Shaun_E

Mark - its a Stack unit and I fitted a new sender yesterday to be sure. I was keeping my fingers crossed but it was really just wishful thinking. Yellow SL #32

Dave, I will call you in the morning. I think I need to replace the bearings and it wouldn't hurt to fit a new crankshaft oil seal. I think I'll get a new oil pump as well. We checked out my gold pump, which was fairly new, when we built the engine and although there were a couple of scratches on the rotor it was OK. I hope I don't need a new pump. The cam seals were replaced when we built the engine as the old ones were leaking a bit. The leak is defintiely not at the top of the engine so I suspect the crankshaft seal is more likely the culprit. Shaun Yellow SL #32

I've had a persistent oil leak for the last 2 or 3 months from my dry sumped K-series. I've tried tightening every joint I can find. I did find that a couple of the allen bolts holding the conning tower to the bellhousing were loose and oil had escaped there so I tightened those up. There is a more significant leak though from the front of the engine which I haven't been able to locate the source of. Over the last few weeks the oil pressure at idle has been steadily dropping and when hot is now about 8 or 9 psi. This is clearly not right and I don't want to destroy the engine by continuing to run it. Although the oil level did get quite low at one point I don't believe the engine has suffered oil starvation although I can't completely rule it out. I have been using Mobil 1 0W-40. So the question is "What do I do now?" Is it just a case of removing and stripping the engine or are there some other things I can check first? Is the oil pump a likely point of failure and if so can it be changed in-situ? I have just fitted a new presssure sender and it reads the same as the old one - it's a Stack dash (the sender is made by VDO). Yellow SL #32

I bought a box of 200 pairs of 3M 1120 disposables from Greenhams. They arrived next day. The 1100 model are the normal ones - the 1120 are designed for smaller ear canals which works for me and my wife but wasn't much good for a colleague who rides a motorbike. Yellow SL #32

I mounted mine as Peter says with the adjuster at the bottom. The bugger is that it is then difficult to adjust the ride height. I guess damper adjustments are more frequent that ride height so this is the right compromise. By running them upside down you get a marginally reduced unspring weight as well. Peter - I went for 250lb/in front and 150 lb/in rears. The ride seems fine and even with 2 up and lots of luggage, have not bottomed out the rear on anything other than speedhumps. This setup seems to be what most of the decent sprinters are running but the R400 race drivers seem to go for a higher rear spring rate (215lb/in IIRC). I am led to believe that Nitrons add a bit to the spring rate so I guess you'd want to go somewhere around 200lb/in to get the same sort of handling. Personally I think this will be way too harsh on the road. Warning - don't run the dampers at anyting much above full soft on the road else you will lose your fillings! Yellow SL #32

I guess my mirror is held on by magic then 😬. Yellow SL #32

Halfords sell the self adhesive pads and they work very well if you prepare the surface properly. The windscreen must be spotlessly clean - use a proper automotive glass cutting solution. Get all the old adhesive off the mirror back - use meths or similar solvent to get it completely clean. Warm the windscreen with a hairdryer and then stick the mirror on with the pad. Mines still stuck on there 2 years later. Yellow SL #32

Saw you queueing at the 3 Tuns about 5:30 Yellow SL #32 Edited by - Shaun_E on 2 Jun 2006 12:50:03

SAE30 sounds a bit thin for a K series engine. I ran mine in on 10W-40 mineral oil (might even have been 10W-50) which was recommended by Dave Andrews and then changed to Mobil 1 0W-40 after 500 miles. Caterham recommend their 5W-50 motorsport oil. With the 0W-40, my oil pressure can drop quite low at hot idle - with your 10W30 it could get even lower. Yellow SL #32

The Caterham aero filler cap doesn't need to be locked. It is a bu99er to get petrol into though. Yellow SL #32

Are the connections good? Check the crimps on the terminals. The reading is resistance driven and it could be that when hot the cable's resistance is increasing. My sensor is mounted at the front low point of the engine (K-series) and often the wires get damaged leading to spurious pressure readings - these even fluctuate with revs sometimes! I've got to fix them again this weekend ☹️. I note your very clean and neat install so it is less likely to be the problem but still worth a check. Yellow SL #32

