Shaun_E

Sadly, many of the target market do not know better and will look for a full Caterham (or approved dealer) service history on a car that new. If your friend has no intention of selling for a few years then it is probably irrelevant although keeping records would be a good idea. If he needed to sell it soon (for whatever reason), the lack of a service history might make it more difficult to sell. This is really the same argument as the one about factory modifications versus well known tuners - to a knowledgable enthusiast it won't matter but to the majority of first time Caterham buyers it will.

Shaun

Yellow SL #32

Got mine from Cafco Automotive - parts chaser company with branches all over the place. I use the one in Slough and they have Comma stuff in stock including coolant and oil.

Shaun

Yellow SL #32

80 sounds about right for normal running. On warmer days, long blats or track days you could see the oil temperature rise well above the water temperature. On my first warm track day I had oil temperatures of around 120 degrees and the water was well over 100 which, whilst not catastrophic, shouldn't be run like that for any length of time as oil seals could get damaged. Before my next track day I fitted a Laminova oil cooler. The Laminova dumps heat from the oil into the water cooling system so I also upgraded the radiator (Radtec). The other advantage of having the Laminova is that it also heats up the oil more quickly from a cold start.

There have been loads of threads on this in the past if you want to read more.

I also experienced an oil pressure drop after having the Apollo tank fitted - if you fit an oil cooler there will be another slight drop but as long as you get consistent oil pressures it shouldn't be a problem.

Shaun

Yellow SL #32

Fan switch is £10 from Caterham so you could get a spare for the tool box. Other people have wired in a fan override switch on the dash so that the fan can be started manually. I have heard that there is a VW fan switch which is a direct replacement for the Caterham one and might be more reliable.

Otherwise just enjoy your new toy and don't worry about it.

Shaun

Yellow SL #32

If you've alreay passed SVA then you could risk just binning them! I don't have repeaters and at my MOT a few weeks ago, the tester passed my car after doing the proper check and standing next to the car towards the rear and making sure he could see the indicators - he was happy enought to pass the car and he was in no way being lenient. Of course your local tester might see it a different way .

Shaun

Yellow SL #32

Richard - true enough if you have the ability to swap an engine quickly or a few hundred quid to have someone else do it.

Not all Seven owners are mechanically able and for them the thought of "just swapping an engine" will not compute. When we offer advice on blatchat, we need to consider the circumstances of the person seeking the advice. I have learnt many things from this website and without it would probably not have been able to make the right decisions for me but, there has been much conflicting advice that I have sometimes had difficulty in resolving and if I had taken some of the advice at face value could have made expesnsive mistakes.

The above is not meant to be a dig at anybody - just a reminder that there is a huge range of mechanical skill and finances amongst seven owners - and long may it reamin that way 😬

Regarding the Supersport R - it is significantly more powerful than a 1.6SS. I drove one for a few days while my 1.6 SS engined car was being serviced - do a search for my description made previously.

Shaun

Yellow SL #32

I think that most blatchatters assume that we are the biggest market for Seven's - the fact is we aren't. Therefore think carefully before upgrading about what you plan to do with the car. If you ever think you will need to sell it quickly or part ex with Caterham then the official upgrade route is the only way to go. If on the other hand you intend to keep the car forever and are unlikley to need to liquidate your assests 😳, then the DVA/John Noble route will undoubtedly offer better value and a more progressive upgrade path.

There is a market for upgraded cars and the older the car is, the less important official upgrades become, but your DVA engined car will be worth less on the open market than a Supersport R engined car even though the performance may be similar.

As I have now started making un-official mods (Laminova, Radtec radiator) I guess I'll end up going the DVA route but then I never want to sell the car 😬

Shaun

Yellow SL #32

I can answer question 1;

Jack the car up and grab the tyre top and bottom and try to rock the wheel back and forth - if there is more than a very tiny bit of movement of the hub then the wheel bearings either need adjustment or they are shot. Search for adjusting them as this was covered recently - I know it wa me doing the asking.

Shaun

Yellow SL #32

Why not glue them on? Much neater and no risk of the holes enlarging over time. If you do a search there is some info on how people have used a special fastener glued to the wing and then zip tied to the wing support so making them removable - sounds like the perfect solution. mine are just glued to the wing supports. I think people use Silkaflex or similar flexible glues.

Shaun

Yellow SL #32

Take look here. I believe that the price from Caterham is actually pretty good so unless having them posted to you is a problem, it's probably best to get the bearings from them.

Yellow SL #32

Jase,

I can't believe things are that bad - or are you secretly hankering after a 225? What are you gonna replace it with? The Cupra R section of Penn Sevens had a brief and glorious life!

Shaun

Yellow SL #32

Most people mount them in front of the passenger seat either widthways across the car so they are under the passenger's knees or lengthways so that they can put their legs either side of it. Make sure that you can get the extinguisher out easily.

