Myles

Has the car been standing long? Dragging brakes suggest to me that something is gunged up - the mc is unlikely to act as a non-return valve to that extent. So, I' m not sure I'd be looking at the MC yet - I would persuade the front pad(s) out, clean, check for corrosion, possibly chock/block/reinsert all bar one piston and carefully check that it moves (making sure you don't stomp on the pedal and pop the whole thing out), put them all back in... ...move to the back, remove the yokes, clean/check etc., try a little handbrake to check for piston movement (I'm assuming standard single-piston Sierra calipers here), use a wind-back tool to retract the piston... And then mebbe flush through some new fluid. Then, once you are fairly sure that all the moving bits are in good condition - then I might start to wonder if the mc might be at fault. Its been a long time since I documented brake fettling - but these pages on my site might be of some use (especially bearing in mind that I documented this work as a http://alcester-racing-sevens.com/brake_maintenance.htm

With regard to the sticking throttle cable, this can be a bunch of laughs to catch if you do your testing with the bonnet off, find the problem is 'resolved' and then go for a drive. I've had problems in the past where the cable works fine - except when it is gently bent out of natural shape when the bonnet is put back on. If you find this affects you, try zip-tying the cable as little as possible out of the way. You may need to do this in more than one place to achieve a smooth cable action. If nothing else, it should provide a level playing field (bonnet on or off) for further debugging... ...and help stop your cable/bonnet eating into each other over time!

When I first went aero over 10 years ago, I fitted a full-width 'JPE' Perspex screen. As I was initially unsure as to whether I'd like it, I fitted it so that it would sit along the line of the base of the windscreen and wouldn't muck the paint up if I decided to reverse the fitting. I never looked back - but I found that the 'screen line' position was too close to make the screen particularly effective (I sit fairly tall in the car though - so your mileage may vary...). As a result,I made myself a much taller, steeper drivers-only screen that remains on the car to this day. My gut feel is that the JPE-style screen needs to be a bit further away and as upright as reasonably possible.

More photos http://alcester-racing-sevens.com/trackday_wheel_bar.htm

I had this made many years ago. http://alcester-racing-sevens.com/Wheel_rack_in_black_1.JPG The advantage was that you didn't need a complete set of wheels for them to be transported safely - there was a potential disadvantage (with the prototype at least) that large diameter tyre sets wouldn't fit neatly side by side. ive still got it! Do bear in mind that any high mounted tyre rack will cause quite severe pitch changes due to both wind resistance and cofg under braking. These days, I take a support car instead!

ECR - I believe you are correct. The E number often refers to the base (maximum) offset of the un-machined wheel - and they can be /are machined to achieve specific lower offsets.

Maybe because Charlie lives up here in Edinburgh and not in balmy Worthing? (Mind you, so do I - and my BEC has resisted having a heater fitted so far. Not sure how much longer though)

I removed my switch assembly a decade or so back - but 'surely' position III is normally the momentary position that fires the starter - in which case it sounds as if your starter button is wired in series with position III on the switch instead of replacing it(?) ...this assumes position 0 is off, I is just aux power, II is the normal engine-running position and III is starter. I'd check/sort that out and then move on - if everything else is wired up correctly, having the starter button in series with the equivalent on the key-barrel should only be an inconvenience rather than a 'fault' - but it also suggests that other connections could be jumbled (too?) Unfortunately, I didn't write up the connections when I removed my key barrel http://alcester-racing-sevens.com/aircraft_installation.htm

Same for Ao21s, surely.? Still made, but no longer e-marked for road use?

You could try digging around my site - try starting here: http://Alcester-racing-sevens.com/ecu_converter.htm

SM25T - indeed! ...but I actually wish that this would become a requirement/common item for new mass-produced cars. I know it's not too much to deal with, but with three different gearbox patterns on my driveway - and only one (the Caterham) having a conspicuous mechanical reverse-lockout - I sometimes find myself wondering which direction my partners car will leave in when I drive it (reverse beside 1st). I seem to remember my old Focus being quite vague too...

Indeed I am! I might start to update the site again too - given that I'm now out of contract, will have time on my hands - and the Caterham needs some lurve.

Is the map the same?

Charles - yes, I was using cheap zero-synthetic-content oil for running in and probably ingesting some coolant through a dodgy inlet gasket. Although this is probably on the fringes of the bell-curve of most users situations, it should be noted that it took only 70 miles (and, therefore, just 90-120 minutes?) of use to get there. I wasn't running aviation fuel, nitrous or anything else out of the norm - I was just running in an engine with an undetected teething problem that anyone could pick up out on the road.

I'm one of Oily's 30. My foam went from new to a puddle of goo (blocking/impeding the pickup with fragments in the meantime) in around 70 miles (that was the point at which I saw the oil pressure waver). Hateful thing. Cost me a small fortune.