Shaun_E

Jase,

Cheers - perhaps you could drop it in there on your way back from helping me get it out of the car .

Big stripdown starts a week on Friday . I'll be at Penn on Saturday for the car's last outing of the year.

Shaun

Yellow SL #32

Any recommendations as to where to take my Caterham 6 speed box for a check-up/refresh. I'm stripping the car over the winter and while the gearbox is out it makes sense to get it looked at.

I'd prefer somewhere reasonably local (I'm in Slough) but will travel to get a good job done.

Yellow SL #32

Stephen - 21s are very good in the wet - they were designed as a race wet.

Yellow SL #32

Ralph,

Having difficulty picturing exactly where you mean but if bumps are appearing in the aluminium then unless there are rivets behind there then it could well be corrosion. On my car the paint is bubbling along the lower side panel. If I understand your description then yours is like that on the inside.

Sorry can't offer any further guidance on that.

Shaun

Yellow SL #32

Crany, Peter is taking the P*ss a little . However I'm sure that peak power is some way above 6000rpm. I have my shift lights set at over 7000 and regularly use the full revs available - there is definitely more urge over 6000 so I recommend trying it (after you have got the oil up to temperature of course ). One thing to watch is that you don't over-rev it - very easy in first and second. According to my Stack tell-tale I have seen 7800 😳

With regards to your oil pressure:

1. Check or replace the sensor as this is the most common casue of problems

2. Rattling at the top end could be the hydraulic tappets and this could be caused by air in the oil - an Apollo tank would help solve that. Also don't overfill with oil as that creates more windage in the sump and will make the aeration of the oil worse.

3. If you really are losing oil pressure then you need to get it seen to. Checking the state of the foam baffle in the sump would be a good thing to do and also low cost to replace.

If none of the above solve the problem then I guess you'll need a professional to look at it.

Yellow SL #32

Your biggest enemy in the UK is winter salting of the roads so you need to do something if you plan to drive your car all year round. Corrosion is only going to set in where the powder coat gets damaged so as long as you check regularly for damage and touch up with something like POR-15 (or Hammerite as a last resort) then you shouldn't have any problems. One of the worst likley areas is the lower chassis rail between the footwells and the sideskins - this is a trap for all the cr*p from the road and is the first area most sevens start to rust. Clean this area out regularly and use Dinitrol/Waxoyl to protect it. Other areas to watch are front wishbones and chassis rails that can get damaged by stones and also some of the rear cross members - check them regularly and touch up when they chip.

Allegedly, the powder coat process was changed around 1996/97 and cars from this era are prone to the powder coat flaking off (as my own 1997 car ably demonstrates). My car is having a chassis up rebuild this year to take care of the problem and I will be using Dinitrol to protect it where necessary.

Yellow SL #32

If you have a normal Caterham fuel tank then you should be able to use the standard Caterham fuel sender unit - don't think there is a specific Stack one but if there is then they can supply that too. The Stack can be calibrated using up to 10 measurement points so you empty the tank and fill with measured quantities of fuel, recording each volume on the Stack. It should be pretty accurate. Mine always has been although recently the whole range seems to have shifted such that it underreads across the whole range - guess its time to re-calibrate.

Yellow SL #32

Eric's assessment is not bad although perhaps a little extreme regarding A032R as plenty of people do use them - you just need to be a bit more careful in the wet. You also now have the A048R - I switched to these from A021R (a good all round choice) and am very pleased as they are better than the A021R in the dry and almost as good in the wet. You will only get a few thousand road miles from the sticky Yokohama tyres (A0xxR) as they are pretty soft (some more so than others) but they do offer great grip and are good value compared with Avon CR500's. Caterham recommend the CR500 and they are much lighter than the Yokohamas.

Seems that Bridgestone RE720 and Yokohama A539 will last well over 10,000 miles and possibly more, so they are good value but don't offer the extreme levels of grip that you get from the track tyres.

Yellow SL #32

Try reading this thread here.

Yellow SL #32

Update on my car. Went round to Oliver's and using his set up measured the bump steer and calculated that it was actually not far out. We shimmed the steering rack by about 1.5mm as that was all that was required. Checked the toe in and found the wheels to be just about parallel. We made a half turn adjustment to the track rods to give a very slight toe in.

The results: the car is transformed and on bumpy B roads no longer makes a bee line for the hedge. I am much more confident in where the car is going and B road speed is now much higher.

For information, the rear springs are not progressive so I don't know what spring rate they are (or the fronts). The front anti-roll bar has green bushes so is probably the 18mm one and it is pretty chunky. I may well go the freestyle route and get their adjustable one. Didn't check the rear ARB settings so will do that later.

Thanks for everyone's input and especially to Oliver for giving up his afternoon to help me.

Shaun

Yellow SL #32

Don't think you'll find a car with cycle wings at that price - you'll be looking at a 1980's car and flares were the standard fitment back then. It's only in the last few years that fashion has returned to cycle wings. You might be lucky and find one that has been converted but if someone has gone to that trouble then they will probably have done a load of other work on it and are unlikely to be selling at such a low price.

Yellow SL #32

Steve,

Thanks for that information. I'll check that stuff this week and report back on what I have. I never really took much notice of the suspension until the change to A048Rs when the ride took a turn for the worse.

Nigel - I'm pretty sure the wheel bearings are OK as I have checked and tightened the fronts recently. Will check them again.

Oliver - YHM and I'll get in touch later this week.

Thanks folks and keep 'em coming. I've learned a lot on this thread already.

Shaun

Yellow SL #32

Whereabouts are SPC and Road&Race? My engine and 6 speed box are coming out of the car this winter and I would like to get thebox checked while it's out.

