Shaun_E

The primaries on my system are only 1.5" - will that make a difference? The recommended primary diameter is 1.75". The collector and rest of the system is only 2".

It might be cheaper to sell my system and buy a correctly sized one. The Caterham VHPD system is £595 + VAt including silencer and I will more than likely need a bigger silencer than my current 5" to meet track day noise regulations.

Yellow SL #32

Just to be absolutely clear - the item in the radiator is a fan switch and is completely separate from the temperature sender which is located normally (on a K-series) in the water rail at the back of the engine.

It sounds like your fan switch needs replacing. As Myles says - £10 from Caterham.

Yellow SL #32

Oh how I wish I had stacks of money to get rid of - sadly not. I just wanted to make sure that I wouldn't be wasting my hard-earned on a 200bhp engine only to strangle it with the exhaust. Sounds like I'll be OK with what I've got - it's the Caterham unit with the 4 separate primaries exiting the bodywork. I'll probably need to get a bigger silencer at some point to keep the noise down as I currently have the 5" that is not repackable.

Yellow SL #32

Cheers Martin - hopefully will have the dampers and the car ready early November so will contact you then. Thanks.

Yellow SL #32

Costs were in one of my earlier posts but for clarification:

Freestyle steel body AVO dampers and springs: £465

Freestyle alloy body AVO dampers and springs: £610

Freestyle alloy body AVO dampers and springs with spherical joints: £730

Nitron 1 way adjustables and springs (spherical joints): £1110

All above prices are complete including VAT.

AVO dampers can be successfully deployed, as certain sprinters have proved, but I am concerned about their longevity and the repeatability of the adjuster settings. There have been technical discussions of the respective design of AVOs and Nitrons before and there is no doubt that the Nitrons are a much better product. I started this thread to see how the AVOs had held up and it is clear to me that there may be issues with their quality. I want this to be a one time purchase so have decided to pay the extra and get the better product. I do realise that I will need someone to set the car up properly for me.

Yellow SL #32

Edited by - Shaun_E on 29 Sep 2005 13:25:53

OK having sorted out the damper situation, my next choice is "Which exhaust system?".

On Dave Andrew's recommendation I need to replace my 4-1 (Caterham competition unit) with a 4-2-1 system.

Options are:

1) Have my system modified - but are the primaries big enough?

2) Buy the Caterham VHPD unit - how much and is it stainless?

3) Get a 3rd party system - EBD, H&S, Powerspeed, etc.

This is to go on a 200bhp+ K series.

If I get a 3rd party system, I'll get a Raceco silencer.

Your thoughts please gentlemen.

Yellow SL #32

Avon CR500s come in 195/45R15 so that is the size that would be fitted to R300/R400 as standard. See here for details.

Yellow SL #32

So 5 people above have had problems with the AVO dampers varying from minor to catastrophic failure, Gary May agrees the Nitrons are much better, a "well respected engineer" is scathing about the AVO dampers and I have had 2 off-forum offers to sell.

Looks like it's got to be Nitrons. I discussed with my better half and she has agreed that I should get the better quality units 😬. They are going to be on the car for a long time as my frenzied bout of upgraditus must soon come to an end ☹️. The car has been rebuilt from bare chassis, the engine goes to DVA this weekend so the dampers are the icing on the cake.

Thanks for all your comments folks and sorry to the people who tempted me with their AVOs but the above stories have put me off.

Yellow SL #32

Ooh...Nitron...no AVO...no Nitron...help

Can't make up my mind. I guess it will come down to how much my new engine ends up costing. It looks like Nitron really are the best but, if cost is an issue, the Freestyle setup will be better than the standard Caterham with Bilsteins. From everyones comments AVO appear to have slightly patchy quality and customer service.

Just to throw a wild card into the mix - has anyone fitted the Caterham track day setup (£1200 with adjustable dampers)?

Yellow SL #32

Keep those comments coming. Peter and Marks answers are the sort of thing I'm looking for. Brent - interesting to hear that - what were AVO like to deal with? or did you get it fixed through Gary?

Martin - I would love to get the Nitrons but am struggling to justify them in my mind. If I go AVO I won't get the spherical joints to try and keep the cost down. Alloy AVOs are £610 with an extra £120 for spherical joints. Nitrons are £1110. If I succumb to the lure of the Nitrons then I'll take you up on your offer. I should have a car similar to yours then, as my engine comes out this weekend for a trip to DVA - 1.9 K with DTHTBs, VVC head and all the trimmings to get to 200bhp+

Yellow SL #32

Can anyone give me an update on their experiences with the Freestyle suspension kit now its been around for a while?

