Shaun_E

I used to get around 5000 miles including 1 or 2 track days out of a set. Be warned though 21s aren't great on a dry track as they will overheat very quickly and you'll wreck them. They are however great as road tyres and on a wet track.

Why have a car like a seven and then fit inferior tyres to it? I'm sure the A539 is a very good tyre on a heavier car but A0xxR tyres are so much stickier. I've now switched to A048Rs and they start with only 4mm of tread .

If cost is an issue then I can see why you might fit something harder wearing but if you want the best performance I'd stick with the 21s.

Yellow SL #32

Terry,

Looks like Michael Calvert can bring them along on Saturday. I'll be dropping them at Michael's tonight and will give you a call tomorrow. Michael will be a in a red crossflow with flares and brooklands.

Shaun

Yellow SL #32

With really low tyre pressures (and I don't know how low) the tyre could flex rather a lot and "squirm" on the wheel. This would make the handling a bit vague - the front might not turn in very positively and the back could move around a bit - would feel a bit like lots of roll on the suspension I guess. In the extreme I suppose the tyre could even come off the rim although I doubt that would happen. On a hot dry day or on track they would almost certainly overheat.

Most people seem happy with around 17psi cold but as I said, you could try lowering a bit at a time until you find a reasonable compromise. I guess you need to look at the rest of the setup on the car. I would definitely get your toe-in checked as that could make all the difference.

Yellow SL #32

Looks like they've changed the design then - mine is a recent purchase.

Yellow SL #32

Terry - I normally come to Penn but won't be there this weekend. I will see if I can get someone else to bring them along. Otherwise please feel free to collect from Slough.

Yellow SL #32

When I moved from A021Rs to A048Rs the car became much more of a handful. The sidewalls of the A048R are quite stiff and make the ride much bumpier. I got so fed up with the car trying to spit me off the road that I had the bump steer measured and dialled out and at the same time gave the car a bit of toe-in. The toe-in has transformed the car on the road and I haven't noticed any big downside on track. You could get this checked - Caterhams are often set up with the wheels parallel or even with a bit of toe-out to give excellent turn in on track but this can translate to tramlining and handling issues on bumpy roads

I put about 17psi cold in my 48s and this seems to work fine on road and track giving me about 20-21psi when hot. Some people have mentioned that they are very sensitive to pressure so you could try reducing the pressure slightly (0.5 psi at a time) but if you go too low the tyres could move around on the wheels giving you a different set of problems.

My car is also set up quite stiffly with a greeen (18mm) ARB on the front. I plan to move to an adjustable ARB and a Freestyle spring and damper package as soon as possible.

Yellow SL #32

Edited by - Shaun_E on 24 May 2005 14:23:46

Are all the allen bolts that hold the top of the conning tower on all done up tightly?

I don't completely follow your description but on my car the conning tower casting has a machined section bolted to the top using 6 (or eight?) allen bolts. This machined section has the fitting for the hose to the catch tank and an internal thread for the cap to screw into. Possible leaks could be due to:

1) cap not done up tight

2) allen bolts loose allowing oil to get out between the conning tower casting and the machined section

3) hose to catch tank not tight on fitting - there should be a jubilee clip on here.

Yellow SL #32

Phil,

When do you want to collect them? Just tried to call you but went to voicemail. I work on the Farnham Road (A355) in Slough if you wanted to collect during the day. Evenings are OK as well - I live not far from M4 J7.

Blatmail me for directions.

Shaun

Yellow SL #32

Edited by - Shaun_E on 24 May 2005 13:22:26

1 Pair Carbon fibre rear wing protectors – used but in pretty good condition, complete with edge trim - £35

1 pair door mirrors – 1 has a slight crack in the ball joint but it still works and doesn’t move when tightened up, other is fine - £10

1 silicon bottom radiator hose (wet sump), used but good condition - £10

1 pair chrome 7” headlights. Bowls rusty around the bottom but reflector and lens in good condition - £10

1 pair used stainless steel sill protectors - £10

Prefer buyer collects (from Slough) but I will post stuff if required. Large or heavy items you pay the postage. Could try GONADS if possible.

Yellow SL #32

Thanks Mark - what sort of time? I can give you a call in the morning.

If it is the crank seal is it an engine out job?

Yellow SL #32

Since fitting, my dry sump has leaked - it started as a slight weep but has got worse. As I had followed the instructions and used silicone sealant, and have subsequently read about how poor it is, I decided to take the sump off, clean off all the sealant and use a proper gasket sealant - in this case blue hylomar.

Having now reassembled everything, the situation is much improved - no leaks around the edge of the sump - but I still have a problem. To me it looks like the sump is not the right shape (if viewed from above) to match the engine block.

Either side of the bellhousing end of the sump there is a triangular flat face that should match with the block - on the passenger side it matches but on the drivers side there is no block to match. I can actually stick my finger into the sump pan and touch the flywheel - I think there is therefore a path from the sump to the open air and this is where the oil is still leaking from.