Shaun

Yellow SL #32

GPR also have a store at Silverstone which might be easier for you to get to. ISTR that they have recently upgraded to a larger unit there so should have a good range.

Shaun

Yellow SL #32

Ammo,

The fan switch is available from Caterham and is only about £10. They don't have a reputation for being reliable so when I got my Radtec I bought a new one to be on the safe side. They come on at somewhere near 100 deg C - not sure of the exact temperature.

When fitting the new thermostat, I had trouble screwing it in and thought I had the wrong one but it turned out that it was just the thread in the radiator needed cleaning out a bit.

Shaun

Yellow SL #32

I would like to do something similar and had in mind using a motorcycle top box. They normally come with a quick release lock that allows you to remove the box from a supplied frame. I guess that to attach to a Caterham, 2 arms would need to be fabricated and attached to the supplied frame. The top of the arms could be clamped to the roll bar and the bottom of them attached to the rear chassis rail. The frame could be left on the car when touring and removed reasonably quickly when not required.

Alex - if you come up with a suitable design, I'd really like to see it.

If anyone orders some of those clamps, please post the price and where you got them from.

Thanks,

Shaun

Yellow SL #32

I did my first track day at Llandow about 18 months ago and the conditions were apalling - it rained all day and there was standing water on the back straight. I had no problems in those conditions using A021R tyres and was still out on track when most others had gone home. A few months later I did another Llandow day, this time in the dry - I wasn't that much quicker than I had been in the wet. To me this indicates just how good they are in poor conditions (or just how poor a driver I am ).

I believe that price/performance wise it would be hard to beat the A021R. If you expect to change your tyres only once a year then it is probably not cost effective in the short term to move to 13" rims but if you intend to do trackdays and/or keep the car for many years then you need to do the sums.

Just so that you don't think that I'm biased towards 21's just because they are what I use, I intend to move to A048R's when this set wear out - but this is driven by track day use and I would probably stick with 21's for road use only.

Shaun

Yellow SL #32

Edited by - Shaun_E on 23 Jan 2004 09:13:38

If you have cycle wings, make sure that the higher profile will fit under them. This shouldn'e be a problem for most cars but my 60 profile tyures only just fit and 70 profile definitely wouldn't. It is likely that the ride will improve slightly on bumpy roads, the ride height will increase slightly and speedo readings will also be affected. A few people run the 70 profile with no other adverse effects including, I believe, Keith Jecks on his R500!

Yellow SL #32

Octagon (former trackday organisers at Brands, Cadwell, Oulton, etc.) had begun to insist on BS6658 part A approved helmets although they actually never seemed to check. To race in the UK you need that spec of helmet for most events and for international you will need an FIA approved helmet - Snell SA2000 seems to be the standard that is required for FIA approval. The Snell standard is stricter in some ways than the BS.

Basically if you get a BS6658 part A or Snell SA2000 approved helmet then you can;t go far wrong and if you decide to start Sprinting then you won't need a new helmet.

Try on several helmets from different manufacturers as they will fit different shape heads and once you have one that appears to fit then leave it on for 20-30 minutes to make sure it remains comfortable.

Shaun

Yellow SL #32

Thanks folks - looks like I've got my weekend jobs then 😬. If the spherical joint has gone, is replacement straightforward? Will I need a spring compressor?

Shaun

Yellow SL #32

Nigel - thanks for the reply. I'll have a go at tightening the wheel bearing - this was covered on the "get to know your Seven" day that I attended last year so should be straightforward.

I'm not sure which lower suspension joint I have - the car is a 1997 Superlight so i suspect it has the later spherical joint.

Shaun

Yellow SL #32

Just MOT'd my car and although it passed, the inspector pointed out some play in one of the front wheel bearings and also some play in the bottom outer wishbone joint.

What needs to be done to sort this movement out?

Can I just adjust the wheel bearing by tightening it slightly or will it need replacing?

Is there any adjustment for the suspension joint or is that a replacement too?

Shaun

Yellow SL #32

Michael

I ran it through MapPoint and when it said 5 hours to get there I was stunned. We spent New Year in Ruthin which is North Wales and that took 3 1/2 hours to get to (4 hours to get back) so I was a bit gobsmacked at 5. We could go to Port Meirion on the way back though.

Shaun

Yellow SL #32

All booked - see you there .

Shaun

Yellow SL #32

Are there any spaces left on this trackday? As an occasional lurker in the sheds would I be admitted? Tam and JaseB can vouch for me .

Shaun

Yellow SL #32

The front braided hoses are replaced as part of Caterham's 24,000 mile service schedule - perhaps this would be a good guideline to follow.

Shaun

Yellow SL #32