Shaun_E

There has been considerable discussion on this issue - search the archives and you'll find several threads. I believe (others have argued that I am wrong) that for MOT (not SVA) you can legally pass without a side repeater. The relevant words are on this page and the particular section I refer to is:

Lamps incorporating a side repeater are marked either with an 'E' mark in a circle or an 'e' mark in a rectangle above which is a number 5. Some vehicles are fitted with a wraparound lens with no European approval markings. These can be tested by standing approximately 1000mm to the side of the vehicles rear bumper with indicator on. If amber light can be seen coming through the front lens (not a reflection) this is acceptable.

My MOT tester quoted this to me when I passed last time and he did the "standing at the back of the car" check and was happy that he could see the light.

Yellow SL #32

Hi Oliver - Superlights have widetrack

Super7 - I can see the point in wanting a tidier set up - I have just put my old Bilsteins (and old springs) back on my nice shiny refurbished chassis and they do look a bit tatty ☹️. My point was that if you want to play with the adjustments then only being able to do the front would be a bit of a compromise - if you plan to replace the rears as well sometime soon then it's probably OK.

From what I've read it seems the AVOs are a lesser quality damper compared with the standard Bilsteins so the advantage really is only in the adjustability. If that adjustability is what you want then go for it but, if you want fit and forget then new Bilsteins might be the solution.

I know it isnt waht you'd want to hear but why not raise the ride height a bit?

I have a Superlight running (AFAIK) the standard springs but with a green (18mm) anti-rollbar which is the stiffest available. The car is a real handful on bumpy roads (improved with a bit of toe in) and I will be replacing the anti-rollbar with an adjustable one during my rebuild. Whilst stiffening the front up might avoid bashing the sump, it may want to spit you off through a hedge on those same rural roads .

Yellow SL #32

300lb sounds mighty stiff for a K series car. Have a search through the archives for recommended spring rates. Caterham's upgrade packages have a maximum of 250lb for extreme road/track /race.

Why do you want AVO dampers - if it's for adjustability then if you can't adjust the rear as well then you are going to be limited in what you can achieve.

Yellow SL #32

Caterham service schedule is every 2 years which seems about right. However it would do no harm to change more frequently especially if you do a number of trackdays.

Yellow SL #32

This looks like a bit of a minefield. It seems that motorbikes are exempt from emissions testing and therefore the Hayabusa engine is unlikely to meet the emissions requirements for a car. The car MOT testing information is here and you would almost certainly need a catalyst to meet those limits - SVA could be stricter. Using a programmable ECU is not going to reduce some of the gas levels that a catalyst is desgined to remove.

How old is the engine? This may have an impact on the emissions you need to meet.

You could try contacting Westfield - they must have considerable experience with SVA for busa powered cars. I can't hink of anyone who has road registered a Catheram with a busa motor - they all seem to be track only cars but I could be wrong there.

Yellow SL #32

Edited by - Shaun_E on 19 Jan 2005 08:33:41

Is your car kit built or factory built? If it was kit built then you can bin the cat as for MOT emissions purposes your car will be considered as first used before 1975. See here.

Yellow SL #32

What task are you trying to do. The only thing I can think of is that you are removing the A-Frame. In that case I don't think you can support the car on the de-dion as it will move as soon as you remove the bolts - the de-dion will try to rotate although the damper bolts will try to resist that motion. My suggestion is to get a length of wood - fence post or similar as it needs to be pretty stiff and run that underneath the chassis as far back as you can - support the wood with your axle stands but make sure that the wood is firmly positioned on them.

For my rebuild I made a couple of dollies out of 4" square fence post and some castors and these worked fine.

You can actually remove the A-Frame bolts with the axle stands in place - it's just a bit awkward.

Edited to say - all this assumes that your normal position for axle stands is where the front of the A-Frame bolts to the chassis.

Yellow SL #32

Edited by - Shaun_E on 17 Jan 2005 16:06:06

I've got a pair of chrome 7" headlights for sale. These are the current type which take an H4 bulb - you could then use the Phillips bulbs you have.

The headlights are in reasonable condition but there is some rust around the bottom where they mount to the support. The lens and reflector are in good condition. I was looking for around £25 for them.

I notice you are in Bucks - I live in Slough so you could collect them or I can bring them to Penn Sevens a week on Saturday.

Shaun

Yellow SL #32

Little things I am doing as part of my rebuild:

1. Power socket in boot for bullet cam

2. Power socket and cigar lighter socket in or under dash

3. Dinitrol in all the corrosion traps - Bruce at Arch left the interior panels unrivetted so I can get the stuff in that gap too

4. Dry sump - oh thats not a little thing

5. New rear brake pads and clean and paint calipers

6. Powder coat eveything - all panels except rear panel have been done (Arch said it doesn't work well on the back panel due to the curevature and flexing of the panel in use).

7. Replace fog and reversing light as they have gone a bit grey

8. Replace all dash switches as they have faded badly as well

9. New rear wings - in c/f of course 😬

10. New c/f dash as current one is looking tatty - some of the rivet holes have split through to the edge ☹️

11. Steve Foster ali rear light blocks to replace the lumps of rubber.

12. 5 3/4" headlights

13. Black pack

14. New wipers as old ones a bit tatty

Yellow SL #32

7FAQ has some advice.

Yellow SL #32

Caterham sell both: the diff oil is EP90 and the gearbox oil is GL4 (manual says DON'T use GL5). Phil at Road and Race Transmissions recommends Redline MTL for the 6 speed box - don't know whether it is appropriate for the 5 speed. I've just put Caterham branded stuff in the diff and will be putting Redline in my 6 speed.

