Shaun_E

Fitting the Caterham system with bellhousing tank is an engine out job but you get everything you need in the kit, there is no fettling required - it is just bolt on. Usual caveats about Caterham's written instructions and missing parts apply, but in general it is a straightforward job. DO NOT use anything other than Loctite Anaerobic sealants to seal the sump to the block. Silicone or Hylomar will get in the sump and block the oil pickup - I know from personal experience as well as that of a number of others. I removed and sold my Apollo to offset some of the cost of the DS - you could keep it for extra oil capacity but I don't believe it is necessary. The new DS bellhousing tanks have a swirl tower on them that goes someway to de-aerating the oil but to be honest I don't think aeration is a massive problem on a DS engine. Yellow SL #32

Cheers. Yellow SL #32

Bit of a numpty question but which way up does the strut go? Just received one from Caterham and it looks like the forward edge is not going to be quite vertical unless the grill has a slope on it. I guess the blade bit goes at the bottom but would like to be absolutely sure. I assume that it just clamps to the grill with the supplied bracket. Of course no bolts were supplied ☹️. Yellow SL #32

Can't help with 1) or 2) but the pump is reasonably straightforward to replace. You will need to drain the tank, undo the fuel pipe connection to the fuel filter (mounted on the back of the rear bulhead) and then undo the half dozen (or so) screws that hold the pump onto the tank. The pump then just lifts out - the snag is that there isn't that much room to the side of the tank but I think it is doable with the tank in place. Reftting is the reverse of removal as they say - I suggest getting a new rubber gasket and when you put the screws back in, do not overtighten them or you will distort the gasket. Yellow SL #32

Someone at the Llandow trackday told me that Simon was driving a Zetec engined car which would account for the 2.0L capacity - I was a bit surprised though. I thought the R500 Evo had been sold in the auction Caterham held recently. Yellow SL #32

It took me 4 weeks to strip my car and that was working most of the weekends and some evenings so don't feel too bad about that. Bagging and labeling made re-assembly much easier, so you'll be glad you did. Definitely get a new loom - it's my biggest regret that I didn't. Not sure where to source one though - Caterham will obviously supply the standard offering but you may be able to get a custom loom made for similar money. I don't have a spare wheel carrier but others swear by them. Why not have a removable one made to give the best of both worlds? Can't answer your question on tank straps - on my car the tank sits on two right angled brackets and is held down with long bolts through a right angled bracket that sits on the forward top edge of the tank. I didn't have any extras added to the chassis. Angus has gone for Watts linkage mounts but people I asked about that said that the Caterham design was sub optimal and that there was little benefit in the Watts link over the previous design. I had every panel powder coated apart from the rear panel (they can't do that one as the bends crack the powder coat) - it looks better and should provide a further barrier to corrosion. Strip all your suspension parts and get them blasted and recoated (and rebushed) - another thing I regret not doing. Good luck. Yellow SL #32

Sounds like the car is well setup for you then. If you put soft on the rears it will increase the grip at that end and probably induce some understeer. Is there something you can do to counteract that e.g. softer front ARB? How about going soft all round and saving the medium fronts until matching rears are available? Yellow SL #32

What is the bhp of your car? Unless you are running 200bhp+ then 205s are probably overkill. I fitted 205s to give more traction with my new engine but it has indeed made the car understeer more. I have softened the front ARB but still haven't quelled the understeer - next plan is to increase the rake of the car but failing that I will have to stiffen the back of the car which isn't ideal. Yellow SL #32

Good point Angus - perhaps you just need a taller MOT man. Yellow SL #32

If you want to give it a try, refer your tester to this page in the manual. There has been endless debate on here about this interpretation, but a number of MOT testers (mine included) have taken this view. If you twist the indicator pods out a bit, it makes it easier. Yellow SL #32

There is a 74 degree stat (used on the R500?) and a number of people run with this but personally I think this will make your car run too cool. I am actually having trouble getting my car to run warm enough with an 82 degree stat. I have a 227bhp K series and cooling doesn't seem to be an issue. I think it would be more important to make sure you have a reliable fan switch with manual override or use the Emerald to switch the fan on and off via a relay (which is how mine is set up) . That way on the occasions when you are sat in traffic or the pit lane, the fan operates effectively and keeps the temperature under control. IMHO the paranoia about K series head gasket failure leads to people trying to make their car run very cool when in reality all you want to do is stop it overheating (by which I mean keep it below 100 degrees or so). I believe that HGF can be caused by local overheating i.e. airlocks so there is perhaps some mileage in overcooling an engine but if you get rid of airlocks and watch your temperature gauge then it won't be overheating that causes HGF. It is my understanding that a lot of HGF is due to incorrect liner heights and the fire rings getting damaged - but I'm no expert on this just read a lot on the subject. My previous 1.6SS engine regularly got over 100 degrees in traffic and on track and when the engine died it wasn't through HGF (big end bearing failure probably due to blocked dry sump oil pickup). Yellow SL #32

