Shaun_E

I had the same issue when re-fitting mine and I just left it at the far back position and tightened the retaining straps - hasn't moved even after a day at Cadwell. I think people put some rubber between the tank and the L shaped rails and the friction is enough to hold the tank in a more forward position. Can't see how it makes much difference but would be interested in hearing other peoples experiences.

Yellow SL #32

So the consensus is that I don't need the Laminova for cooling but I might want to consider it for warming the oil from a cold start?

I don't seem to have that much of an issue with the time it takes the oil to warm so I think I'll put it up for sale - I've had enough of playing mechanic and just want to drive the car 😬. Still got a couple of things to do before I can say the rebuild is complete but I'm nearly there.

Yellow SL #32

Before I put my Laminova up for sale, has anyone who runs a Caterham dry sump set up (K-series) needed any form of oil cooling?

I had the Laminova fitted plus Apollo before I bought the dry sump setup as I had experienced high oil temperatures on track. I didn't fit the Laminova with the dry sump and to date have had no oil temperature issues.

The car is a 1.6 supersport and is used for road and a handful of trackdays a year. I don't really want to fit the Laminova if it isn't necessary but don't want to sell it if I might need it in the future.

Yellow SL #32

Perfect - I'll file the dome off.

Dave - its an old car (1997) so no SVA worries. Was also going to use the old screens as a template so ideally need all the hinges to match. Thanks for your suggestions.

Yellow SL #32

Just got some new sidescreens as the metal frame had come throught the vinyl on my old ones. I ordered all new fixings as well since they don't cost much and the old ones are a bit scruffy, but the new hinges have a slight dome on one end. This dome will obviously not fit flush on the hinge attached to the windscreen so the hinge can really only go one way up. If that is the case then surely there shoud be RH hinges and LH hinges. I have 8 identical hinges and thing there should be 4 LH and 4 RH. Am I just going mad?

Yellow SL #32

If you can't find a paper one then there is an online one here.

Yellow SL #32

Oil temperature of 95 degrees is nothing to worry about nor in fact is water temperature that high anything to be concerned about.

I run a Stack dash and the senders are supposedly more accurate than the Caterham ones and the Caterham fan switch (another unreliable piece of kit) doesn't operate the fan until my water temp reaches nearly 100 - the fan quickly brings temperatures back down to below 90. If your fan switch isn't cutting in then get a new one - £10 from Caterham or, I think, VW.

On trackdays I had temperatures of 130 (oil) and 105 (water) and at that point decided to invest in a better radiator and a Laminova oil cooler (uses coolant system to cool oil). After that my track day temperatures were more normal with both oil and water staying below 100 degrees.

Yellow SL #32

Thats a good price fitted if it includes VAT. BookaTrack has a BuyaTyre service which quotes the same price. Polleys are good if you can fit yourself or have a local tyre place that will fit for "beer money" otherwise you could end up paying more. The first time I got tyres delivered it ended up costing me £15 a corner to have them fitted as no where else locally would fit tyres they hadn't supplied. Last time I used BookaTrack and they fitted at a track day for me.

Yellow SL #32

No difference between 1600 and 1800.

Radiator bottom hose is different between wet and dry sump. The dry sump one is taller to allow the "submarine" pipe to clear the scavenge pump.

The full DS setup includes about 7 hoses some of which go around the back of the engine and include a heater by-pass. I have just used lengths of straight silicone hose to connect my heater up.

Caterham sell all these hoses separately as well as the 3 hose kit on the web site.

Yellow SL #32

I have a pair of used ones - the old style from a 1997 car. Not perfect but work OK. If you want a photo I can take one this evening.

£10 inc postage.

Yellow SL #32

Its a 53034 see here.

I swapped mine for a Red Top 15 as suggested by Steve above and it seems to be well up to the job so far.

Yellow SL #32

Should work - you will need a very small set screw to attach the popper to the rivnut - look at the boot tonneau mountings along the rear bulkhead for an example.

Yellow SL #32

Caterham sell the Supersport R upgrade which is 160bhp.

DVA Power sells his K03 kit for about 160bhp

Hellier Performance will upgrade your engine to that or more.