I understand there were some issues with the rear springs rubbing on the dampers - have these been successfully resolved with the wider spring platforms?

Do Freestyle now supply the wider platforms.?

How are the dampers holding up now that they have been on the car for a while?

How repeatable are the damper settings?

Rosejointed or not? If yes are any other changes needed?

Anything else I need to know?

Another question - how do you get Gary to actually work on your car? I see lots of "happy customers" on here but I can't get a date out of him as to when he can do my car. He never returns my calls and when I've managed to catch him at an event he won't agree a date.

I had pretty much given up on Freestyle and was looking to buy a set of Nitrons but they are twice the price and I will still need someone to set the car up. If I get a positive response here and can get Gary to agree a date for the work then I might still go the Freestyle route.

Yellow SL #32

Not quite - a yellow dot (if it exists) should be aligned to the valve as yellow is the light point of the tyre. A red dot shows the tyres high spot and should be aligned to a notch in the wheel which shows the wheel's low spot. Lots of information in the Tyre Bible. The bit on coloured dots is nearly half way down.

Yellow SL #32

Edited by - Shaun_E on 26 Sep 2005 16:39:44

Have a look in the archives here for some information on winter storage.

Yellow SL #32

If you change tyre profile it will alter you overall gearing. Going from 45 to 50 profile will increase the overall gearing giving a higher top speed and will reduce the rate of acceleration. See this thread for more discussion. Google for gearcalc and download it - you can plug different tyre sizes in to see how it will affect top speed and speeds in each gear.

I am not 100% sure how much the acceleration will be affected but having spoken to a couple of people it seems that "noticeably" is the answer.

Yellow SL #32

Wear ear plugs 😬

Yellow SL #32

George Polley seems to be a popular source (I've bought tyres from him in the past) or Caterham sell minilights (KN Minator) and their new 8 spoke design which is rather smart and on my shopping list.

Yellow SL #32

You need to talk to Norman - some stuff on his website here. He did use an air rivetter though!

Yellow SL #32

Caterham will supply as will Rally Design and many others - problem is that nearly all only stock them in blue therefore red is a special order. Shouldn't cost you any more but you will have to wait several weeks for them.

Yellow SL #32

Try this thread here.

Yellow SL #32

I've got a durable dot tool from Jill Judd which is a lot better than the one that Caterham sent me. Not perfect but I have a much lower failure rate using it than I did with the Caterham one.

Yellow SL #32

Have you got an 8% steering rack? If not then the cycle wings could hit the body work on full lock. Do a search for "cycle wing conversion" and you'll find some threads covering most of the possible issues.

Yellow SL #32

Sounds like you've got wax on the windscreen. I guess you'll need a good solvent to take it off or use one of the proprietary glass polish products e.g. Autoglym. Seems that household glass cleaners also contain waxes and silicon which causes smearing.

Yellow SL #32

Mike - exactly what I found with mine (also a 1997 model). Have changed the input shaft to the later design so I can use the AP clutch.

Yellow SL #32

Caterham have used a wide range of clutches over the years. My Superlight (6 speed) had a Rover clutch in it (long story). Caterham have now standardised on a single type of AP clutch which is about £140 for plate and cover.

You could of course take your existing clutch to a motor factors and get them to match it.

Yellow SL #32

Having chatted to Arnie and played around with gearcalc I understand that 205/60 Yokos are significantly taller than 185/60 to the extent that acceleration would be appreciably blunted (difference in diameter is 23mm). As I wish to see a significant performance difference with the engine upgrade, it would be pointless to waste some of that with taller effective gearing. Avon CR500 in 205/55R13 have an almost identical diameter to the 185/60R13 Yokoham A048R so this would be the most effective tyre with the 3.62 diff. If I really wanted to stay with the Yokos then a 3.92 diff would be more appropriate. Avon recommend 8" rim for the 205 CR500, so looks like new Caterham 8 spoke wheels in 6" front, 8" rear with 175/55 and 205/55 CR500 tyres is the best choice for me.

Mark - I'll take you up on the angle grinder offer when I order them.

Yellow SL #32