Mike Bees

Lydden's a super little circuit, it's all elevation & camber changes. Plenty of sprints happening there too. Mike

Thanks for being my brolly dolly Nig wink.gif Mike

The MIRA-induced (very hard left hand bends) diff spillage doesn't seem to be unusual. Both Dave Jackson's & Nick Potter's cars were exhibiting it on Saturday. Oddly mine doesn't. Maybe I haven't got any oil left in my diff... Given that cars with wooden tyres are suffering from this how do the cars with super-sticky rubber fare? Mike

There is 1 particular sprint venue (Wethersfield) where the scrutineer pulls up every Caterham on this point. Despite a qualified engineer pointing out to him how much thread was engaged and how relative to the diameter this was sufficient he would have none of it (scrutineers can be like that...). However he was quite happy for us to remove the spacer which allows the belt mount to pivot in order to get more thread engagement - this of course is much less safe since if the belt mount can't pivot then a sudden load is likely to 'tear' the belt at the mount point if the pull isn't exactly square. Said scrutineer states that Caterham are aware of the problem and will supply longer bolts, but when I asked them they knew nothing about it. I sourced some longer bolts elsewhere in the end just to avoid the hassle. Mike

The VHPD engine has a stronger than standard, but still cast iron, crank. See here.

10lbft doesn't sound like too much for a 1/4" bolt. The plethora of 8mm bolts which thread into the K-series cheese/ali head/block are specced at 8lbft. Mike

Er... isn't reverse next to 1st? Mike

Not if she's got more money than him...

You ought to know Dave, you've broken enough of them... Betcha the Caterham ones are solid, any money you like. Mike

eek.gif I suggested to Karl once that the M3D could have an oil pressure input and a user-configurable 'shut-down' setting. I suspect that it's near the bottom of a very long list... Mike

Arnie wrote: "I've lost a bet twice with no engine damage in either occaision". Once at Santa Pod and once at Curborough wink.gif

I've been round once, but I'll do it again. At least I'm not the only one to have had this problem. I'll replace the expansion tank pressure cap as a matter of course, since these are known to be a common point of failure. Mike

I have an inductive proximity sensor (something similar to this) watching the 'spokes' on the scavenge pump pulley. It feeds a stream of pulses to a little box of electronics which lights a lamp on the dashboard when it doesn't see any pulses coming in. Mike Edited by - Mike Bees on 28 May 2002 11:06:37

I think I meant "expansion tank". It has a pressure cap. The coolant I'm using is supposed to change colour if it encounters combustion gases, it's failed to change colour thus far. When I first ran it (after it's recent rebuild) it weeped coolant from the water rail/head interface. I tightened it and it stopped. Clutching at straws, but I wonder if the gasket there is somehow sealing under +ve pressure but not under -ve pressure. Mike

It's a K-series (what else would have a bizarre cooling system problem...). As expected the level of coolant in the header tank rises with engine temperature. What's unexpected is that when the engine cools it doesn't draw the coolant back from the header tank into the engine. Instead it's getting air in somewhere. I'm frequently having to bleed air out of the system. No coolant is getting out, but air is getting in. How does that work then? Mike

I run on 205/50x15 fronts, and have found as Arnie states that if you run a reasonably low (or should that be 'normal') ride height at the front then the geometry goes all to pot (it's even worse at the back...). The steering fights and twitches like a mad thing on non-smooth surfaces. Raise the front a bit so that the lower wishbones are at least parallel with the ground and the problem all but disappears. Mike

Quite possibly, but I can't afford to buy expensive springs to use as an experiment. You will have mail, in a mo'.... Cheers, Mike Edited by - Mike Bees on 24 May 2002 11:00:22

Height from the ground is only relevant relative to the wheel/tyre combo you're running. So e.g. what works well for a 185/60x13 won't work well for a 205/45x16. If you know a good number for the former then a reasonable starting place for the latter would be to add in the difference in the wheel/tyre radius. I'm resorting to some whacky experiments to try and make the car handle well on 15in wheels (all donations to my Watts linkage fund gratefully received...). Mike

biggrin.gif Nope, just looking for more traction. I can get a pair of new 'uns for £31.00... 'Ows about £20.00 incl. delivery (cheapest possible method is fine)? Mike

Boing (couldn't resist). 110lb/in or 130lb/in would do... Mike

Try the Ads section of http://www.monoposto.freeserve.co.uk, also http://www.racingcarsforsale.co.uk/frameset-forsale.htm Mike

>> The clutch still has to move the cars mass relative to the engines torque! << That's only an issue when you're slipping the clutch. Once it's properly engaged the max torque that can be thrown at the clutch is the max torque that the engine can produce. If your car is heavier then you'll likely be subjecting the clutch to that torque for longer because it will take you longer to accelerate... Mike

Cam manufacturers quoted "power bands" are an extremely vague notion. Other than as a rough guide to comparing one cam with another one from the same manufacturer I think the only conclusion you can draw is that the power will probably peak somewhere between those two numbers. The only xflow-powered Caterham I've ever driven (no really) had a Roger King xflow with a 254 cam. Being used to a 200bhp K-series I was fully prepared to be somewhat disappointed, although actually I was rather impressed. It wasn't at all peaky despite coming 'on cam' a bit harder than the K, and it redlined at just over 7000 IIRC (cast iron crank), all of which leads me to doubt that you'd expect the power to be holding up at 8500 with that cam. Mike

>> it sounds as though the problem is the clearance between the studs and the chassis diagonals. << Are the diagonals not removable on the SV? Mike

If it was slipping then it would wear the plate away very quickly. Mike