Piers300

A Blue CSR 200 being towed and I passed you on the M1 on tuesday. A Merc was towing. Piers

We were in Calais yesterday and on the return trip, saw a blue CSR in the car park waiting to board the train. We had a 2 hour delay, as I expect you did. Hope you had a good run home once back to UK. Piers

Hope you are all having a great time. Piers

I live near Canterbury and do not know anyone locally with a silver 7. However, I only know most of the Seven Club locals and this may have been a visitor to Canterbury or someone who has recently bought one. What bad luck and hope no one was hurt. Piers

Thanks for that Mark - I get some today. Piers

Sorry Error - did not mean Silica Gel - it is more like a sealant but flexible. Piers

Only 3 miles from home, the clutch cable broke (R300K) just before exiting the very busy A2 this afternoon. I managed to coast into the pull off - just, as it needed a push to get right off the road. The cable and crimp failed at the clutch end and I was lucky and had a spare in the car. When I tried to remove the crimp from the clutch mechanism, it was held in place by some clear rubbery substance, put there to hold it in place when the cable broke, rather than falling into the housing. So good job done.. Would it be silica gel ? Is this normal practice on the K series engine and what is the material used, as I need to get some. Thanks Piers

Blue with white strip in Waitrose Canterbury yesterday late afternoon, spoted by my wife. Was that you Garry 7 ? Piers

And I missed a Blat that circled Canterbury !!! That's what comes of going on holiday in Scotland. Piers

An all black 7 with aero close to the Gibbert roundabout near Lutterworth today at about 11:20. Piers

Spotted a yellow 7 going the other way on the M(?) as we were returning from Inverawe to Canterbury. It was aero. Piers

Gary - I have a Caterham luggage carrier that you can borrow and holding straps, so you can carry "another" suitcase. Piers

I just has something very similar while on the IoW Blat. The engine just cranked and did not fire at all. It turned out to be the Distributor cap and the central carbon rod was not making a good contact with the rotor arm. Once the rod was pulled out a little further on it's spring and the rotor cleaned, the car started. The plugs were sparking but weakly. Piers

You say the guy who worked on your chassis was in Deal. Was it done by a someone called Woolston ? Are you in Kent and local to the Canterbury area? Piers

I have an R300K and I am on my third oil pressure sender. They are notoriously bad, so either buy a new one and get a big improvement in pressure displayed or go mechanical, which is what I will do next time. Piers

Alfie - I am meeting Paul Head at 10:30 at East Kent Audi car park, just outside Canterbury (Thanington) on the Ashford Road, so there will be two Green and Yellow 7's there for a run to Headcorn Aerodrome. Please join us if you can. Piers

Alfie - I went through Elam today in the 7 and also Bridge - but not sideways !!! Piers PS If it is a good day tomorrow I will be going out for a run, possibly to Headcorn Aerodrome

Looked like an SV heading towards Dover on the A2 at about 2:30 today - Blue with a white stripe I think - both of us waved. I was in a Green and Yellow R300. I had tried to fill up with Shell just outside Dover, but the garage was shut. First run out this year and I have changed from tillets to leather seats - it feels very different and the visibility needed when looking backwards when pulling out at a junction has changed. Great day for a run out. Another one tomorrow I think. Piers

My R300 K idles at about 1000 Rpm. Piers

I have just changed my R300 Tillets to Caterham's leather seats. As you say, the hole centres were different for the bottom runners. The lightweight Tillets had a bigger spacing, while the heavier leather seats had narrower mounting points for the runners. I cannot recall the exact measurement, but I had to drill holes about one and a half inches shorter to get the leather seat runners to fit. Piers

We recently sub contracted 50 off diesel engine cable harness's to a company who specialize in such things. Never again - a complete disaster. The amount of time it took to sort out, engineers time, a very upset customer, all the travel costs to and from the customers factory and too and from to the subcontractor - a huge loss all round and not something I want to repeat. OK, it is down to quality control and this supplier did a terrible job as he missed 2 wires out of the harness. So it is easily done and so difficult to find, when the pressure is on. I hope it's not the same company who supply Caterham - unlikely. This saga has been going on for some time and CB 4798 must be rightly miffed. Piers

I had to change the alternator due to the top mounting bracket cracking on my 1.8 2004 R300 S3 and I had to remove the primaries to remove the alternator. Make sure you note what go where for easy re-assembly (exhaust wise), as it is a bit of a fiddle, plus have the exhaust high temp sealant ready for the pipe work when putting back together. New gasket for the exhaust manifold is a good idea. It is a very tight fit to remove and replace the alternator on an S3 K. Check the wiring and connector to the alternator has not been heat damaged by the exhaust. Piers

In the 80's, Caterham had some issues with some sort of fuel tank sealant getting sucked into the fuel line and causing problems. I had it with my 85 Super Sprint many years ago and managed to remove a hole load of sealant. Disconnect both ends of the fuel line and use an air line from the engine end to clear the line out. A foot pump will also work, which is what I used. Also check you have no in-line fuel filter that is blocked. Piers

Sorry - I should have added that you need to check the electrolyte level in each cell every six months or so to check it is correct- especially when it is a hot summer. Piers

My company sells Industrial battery chargers from 2 to 20 Amps for both 12 and 24 V applications, for mainly large diesel and gas engined generator sets and we also supply the generator control systems. There are generally two or more sorts of chargers being used. (A) The Boost and Trickle charger variety - to be avoided at all costs, as even when left in trickle mode over a period of time, will cause the battery to dry/boil out and it is then U/S. (B) The Constant Potential type - The type to B/C to use and similar to a battery conditioner. When charging, the constant potential battery charger will provide high current and voltage to bring the float level of the battery up to nearly fully charged state. Once it gets near there, the current automatically reduces to a very small level. Once the voltage of the battery reach full charge of say 13.4 volts, the two voltages are equal and current does not flow. So although connected, it is not charging. If the battery voltage drops due to internal losses, then the charger brings it back to full charge slowly and stops charging. On large generators when you have very expensive starting batteries for 1500 - 2000 Bhp engines in a Hospital or Data Centre, we double up on everything, as the engine has to start. These chargers are left on 24/7 - year in and year out. I have a Banner charger for the 7 and it does a good job and is switched on all year round and I am still on the same battery - so far after three years. The CTEK is also good. Both of these are battery conditioners but work on the C/P principle. I would avoid using a standard battery or trickle charger for any length of time. Piers