One large for me please. Yellow SL #32

Drilling the body for the boot tonneau poppers was one of the jobs I hated. I used the method Brent describes and got "adequate" results. I used the old boot tonneau to mark the popper positions and then double checked with the hood. It's not perfect and the hood doesn't fit as well as it used to (but I've got around that by using a half hood!). Myles had a good suggestion for measuring from the top edge of the boot - use a bit of right angle metal - to get the poppers all at the same vertical position. Yellow SL #32

A word of warning on the Jill Judd bags - they are not completely waterproof. We use ours a lot as it is a great solution but you do need to put clothes in waterproof bags inside the boot bag. We use compression bags like these. 2 small ones and a larger one fit neatly in the E-bag. For stuffing in the boot or strapping to rollbar, use the Ortlieb bags or you can get cheaper rucsac liners like these which work well and come in a variety of sizes. Yellow SL #32 Edited by - Shaun_E on 24 May 2006 10:03:34

That's a bit of a monster for a 7! Its bigger in some dimensions than the standard Banner. I and many others use a RedTop 15 (some use a 20). I think a 25 would be plenty if you were worried about the capacity of the 15 or 20. They are excellent batteries and can be mounted in any orientation. They can also be left disconnected for up to 2 years without recharging. I use an Optimate battery conditioner to keep it topped up whilst connected. Others will recommend the Odyssey batteries which are of a similar construction and suitability. I think you can get a good deal from Powervamp on the Odyssey batteries if you mention the club. Do a search. Yellow SL #32

When I did the same, I measured the front of the wing to be 100mm in front of a line drawn vertically from the centre of the A-frame mounting bolt. The bottom of the wing was mounted to be flush with the bottom of the side panel and at the rear to be flush with the bottom of the panel as well. I fitted the front lowest bolt first and then the rear lowest. I did several trial fits to make sure everything looked right. Just take your time and check the positioning every time you put a new hole in the skin. Use masking tape as described in Myles' write up. Yellow SL #32

Here. Yellow SL #32

Doesn't sound quite right - in the wet you want the treads to disperse water as designed. I know that the racers run them the "wrong" way round in the dry as they had instances of them delaminating under very hard braking in hot conditions. Yellow SL #32 Edited by - Shaun_E on 23 May 2006 09:42:37

EL have 3 bands 1) 0-160bhp 2) 160-200bhp 3) over 200bhp I went from band 1 to band 3 and my premium nealry doubled . Yellow SL #32

Rob - I wasn't hanging around, that's for sure 😬 but I am led to believe that a certain Mr Calvert made it home in less time than I did though 😳. Yellow SL #32

Just posted application for Loton Park. If we get into Shelsey it's 6 weeks ☹️. Won't be at Pembrey so Longcross 2 will be the next for me. Has anyone received an entry form for the Scorpion sprint? Yellow SL #32

Great tip about dropping the hub into a wheel - shame I didn't read it until this morning ☹️. I only got one side done last night so at least that will make the job easier for the other side. I did clean the mating surface since the new disc was a very close fit. Paul - yes I am a bloke so will try to avoid hitting myself in a vulnerable position 😬. Yellow SL #32

Cheers Gambo. Brian - brakes aren't that scary . I just wanted some advice on the easiest way to get the discs off, having not yet looked at how to do it. When I stripped/rebuilt my car it included removing and refitting the rear calipers, fitting new rear pads, removing/refitting all the brake pipes and refilling/bleeding the brake system. I just haven't taken the front disks off before. Hope this sets your mind at rest - trust me I won't be putting coppaslip on the friction surface 😬. Yellow SL #32

My new vented disks arrived today (had been out of stockl). What's the easiest way to fit them? Obviously the caliper has to come off but what then? Yellow SL #32

Rob - isn't Neil Cavanagh registered for the novice championship? Yellow SL #32