Shaun_E

My third techtalk topic of the day - I must be taking this sprinting lark a bit too seriously now 😬. I was pulled up by the scrutineer on Sunday for not having an FIA homologated harness - this is the one where every belt has an FIA label and date on it. Having re-read the blue book I am far from convinced that this is actually mandatory for sprinting, but on closer inspection my harness is not in the best of condition so I am going to replace it. So the question is: "What harness should I get?" Issues are: 1) 50mm or 75mm lap belts? (75 mm shoulder belts are mandatory) 2) 4 point or 6 point? Car is used a lot on road as well so has to be useable as a 4 point only for ease of use. 3) If 6 point, what sort of crutch strap? Comfort and ease of use quite important to me. 4) Where do the crutch straps bolt to? 5) How do the crutch straps work with a leather S-type seat? Cheers, Shaun Yellow SL #32

Thanks Mark - was dead chuffed to get a trophy - first thing I have won since I left school 😬. As you would expect I was dissapointed at the NTR but, having been told where I had transgressed enabled me to take care not to do it again - it's an easy place to get carried away and it's a relief to know I'm not the only one who's done it . So looks like Pagid is the right move - now where can I get them from and, just as important, how do I make sure I get the correct front ones as I believe the AP calipers have changed over the years. Mine are 1997 vintage. Cheers. Yellow SL #32

Assuming you have the bell housing tank, the instructions are to check the level immediately after switching the engine off - i.e. before any oil has time to drain back into the sump. Seems to work for me most of the time. If you overfill it, oil will most likely be expelled into the catch tank. Yellow SL #32

Arch now zinc phosphate prime the chassis before powder coating - this is intended to stop the rust creeping should the powder coating become chipped which is what happens on the older chassis. Yellow SL #32

Has anyone with a Stack dash experienced fluctuating speedo readings? My first thoughts are that it is either a dodgy connection or the sensor itself is not getting a good signal - perhaps not lined up properly or a magnet is damaged. The speed fluctuates between 3 values - the correct one, one about 10-12 mph slower and another about 10-12 mph slower than that. No idea if that is of any significance. Any suggestions welcome - I really hope it's not an electrical problem as I hate car electrics ☹️. I guess bike speedos operate in the same way so perhaps someone with experience of problems with one of those might have some ideas for me. Yellow SL #32

Had a great weekend at Llandow - thanks to the organisers, marshalls and all the people who gave me tips. I need to replace my front discs and pads now so please could you take a look at my post on techtalk here. Yellow SL #32 Edited by - Shaun_E on 2 May 2006 10:05:36

Having had a deep score in my brake disk pointed out to me on Saturday, I need to replace my discs and think I will get new pads at the same time. As I have started sprinting this year, I need pads that work well from cold. I also do trackdays so they need to be pretty fade resistant as well. I realise there probably isn't a perfect pad for this but am open to suggestions for a good compromise. I have the big vented disks with AP 4 pots up front and the standard Sierra caliper at the rear. It is the front discs and pads I will be changing but will change the rear pads if necessary to balance things out. I believe I have the normal Mintex 1144 front pads at the moment and these actually have worked well for me. The rears are the normal Caterham ones with the blue dot. I know that Pagid RS14 or RS15 have been suggested before, but what are they like from cold? Please let me know what pad combinations work for you, especially if you are sprinting. Thanks, Shaun Yellow SL #32

If you are suffering oversteer then surely the rear ARB needs to be softer not stiffer. If you are running it on it's softest setting then just disconnect it (remove one drop link). The suggestion to run different tyre pressures from left to right should even up the hot pressures to give a bit more grip. When a circuit has most corners going one direction (e.g. mostly rights) then this is a reasonable thing to do. I have been told that the R400 racers were running CR500s at around 22-23psi hot, the rears being a little higher than the fronts. The other thing you can try is to alter the rake of the car (assumes you have adjustable spring platforms). Lowering the rear a bit should put more weight on the back of the car and therfore give more traction at that end. Yellow SL #32

Makes it easier to get the nuts onto the studs - take a look at the end of any bolt/stud and you will see a slight chamfer. For clarity - I did mean a chamfer all the way around the exposed end of the stud. Yellow SL #32

Engine was being rebuilt so was out of car but the tool is basically a socket with some clever internals that grip the stud so could easily be used with the engine in the car. Once cut down, a chamfer was added by holding the stud against a grinding belt at 45 degrees - this is probably the only reason why you couldn't easily chop them off while still on the engine. The potential for cross threading if using bolts instead would, I think, be quite high while trying to hold the primary with one hand and insert the bolt with the other. Primary number 4 is normally held on one stud and uses a turned down allen bolt for the other hole (right next to the water rail connection) and the bolt is a right bu99er to get in sometimes. Yellow SL #32

