Shaun_E

Car will always be in a roadgoing class (I'm not intending to do anything other than L7 club sprints) so should be no issue with petty strut. I would happily fit a petty strut but the forward mounting is not exposed at the moment so will be a bit tricky. Will get timing strut from Caterham as I need to order some other stuff as well. I have done several track days with the head restraint in place and recently have taken to reversing it for a bit more comfort. I hope this won't cause a problem with scrutineers. Will consider the fire extinguisher - not in class 3 Geoff so no need to weigh me down. Will be in class 5 so not expecting great things. The blue book will be my bed time reading for a while. Anyone got any thoughts on a second throttle return spring for Jenveys? Yellow SL #32

I have fitted the rear wheels now after some fettling of the De-Dion tube. However, I am not entirely happy with the length of wheel stud protruding through the new wheels. Does anyone know if the new 8 spokes are thicker than the old KN Minataurs? Do all new cars have longer studs? Should I fit longer studs? If so what is involved. Thanks, Shaun Yellow SL #32

Licence received, championship registration in post, now just got to do the preparation on the car so have a few questions. I have read everything I can on here although I haven't delved into the blue book much yet. 1) Do I need a petty strut for the FIA bar for a) L7 Club events and b) invited events? 2) Throttle return springs - anyone got a picture or description of what is required on Jenvey DTHTBs? To my knowledge I only have the one spring. 3) Timing strut - is it easy to make one or should I just buy one from DT - how much? 4) I have leather S-Type seats so headrest should be OK - anyone have problems with this at scrutineering? 5) Any other quick pointers on preparation? 6) I have a cut-off switch but no fire extinguisher. I am in 2 minds about carrying an extinguisher as my first thought is the marshalls will be better placed than me to use one and I should really concentrate on getting out of the car not trying to put out a fire. What are other's thoughts on this - do you have an extinguisher? I am not likely to go down the plumbed-in route as the car is also used a lot for touring and I don't want to take up half the boot. Should I carry a small hand held or go for a 2.25 litre one? If I carry one it will be mounted transversely in front of the passenger seat where I used to have a small one mounted. Looking forward to Longcross 😬 Yellow SL #32

Arrived last week. I'm filling in my club championship registration today - just got to buy a race suit now and I should be ready to go. Yellow SL #32

7400rpm will probably limit the power with BP285H cams - mine revs to 8000 with the power still climbing a bit. If you want the full RPM then forged pistons will be required but if you limit to 7400 you will probably be OK. If you are rebuilding the bottom end you will need the following: Big end shells Main bearing shells Thrust washers Bottom end gasket set new rod bolts Other possible needs are: Flywheel bolts Balance engine Airbox kit (if you want to keep noise down) Head gasket set Head bolt set Yellow SL #32

Dave - mine is really tight as well and I use the "winding on" technique. I think I've even taken the pulley off to fit the belt. doesn't seem to be a problem in use though. Yellow SL #32

1) Yes 2) try charging it but it may well be knackered 3) Try Bedford Battery company (google or yell should find a branch for you) 4) ??? (I have 13" wheels) Yellow SL #32

I'm just going the other way - I assume you are talking about 13" wheels. If you have the same width rims front and back then there will be no real problems for you. It will raise your ride height 10 to 15 mm - it's a significant drop for me though as my car is very low already so I will be raising the front a bit to compensate. I have gone to wider (205) rears so the rolling radius of those is similar to the 185 A048Rs I am replacing. Be aware that the A048R doesn't last that long. I've only done about 3000 miles, 1 track day and 1 handling day and the rears are trashed, the fronts barely legal. Yellow SL #32

AFAIK, DOT 4 and DOT 5.1 can be mixed as these are normal brake fluids. DOT 5.0 is silicone based and should never be mixed with 4 or 5.1. I am pretty sure that silicone is not recommended for high performance brake systems. Brake fluid should be changed every 2 years at the mimimum on a 7 along with the flexible pipes. If you use one of the high performance brake fluids they probably need to be changed more regularly. Yellow SL #32

