Mike Bees

tick tock, tick tock, tick tock...

Yes. Mike

The problem with having a control tyre is that some people's cars won't be set up for that tyre. The problem with not having a control tyre is that tyres make a massive difference to the handling - sticky tyres (ACB10 & A032R) are *sooo* much more progressive and enjoyable than wooden ones, enough to taint the picture IMHO. Mike

Jesus H. Christ on a bike, they're still pulling that scam are they. Before I bought my GEMS ECU I spoke to GEMS and asked questions like "Does the software come with it?" and "Will it run distributorless?". Answers were "yes" and "yes". "Should I buy it from you or should I go to a dealer?". Answer was that they didn't really care but it would be gracious of me to buy from a dealer if I was going to take it to that dealer for mapping, so I bought it from Southern Carbs. It turned up with no software or cable. Spoke to GEMS "Oh you only get the software thrown in if you buy direct from us". Oh great. Had a big row with them, no joy at all. So I had to pay them the extra (over 100quid) for the software. Then found it wouldn't work dizzyless either - and they charged me another 3 figure sum to add that functionality. B******ds. Or more specifically b*****d Managing Director, the techie guys there were fine to deal with. I believe that the Emerald M3DK is 600ukp all inclusive (VAT, software, cable etc) although there is a bit of a wait while they gear up for volume production. Mike

Do the SW have different class breaks with respect to engine capacities than the rest of the country? One here for 100 quid, in need of attention: http://www.findit.co.uk/cars/ford/parts/113048.htm A brand new still-crated 1.8 Zetec went for 750ukp on Findit recently (just to give you an idea of the max you should have to pay). Mike

Yes Alex, green is 8% RHD wide track. According to the parts CD black is 8% RHD standard track. However the only difference between the standard & wide track racks is that the latter has longer steering arms. They do spacers to convert the standard track racks to wide track, so maybe Keith's has the spacers. FYI, the 22% rack (unpainted) is only available in standard track, so to put it on a wide track you need the spacers (unless you swap the steering arms over from an 8% wide track rack - much neater!). Mike

PS - is that 765+VAT for the ECU? Far canal! Mike

With a bit of cunning you can reuse the Rover fuel rail and pressure regulator. You'll need to make up a couple of brackets for the rail and space the air filter backplate off the bodies, but I see you've got some spacers in the list anyway. The DTH bodies are quite short so I'd say you want at least 90mm strumpets. Mike

280 or 290. Mike

I switched from the 8% to the 22% rack. I wouldn't change back. Mike

4. Mike

The easiest shortcut is the Supersport upgrade. If it's the only upgrade you'll ever make then it's good value (even better if you can find one secondhand) but if you think you might get into more serious DIY upgrades later then you'll end up throwing away the Supersport upgrade. Mike

If the engine were venting oily petrol then that's what your sump is full of - and it would have knackered it's bearings by now (oily petrol isn't the world's best lubricant). Chances are what you're seeing is just condensed oil vapour and a bit of water. Nothing to worry about. Mike

You just want a hollow can with a perforated tube running through the middle, the tube to be the same diameter as the in/out pipe. Demon Tweeks sell the perforated tube (you can probably get it elsewhere cheaper). Then you stuff the space between the tube and the can with one of a variety of different stuffs. Getting it as quiet as possible means making it as big as possible. Length is more important than girth, although you need some of both. Mike

The Caterham one is pretty good - I'm still using it on my ~240bhp K-series, which I suspect is being slightly strangled by the 1.5in primaries. I don't think you need (or want) bigger diameter primaries until you're over 200bhp. I reckon you're looking at around 400quid for the Caterham system (the manifold and collector come to just over 400 if you buy them individually, according to the parts CD, but Demon Tweeks do the whole system including 5" silencer for 500 and they're always more than Caterham). Mike

Not necessarily - you could just be waiting to be proved right smile.gif Mike

Oh dear, there goes the uninformed propaganda machine again... You don't need exotic cranks & rods to get 200bhp from a K-series. Sure you need camshafts, but there's nothing very exotic about a camshaft. Mike

When I bought my first kit in '94 you could buy a Classic SE with 5-speed 'box. Mike

Luke - if you had to do the full emissions monty at SVA then yes, AIUI. Mike

I haven't strapped any lumps of metal to my K. The bits that Peter's strapped to his were designed for a 300bhp turbo version - this may or may not be overkill for a nat asp. AFAIK Peter's the only person who's done it. Mike

I think it's a Type 9 Jonathan. IIRC the MT75 doesn't fit in the Caterham tunnel, and also has an integral bellhousing (not much cop for a nice K-series or a Vauxhall wink.gif). Mike

Colin, When I registered with Competition Parts a couple of years ago the situation was this: You need to register as a 'Privateer Competitor'. They give you a form to fill in which has details such as what car you have, what type of competition/series etc. you compete in. They issue you with a 'Privateer number' which you quote when you 'phone up to order parts. You are only allowed buy parts for your own private competition use, and if I remember correctly the parts don't carry a warranty (or something like that). The most perverse bit of all is that they will only sell you production car bits - so you can't buy forged pistons or solid followers (in other words competition parts!) through them. As I say that's how it was a couple of years ago. They're on 0121 4756217. Mike

Eh? In order to supply fully built cars Caterham put the car through Type Approval, which meant that when cats became compulsory for new cars those which were supplied new & built by Caterham had to have cats fitted. Does the above mean that there was a loophole such that even a Type Approved manufacturer-built car could get away with only a visible smoke test at MOT time? Mike

Anyone here had problems with a Dunnell ECU? I know a couple of people who don't post here who have. Mike

The splines are too coarse to get the wheel exactly centered, so you usually have to make some tweaks to the track rod ends. As long as you adjust both rod ends by the same amount (which is easy, just count the turns) then you don't need to measure the tracking - unless you want to confirm that it's "correct" of course. And of course there is no such thing as "correct". Mike