Studs can be cut down by quite a bit - makes a real difference. Mr Andrews kindly removed mine for me using a very funky stud removal tool and I then took the hacksaw to them before refitting with same funky tool. If you dont have access to the funky tool then you need to use two nuts locked together to remove them. I guess you could chop them off in situ though? If the 4-1 has separate primaries then removal and refitting is fairly easy. I have no experience with the standard exhaust so can't help there. Yellow SL #32

for the Halfords £20 kit - comes in a zipped wallet and has most of the basics in it. Yellow SL #32

It will come in useful for other stuff as well - wipe a little onto the threads of any bolt you have to undo/replace as it will stop it from seizing. Halfords do actually sell a small tube of it as well as the big tubs. Do a search on here for how to remove the brake pads - it's not difficult - and you just need to put a small smear on the back of the pad (not the friction surface as one poor blatchatter did). As you aren't actually replacing the pads with new, you won't need a brake windback tool. Yellow SL #32

It might be something as simple as the wire has come off the switch. I went to change the speedo calibration when I changed tyre sizes a few weeks ago and it wouldn't work - turned out that the wire for switch one had popped off. Yellow SL #32

My Nitrons fit the under tube mounting - they were the same length as the Bilsteins that came off. I didn't notice an extension piece when I fitted them but that doesn't mean it isn't there 😳. Having read some of the stories regarding the under tube bush, I guess I should have gone for the shorter ones and used the through the tube mounting. Yellow SL #32

Year: 1997 engine: K series capacity: 1900cc (1892 assuming the same as Dave's) BHP: 227 Weight: unknown but guess 530ish kg (Superlight with screen, heater and dry sump) Tyres: Avon CR500 Yellow SL #32

Thanks Neil 😳. 😬 OK I will email scanned copies to them. Yellow SL #32

So should I bother sending them on? Nobody complained and I didn't think I needed them for the L7 championship. Will I likely get a black mark against me if I want to compete in their next sprint? Yellow SL #32

As I was one of the many who didn't take MOT cert or insurance with me on Sunday, does anyone have the fax number handy or better still an email address that I can send copies to. I presume we have to do this. Yellow SL #32

They are almost certainly bespoke to Caterham and the manufacturer will not supply them to you direct. Yellow SL #32

As Neil said, a real baptism of fire (or should that be water?) for my first ever sprint. A surfeit of power over grip and not having the requisite skills to deal with that made for an interesting day. I did learn an awful lot about my car and it's handling and even managed to hang on to it when I went sideways through the hairpin on my first timed run. A few seconds later though, a major fishtailing session which I just managed to keep on the blackstuff led to me backing off for a time slower than my second practice. Timed run 2 got me within a second of my second practice run and I was happy to leave it at that. The off camber twisties were really nerve racking as the car just wanted to drift away from the apex and I didn't have the confidence to know when it would stop. Any time full power was deployed, even in a straight line, the car would just fishtail. I'm sure the course is very exciting in the dry but in the wet it was just terrifying. Still, I had a good a day and learned loads including many tips from more experienced sprinters that will stand me in good stead for the next one. See you all at Llandow. Yellow SL #32 Edited by - Shaun_E on 24 Apr 2006 11:13:08

Some BP pump nozzles are much larger diameter part way up the nozzle than normal ones - I have got caught out a couple of times. Other companies' nozzles usually fit with a bit of faffing. If you don't want to knock the flap out then just carry something with you that can be used to push the flap in while you fill up. I have used a biro in an emergency but I am sure a bit of bent metal would be easier. Yesterday I had the reverse problem and the nozzle actually got stuck in the filler - a bit of brute force and ignorance solved that one 😳. Yellow SL #32

Rear view mirror - clean windscreen and mirror thoroughly with meths or a good automotive glass cleaner (e.g. Autoglym FastGlass). Allow to dry properly and then warm the windscreen with a hairdryer before attaching the mirror with the sticky pad. I used a Halfords own brand pad and it has held tight for the last 18 months. Yellow SL #32

Halfords never seem to have any anaerobic gasket sealant when I go there. They have loads of different silicone ones and Hylomar but never the proper stuff. I ordered 574 from RS components - not cheap though . Yellow SL #32

I can only think of one of possible adantage of having a greater oil capacity: should the scavenge pump belt break you will have more time to shut down before the oil in the tank runs out. This only works with the Caterham system that keeps the internal pressure pump and assumes you have some warning device to tell you the belt has broken. Yellow SL #32