Rob Walker

I made enquiries with NGK, Champion and Caterham general consensus is that NGK BPR 7EFS is the best plug currently available. Makes no difference if your using Webber , MBE or XYZ the advice is the same resistive plugs are required. Non resistive plugs used with resistive HT leads can still corrupt the ECU with interference. Edited by - Rob Walker on 27 May 2005 17:51:40

I fitted a 3.62 to the car I recently built for Tom Hood. The car runs 5 speed quaife pro box with .87 top IMO it 3.31 would be better. The CSR runs with 6 speed which has a 1:1 top. The torque on this engine is massive and it will pull away clean in 4th from 1000 rpm and has over 180 lb ft at 4000 rpm and on to 209 lbft at 6000 rpm. Traction/ wheel spin is a problem in any gear on dry tarmac. I am looking forward to trying the Emerald traction control on this car. Rob Edited by - Rob Walker on 26 May 2005 18:52:07

David, If you have money burning a hole in your pocket Raceco titanium silencer is the dogs B. Very well made and very very light. If your want a cheap solution have your existing silencer resleeved in ali by a local metalfabricator Rob

800 from a set of pads?????? What are you doing driving around with your foot on the brake or the handbrake on.? IMO its not unreasonable to get 8-10K miles out of a set of brake pads which includes at least 6 track days per year.

I had leaks from the what seemed like the rear joint between the dry sump pan and the block. I had the pan off three times , I then suspected the crank rear oil seal. turned out to be a porous drysump bell tank leaking from one of the bored holes that connect the belltank to the gear box. I had the tank ultrasealed which cured the problem.

D, don`t worry its normal and in a way reassuring to know that the belt is still in place.

There should be a single thick purple wire that connects to a spade terminal near the ECU check this is connected. Also check your inertia switch is reset.

Alex, My first Caterham used to give a chirping sound when at idle it was due to the primary pipes being a poor fit within the collector. I packed the collector with thin strips of ali forced in with a screw driver and hammer. To find out if this is your problem try putting side pressure on the primaries where they enter the collector useing a big screw driver or tyre lever the chirping should stop. My latest car clucks like a chicken and this is due to running with a sealed engine, the dry sump scavenge causes a partial vacuum within the engine. I hope its something simple, your due a bit of good luck this time. Rob

IMO there is a definate need to put some restriction on the bleed off flow from the back of the head to the header tank. Unrestricted I noticed that a massive amount of coolant at pressure was being forced back through the header tank. I put a 1mm holed plug into the line as it exits the matrix casting on the back of the head. The engine runs with the fixed thermostat and temperature remained constant after warm up.

Tom, He was still ranting on about it yesterday. I am looking forward myself to having a test flight at Silverstone next month. Rob

Brian, A witness mark on the drive shaft from the seal contact is normal no need to polish out its only scratches that need attention. Overfilling the diff should not make the seals leak, oil will be expelled from the breather. The level is checked by removal of the plug to the back access cover. I f you have way too much in oil will pour out when you withdraw the driveshaft.

The 280 duratec was in the blue session on wednesday graphite grey in colour with black wings and a full R400 cage driven by its owner Tom Hood.

Brian, The seals are simply pressed into the castellated flanges. Easy to remove with oil seal puller or drill a 2-3mm hole in the seal and pull it out with a self tapping screw or hooked bit of welding rod or coat hanger. When replacing the seal it is important to tap the seal in square to depth of 13mm. I made a tool out of some 50mm ABS waste pipe cut to 13mm and tapped it in until it was flush. The oil seals are available from Ford or a good motor factor. also worth checking that you have no scratches on the portion of the driveshaft that runs within the seal . These can be removed with some fine emery paper and finish with autosol polish. Any deep horizontal scratch will wreck your new seal in no time it will also leak oil from day one. No need to move the castellated flanges as these do indeed alter the crown wheel and pinion mesh. The o rings you refer to provide the seal between the castellated flange and the diff casing. only required if you strip the diff. Rob Edited by - Rob Walker on 7 May 2005 18:04:56

Yes Bob I would expect the case hardening to be ground away but it is a large flat area which will have a film of oil covering it so wear should not be a problem.

rog, I did not upgrade my own car I still run with an all steel K series engine. The Duratec is a complete new car built from scratch. rob

Bob, Phil machines 0.5mm off the back of the ramp plate this reduces the preload to about 36 Lb ft .

