Shaun_E

1. Yes and no. It is better in that it sucks oil from 2 points in the sump & therefore copes better with surge conditions. It is worse in that the pressure pump is belt driven and therefore a belt failure is immediately catastrophic - with the Caterham system you do have a short time to shut down while the tank empties. 2. With the bellhousing tank the oil takes longer to warm up as the large amount of metal in the bell housing will keep the oil cool longer. Conversely with the smaller capacity the oil may need cooling. In terms of location it is much easier and neater than fitting a separate tank. 3. Don't know. Less likely though. 4. The Caterham kit is a straightforward install with the engine out - it is a bolt on job although some bits are a little fiddly and the instructions are poor. You don't have to touch the internal pressure pump. I can't say for the Pace but you do of course have to mount the separate tank somewhere and I believe you have to do something to the internal pressure pump. 5. Don't know. ihave had no issues with the Caterham system. Yellow SL #32

If the pump drive is lost then, unless you have some sort of warning device, the first you will know of it is when your oil pressure drops to zero and the engine goes bang. Some people have, I believe fitted either a micro switch or a light sensor to tell if the belt breaks and then lights a large warning light on the dash - if you react quick enough and shut down then you should save your engine - the more oil capacity in your tank, the longer you have to shut down. I can second frankyknuckles' findings regarding capacity - max 5 litres without Apollo or oil cooler. I believe some early adopters had breathing problems with the Pace setup but it may be resolved now. To me the Caterham system is probably the easy choice (hence why I went for it) as you just order the kit from Caterham, curse the cr@ppy instructions and get on and fit it. It is also a very neat install when complete - the pump fits where a power steeering pump would have gone thus utilising standard fixings and the tank in the bellhousing is a neat touch. With the Pace system you are one of a much smaller group of users but perhaps it is technicallly a "better" system. The cost difference is not nearly as much as people say once you have added up all the bits that you must source from different places for the Pace system but there is a saving. If I were to make the choice now I would probably chooise Pace as I will shortly have a highly modified engine. If I was fitting to a standard Caterham engine then I would probably stick with the Caterham DS kit. Yellow SL #32

I believe the Pace system also has a 2 stage scavenge pump so better able to keep the sump empty and therefore the tank full in surge conditions and it uses a separate pressure pump rather than reusing the Rover one. A conversation I had with a certain well known engine tuner, suggested that the Caterham gold scavenge pump "may" be marginal in its ability to keep up with oil flow on a tuned K-series with improved oilways. This worried me a little as I am using that system with my forthcoming 1.9K which is having the oil ways and oil pump improved. There is only anecdotal evidence for this but it is probably something to bear in mind. On a K as it comes from Caterham there would be no such issues. The Caterham bell housing is a very neat solution but it is quite heavy and has no greater oil capacity than the wet sump. Yellow SL #32

Check the coil too. Mine died between taking it off for my rebuild and refitting it. Yellow SL #32 Edited by - Shaun_E on 8 Oct 2005 16:46:12

A "Durable Dot" tool - consists of a base shaped to rest the popper in and a shaped punch which you use to ... oh it's too difficult to describe - you want one of these which you can get from Caterham or IMHO a better one from Jill Judd Yellow SL #32

Thanks folks. Yellow SL #32

Dave - please tell me is the box I described the immobiliser? I already have a new immobiliser fitted so not worried about that. I just need to know I am removing the correct piece of equipment. Cheers, Shaun Yellow SL #32

You can't hotwire the car - the immobiliser sets something in the ECU. You can do all you like to the immobiliser after that but the car won't start. I just need to make sure the box I described above is the one I need to give to the purchaser of my ECU. I can remove the details once someone confirms it to me. I need to know by the end of today. Yellow SL #32

Before I make a big mistake can someone please confirm that the immobiliser is the black plastic box bolted inside the scuttle on the driver's side - it has Lucas stickers on it. Thanks, Shaun Yellow SL #32