If you search this site thoroughly you'll find 100 ways to do this but the above are the well known suppliers with proven results - there are plenty of others as well that are less talked about.

If you ever want to sell the car through Caterham then you'll have to stick with their upgrade but if you don't care about that or are going to keep the car forvever then the other routes are probably more cost effective.

Yellow SL #32

The one bolted to the engine block is indeed a standard Rover part and from your standard Rover dealer will cost you an amazing 60 standard UK pounds . About one hour after I had purchased mine someone directed me to here where it is half the price. I have no idea how good Elise Parts are wrt delivery etc. but if you aren't in a hurry (I was) then shouldn't be an issue.

Yellow SL #32

Paul - YHM too.

Yellow SL #32

Paul - thinking about it - the Radtec top inlet is fairly close to the edge of the radiator but it is angled in towards the centre of the car. If you want I can take a picture when I get home and mail to you - drop me a line through my profile if you would like me to do that.

Yellow SL #32

Just go for it - if you get stuck post here and you'll normally get a good response.

I bought my Caterham 2nd hand nearly 3 years ago and this winter I just stripped it to a bare chassis and rebuilt it - you soon work out what goes where 😬. My main advice would be to take lots of pictures before and during any dismantling process and to label everything you remove (I stuck masking tape to everything and wrote on that). Read the manual first so that you understand how the bit you are working on fits back together. I learned the hard way that when there were multiple washers between a bush and a bracket it was for a very good reason and you should put the same number of washers back in the same place 😳.

My only help was Techtalk, a copy of the online build manual (do a search on here for the url) and a couple of good friends who provided the 2nd pair of hands when needed.

Yellow SL #32

1. Closely but not exactly - top one is at a slightly different angle and this could cause slight issues if you have your Laminova in the top hose. I have now ditched the Laminova having gone dry sump and a standard Caterham top hose fits fine. When I originally fitted my Laminova I cut the top hose but the angles and position of the Laminova casued me no end of grief and I ended up junking half the silicon hose and using the old bottom hose instead - not what I had in mind.

2. Same as standard Caterham

3. Same as standard Caterham

4. Same as standard Caterham

In the above I am assuming that the triple pass has all the same fittings as a standard rad - if this is not the case then you may have problems.

Yellow SL #32

You could also use 2.1mm or 2.5mm DC power plugs and sockets - a lot less bulky than a cigarette lighter. See here and here.

I've used a few of these to provide power under the dash and in the boot for bullet cam and Autocom.

Yellow SL #32

Edited by - Shaun_E on 5 May 2005 16:33:12

Why not put the piggy back popper on the tonneau instead? I think that is actually the normal arrangement.

If you want to take off the popper you just fitted, you'll need to either drill it or use brute force - the popper will of course then be unusable.

Yellow SL #32

I wouldn't recommend putting the hood bag on top of the boot bag - visibility will be severely restricted. When the boot bag is on I put the hood bag the other side of the roll bar (i.e. the cockpit side) but you can only really do that if you don't have the seats all the way back.

Yellow SL #32

I would recommend going the powder coat route but if you want to paint them yourself then Halfords sell everything you need. Clean the old paint off with a drill/wirebrush or sand to a good finish. If there is significant rust then you'll need to treat with Cure-rust or similar. You need to sand again to get a decent finish. Now spray with Halfords zinc primer - a couple of coats does the job. For a really good finish allow 24 hours and then lightly sand with fine (1200 grit) sandpaper. Finally a couple of coats of Halfords satin black paint - the satin black is a very good match to rest of the powder coated bits on a Seven.

Yellow SL #32

Jan - When tyres come out of the mould they have the remains of the release agent on them. This can make them a bit slippy for the first 100 miles or so. Your 150 mile drive should get rid of the release agent and if it doesn't a couple of laps of the circuit should finish the job. Just take it easy for the first few laps until you are happy with the grip from the tyres.

Yellow SL #32

John - yes they only do 13" and 14". I'll be quiet now 😳.

Yellow SL #32

Paul D Jones who posts on here has made them - see his web page here.

Yellow SL #32

Edited by - Shaun_E on 26 Apr 2005 08:31:38