Blue with orange stripe and another (blue I think) in convoy. I was in the grey Seat and gave you the thumbs up. Yellow SL #32

If anyone has a place on the Llandow pre-season shake down trackday on Sat 25th March but can't make it, then I would like to buy their place. Blatmail me and I'll sort the details out. Thanks, Shaun Yellow SL #32

The bushes should come off over the end of the arms with a lot of effort and some decent lube. That said, I couldn't get mine off and in the end I just resprayed the bar myself by moving the bushes out of the way, spraying, letting paint dry and then moving the bushes over the painted area to spray the rest of the bar. Halfords Satin Black is a good match for the powder coat. Paint seems to have held up over the last year since it was done so, as long as you prepare the surface well, it will be fine. Yellow SL #32

Most likely the battery. It's got enough juice to power the fuel pump but not enough to turn the starter motor. If the car can be jump started then that's your answer. Charge the battery and if that doesn't cure it, you'll need a new one. If you can't jump start the car then the starter motor is the more likely culprit - or at least the wiring to it. Loads of post on this in the past. Yellow SL #32

Personally I'd go for an Emerald ECU and stick with a distributor as you won't need to hack the loom around (but then I hate car electrics!). My engine has a VVC head which would have been wasted spark but I had it converted to use a distributor as that's what my old engine ran. Re the lambda probe, I guess if you stick with the EU3 MEMS then you'll probably need to install a lambda probe to get optimal running although there probably isn't that much improvement other than emissions. If you switch to Emerald, lambda is not required for normal running but you will need a boss for the wideband probe used in mapping. You could probably get an Emerald map for a standard 1600 SS that wouldn't need a rolling road session to map so the boss could wait. Yellow SL #32

Kipper - I'll take one place please if I've not been beaten to it. Yellow SL #32 Edited by - Shaun_E on 20 Jan 2006 14:23:51

Edited as you had already seen the light Edited by - Shaun_E on 19 Jan 2006 13:32:49

I had painted parts of my chassis in POR15 and it didn't cause Arch any problems when they stripped it a couple of years later. They sand blast the chassis before recoating. Yellow SL #32

I thought I'd killed my Red Top 15 when it almost completely discharged but it recovered and I'm still using it now. Bit annoying in a away as I'd already bought a replacement but they are tougher than the manufacturer would have you believe. I actually called DMS and they told me it would most likely be a goner but they were wrong. Yellow SL #32

I don't really know the answer to that. There will obviously be a pressure drop. My oil pressure was lower after fitting an Apollo and was lower again when I fitted the Laminova so if you add in some long pipe runs you could see a pressure drop that is not acceptable. I fitted my Laminova in the radiator top hose. I have now switched to a dry sump and if I feel the need for a Laminova, it will go in the coolant by pass circuit. Yellow SL #32

With an Apollo, it is simply easier (shorter oil hose runs) to plumb the Laminova into the radiator top hose. People with a dry sump tend to plumb them into the coolant bypass as again it is more convenient. Having it in the bypass would of course mean the oil would start to be warmed earlier than if in the rad top hose. Yellow SL #32

Make sure you loctite the bolts that hold the pump to the cage. One of mine worked loose and ended up rubbing on the inside of the pulley . This could have been fatal for the engine. Yellow SL #32

Dave - I'm pretty sure that the circlip is on the outside i.e. front of car. Can't check it now for a couple of days but if you haven't had an answer, blatmail me on Wednesday and I'll double check for you. Yellow SL #32

Angus - there is a remote possibility it is the CRB. Those symptoms sound simlar to those I experienced just before I stripped my car down - the CRB was toast and in fact the clutch fork wasn't located properly either. The symptoms I got were a vibration that came in at certain revs and varied depending on the load. Wouldn't explain the loss of acceleration though unless the clutch was actually slipping. Yellow SL #32

Cheers - will try at the weekend. Yellow SL #32

Still trying to talk Gill into having a go as well. Any event I can do without a night away is a must so I'll be trying Longcross hopefully. I'm sure I'll get hooked but I like track days as well so can't do too many events without moving my brownie point account further into the red. Yellow SL #32