Mike Bees

Alex - what do you mean when you say the plugs are "standard NGKs"? I would have thought you should be running a colder-than-standard plug given that the engine is producing rather more power than standard. Mike

Reduction in torque at low rpm is very small. The *perceived* reduction is greater - because there's more go at high rpm you *think* that there's less at lower rpm. Go for it. Mike

Do you think she'd mind? Mike

Chris - about 80 on the gauge. I don't know how accurate one gauge (or sender) is compared to the next. The ECU reckons the temp is 90 when the gauge reads 80. Mike

At a guess, the percentage is how much quicker the rack is than the standard rack - i.e. 8% is 8% quicker, 22% is 22% quicker. My 8% rack was painted dark green, the 22% was bare ali. According to the parts CD: RH Drive, 8%, wide track - green LH Drive, 8%, wide track - yellow RH Drive, 22% - silver LH Drive, 8% - blue RH Drive, 8% - black The 22% 'non-wide track' rack is also used for wide track with the addition of spacers. Mike

You're right Keith, the oil warms up *much* slower than the coolant. My oil temperature rarely reaches 80deg (normally runs at around 60 in the summer and less in winter), unless I sit in traffic for a while or do a few hard laps of the track in which case it approaches 80deg. However my engine is dry sumped and has the sender in the bottom of the dry sump tank, so it's not telling me what temperature the oil is at inside the engine. Mike

Nick - don't panic! There are very few K's running oil coolers (I only know of one - the same one that Roger's been intimately acquainted with very recently). Your newly-acquired Apollo tank has provision for a temperature sender, so you can hook that up to your coolant temperature gauge (with a switch to flip between coolant & oil temp) and monitor the oil temperature. Mike

The following are acceptable: SNELL SA 95 SFI Foundation 31.1, 31.2 BS 6658 Type A/FR BS 6658-85 Type A - may be deleted from 1/1/2001 (although a friend who asked the MSA about this recently was told that it was more likely to be 2002 or 2003, so it's worth checking). BS 6658-85 Type B is not acceptable. Mike

Pierson - on the one occasion that Tim & I have met he was quicker. Feel free to hate him more than you hate me :-) Mike

Mine always locks up the front first... Maybe I need to go on a diet? Mike

Race Technology's AC22 can be stuck to the top of the scuttle with a piece of velcro. It appears to be more accurate than other similar products. Full details are at: http://race-technology.com/WebPage/Products/Accelerometer/Main_accelerometer.htm Mike

Caterham's current advice is to check the oil level with the engine running, so I *guess* it works - plenty of people are following it I believe. Mike

If the oil is good and hot (i.e. after a hard thrash on a warm day) then those figures are fine. What sort/grade of oil are you using? I don't know what the oil capacity is with the Apollo fitted, but you should be checking the level with the engine running. Mike

The one place the powder coating won't fall off I suppose... Mike

If they're only 2 years old and not leaking then I'd say don't change them, unless you want to burn money on some adjustability. James Whiting sells Leda dampers for pre-96 De Dions, not sure why the front damper fitting would be different post-96 (the mounting point on the DD tube changed so I guess the later rears are longer?). £115.00 a corner plus vat, adjustable for bump & rebound, fully rebuildable. Prices on Caterham CD are 90+vat a corner(96.5 onwards, includes spring) for the standard Bilsteins. Another source worth looking at is Nitron (www.nitron.co.uk) - fully rebuildable ali bodied adjustables at 125 a corner (probably plus VAT). If I had some money burning a hole in my pocket I'd like to try some of these, if only to find out what difference playing with the damper rates has. Mike

The ones (Vx race cars) I saw at Hyperion some years back did have oil coolers. Mike

Simon - take a look at http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/DVAndrews/kengine.htm Mike

Your choices are 185x70/13 or 205x60/13 - you'll lose about half an inch of ground clearance with the 205x60 but get a fair bit of extra rubber on the road. Mike

Looking at the spring stiffness in isolation doesn't tell you anything. If you put 170lb/in springs on a Volvo it will be as soft as anything. Put them on a 7 and it's quite firm. Why? Clue: Take both cars to the weighbridge smile.gif Mike

If your insurance company doesn't insist on the immobiliser (the 3 different ones I've used to insure my 7 don't) then a removeable steering wheel and battery master switch are probably at least as effective (and more reliable). You feel a bit of a prat walking into the pub holding your steering wheel though... Mike

021R prices - see the 'TYRES... bulk discount' thread in the 'Wanted' section. A snippet: "185/70R13 Yoko A021Rs for 40 inc VAT and fitting from George Polley (see above)" Mike

Sounds like pad knock-off. Have the discs been checked for run-out? Is there any play in any of the discs? Mike

John wrote "Yoko thingys seem to be favorites but without sending me to sleep and completely bankrupting me and as I have no desire to pay for Mr Yokos expensive holidays I'm looking for a compromise." Are Yokes really more expensive than other premium brand (e.g. Michelin) tyres? Not by a significant amount I'd hazard. Mike

205x45/16 diameter should be 23.26 inches. 185x70/13 diameter should be 23.20 inches. This assumes that the sidewall height exactly matches the state profile which isn't always the case but they'll be near enough the same. Mike

From www.racecar.com: ------------ Posted by Trevor Willis on July 10, 19100 at 08:14:16: 1997, very good condition, suit Caterham, Westfield etc. £800 trevor.willis@synaxia.com ---------------- Tell him I sent you! Mike