Paul Richards

Arnie Ally cast rack. Paul Richards Joint AO - L.A.D.S. (Lancashire and District Sevens) Growing old is compulsory - Growing up is optional

I have a slight play in my steering which I will investigate further, but seems to be in the rack. It's very slight. Is there some adjustment? Paul Richards Joint AO - L.A.D.S. (Lancashire and District Sevens) Growing old is compulsory - Growing up is optional

I have the same noise (assume it to be lay shaft) which is more prominent when car is hot and it disappears when clutch is depressed. I understand it is a common thing and of course only noticeable on a 7 because of the nearness of the gearbox to the ear and lack of sound deadening. Incidentally it seems to be a more common problem if you have a lightweight flywheel. Paul Richards Joint AO - L.A.D.S. (Lancashire and District Sevens) Growing old is compulsory - Growing up is optional

I had the same problem and have recently fitted Mintex M1144 pads to the front. Not had a chance to try them fully yet, but seems to be a reasonable improvement. Did the MOT brake test since fitting and pedal effort to get fronts to work was a lot less than last year. Suggest you give them a try. At £30ish they're cheaper than bias valves and big brakes. Paul Richards Joint AO - L.A.D.S. (Lancashire and District Sevens) Growing old is compulsory - Growing up is optional

NigP I have hard wired my Autocom and fitted it on the bulkhead to the left of the fuse box. I used some self adhesive velcro pads to fix it and took the wires for the headsets (along with several others) along the bulkhead behind the gear lever. From there the headset wires are clipped to the edge of the leather cover on the transmission tunnel and sockets are located just in front of the handbrake. I have put a fuse in the supply wire and connected it to a spare terminal on the ignition switch which I suspect was probably for the radio in the original application (it comes on on the first turn i.e. before ignition). This facilitates listening to radio etc when stopped. I can take some pictures if you wish and e-mail to you if you let me have your e-mail address. Paul Richards Joint AO - L.A.D.S. (Lancashire and District Sevens) Growing old is compulsory - Growing up is optional

Not exactly Manchester, but probably nearest is John Noble Motorsport at Chesterfield - 01246 453867 Paul Richards Joint AO - L.A.D.S. (Lancashire and District Sevens) Growing old is compulsory - Growing up is optional

Why haven't we got a smilie thing for fingers crossed 🤔 🤔 🤔 Paul Richards Joint AO - L.A.D.S. (Lancashire and District Sevens) Growing old is compulsory - Growing up is optional

Paul Sorry to hear your problem still exists. You can borrow the battery off my 7 if you wish. It was new about 3 months ago. Let me know and I'll run it over. Paul Richards Joint AO - L.A.D.S. (Lancashire and District Sevens) Growing old is compulsory - Growing up is optional

Peter My tip would be to mount the magnet on the hub/disc (rather than wheel) - just below where the pads sweep the disc. You can then mount pick up on stub axle using cable tie. No problems then if you swap wheels around!! Paul Richards Joint AO - L.A.D.S. (Lancashire and District Sevens) Growing old is compulsory - Growing up is optional

Leaving car out overnight in rain - Remove bonnet - place plastic bag over heater inlet - replace bonnet and don't forget to remove following morning. Paul Richards Joint AO - L.A.D.S. (Lancashire and District Sevens) Growing old is compulsory - Growing up is optional

Clutch Cable AND Throttle cable. Paul Richards Joint AO - L.A.D.S. (Lancashire and District Sevens) Growing old is compulsory - Growing up is optional

Simple solution:- Undo the four bolts and withdraw the halfshaft and bearing. Probably best to jack up one side at a time to do this in order to stop oil pouring out of axle. Clean the bearing housing on the end of the axle and smear liberally with silicone. Replace halfshaft and tighten four bolts. Do same at other side. Job done. You should have no more problems. Paul Richards Joint AO - L.A.D.S. (Lancashire and District Sevens) Growing old is compulsory - Growing up is optional

Angus Yes a cracked distributor cap could well be the source of a miss fire. I had a similar problem some years ago. If you lift the bonnet when its damp weather and run the engine in the dark, you might see sparks tracking across the cap. As Nick says, it's probably a relatively cheap part and worth changing if only to eliminate a potential problem. Paul Richards Joint AO - L.A.D.S. (Lancashire and District Sevens)

