Mick Day

Naddy I think your problem was more to do with the surfaces not being flat than a deficiency with the Blue Hylomar. The previous owner must ave used massive torque to bend the flange on the pump! Hylomar is not a flange sealant, all it does is improve the seating/sealing of gaskets. For metal to metal sealing Hylomar is useless....... A flange sealer (such as you used)can be used for metal to metal (it replaces gaskets) joints. Well done in solving the problem.

1st of all check you have blind rivnuts, see here. As mentioned blue hylomar will seal the pump/gasket/tank interface. Do not overtighten the fixings & do up gradually doing opposite fixings to spread the load. A drop of araldite under the rivnuts is a good idea to stop them rotating. I reckon when you get the bolt out the rivnut can be fixed, in situ, with some araldite. To get rid of petrol vapour fill with water, several times, drain & leave to dry in the sunshine......................

Certainly change the oil. But why not just start it? There will still be a film of oil in the bearings & at tick-over there is negligable load on the engine.

.......And that was why Caterham fitted a small "Apollo" tank to the original R500 to provide additional capacity/air removal. Why not fit a Brise kidney tank in front of the engine? Edited by - Mick Day on 20 Feb 2009 11:09:59

Nifty Am I right: the other guy has a new chassis/build but wants to put a circa 1994 K series engine in? If this is so then it should be possible to run the engine on a standard EU2 engine loom assuming he uses a later coil (normally bolted to the side of the engine block) & the later 1.4/1.6 flywheel. If he must run with the old pattern ("dry liner") engine & the old flywheel then it would be easier to either re-work the Caterham engine loom himself or get someone to do it for him, or indeed get a bespoke loom made. And thirdly it may be possible that his 1.4 is not of Caterham vintage & although 1994 it may already be a "damp liner"engine with the later flywheel & coil so should marry up OK to a Caterham EU2 loom. And finally as someone who has been through the pain of a 1.4 upgrade to 1.6 in 2000, my 1994 car was supplied with a catalyst. Edited to clarify: If the "standard ECU MKC101460" limits to the old injection/flywheel/coil then option 2 would be his best bet. Edited by - Mick Day on 17 Feb 2009 13:57:29

Check this: with the engine/coolant up to temp. open the bleed screw on the top of the rad. If coolant doesn't flow immediately you have an airlock in the top of the rad preventing the rad thermoswitch from operating.

Now you've taken it out, broken or not, it's a good idea to put a new one back in. I would guess that your standard stat is an 88 deg one. A lot of us use an 82 deg stat; the Halfords part number for that is HTK 605.

🙆🏻.....must be painful!

The 1st time I took my engine out I had the help of a friend (who also loaned me his crane). The next time I did it all on my own! It's very easy & yes I find it easier to split the K series engine/gearbox. My garage has an 8 foot ceiling.

Your going about this the wrong way. The caliper can be easily split by undoing the 2 halve; makes pad changes much easier. Either side of the caliper are 2 rubber covers which if pulled back expose the connections. Couple of spanners to undo & it's done in 2 minutes. Takes 5 minutes per side to change brake pads this way.

Phil Welcome aboard! There might not be an organised meet but I'm sure there are people in your area who can help. The car is really v v simple & most things are very easy to get at (when compared to most modern cars). Even the wiring is not too difficult. It sounds as though your 1st project may be electrical. Tip: Take the scuttle off to get at the under dash wiring then take the loom wrap off. Once there you can trace everything by colour & using a meter. Web sites like this may help: http://www.hoymotorsport.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk Get a copy of the K series build manual as that will help with torque settings etc. It used to be available on CC's website but it seems to have been taken down in favour of the modern cars. However I'm sure someone local will have a copy, or maybe CC can point you in the right direction.

From my notes the discs are 10.3mm thick when new & the wear limit is 8.3mm. I would think James would have the discs & bearings in stock. I think the rear bearings need to be fitted using a press.

To stop the fluid draining out take the cap off the M/C & stretch some cling film over the reservoir. Pop the cap on & no more leak.

Battery electrolyte level? If this has dropped considerably then you will need to top up with concentrated sulphuric acid not distilled water. You battery may be U/S even when topping up with concentrate. This happened to my Banner a few years ago so I now use the Optimate for 24 hours only per week. The battery was U/S.

My 1994 vintage water rail took a 1/8 NPTF sensor. New apollo fitted in 2001 had the same thread.

To get around any potential short circuit problems behind the dash cover this part of the braided hose in heat shrink sleeving. This is also useful for any bits liable to rub elsewhere as braided hose is very abrasive.

Simon This may help: here. Although it mentions an Emerald ECU the pinouts on the plug are the same for the Rover ECU. As you can see it tells you the position of the pin-out & colour of the wire. Once youve identified the lambda sensor plug you can test for continuity into the ECU plug using the continuity function on your multi-meter. Mick

Consider the Toyo R888 as well.

I had 2 both new: 1982 (white) & 1988 (white & red). The 1st car was built in France & the 2nd in Portugal. In terms of build quality the 1st was definitely the better of the two; the Portuguese car came with built in rust from day 1 resulting in a few replacement body panels under warranty. Picnic anyone? No need to take chairs just slide front & rear seats out in minutes! Central locking sir? All door locks can be easily reached from the driver's seat! Theft protection sir? Most mentally challenged car thieves (so that's most of them) can't understand the push-me-pull-me gear change! My kids used to sit in the back seat & poke windmills up through the sunroof! Great memories of a trip to Beaulieu Motor Museum. Did the London/Brighton 2CV run in 1989: great fun! It's the only car that can be driven to it's full potential on the public road without breaking speed limits!

Thermostats can fail. If they fail in the closed position coolant can't flow & at some point all the coolant will end up pumped out onto the circuit. Coolant is extremely slippery & does not evaporate like water. Removing the stat prevents this. Also as mentioned race engines are operating at full bore for most of the race so maximum cooling, & coolant flow, is required.

Ben Generally there should be 2 fuel filters: before & after the pump. On the K series cars there is a pre-filter in the tank, along with the pump, but this is to protect the pump. There is a separate filter on the O/S Passenger bulkhead external as mentioned earlier to protect the injectors & engine. Now it is possible that CC are using a new all in one pre-filter, pump & high pressure filter but I would check with them just to make sure. Mick

It could even be the cam cover gasket.

The build manual is probably not much help as the clutch is usually fitted to the flywheel by CC. However it will give you details on which bolt goes where on the engine/gearbox. Search on here for tips on taking the engine out; I did it the 1st time with a helpful friend. Although one person can get the engine out it's much easier with two when putting it back in. You need an engine crane so maybe borrow from someone who will help/guide you. Decide on whether to take the engine & gearbox out as one lump or split in situ. I always split in situ. You will need a new clutch from CC plus something to align the clutch plate on fitting. Either buy a useful gadget from Halfords or similar or beg/borrow/steal an old gearbox input shaft. Check your clutch cable as now is the time to change it if there is any doubt. Plan on one day for out & one day for in the 1st time you do it. Post back on here with any specific problems. Edited by - Mick Day on 17 Jan 2009 12:33:51

Well done on fixing the problem! If you connect the earth 1st & then the positive you may touch something else with the spanner when doing up the connection. Result is massive spark which not only damages the battery but may cause damage to other sensitive electronics such as the ECU. Spark may also ignite fuel vapours! Connecting the earth last means it doesn't matter what the spanner touches.........So long as it's not the positive terminal!. *idea*Tip: always make sure there is a plastic cover on the positive terminal!

Many cars come without spare wheels in the UK; they just have a can of foam. Is this a regulation for new cars in Spain or for cars entering Spain as tourists?