FYI, the system isn't smart enough to work out the exact model of car from the VIN - I watched (and helped) as my MOT tester used the system. The Reg and/or VIN (not sure which) gives you the manufacturer i.e. Caterham. You then have to select the model (choice of "Seven S3" or "21"). You then select the engine capacity - tricky for me as 1900 isn't listed. We chose 1800 but then you select the model and Superlight wasn't listed (SLR was) so we went back and selected 1600 and Superlight was then listed - we took that option. You then have to select the VIN variants to determine the emissions rating. It is at this point that you can select factory vs kit and Cat vs non-Cat. The tester could inadvertently select the incorrect value from this list and therfore avoid an emissions test. If Tom's car was pre August 1998 then, as it was kit built, visible smoke test is correct. If his car was post August 1998 then he was a lucky chap as he should have had to pass at least a basic Cat test. The rules are pretty clear. Description here and the VOSA flowchart here - note the box in the bottom right of the document. Yellow SL #32

Yes that's the stuff. Often put on the back of brake pads to stop squealing (note not on the friction side as one hapless member did ). Smear a little bit on bolts, bushes, etc. to make sure they don't seize. Yellow SL #32

Halfords masking tape - I left some on for months and it came off without damaging the paint. Yellow SL #32

It is the VW part but you can get it easily and cheaply from Caterham. I have swapped one over without draining the coolant - you just have to be quick. You'll lose a bit of coolant but not enough to worry about. It would be worth running to temp and bleeding the radiator just to be sure there are no airlocks. Yellow SL #32

Protection not needed for good quality c/f. If the c/f has been lacquered then it will need protecting as if it were painted. Yellow SL #32

Just noticed a 6" scratch on my c/f rear wing ☹️. What's the best way of repairing or hiding it? It's a K9 (i.e. pre-preg c/f) wing if that makes a difference. The scratch is quite deep so unlikely to polish out. No idea how it was caused. Yellow SL #32

Thanks for the information. It is a Caterham rack (1997) - the green painted aluminium one. I'll give Caterham a call later an see if there is anything that I can do and I will try the method Steve describes. Hope I can get the spherical bearing out with the wishbone on the car - I've no desire to be pulling the front suspension apart. Yellow SL #32

Had the same thing - the dip switch can fail. New one from Caterham as I couldn't find one in any of the local motor factors. Yellow SL #32

Angus - I looked at your site again to remind me of what it looked like but, as you say, trying to understand how it works is a different matter 😳. They do look kind of funky inside though. Yellow SL #32

Just passsed the MOT but got an "advisory" for play in the steering rack. The play is on both sides and appears to be where the steering arms enter the rack. Can this be adjusted and if so how? The other advisory was for lower wishbone ball joint. This looks straightforward to replace but is it a Caterham specific part or can I get it from any motor factor - if so what is the part reference? Yellow SL #32

Spotted by my wife. Telford Drive, Cippenham. Not seen you around before. Yellow SL #32

OK that makes sense. Just to be sure, does that mean that mean it is fine to put on the rollers for a brake test? Does the Quaife diff behave in the same way then? Yellow SL #32

Yes you probably can but I would get some Magnecor ones from Elise Parts. I went for the red ones on the basis I'd never need to replace them. Yellow SL #32

There are lots of discussions on here about not putting LSD equipped cars on the brake rollers for an MOT and in fact the MOT manual does say don't do it. For the past 2 years my car has gone on the rollers so today at my MOT, I asked the tester why. He surprised me by saying that he hadn't realised that mine had an LSD as it hadn't behaved like one when he was turning the rear wheels during the checks of the rear. He said he usually spots them during that check. Because of the unusual behaviour, it wouldn't affect the brake test - seems the MOT instruction is because of the effect on the test rather than any likelihood of damage. He wondered if the diff behaves differently at different speeds and maybe the roller speed wasn't enough to activate it. So the question is: what is it about an AP Suretrak that makes it behave differently from, say, a ZF? Its definitely an AP diff as a)I have the original purchase docs for the car b) the diff is stamped with an AP part number and c)it does rather excellent donuts. Yellow SL #32