Is it possible that I have an odd design of block or maybe there is a difference between EU2 (mine) and EU3? Are there 2 designs of sump pan?

I will speak to Caterham on Monday but if anyone has any ideas then please let me know.

Yellow SL #32

The dip switch has probably broken - I had exactly the same issue when I fitted new headlights during my recent rebuild. You can prove it by swapping the outer 2 connections on the dip switch - if you now have main beam and no dip then switch is broken. New one from Caterham unless you have a good car electrics place near you - Halfords don't do them, nor did any of half a dozen local motor factors ☹️.

Yellow SL #32

Torque setting for steering rack clamps is 8lbft or 11 Nm and for steering column UJ is 15lbft or 20Nm.

Yellow SL #32

for the CamEyeSport LANC with a Sony camera - used it at Cadwell for the first time and it was excellent. My only criticism is that the lead could do with being a bit longer, but you can get an extension.

I wouldn't get a wide angle lens - the std 4.3mm lens is plenty wide angle enough (a bit too much IMHO). I have an 8mm lens to try someday.

Yellow SL #32

According to the build manual it is inboard first. This is for AP 4 pots but I can't see why it would be different for the Hi-Spec ones.

Yellow SL #32

Edited by - Shaun_E on 19 May 2005 09:14:45

Dicky - are you sure you need to take the FIA bar off to fit the harness? The harness should share one of the FIA bar bolts. IIRC you require a slightly longer bolt to go through both the harness and the FIA bar mounting plate. See Section 7 Page 6 of the on line build manual here.

Yellow SL #32

Neil - I would just drain the system, refill with water and drain again - that should get most of the existing coolant out. I guess that running the enine very briefly would allow the water to circulate around the block and that might help but I wouldn't want to run it to warm with just water in it.

Yellow SL #32

Neil - ideally you should flush it through with clean water but it sounds like that is what you have in there now . In reality you'll never get all the old coolant out and as long as there is very little of the old coolant left you should be OK. The additives in most premium coolants should prevent any problems.

Yellow SL #32

If looked after properly, I see no reason why a Banner isn't a good choice but there are alternatives. If you want something smaller and lighter then you could look at Red Top batteries or Odyssey batteries. Info on Banner can be found here.

I went for a Red Top 15 on the recommendation of a number of Blatchatters which I bought from Demon Tweeks - I have no complaints so far. The Red Top 20 is a bit smaller and lighter but has a lower cranking current - others are using this with no issues.

Fitting an alternative battery will almost sertainly require modifications to the battery tray or even making your own so if you want an easy life, stick with the Banner 😬.

Yellow SL #32

When I fitted my Laminova, I changed the coolant to Propylene Glycol for the reasons outlined in the thread you referenced above. Since then I have been unable to find anywhere locally that stocks it and when I rebuilt my car this winter, I ended up going for the Halfords premium antifreeze and mixed it 1:1 with de-ionised water. I have read loads of stuff on the web and there is no consistent story. I consoled myself with the fact that this premium antifreeze is suitable for any number of tin tops that must have a) aluminium engines and b) heaters and if it were that bad then there would be no end of cars with wrecked heads and leaking heaters. I suggest that you buy a premium antifreeze which says on the label suitable for aluminium engines and change it every couple of years rather than the 4 or 5 the blurb says you can leave it for. Most Caterhams are obviously run on ethylene glycol + additive package as that is what the factory fill the system with. Every car that gets serviced by Caterham will also be refilled with that coolant so I'm pretty sure if there were real problems they would have surfaced by now.

Now I'll go stick my head back in the sand 😬.

Yellow SL #32

Michael - are you in this evening? If so can I pop round and borrow some - I'm ordering them from Caterham today but would like to get the job done asap. Cheers.

Yellow SL #32

In the end I just used my old hinges - couldn't be 🙆🏻ed with filing the new ones. Got the new screens fitted on sunday morning and ready for a blat when I realised that the straps to keep the door shut didn't have poppers on them - guess who didn't have any spare poppers?

Yellow SL #32

Steve YHM

Yellow SL #32

If it ain't broke...

There are lots of posts about running temperatures and many responses indicate a general paranoia about it. I think that the feared head gasket failures make people take a belt and braces approach which could actually result in cars running at a temperature lower than that which they were designed for. Although this is unliley to have any negative affect, I believe that in many cases the changes are unnecessary. As long as you have a radiator capable of dumping enough heat and a working thermostat and fan switch then there should be no problems. Whether your car runs at 75 degress or 85 degress is unlikely to make any difference to the engine. If the manufacturer designed it to run at an average 85 then that will be fine. Radiator capacity is the most important variable - a lower temp thermostat won't make up for an undercapacity radiator, it will just delay the inevitable!

Yellow SL #32

Thought you shedly type people might be interested in this. 😬

Yellow SL #32