Shaun_E

See here fro some words by Simon Lambert (Caterham aftersales manager).

Yellow SL #32

Have a look here. Shows what Caterham do for each service.

6 months after buying my car and prior to doing any trackday's I had Caterham do the 24k mile service just to be sure that everything was up to scratch. To me one of the key things is that they replace the brake fluid and flexible hoses.

Yellow SL #32

There is no padding on the Tillett's and they will not absorb water - you just have to wipe the water off before sitting down ❗ You can buy pads from Oxted trimming which make them a bit warmer to sit in - these are leather and so I guess are not totally waterproof but will withstand a light shower.

Yellow SL #32

Good point about harnesses - without them you'll have a hard time controlling the car as you'll be moving around in the seat too much.

Also seriously consider the FIA bar as the standard Caterham bar isn't going to help much in the (admittedly unlikely) event of a roll over.

A021Rs would be a good choice although they will tend to overheat on a warm, dry track. Great road tyres and good in the wet.

Yellow SL #32

Answers here.

You do it with the engine warm and running.

Yellow SL #32

3.5% CO is the pre-catalyst limit according to here, therefore your car should be able to pass without a cat if indeed that is the correct test for it.

I found this on the web which explains what the emissions test are for different ages of vehicle:

First used before 1/8/1975 - Visual test only. Failure for excess idle speed, dense blue or black smoke for 5 seconds at idle or during acceleration up to 2500rpm or half engine max speed whichever lowest.

First used between 1/8/75 and 31/7/86 - meter test CO

You then need to work out your first used date. Kit built cars prior to introduction of SVA (1998) and all Q plate cars are treated as first used before 1975 and therefore only a visibile smoke test is required. Factory built cars will either be treated as first used when they were built or first used when the engine was built - the MOT tester will be able to determine this from the VIN number.

A factory built Superlight will almost certainly need to pass the advanced emissions test and that would probably not be achievable without a catalyst unless you had an extremely well tuned engine. The limits for the car/engine will be defined in the testers manual (I can't find this detail on the web).

There is also some detail on 7 FAQ.

Edited to add this link which seems to explain things fairly clearly.

Yellow SL #32

Edited by - Shaun_E on 23 Jul 2004 09:10:31

I always have oil temp and oil pressure displayed except when stuck in traffic and then I go for water temp and oil pressure. You can't alter the standard display options as far as I know.

Yellow SL #32

I was browsing the SVC site this morning and they do an adjustable fan switch. It's a top hose mounting so I don't know how easy that would be to fit. Have a look here.

Yellow SL #32

Edited by - Shaun_E on 12 Jul 2004 13:10:00

OK I give up - Peter can obviously type quicker than I can 😬. It was after discussions with Peter at a get to know your seven day that I plumped for the Radtec radiator rather than the triple pass job from Caterham.

Yellow SL #32

Tom - theory is that the water pipes in the radiator are of a smaller diameter and therefore the flow rate through them is less than with a standard rad. This would seem to be borne out by Den's experience above with the temperature rising quickly in traffic. The radiator is designed for racing so car is always moving therefore not normally a problem.

Please don't take this as gospel though as I've never actually cut up said radiator to measure the dimensions.

Yellow SL #32

Den,

The thermostat and the fan switch are 2 different things. You can get a lower temp thermostat but I can't see that making much difference in traffic. Some people advocate running a lower thermostat temperature but personally I don't see the point - it won't enable you to lose any more heat - it just starts the heat loss process at a lower temperature (and not the designed running temperature of the engine).

AFAIK the fan switch is only available with one temperature setting.

The temperatures you quote above are quite normal and as long as the temperature comes down easily when the fan cuts in, there shouldn't be an issue.

If you are worried, the simple solution is to put in a fan override switch that you flick on as soon as you get into traffic.

Yellow SL #32

Get them from DVA (oilyhands who replied to your post on techtalk) here.

Yellow SL #32

I have edited my post above to remove the obviously incorrect view that an LSD would not necessarily make the back end easier to catch. I thought I had read this in previous threads and a quick search revealed that some people thought that an LSD could result in quicker transition to oversteer and tricky handling if wheels were on different surfaces (e.g. wet leaves, ice, etc.). I think that the upshot is it would be "different" and at the limit this could cause you a problem.

Yellow SL #32

Zak,

A flat floor set up with someone like Freestyle will tune the car to your tastes better than fitting an LSD. If however you do lots of trackdays then an LSD is a worthwhile investment.

