Shaun_E

Saw you ages before we were able to fight thorugh the traffic to catch up.

Yellow SL #32

Reversing lights are not part of the test in any way shape or form but, to be on the safe side, I would suggest that you just take the offending lamp off.

Yellow SL #32

Had a good look around and couldn't find it - sorry ☹️. If it turns up in the next day or so I'll let you know.

Yellow SL #32

Dave - I'll have a look when I get home as I removed this when fitting the Emerald. Just hope I didn't bin it.

Yellow SL #32

Posted mine on Monday and just received acceptance email - how efficient is that

Yellow SL #32

Ta

Yellow SL #32

Just double checking - have I got an entry?

Yellow SL #32

Mine came with the entry for Wiscombe Park - easy to miss though as it was a single sheet of A4.

Yellow SL #32

Oil pressure most likely a dodgy connection (or dodgy sender) - if the wires get damaged and the resistance increases then the reading goes up. I guess it could possibly be the oil pressure release valve which is part of the oil pump.

The cooling problem does sound like a dodgy thermostat - an awkward job to replace ☹️.

Yellow SL #32

I was told that the main reason for running CR500s the wrong way round at the front was to prevent delamination under hard braking.

Yellow SL #32

I've got RS15s on the front of mine and they are not particularly "grabby" so I don't think you'll have a problem (I haven't got round to putting the RS14s on the back yet).

Yellow SL #32

My cynical view on the reason they say don't use it with anti-freeze is that most modern coolant mixes will perform exactly the same role. Their comparison of temperatures will be between a car with pure water and a car with water plus Water Wetter. If you did the same test but replaced water wetter with "the correct coolant for your engine" then you would probably get exactly the same results. mode off>

I don't think anyone would recommend running a K-series (or any other aluminium engined car) without the correct coolant in it. There are essential corrosion inhibitors in there which will protect the engine.

I obviously can't say that the product doesn't work but I think you'd need to do a back to back test under controlled conditions using the correct coolant for your engine in order to prove that it did.

Yellow SL #32

Can't help with the gearbox issue although I would be surprised if it was the gearbox generating the heat in the tunnel. In this hot weather, the tunnel can get extremely hot from the engine, especially when moving slowly (e.g. in traffic).

With the dry sump system there are loads of potential leak points. Check all the hoses and the fittings they attach to. I found that the connector at the front of the sump came a little loose shortly after the last time I refitted the engine - the allen bolts needed tightening. Also the blue plate on the bottom of the bellhousing can leak, the sump plug can leak (especially if no washer used as on the dry sump). Check the bolts where the conning tower bolts to the top of the bell housing and also check the top of the conning tower.

Yellow SL #32

Danny - will keep my fingers crossed for you that it does last the season. Great drive on Saturday .

Yellow SL #32

Dom - sorry wasn't referring to your engine - you should have seen Danny's at Longcross on Saturday - we all thought he'd joined the Red Arrows.

As regards knowing if you dampers are knackered, I can't really help, but I guess if you got a ride in a similar car with new dampers it might give you a feeling for what state yours are in. You could probably get your dampers rebuilt if the bodies are still in good condition.

Changing the dampers is an easy job - jack car up, undo damper mount bolts top and bottom, remove damper, fit new damper, put bolts back in, job done. You would then need to reset the ride height.

Yellow SL #32

Edited by - Shaun_E on 21 Jul 2006 14:32:58

And anyway, don't you need to sort out that smokey old engine before looking at new dampers . I think you'd actually fail the "visibile smoke test" come MOT time 😬

Yellow SL #32

Dom - I am sure that if your current dampers are knackered, replacing them with some decent new ones will improve the car no end.

Danny - while you are partly right (and as Saturday showed I am certainly NOT one hell of a driver) if you use cheap components, it might make the handling worse rather than better as you could end up with mismatched damping across an axle. Also if you end up rebuilding or replacing dampers after a short time then it is not so much of a bargain. Take a look at this post, specifically Peter C's comments on what makes a good damper.

Take a look at the answers to my post here requesting experiences from people who have been running AVOs for a while.

After reading all that I decided that Nitrons were a better bet even though I am not yet experienced enough to make the most of the adjustment. And anyway they just look so damm sexy 😬.

Yellow SL #32

On the basis of you get what you pay for I suspect these are not exactly an upgrade. From memory, a lot of the cheap kit cars out there use Gaz dampers.

The problem with cheap adjustable dampers is that the repeatibility of the adjustment is questionable and the settings on individual units may even be different - I've heard of 2 brand new AVOs being tested and proving to have different damping characteristics.

What car have you got? The dampers shown are for a live axle car.

The standard Caterham Bilsteins are good quality units but if you want adjustable then I would save up for a set of Nitrons, Ledas or similar.

What are you using the car for? This will also have a bearing on your choice.

If you have a few hours spare, do a search on here for dampers or Nitron or AVO - theres loads of discussion/information available. And many varying points of view .

Yellow SL #32

If you get a Caterham hood, you'll need hoodsticks and that probably means your current boot tonneau won't fit either.

The idea of using a half hood is a good one - I no longer carry the complete hood as the half hood does a great job. You get a bit of spray coming in the back on really wet roads but it keeps the rain out perfectly. It is so much easier to fit than the Caterham hood as well.

Yellow SL #32

I had a similar problem and just fitted a battery cut off switch! Not really curing the underlying issue but it does solve the problem.

Yellow SL #32

It makes no sense whatsoever to start the fan before the stat is fully open - your are just cooling still water in the rad. Standard Caterham stat is 88deg, many people use an 82deg stat (me included) and the R500 stat is 74 deg.

On my Emerald controlled high power K, the fan is set to come on at around 96 or 98 (can't remember which) and off again at about 92 - this works fine (and is about what the normal fan switch is supposed to do). The fan should only really be required when you are stationary or moving very slowly - at any decent speed the airflow from the car moving will be much greater than the fan can produce. At the Longcross sprint on Saturday, waiting in the queue with the engine fully up to temperature, the fan cut in and out as necessary to keep the temperature in the low nineties on average - as soon as I started the run, the temperature very quickly dropped to 80ish.

I think people get a bit panicky about K series temperatures and try to overcool the engine - I am sure this is not the right thing to do as the engine needs to get the oil up to its correct operating temperature. Even in the heat of this weekend, my oil temperature never got over 80 deg, despite the water temps mentioned above.

Yellow SL #32

If anyone has a spare alternator mounting bolt for a K series, please please please could they bring it tomorrow.

Mine appears to have gone AWOL and I've bodged it to get me there but fear the scrutineers might not be happy.

It's the top mounting bolt that I need.

Thanks,

Shaun

Yellow SL #32

With rollcage with yellow/green padding.

Yellow SL #32

A colleague just mentioned that he saw 3 sevens in the centre of town at the weekend - he followed for a while on his scooter and then overtook you 😳. Sounds like you were having fun.

Yellow SL #32

Sounds like the Calverts but I saw Michael out in his other new toy this evening (new golf GTi) so perhaps Tam had the real car. They are in Burnham and I'm in Slough. I was out testing my newly rebuilt engine.

Yellow SL #32