How much are you saving? The clutch plate and cover are £140 from Caterham - I can't believe you'll save a huge amount on that price. CRB is £10. Yellow SL #32

In a real down pour on the motorway you will need a waterproof jacket as you will get spray coming in from the back of the car. If there isn't much standing water then you will be fine. I much prefer this to the claustrophobic full hood. The other advantage it that it takes much less time to fit. Yellow SL #32

I've just bought a set of Magnecor leads from Elise Parts. Oily said the blue ones would be fine on my forthcoming 200bhp+ engine but I was suckered into buying the better specification red ones 😳. If the Hella ones meet the OEM specification then they should be fine. Yellow SL #32

Cheers Ian. New cam seals are definitely required as mine were leaking a bit. Yellow SL #32

One of Paul's questions to me was is it a head off job to replace the cams and I realise I don't know the answer. Obviously I have the head off but is this necessary to swap cams? Yellow SL #32

Yes the bore is quite small and when I last looked at mine it was pretty badly corroded. I was having the reverse problem in that I couldn't get it to switch off. Adjusting the cable worked to a certain extent but I'm sure I'm still getting warm air coming in when the valve is closed. Yellow SL #32

Nick, YHM back. Shaun Yellow SL #32

I suspect I'm about to try and teach you to suck eggs but...is the valve opening fully? The cable could have stretched or moved. Or perhaps the valve itself is the bit that is blocked? Yellow SL #32

I suspect the Radweld is a likely cause of the problem and I doubt re-coring would be cost effective. I am sure I have seen second hand heaters for sale on here - all those weight saving types ditching them. The usual problem with the s/h ones is the securing tabs have broken, but this is easily remedied by rivetting a bit of right angle ali to the case. Yellow SL #32

Myles - thanks you've answered my question - it only operates on the ECU. I have had a better immobiliser fitted so will sell the ECU and immobiliser as a matched pair as that is easier and cheaper for the buyer Yellow SL #32

I have a crank shaft and set of rods from a 1.6 K-series. They are all in excellent condition. The rods still have the pistons attached but these would need replacing (or at least need new rings). £50 would be nice but please make me an offer. Yellow SL #32

Best way to improve aerodynamics is to remove the windscreen and fit an aeroscreen. You can buy smaller lights (try SVC for 5 3/4" headlights) but that won't make much difference. For the engine upgrade bible look at DVA Power although of course Caterham provide upgrades (Supersport - 135bhp, Supersport R - 160bhp). Yellow SL #32 Edited by - Shaun_E on 3 Oct 2005 10:06:26

I will be removing my MEMS ECU this month to replace with an Emerald and want to remove the immobiliser as well (to sell as a unit). Does the Rover immobiliser work only with the ECU or does it immobilise through another circuit as well. What I really want to know is can I just remove the immobiliser? Yellow SL #32

I think the softer tyres are more prone to tramlining. I never really noticed it with A021Rs but when I switched to A048Rs it was much more noticeable. It is probably just exagerating an existing issue perhaps with the camber settings not being equal or it could be that you need a little bit of toe in. Yellow SL #32

Hands up - the dry sumped described engine above is mine ☹️. I was gobsmacked at how badly blocked the pickup was . Before everyone shouts "I told you so" it wasn't until after I had fitted my sump that I read the advice not to use silicone. I then removed it and used blue hylomar instead thinking that would be OK - it patently is not. Luckily my engine was being stripped prior to upgrading but it probably wouldn't have held on much longer. The engine obviously had other issues as well - the oil pump was completely knackered (some hard debris by the look of the damage) and a piece of debris has also found it's way through my gold scavenge pump. Luckily Oily was able to clean up the scavenge pump and it should be fine. I learned a hell of a lot watching my engine being taken apart and will be there for the build . My advice is listen to Oily. Yellow SL #32

I've been running with a Red Top 15 for some time now and it works well (K-series) and a friend is running with the same in a Crossflow with no problems. Edited to remove an error. Yellow SL #32 Edited by - Shaun_E on 26 Oct 2005 18:54:09