Yellow SL #32

You won't need a spring compressor. Just jack the car up and then undo the bottom damper mount - it's an allen bolt, can't remember the size but it is imperial. - and move the damper out of the way. That should give you enough room to undo the bolt holding the wing stay although I can't picture it in my mind so not entirely sure what else that affects.

Yellow SL #32

There was a recent thread on this here. I bought a Black and Decker one for about £40 after returning the cheap and nasty Halfords one that broke the first time I used it. Seems pretty well built but I haven't really used it in anger.

Yellow SL #32

Graham - YHM

Yellow SL #32

Most people are extremely happy with the Halfords Professional range - I received a 3/8" and 1/4" drive set with some ratchet spanners as a Christmas present and am very pleased. During my rebuild I have been buying Halfords Pro stuff when required. They have a lifetime guarantee as well so should anything break you get it replaced for free.

For a K-series car you will need a full set of metric and imperial sockets and spanners. Basically everything related to the chassis is imperial and all the engine stuff is metric. No idea what the Xflow and VX engines use.

Something like this should get you going - you'd need to add a set of imperial combination spanners to this.

You'll need metric and imperial allen keys. I have bought 1/2" drive allen keys as well - makes it a lot easier if you can use a ratchet. 1/2" drive might be overkill though and you can get them in 3/8" drive too.

A few decent screwdrivers including stubbies, a couple of pairs of pliers plus circlip pliers should complete the collection.

Yellow SL #32

Thanks guys. I'll wait for BB's response and if he doesn't want it then Adam - it's yours.

Yellow SL #32

I've got a yellow one with no cut-outs. It is the 7 louvred one - i.e. for car with a heater. It has a very slight dent half way down on LHS which could easily be removed, expecially if you are going to paint it. £40 seems to be the accepted price for s/h bonnets going by previous sales so £35 and it's yours.

I also have the scuttle top but not the vertical part where the electrics go. Is in reasonable condition - has wiper holes and a small hole where the shift lights were connected. Yours for an NTL donation if it's any use to you.

I live and work in Slough so don't know how convenient that is for you - it would be a bit difficult to post it.

Yellow SL #32

For Sale: chrome headlights, sill protectors

Quick reply from Caterham is to put a bolt in it using copper washers to ensure a good seal.

Yellow SL #32

For Sale: chrome headlights, sill protectors

Wide variety of opinion then 😳. I have read through some of Peter's posts on this and has given me food for thought.

The car is running with the standard single throttle body/plenum setup and there is a tube from cam cover to plenum as well, so there is already a filtered source of air for the top of the engine. I wasn't clear from Peter's writings what happened to this as I presume his car runs separate throttle bodies.

I'll re-read Peter's posts and have also contacted Caterham for their view.

Yellow SL #32

For Sale: chrome headlights, sill protectors

The following should help:

1. Remove boot floor - usually self tappers for the plywood bit and then the rest of it lifts out

2. Drain tank - use one of those syphon devices that you can get at kit/classic car shows or your local motor factor

3. Disconnect fuel line from fuel filter (usually bolted to the back of the rear bulk head). Disconnect fuel return.

4. I removed the fuel pump (3 or 4 screws on side of tank) but you might not need to do this

5. Remove filler cap and unbolt filler neck from rear skin - can't remember this bit exactly but it was straightforward. Remove the breather pipes if necessary.

6. Undo tank retaining bolts - 2 very long bolts that hold a piece of angle iron to the forward top edge of the tank

7. If you have a std rollbar then probably easiest to remove that. With FIA bar it's too difficult so you'll have to work around it

8. Jack rear of car up

9. Drop passenger side of petrol tank down towards the ground and then lift tank up through gap in middle of roll bar - it requires a bit of jiggling around but it's the dropping of the tank down that enables you to get it out the top.

N.B. this is for a K-series (i.e. fuel injection) may be different for carb set up.

Yellow SL #32

For Sale: chrome headlights, sill protectors

Edited by - Shaun_E on 5 Jan 2005 08:52:09

Steve,

I have a pair - complete with blades - you can have for a donation to NTL. They are black but one has a small chip in it. Mail me your address and I'll stick them in the post - unless you're passing Slough again any time soon in which case you can pick them up from my work as with the windscreen.

Shaun

Yellow SL #32

For Sale: chrome headlights, sill protectors

Having bought a dry sump system I have removed (and sold) the Apollo tank. This leaves a hole in the cam cover where the breather from the top of the Apollo was connected. What is the best way to fill this hole? Is it worth fitting a breather filter to it or should I just block it up completely?

Yellow SL #32

For Sale: chrome headlights, sill protectors

Where is the best place to take the power from? I want to make a similar outlet for say 1 cigar lighter and a couple of power sockets and also run a connection to the boot for a couple of power sockets (to run a bullet cam of course). Is it best to take the feed direct from the battery (fused of course) or is there another place to take power from? Should each socket be individually fused or will one fuse suffice for the whole lot? As well as the bullet cam I want to power my Autocom and at some point may want to power a portable SatNav or speed camera detector.

Are the outlets you have hidden under the dash and if so was there a reason for that? I was thinking of actually having the sockets mounted in the dash. Would need some kind of cover for them but I have seen cigar lighters with a cover.

Yellow SL #32

For Sale: chrome headlights, sill protectors

Bookmarked as one of my favourites: http://www.chris-longhurst.com/carbibles/index.html?menu.html&tyre_bible.html.

Yellow SL #32

For Sale: chrome headlights, sill protectors

One thing to bear in mind is that aluminium needs to be etched before being painted. Failure to do this will result in a flaky paint job. Whilst I am sure that most reputable painters would know this, if they've never painted an aluminium car before they might not!

Yellow SL #32

For Sale: chrome headlights, sill protectors