Rob Walker

Thats rather simplistic Roger. The cam carrier when new has a tolerence of .0023" to .0037" and a service limit of .0059". When the engine is running the oil film will also play its part. Also trying to measure clearances accurately with the cams influenced by spring pressures from all angles has a perverting influence especially if there is some wear in either the cam carrier or the cam. I have had no problem in setting clearances with the cam carrier off and simply holding the cam down against the head measuring the clearance between base circle and follower on two valves per operation. Then remove the two followers and on to the next two. When completed refit the cam carrier and recheck the clearances. I have not seen a clearance that has been more than .002" too loose. Repeated torquing of the cam carrier which is very flimsy would also worry me. To each his own as they say.

Almost forgot, I would recomend you consider fitting the six inch box with the 4:1 primaries. The five inch is marginal at some circuits and it costs the same as the six inch. Your ears will also benifit.

Caterham can supply a paper template for the enlargement of the hole in the side skin. The easiest way to enlarge the hole is to mask the edges with masking tape and remove the metal useing a carbide burr in an electric drill. Finish with emery cloth and remove masking tape. Snips will buckle the side skin.

Bolting the head down can`t do any harm but measuring the clearances with the cam carrier bolted down against the valve spring pressure will give you very unreliable results. Edited by - Rob Walker on 6 Feb 2001 19:01:31

Piper now produce a hydraulic version of the grind 740. Its the BP285H could be a good choice for those not wishing to fit solid lifters

PARC, The standard head ported with oversized valves and suitable cams will get you over 200BHP from either a 1.6 or 1.8 . At 180 BHP and 7800rpm you start to push your luck with engine strength. First requirement Forged pistons. The VVC head fully ported with oversized valves will take you well over 200bhp and possibly up to 250bhp. Over 200bhp and 8000rpm strengthening the bottom end, steel rods, crank and stronger liners are recomended. Sadly the expense doen`t stop there,increased capacity injectors, fuel pump, drysump, clutch etc etc ect.,

If its the R500 type wheels. Banby Eng 01634 711801 & about £180 per wheel. They will make what ever widths you want.

Gareth, Don`t Honda engines run anti-clockwise, what will you do about a diff ?????

It makes a lovely noise Dave. Just lag the inside face of the bonnet with thick felt carpet underlay directly infront of the bellmouths/filter. It works well, I have never had a problem and did six days at Castle Combe last season. If you still want to go down the airbox route contact Bernard Scouse his e-mail address is on DVA`s website. Ask him nicely and he will make ya one.

I personally think the supersport kit represents poor value and is no use when you want to increase power further. A better route is to fit Piper 270 cams and an Emerald M3DK ecu and freeflow filter. This will give slightly more power than the supersport kit and allow for future upgrades. You also need to consider exhausts, the Caterham side exit with integral Cat and short primary pipes terminating in the engine bay has proved its self in limiting power. If you have to run a cat fit the 4:2:1 system .

Phil Stuart of Road and race transmissions is on your door step, Corsham. Road and race rebuild all Caterahams boxes and many of the race boxes. I would ask Phils advice hes a nice helpfull chap. Typical rebuild costs for a six speed are around £100 plus parts. Tel 01959 525105

Chris, I think you have missunderstood me. I said the injectors would be OK for 200Bhp you would still need to change the induction to TB`s to get that kind a power. I have done an article for Low Flying on my 186 BHP K read that, it should be in the next issue "Mr Green ????"

Chris, You should be ok with the standard injectors up to about 200 bhp. Rob.

Use a length of the clear windscreen washer pipe it fits onto the battery vent after heating in hot water, then run it down the bulkhead and below the floor of car. Block off the other vent with silicon sealant.

QED sell a complete package all steel 1.8K bottom end. Or try Caterham they are selling off standard bits that are surplus to requirement when they build the R500 engines.

I ran all year with standard pistons, liners and bottom end in my 1.6k. The engine was producing 186bhp at 7800 and 132 lbft 6600. The head was fitted with 29.5 inlet and 26 exhaust valves, piper 740 cams with solid lifers. QED direct to head Throttle bodies and Emerald M3DK ECU. I have recently stripped the engine and found all to be still in perfect condition. I recon the standard 1.6 bottom end can stand up to 200 bhp and 8000 rpm. The question are you brave enough to try it?????

Nope, wax the plastic back, coat with PVA release agent then gel coat then resin and fibre glass mat.

A Hundred Quid Dave ???????

If its only a stone chip or star crack the windscreen repair kits from Halfords are excellent. Cost about £9 and are a lot less hassle than replacing the screen.

The company is called Tillet and no they won`t deal with you direct. The seat is also manufactured in fibre glass composite, Caterham sell them at £269 plus the dreaded Vat.

I fitted QED DTH TB`s, 19mm spacers and 90mm trumpets. I mounted the air filter on the end of the trumpets, this was an ITG domed sausage type 100mm deep JC50 backplate. All worked well and fits under the bonnet. 186 bhp 132lbft out of 1600K. If you worried about the induction noise I found lagging the inside of the bonnet directly in front of the trumpets/airfilter to be effective. I used thick felt carpet underlay suck on with carpet adhesive. The car was used at four track days at C Combe with no problem.

No need to mod your chassis. The rear ARB fits without any mods. If you want to fit the latest spec Watts Linkage, your lower chassis rails will need drilling and sleeveing. Also the rear brackets to hang the rear link of the Watts linkage are not fitted to the 97 chassis. This means the rear skin of the car has to be removed in order to weld on the brackets, a big job ! cost is about £1000 . Reports from the race teams have not been complementory on the Watts linkage. However I can recomend the rear ARB.

Oh yeh Pierre, building a monster K hoping for around 240 BHP 160lbft of torque.

You simply position the wings on the wingstays as you want them ie central over the wheels and approx 2" space from the front leading edge to the top front edge of the wingstay. Get someone to hold the wing whilst you mark the underside. Then apply a bead of gripfill gap filling adhesive to the wing where you have marked and on the wingstay, offer up the wing to the stay apply hand pressure and hold in place with masking tape. When you have it taped you can run a wetted finger over the excess gripfill squeazed out between the stay and the wing to form a neat radius of adehsive. I have also used thin strips of fibre glass mat and resin in the past but found it very messy.

I replaced my standard open differential last week with the Caterham ZF diff with 30 degree ramps, which I also had modified to reduce the preload from 55 to 35 lbft. I retained the standard Sierra casing and 3.92 crown wheel and pinion and Phil Stewart of Road & Race Transmissions did the installation for me. Not a job to tackle yourself unless you have the special tools to strip the unit and draw bearings etc. Can`t comment on its performance yet I haven`t finished building my engine.