recently re-coated DD tube. Did a good job, but hard (read slow)work. Not sure if it would be as useful on a curved surface though. Graham

So JJ, how do I defeat the insufferable logic of Mr SA? Can we run a survey? Graham

Graham, I am not sure how likely you are to have HG problems as the engine well looked after and filled properly with coolant each time (it's changed etc) and where the fan switch doesn't break should be fine. However, I have to disagree with the other posters that reckon not many cat k's go pop. I reckon it's inevitable. Two main problems are the weakness in the engine itself (head located with blu-tac etc) and the weaknesses in the installation (hard to bleed the cooling system, fan switch failures etc). Comparing with freelanders is pretty useless unless we have any data to ascertain the failure rate. I have before suggested a survey on BC to collect data, but don't know how, other than start a thread and get people to state engine type and yes/no to HG failure. Mind you this is a good idea as I am still in dispute with Mr Seemingly (actually) Absent, who berated me last time on my assertion without any hard data. He then proceeded to use his usual mix, small pinch of engineering fact mixed with several heaps of dodgy logic to try and prove his point with no hard data at all!!! And if it turns out he is right, I'll just have to sell his wheels and leave his caterham on bricks 😳 Sorry got carried away! Graham

can anyone tell me the order of the plastic 'race' washer and the metal washer between the a-frame and the bush in the dd tube please? is it plastic against the a-frame and metal against the bush or vicky-vercki (sorry vicky)? Tks Graham

don't you need to take off the calipers and drive shaft thingies to get the DD tube out? Graham

how much do they charge Ammo? Tks Graham

the bottom spherical joints definitely have a limited life. Graham

the centre punch has never failed for me. Graham

I am not sure I quite get you Graham. The upright essentially goes up and down at the same angle to the road. Ie it pivots around a centre at infinite distance. The track road has a much shorter radius(!). So unless the rack moves up and down, bumpsteer cannot be eliminated that way. Graham

the build manual certainly lists different rover and VX lengths for the prop. The version I have also gets the lengths the wrong way round! Graham

huh, you think that's bad, I have just discovered my wife dries the clothes on a wet day with a non-condensing drier in my (yes my) garage. It's ok though, she keeps the door open and, well, the amount of rain that gets in, is, after, all relatively modest Graham Apparently the clothes even end up dry sometimes. And another thing, I can't even reach into my toy fund to buy her a new one (it is for her after all!) as the tax man has just decimated it (that's decimate in the colloquial 'destroyed' sense, not the put-to-death-1-in-10-of sense) Edited by - Gridgway on 15 Jan 2004 23:26:25

yep, masses ☹️ sold the car before I fixd it though!! Graham

I think you need to be a bit more sophisticated on the front if you have never done it before. You need to do up the front and make sure you take up the play THEN back the nut off to get a bit of play. If you just do it with fingers you may have trouble with this (IME). So I do up the nut with a spanner NOT tight, but enough to take up the slack, then essentially wind it back to the nearest castellated nut/hole in the stub axle combination to get the split pin in. When the wheel is on it should turn freely and have a smidge of play as you rock the wheel by hand with one hand at the top and one at the bottom. Graham

it'll be fine if it's not the self arming type (like mine is not). I never (ahem I mean always if any burglars are reading this) use the plipper and my immob unit has been in and out mobilising other people's K's without any trouble! Graham

I ran my SLR (when I had it) on 205/60 032Rs on 6.5" rims all round if that helps. I think that Yoko know best when talking about their tyres! You could also ask a reputable yoko dealer (such as Micheldever tyres) for an opinion. Graham

Verniers are also good for getting the timing right after a headskim. My 1.6k ss was orrible at part throttle and very noisy. I fitted some verniers and timed them properly and the engine was tramsformed from a horrible noisy, kangaroo'ey thing that stalled on many occasions to a very nice motor indeed. Graham PS when I say "I", I mean PC of course! Verniers are far too hard (end expensive if you get it wrong) for me!!