Nick Why include switch? Good question. I was mainly thinking about wiring outside of the ignition so that I could listen to music, use phone without ignition on and I'm thinking that there are times when I might then leave headsets connected (when its parked within a secure area). On the other hand I guess there must be an 'auxilliary position on ignition I could use. Paul Richards Joint AO - L.A.D.S. (Lancashire and District Sevens)

Guys Thanks for your replies. I'm going to hard wire the unit in and it's interesting to note that I may be able to use the longer lead for driver in this case. I'm fitting so many bits that I want to leave it all (unit and wiring) permanently in the car. I am assuming that 3M DualLock is velcro with a sticky back. It seems like a good idea. Now where to get some? Incidentally, I'm assuming that it should be hard wired through ignition (I will be using an in line fuse), but is there any benefit to having a separate switch in the circuit to switch off when on a short journey and not in use? Paul Richards Joint AO - L.A.D.S. (Lancashire and District Sevens)

YHM. Paul Richards Joint AO - L.A.D.S. (Lancashire and District Sevens)

Just received my Autocom (another 2 weeks and I could have benefitted from bulk buy!!!! ☹️ Doh!!) My question is:- Where is the best place to position it and what is the best method of fixing. I've considered under the driver seat and under the dash, but space is limited (especially when you have as many wires coming from it as I have). Favourite is looking like boot, as it is as far from engine and hence less likelihood of interfrence and seems easiest to run shorter master headset cable to driver. Hoping that all cable will go down transmission tunnel with headphone sockets popping out near gearlever. Any recommendations before I start ripping out the interior? Paul Richards Joint AO - L.A.D.S. (Lancashire and District Sevens)

Diff change. De dion or live axle? Ford or Ital? If you're contemplating swapping the diff yourself and its a Ford live axle, I have a slide hammer you can borrow. Echo Simons remarks and confirm John Nobles are good and Caterham approved. Paul Richards Joint AO - L.A.D.S. (Lancashire and District Sevens) Edited by - Paul Richards on 12 Jan 2004 12:38:07

See 7FAQ (access from home page) for instructions on cure. Paul Richards Joint AO - L.A.D.S. (Lancashire and District Sevens)

If it's a De Dion, there will probably be bolts which attach from under the wheel arch up into the bar. To access them you need to remove the shock absorbers.

Justin Thanks for your suggestions. When I examined the calipers I did check all the things you suggest and they are all free. I haven't checked the rear brakes, but I am pretty sure the problem doesn't lie here. I rebuilt all the rear end last year and replaced the rigid brake pipe with Goodridge flexible hose - I've never been too keen on the fixed pipe from the day I built it. The thought of a fixed pipe and the movement required by the caliper seems a bad idea to me. On reflection, perhaps the improved rear brakes have highlighted the problem? I thank you for your comment :- If kept in good working order there is absolutely no reason why you should need to upgrade the front calipers. I agree. All Thanks for all your comments. I plan to try 1144s (or even EBC greenstuff) on the front which seems to have improved things for a number of you. It's interesting to note that I'm not on my own with this problem. I'm not keen on fitting a brake bias valve, as I agree with the comment that the problem is being masked - All you are doing is reducing the efficiency of the rear brakes to match poor front ones. I wonder whether a change of disks might be of assistance? Paul Richards Joint AO - L.A.D.S. (Lancashire and District Sevens) Edited by - Paul Richards on 16 Nov 2003 18:11:54

Thanks for all your replies - I'm underwhelmed. Someone has suggested Mintex 1144 pads for the front. Any comments? Paul Richards Joint AO - L.A.D.S. (Lancashire and District Sevens)

My front brakes are less effective than they were. Since the car was new, the brakes have always required a firm push, but I always put this down to the lack of servo, which I am used to on the tin top. In the last few months they appear to have become less effective and I worry that under hard braking I'm going to get rear lock up which will make the car unstable. I examined the front brakes and calipers appear to be free and I replaced the pads (Mintex MGB533 - standard fitment), thinking that they were glazed. Little or no improvement. I plan to bleed the brakes, but suspect this will have little effect as the pedal is quite firm and not spongy. What is the solution other than uprating the front brakes (reluctant to spend £500 or so). I'm sure even the standard brakes should be better than this, it's a very light car after all. Any suggestions appreciated. Paul Richards Joint AO - L.A.D.S. (Lancashire and District Sevens) Edited by - Paul Richards on 14 Nov 2003 13:27:16 Edited by - Paul Richards on 14 Nov 2003 13:31:24