Shaun

Edited to remove the obviously incorrect view that an LSD would not necessarily make the back end easier to catch. I thought I had read this in previous posts and a quick search revealed that some people thought that an LSD could result in quicker transition to oversteer and tricky handling if wheels were on different surfaces (e.g. wet leaves, ice, etc.). I think that the upshot is it would be "different" and at the limit this could cause you a problem.

Yellow SL #32

Edited by - Shaun_E on 7 Jul 2004 13:34:05

Steve - I'm pretty sure that CR500s don't come in 14". A048Rs are available in 14" (Peter has that size). I am very happy with the 48s but haven't had them long enough to comment on wear rates. Perhaps you ought to put some wider tyres on the rear of your car - most SLRs/R400s run with 205 rears.

As you know I used to run 21s and they seemed to last about 5k miles and 3 trackdays - any dry track day would finish them off though.

Shaun

Yellow SL #32

bongmania - that'll be the one I was thinking of

Yellow SL #32

Angus,

The coloured dots that Bare mentioned are red and yellow. The yellow dot indicates the lightest part of the tyre (due to manufacturing inconsistency) and therefore should be placed next to the valve. I read an article on this somewhere (on a tyre manufacturer's site) and if I can find it again I'll post the link here.

Shaun

Edited to correct. I found some info googling but not the article I was looking for.

Yellow SL #32

Edited by - Shaun_E on 1 Jul 2004 10:27:39

Edited by - Shaun_E on 1 Jul 2004 10:28:00

One word of warning - don't go too close as you'll struggle to get the wheel on and off without the tyre fouling on the wing.

Yellow SL #32

Have a look at Angus&Tessa' website here for some info on the Manfrotto super clamp. I got mine from Karlu. The clamp costs £16.45+VAT, an adaptor is a few quid and a ball head can be had from about £10 (if you go for the Hama ones rather than Manfrotto - call Karlu for prices). This is pretty secure and will take the weight of a camcorder. I saw the one in Jessops for £12.95 and didn't think it would be secure with a camcorder - I have seen Dave's and didn't realise it was the same one.

Yellow SL #32

When I switched from A021R to A048R, I noticed the car was much more of a handful on the road and not as grippy. I dropped the pressures by 1-2 psi and things improved hugely. I think that the 48s are very sensitive to pressure - maybe the sidewalls are a bit stiffer than 21s (and CR500s). Try reducing the pressure in the fronts to 17 or maybe even 16 psi.

Nick's comment is also relevant - the mould release compund takes a couple of hundred miles to scrub off (or a few hard laps on track I guess 😬)

Yellow SL #32

Depends on you MOT testers interpretation of the rules. I don't have side repeaters and my local MOT place passed it. The man stood to the side near the back of the car and checked that he could see the indicators operating (as described in the testing manual) and was happy that they were visible. Other testers may be more literal in their approach and require side repeaters. It seems that repeaters are required for SVA.

Yellow SL #32

July 1997 does not need a catalytic converter. There is no emissions test for pre-SVA cars. I was going to point you to the 7FAQ page but it seems to be password protected at the moment. Anyway, any car pre-August 1998 does not need to pass an emissions test (just a visible smoke test). My car is a 1997 model and has passed several MOT's without a cat.

Yellow SL #32

Radtec radiator is about £200 (L7OC bulk buy to get that price). Alternatives are the Caterham ali road rad or their triple pass racing rad. Search on here for comments on these. I went the Radtec route because it seems to be more efficient than the Caterham road one and cheaper than the racing triple pass job. Some people have concerns over the flow rates achieved in the triple pass rad as the cores are smaller.

Fitting is a doddle - disconnect fan, disconnect lower radiator hose making sure you have a suitable reeceptacle for the coolant, disconnect upper radiator hoses, unbolt radiator (4 bolts), ubolt fan from radiator (4 bolts) then reverse the process and refill with coolant. Bleeding can be a pain but get the front of the car as high as possible to remove airlocks (search techtalk for more info on this).

Yellow SL #32

Henry - worked for me. I went from the standard heavy black thing to a Radtec Ali radiator (mainly because I was fitting a Laminova oil coller) and this has kept temperatures much lower especially on track.

Yellow SL #32

Sorry I don't know the weights of the 10 spokes but have heard that they are pretty light (comparable to 13" minilites I believe). Aren't the Barnby wheels only 13"? I'm pretty sure that some poeple have also fitted Compomotive wheels such as the CXR or ML from George Polley. These again are said to be light weight but I don't know the figures. Do a search on here for CXR and there will probably be a thread on them.

Shaun

Yellow SL #32