cjbussey Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 A quick question from a newbie. I have only had my 1.8 K series powered Roadsport a week and have already knock a strengthening fin off the sump. What I find unbelievable is it happened when going over a cats eye! I know these things are nimble but trying to dodge cats eyes is hard! Is this the norm? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackBart Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 Did the cat run away after........................... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stationary M25 Traveller Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 Welcome to BlatChat Was it a cat's eye in the middle of the road, with a big camber on the road, so the eye was high relative to the wheels if you were in the middle of the road ? Sump also dives downwards at the bottom of a big dip in the road, or under braking. What gap have you got under the sump on level ground with you sitting in the car (or someone of your weight !!). Plenty of threads recently about setting heights. I'll look for one in a second. Edited by - Stationary M25 Traveller on 19 Feb 2010 09:58:36 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stationary M25 Traveller Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 Have you got adjustable platforms on your suspension ? If so, here is a recent post of mine from another thread:- One aluminium ring locks against the other, so unscrew one furthest from the spring first, then screw the one against the spring towards the spring to raise height of car. Just hope they/one not seized (as I found on NSR of my 2002 car). Use c-spanners, or if you are lucky, two stubby screwdrivers - one poked in a round hole on each ring. Setting car heights ..... have someone of your weight sit in the drivers seat, or do what I did, and put your weight in concrete blocks in there (with the seat cushion removed). Do a search in TechTalk for something like 'rake and height' to find a thread on what heights to aim for, but basically start with the front suspension to get clearance under the sump of 65-70mm, then do the rears to get the underside of the body 15mm higher than the front. Measure front under side skins by rear of cycle wings, measure rear under side skins directly in front of front edge of rear wings. edit ... when I did this, I found the rear was 10mm lower than the front, instead of 15mm higher. Had to replace both rear spring/damper units when NSR adjuster was seized. Adjustable platform sleeves only had one circlip groove .... I took the new units to Freestyle, and Gary machined me a second groove about 30mm above the original one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heavenly7 Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 Adjustable platforms are the way to go. I had a similiar issue which in fact caused rather more damage, so I fitted the APs last week. They have improved the ground clearance by a very worth while amount, are really easy to wind up and down as well as flat floor the car for my weight. Caterham said with them wound down I might notice rather more bump steer and the handling would not be quite as good. To be frank clearly my driving is not good emough to notice, but I feel a great deal more comfortable with the extra road clearance and being able to change the setup for track days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S47zz Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 IMO For enthusiastic driving I reckon you need at least 75-80mm clearance under the sump. SM25T's 65-70mm would be OK for Surrey cruisers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6speedmanual Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 CJ Once you have APs a full suspension set up very beneficial to the overall performance and feel of the chassis. A start point in such a set up is to get the lower wishbones near horizontal to the ground. Depends a lot on tyres but with CR500s on 13" wheels you'll get about 65mm under the sump. A few mm of sump clearance can be 'stolen' by packing the engine mounts (with other points to note) Welcome to BC technical pages with a proliferation of advice and opinions! Cheers Peter BRAWNGP green SUPERLIGHT FCITW 2009 😬 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat the Plumber Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 welcome to the world of 7's, i hit a cat's eye and cracked my sump, so knocking a fin off is a walk in the park. 😬 my R400 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin J Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 Just been out to the garage & measured the clearance on my sigma engined roadsport. (standard suspension, 14inch wheels with 60 series AO21's) go on guess!! I have the SUV of the caterham world 😳 110mm from the sump base to garage floor! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S47zz Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 Martin J With 110mm You'll be safe to come on one of the Taffia's Welsh events, provided you don't have Heavyweight 'Baggage' fitted 😬 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin J Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 yea would love to, just watch out for the dry stone walls & the odd sheep that has escaped Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stationary M25 Traveller Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 You'll drive over a sheep in the road with that ground clearance !!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Stone Posted February 21, 2010 Share Posted February 21, 2010 Sounds like you need my old AP's to lower your car a bit Martin. Superlight R'66 GMS 'Flying Very Low'... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin J Posted February 21, 2010 Share Posted February 21, 2010 Remember those "tracks" I took you & the others over down on the Romney Marsh Gary? I was the only car that didn't bottom out on the road Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Stone Posted February 21, 2010 Share Posted February 21, 2010 Superlight R'66 GMS 'Flying Very Low'... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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