Mr Woo I am not aware that there are any stiffness problems with the standard SV. I think you have to understand that CC are marketing a new car.

Mr Woo an SV chassis would be the easyiest.

Putting sand into the boot is certainly kinder on your arse. Sitting on the back rail of a caterham for hours is not nice. Rob

PeterT, You are correct the major saving is in the amount of time required to port and modifiy the head probably not necessary to do anything to get 250 bhp also the head comes with solid followers if your new cams are ground to the same base circle as the OE there is no need for any reshimming this saves a lot of time. The valve guides are recessed below the port line and are of good quality so they can be retained and do not need removing to gain access to work on the ports. The 280 engine that I built had a fair amount of work done on the inlet ports and only a tidy up on the exhaust ports and combustion chambers. The stock valves were retained as they are of good quality and have the benifit of 5.5mm stems . The valve springs ,retainers,cams sprockets were replaced. The bottom end had the crank pulley keyway mod, balance of the crank checked, Arrow rods, omega forged pistons,titan steel lightweight flywheel,pace dry sump system. I don`t want to get into quoting prices as this depends on what bits you fit and the parts supply is in state of flux with different bits becoming available each week and different ways of doing things based on past experience. My biggest problem was trying to get the Pace dry sump System to both fit the engine and plumb it into the car. Altrenatives will shortly be available. Imo this is a very good engine and I can see no reason why it will not prove to be reliable. My only concerne is its slightly heavier then the K but we must remember that we comparing a 1.8 with a 2.3. Rob

Just back from Cadwell. The car and driver survived despite being very wet in the morning. In the afternoon it was dry so Tom was able to give it some welly and came back into the pits witha big grin boasting that he was able to pass four cars in one overtaking manouver. All in all a very satisfactory result. Big thanks to Ammo and Mic Attree who have been very helpgfull both in freely giving out technical info and supplying some hard to get parts. Rob, yes the gear box is the pro quaife. The wheels were MB mag split rims. When all the final bits are fitted headlights, passenger seat & harness, half doors the weight is going to be around 530 Kg

Just back from Cadwell. The car and driver survived despite being very wet in the morning. In the afternoon it was dry so Tom was able to give it some welly and came back into the pits witha big grin boasting that he was able to pass four cars in one overtaking manouver. All in all a very satisfactory result. Big thanks to Ammo and Mic Attree who have been very helpgfull both in freely giving out technical info and supplying some hard to get parts. Rob, yes the gear box is the pro quaife. The wheels were MB mag split rims. When all the final bits are fitted headlights, passenger seat & harness, half doors the weight is going to be around 530 Kg

Just back from Cadwell. The car and driver survived despite being very wet in the morning. In the afternoon it was dry so Tom was able to give it some welly and came back into the pits witha big grin boasting that he was able to pass four cars in one overtaking manouver. All in all a very satisfactory result. Big thanks to Ammo and Mic Attree who have been very helpgfull both in freely giving out technical info and supplying some hard to get parts. Rob, yes the gear box is the pro quaife. The wheels were MB mag split rims. When all the final bits are fitted headlights, passenger seat & harness, half doors the weight is going to be around 530 Kg

Just back from Cadwell. The car and driver survived despite being very wet in the morning. In the afternoon it was dry so Tom was able to give it some welly and came back into the pits witha big grin boasting that he was able to pass four cars in one overtaking manouver. All in all a very satisfactory result. Big thanks to Ammo and Mic Attree who have been very helpgfull both in freely giving out technical info and supplying some hard to get parts. Rob, yes the gear box is the pro quaife. The wheels were MB mag split rims. When all the final bits are fitted headlights, passenger seat & harness, half doors the weight is going to be around 530 Kg

Richard, I have just built one. detachable engine bay diagonal Yes Loom on LHS Yes Front brake pipes on LHS No holes in any skin if you spec that. Washer bottle mount on LHS yes header tank mount on top of crucifix same as K series a blind tapped hole Modified LHS lower engine bay brace tube on LHS to clear Dry sump pump Yes Bush in RHS to fix exhaust rear bracket Don`t know any about the freestyle stuff Rob