Shaun_E

Still not here ☹️. Hopefully they'll turn up tomorrow. If not is there a website we can download them from?

Yellow SL #32

Arrived today . MIRA, Shelsley and Harewood forms all complete and will be in the post first thing tomorrow - for me and Gill .

Yellow SL #32

Still not received one - any body else got theirs?

Yellow SL #32

Craft/hobby shops stock them. There are 2 places in Slough where I can get them - the craft shop at the Bishop centre in Taplow and the caravan shop in Chalvey.

Yellow SL #32

I guess the danger is that if you go too wide at the rear then the car will seem undertyred at the front and may end up understeering everywhere. I've got CR500s 175/55 front and 205/55 rear on 6" and 8" rims and when I first moved to that combination it took some changes to dial out the understeer. Car has 227bhp K series.

Yellow SL #32

If the red one was aeroscreened and the yellow had a windscreen, both cars 2 up, then it was probably me and Gill plus Tam and Michael on our way to Llandow.

Yellow SL #32

Just got my confirmation for Pembrey as did Gill.

The no passenger rule is a real pain as Gill will want me in the car for the first session or two to help her with getting to know the circuit and get used to the car again. I realise she can have instruction and am sure she will want to take that option but I am very surprised that I will not be able to help her.

Is there likely to be an exemption to allow other drivers to be passengers or "instructors"?

Yellow SL #32

Sorry that excuse won't wash - they are available for pre and post '96 cars 😬. See here.

A set of 4 is about £1200 including springs which is less than twice the cost of the alloy bodies Avos kit from Freestyle.

Yellow SL #32

Edited by - Shaun_E on 20 Mar 2007 08:28:31

Thanks.

Yellow SL #32

In theory it is better to have it in the collector to get an average reading rather than the reading from a single cylinder - how much difference it really makes I don't know. You can get a new boss from Southern Carburettors.

Yellow SL #32

The spherical bearing is sold by Caterham as I have one ready to replace a worn one. By the sounds of things it won't be easy though. Please post how you get on if you manage to get the old one out. If not, looks like I'll be buying a new wishbone ☹️.

Yellow SL #32

The Llys Y Fran form is a bit confusing with respect to numbering of second drivers. Not sure whether I should indicate a preference or they will sort it out. Would prefer for Gill to drive first to help with the change over.

Any one got any ideas on how to complete this bit of the form?

Yellow SL #32

First read this. 😬

Then, more practically, read this.

I used Millets survival bags (here) as they are very strong compared with bin liners.

Yellow SL #32

Edited by - Shaun_E on 15 Mar 2007 13:41:08

If the wishbone is as far forward as it can go then the castor angle is probably too large. See my post here for some more information.

Tyres and spring/damper rates can also affect bumpy road performance. I ran A048Rs for a while and these tramlined pretty badly and were poor on very bumpy roads. I switched to CR500s which are a lighter tyre and the ride improved a lot.

Bump steer can be dialled out as described in the LF article and that will almost certainly help.

Finally, adding a bit more toe in will also help at the expense of turn in on smooth surfaces.

Yellow SL #32

There won't be many 1.8 SLs around so unless you stumble across one it is most likely you will end up with a 1.6. My car started life as a 1.6SL and it was fantastic - the 1.6 SuperSport is a sweet revving engine and most of the fun is keeping it in the top half of the rev range. It's all the extras that really define the SL, not least being the 6 speed box. Have fun 😬.

Yellow SL #32

I would suggest getting the 2kg pack from CFS Fibreglass Supplies which will be more than enough for a seat base. I bought the 5kg pack and got 2 full seats out of it (first one was no good).

Yellow SL #32

Thanks for the info. I should probably sort the front camber but will leave it for now as I don't have time between now and Llandow. Will leave the castor as well as it looks like I'd need to move several washers to get the recommended setting - might give it a go when I take the lower wishbone off to change the spherical bearing. Adrian thanks for the offer - I'll give you a call if I go that route.

Yellow SL #32

2 reasons for using premium brand fuel:

1. Additive package

2. Higher octane fuel appears to have a cooling effect on the engine, expecially on track.

and in my case the car was mapped on Optimax!

Yellow SL #32

Edited by - Shaun_E on 14 Mar 2007 17:05:51

I have just replaced my steering rack so took the car to have the toe in set. This has now been corrected to 20' toe in (parallel is too twitchy on the road).

I also have the measurements for camber and castor and they are somewhat outside the Caterham recommended settings.

Camber is -1^o42' left and -2^o00' right (Caterham recommend -1^o20' )

Castor is 6^o45' left and 6^o01' right (Caterham recommend 4^o.

Car is used road/track/sprint and runs on 13" CR500s.

Question - are these settings way out and likely to have an adverse effect on handling (bearing in mind they haven't been changed since I bought the car)?

The steering is a bit heavy so mabe reducing the castor would be a good thing. Which way do I move the washers on the lower wishbone to reduce castor? How much will one washer alter the castor by?

The camber is mismatched (assuming car had settled properly on suspension) - should I adjust to match and what settings are recommended for sprinting?

As camber can only be adjusted by complete turns of the ball joint, roughly what camber change is achieved with one turn?

The rear camber settings are 1^o09' left and 1^o39' right - left rear is out of spec - is there anything that I can do and should I be worried?

Rear has a slight toe in (40') - is this normal?

Hope you can help?

Shaun

Yellow SL #32

I'm just waiting for the new sprint compound Toyo R888 . Shame they aren't out until May.

Yellow SL #32

205/60R13 info please .

Yellow SL #32

I have 250lb front springs and 150lb rears which seems to work well although it took a while to get the understeer dialled out. I could be tempted with 225lb fronts.

The 250/215 setup is typical of a race/track car but does not work so well on road or on many sprints/hillclimbs where the surface is far bumpier than a race circuit.

The good thing about adjustable dampers is that you can run a nice soft setup for the road and then when you get to the track or sprint venue adjust the damping to suit the course. I have started to keep a record of the settings I use at each venue so my starting point when I arrive is to set the damping to what worked well last time. I can then adjust to suit conditions.

Yellow SL #32

Read this thread here where I asked the same question.

Yellow SL #32

Don't bother with 8" rears unless you have over 200bhp to deploy - it'll understeer for England unless you make major setup changes

Yellow SL #32

I've never driven a 7 on 16" wheels so can't comment on that but if you do decide to change to 13" rims then I would go for the Caterham 8 spokes. They are pretty light and don't cost much more than Minators (Minilight style). For appropriate tyres just search for and read a few of the many threads on that subject. For sticky(ish) tyres you can choose between Avon CR500 (my favourite road tyre), Yokohama A048R or A021R, or Toyo R888.

It would probably be sensible to fit adjustable platforms if moving to 13" wheels as you could end up with your sump uncomfortably close to the ground.

You don't say what engine you have but, if its a K-series and you want to do track days, then I would suggest that an Apollo tank is the minimum protection you should fit, especially if you get stickier tyres.

Don't be in a huge rush for upgrades though - drive the car for a while until you decide what the real limiting factors are for you - and then go for it 😬

Yellow SL #32