Yellow SL #32

Found this by searching

Bar..........Colour....Stiffness

3/8 inch...orange....0.33

1/2 inch...blue........1

5/8 inch...red.........2.5

18 mm....green......4

19 mm....purple.....5

Now just need to check which one I have.

Next step - identify spring rate. Anyone got any ideas on this?

Yellow SL #32

Edited by - Shaun_E on 13 Aug 2004 14:04:03

Richard,

I suspect you are right. My car corners very flat and on a smooth road/track generates a huge amount of grip. I just wish I knew exactly what was on the car so that I know where I am starting from. I don't suppose there is an easy identification method for springs, anti-rollbars, etc., especially as mine are "well used" and a bit grimy.

If there is anything left in the budget after my rebuild then I will take a trip to Freestyle.

Shaun

Yellow SL #32

Edited by - Shaun_E on 13 Aug 2004 13:23:43

Franky,

That could have an impact too. When I had the 48s fitted they were at over 20psi cold so I dropped them to my usual 17/18 (had AO21Rs previously). I'll refine those pressures a bit and aim closer to 20 hot.

Thanks,

Shaun

Yellow SL #32

Steve - thanks, that's just the sort of advice I was looking for. I'll get that done.

It is possible that the car has stiffer springs than standard - I have little information on what's been done to it but as it's had several modifications by the last but one owner (Stack, removal of spare wheel, etc.) then it is quite likely that springs,anti-rollbars, etc. have been changed.

After my winter rebuild I'll be getting it flat-floored so will get more advice then but in the mean time any suggestions for easy (low cost) adjustments would be appreciated.

Yellow SL #32

Replying to a thread in chit chat got me thinking...my Superlight is a real handful on bumpy roads such that I have to back off (somtimes to well below the NSL) to avoid being thrown into the hedge.

I guess the suspension is track biased but do other SL owners suffer the same thing? It's worse since I replaced the AO21Rs with A048Rs.

Does this sound like something which could be sorted with a bit of fettling from the likes of Freestyle or is there a more fundamental problem? Would resolving the problem likley decrease track performance or should I be able to get a better compromise? I really don't want to soften the car too much but if I could get a better road ride without sacrificing track handling then I'd be very happy. I am doing a full rebuild over the winter so that is my opportunity to change the suspension if necessary. I have no idea what the current setup is but assume it is the standard Superlight setup from 1997.

Shaun

Yellow SL #32

Edited by - Shaun_E on 21 Aug 2004 19:36:26

just some thoughts:

Is the wheel bearing seated properly? It is pretty unlikely that your discs have warped (read this for some background). You can check the run out on the discs as it is not impossible for them to warp but it would likely be due to wear or material failure rather than heat. I'd also get the wheel balanced - you might have lost a weight.

All IMHO - I haven't changed a bearing before but in reading the instructions when I was going to do one of mine, it seems you could potentially not get it seated perfectly straight.

Yellow SL #32

Lionel,

Did you get those changes as part of the K05 kit or were they at additional cost?

Shaun

Yellow SL #32

Caterham do the basic conversion as I listed above at the factory. The cost is somewhere between £3k and £4k depending on whether you already have Supersport Cams and and if you already have 1.8 rather than 1.6.

You can get similar power from DVA for about £2k but without the conversion to 1.8 and using Jenvey DTH throttle bodies rather than the more expensive roller barrels. For the same money as the Supersport R you could get DVA's K05 spec engine with headwork, DTHTB's, cams, Emerald ECU and verniers giving you about 175bhp (1.6) or 185bhp(1.8).

Do a search for the pros and cons of going factory or 3rd party. (Bottom line is it might be harder to sell a DVA powered car especially via Caterham or to a novice owner.)

Yellow SL #32

Uses SuperSport cams.

from the Caterham website, conversion is:

Supersport-R (1.6 & 1.8 std EU2 & EU3 only)

The Caterham R300 engine uses the roller-barrel induction system of the R500 engine to produce 160bhp. Work on the R300 engine has enabled us to carry this back to the standard 1.6 and 1.8 engines. 1.6 capacity units first have to be converted to 1.8, by entirely stripping the engine, replacing the crankshaft complete with bearings, cylinder liners, pistons and con-rods. For all conversions, the head is removed and modified with the compression ratio raised and the inlet ports matched to the roller barrels. The Supersport profile camshafts are used, if not already fitted. Outside the engine, the obvious difference is the roller-barrel induction system. On the standard engine, a single throttle body controls the flow of air into a common plenum chamber from where it is drawn into the engine. The roller-barrels have individual throttles for each combustion chamber, drawing air through inlet ducts designed for maximum performance. The roller-barrel design allows for a completely smooth, uninterrupted airflow into the combustion chamber on wide-open throttle. This system is controlled with a special engine management system (ECU).

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Yellow SL #32

I second the electrical tape idea. I used the Halfords items the first time but the stickers are very thick and don't follow the curve of the headlight very well. The part of the lens you need to cover is very obvious - like a triangle with the end cut off on the left of the lens (as you look at it). Just cover that area with insulating tape - don't use gaffer tape as I did as it will take weeks for you to get the glue off .

Yellow SL #32

Thanks Peter - I'll carry on using the Halfords stuff then.

Yellow SL #32

Fascinating thread and I've learned more about oil than I thought possible.

Question: Is the Halfords own brand 5W40 (labelled synthetic) really a proper synthetic oil? (Sorry I don't have a datasheet for it)

Everything I've read on this thread and the other one suggests that at the price, it may not be a true synthetic (PAO or Ester based). Whilst it has an ACEA A3/B3 rating, is that good enough to assume that it will not breakdown quickly - i.e. is it suitable for a frequently stressed engine such as a regularly tracked K?

N.B. I have a Laminova fitted and that keeps the oil temperatures below 100 deg.C most of the time.

Yellow SL #32