Mike Bees

The length you need depends on the stiffness of the spring you're going to use. Mike

Yes you can. Fitter bigger brakes to the front won't make the back ones start locking... In fact in my experience with the big brakes on the front and standard ones on the back the bias is too much to the front (i.e. fronts lock way before rears). Mike

What's the collective term for Lyalls? Mike

I'd suggest using the same mounting point. If you use the through-hole then for the same ride height the damper will be more compressed, thus more likely to hit the bumpstop - if you see what I mean. Mike

If you connect a 12v source and (e.g.) a 6v source in parallel then the 6v source ain't gonna supply no current to nuthin'... Mike

Correct, if the panel is producing less than 12v then it isn't going to charge the battery. In fact it might drain it - use an ammeter to check if there is any current flowing when the panel isn't seeing light. Mike

Marius, I've been using the Red Top 25 for 2 seasons on my K. It works fine in the summer, no problems at all. Last winter it wouldn't turn the engine over for long enough to fire up - but I think that was probably because the starter motor was dying. I wouldn't rely on it to start in -10 Celsius, but then I prefer to be indoors in the warm when it's that cold. Mike

If the overflow from the top of the dry sump tank is vented to the air then it should really be routed to a catch tank. Mike

215 at the back is v. stiff IMO. Probably OK if all you do is run on smooth tracks though. Mike

195s should be perfecton 6.5" rim. The Prisoners are reasonably light for their size at 7kg (vs. around 9-10kg for equivalent boy-racer aftermarket alloys). My 15in Dymags are about 5.25kg. Mike

Blatman - you're reasoning & questions make sense to me (I've been through the same thought process) but I don't know the answer... Mike

The Suretrak uses a system of gears (damned clever things, gears) to direct the most drive to the wheel with the most grip. The plate-type simply uses clutch-type plates to limit the amount of slip. One could suppose that theoretically the Suretrak is better since it doesn't interfere with what the diff is actually trying to do under normal cornering circumstances (i.e. allow one wheel to turn faster than the other) whereas the plate-type will always transmit more torque to the slower-turning wheel which tends to encourage understeer. In practice AFAIK all the race boys have switched back to the ZF plate type, AIUI mainly because it doesn't go "open" when one wheel is airborne. I believe that the Quaife torque-sensing diff doesn't go open like the Suretrak (RIP) one does. I'm very happy with my Suretrak. Mike

FYI, Prisoner wheels are 15x6.5". Mike

Mmmmmfff.

Arnie's car has nearly 280bhp!!! Mike Edited by - Mike Bees on 18 Sep 2001 10:51:44

AIUI they do have type approval. Various K-series models I believe. Take a look at http://www.caterham-france.fr Mike

More pies, m'lud?

Remember that the prop-to-diff bolts should not be re-used. Mike

Eeek. Tacking the damper mount point onto the bottom of the DD tube is a pretty horrible piece of engineering IMO. I've heard of them starting to peel off before now. The damper used to be bolted through the centre of the tube, anyone know why this was changed? Mike

Dave - because I said so in my post at the bottom of page 1 wink.gif Mike

There could be a difference between 'happy' and 'optimal'. Maybe it's ignition timing tweaks, the 1.4 and 1.6SS variants were originally specced as needing Super. The claimed output for the 1.6 dropped from 138 to 133 (IIRC) at the same time as the fuel spec changed to standard UL. OTOH if the fuelling was unchanged I wonder why Caterham go to the expense of changing the pressure regulator from the standard 3bar one to an adjustable set to 4bar on the 1.8KSS. Mike

Interesting... Mike

The 1.4 and 1.6SS both have remapped (by Rover) ECUs. The 1.8SS doesn't, it uses a different fuel pressure regulator to, er, "bodge" the fuelling. Mike

The AP big front brake kit uses expensive vented discs. If these are available at 15ukp a pop from raldes then I'll take a stack! Mike

Does he know how much it costs to have the cambelt changed? Mike