thompster

Thanks SM25... Found their website. I've found one place in Apsley that usually does wheels but said they'd have a look and see if they could fit it in. They quoted around £40-50, not sure if that's realistic or not. Trouble is they're not open saturdays so it's a skive off work with no guarantee they can do it. A couple of cans of smoothrite would be much easier to organise but not sure it won't just chip and scratch.

Morning all, I have a bare metal trackday rollbar which I was going to get powder coated but am struggling to find anywhere local. I've had good results with sprayed smoothrite on motorbike parts but not sure how well it will stand up to the exposure a roll bar gets. Any experience/tips/advice on what I should do? cheers, James.

Finally got round to changing the cambelt on my K series today which was pretty straightforward. I bought a complete Gates Powerbelt kit with pump and tensioner. While the belt itself will I'm sure be up to Gates usual standard, the rest of the kit left something to be desired. The tensioner bearing was Chinese rather than SKF or similar and the water pump impellor was plastic. I'm sure (hope) the pump and tensioner will be fine but quality of the components wasn't what I expected from a premium branded set. If you're planning on a cambelt change maybe source the bits separately instead of buying this set.

I think choice is limited in caterham sizes. Mine was fitted with a numax battery just before I got it but it only just turns it over so perhaps look elsewhere.

5" lights look better than the 7"s. I've got silicone hoses, cambelt and FIA bar waiting to go on once the temperture gets over about 5 degrees but I might have to add smaller lights to the list too.

That's looking really good - the stripes set it off. I've got a few bits to do to mine (including adding a thermostat so it actually warms up) but it'll still be far less concours than yours.

Given that most people take pride in having assembled their car themselves it seems odd to then hand it over to somone else to service it. I can't comment on a the specifics of a 140 cambelt change but oil changes, brake fluid, filters and the inspections that make up the rest of any service aren't exactly rocket science and you have the satisfaction and confidence of knowing what was done. Read up on what the service actually consists of maybe think about having a go yourself.

From the current MOT testers manual: 'Vehicles first used on or after 1 April 1986 must be fitted with one side repeater indicator on each side. Instead of a separate lamp, the side repeater might be part of the front direction indicator if it includes a wraparound lens. Lamps incorporating a side repeater are marked either with an ‘E’ mark in a circle or an ‘e’ mark in a rectangle above which is a number 5. However, some vehicles are fitted with a wraparound lens with no European approval markings. These can be tested by standing approximately 1000mm to the side of the vehicle’s rear bumper with the indicator on. If amber light can be seen coming through the front lens (not a reflection) this is acceptable' So as long as you can see that the front indicator is flashing when standing a metre off the rear bumper (or presumably where it would be) the indicators count as wrap-around. I think you probably can given the shape of the standard indicators but in any case at my MOT the tester didn't mention it.

I've just been reading the very interesting article on gearboxes in Lf which says the earlier Type 9s were close ratio XR4i boxes but the later ones were standard Sierra units. The article hints that the change was around 2008. Is there an easy way to tell which I have? My car is an 07 registered (2006 manufactured) Academy. No doubt someone will be along shortly to tell me I can find the answer in the archives but I've searched and failed, Cheers, James.

Don't suppose anyone knows anywhere that does Rover 5AS key programming in Herts/Watford area? Going rate by post is about £25 but I'd rather take the immobiliser or car somewhere local-ish. Ta, James.

Not sure if anyones mentioned it yet or even if you're still trying to work out if you have a spark but if you are, the cheapskate test is to rest a neon screwdriver on the insulated lead - believe it or not there's enough leakage to light the neon on each spark.

Hi Aric, I've just looked up the price of a solid tappet conversion..whooah - more than the price of a new set of Piper 270/285 cams. Given the limitted mods I fancy I think I'll have to get hydraulic cams, thanks anyway though. The engine is bog standard at the moment but I'm about to do the cambelt which feels like a good opportunity to switch cams as well. Cheers,James.

Hi, I might be interested in the cams if the postage doesn't work out too badly and I can get the followers somewhere for a reasonable price. I'll do some research, in the meantime can you let me know what you want for them? Out of interest do you know if they can be used without the corresponding ECU?

My Ti guards are fitted now and look very good. They've done about 50 miles so far without picking up any marks. One thing - I've never fitted the steel ones but understand you're meant to shape them to fit the wing? I tried bending the Ti ones around various things but couldn't get them to take on much of a curve. In the end I just rivetted them as-is which worked but there's a fair bit of tension in them. Not sure if the lack of bend was me being too scared to give them some jip or a trait of titanium but the end result looks great.

Thanks all. Having checked the car I think the 5th hose is to the header tank. I'll probably go SFS but via ebay as its slightly cheaper than using the club discount, cheers, James.

Thanks all. I originally looked at the rear chassis rail to determine whether it was metric or imperial but didn't look far enough forward and got it wrong. My engine engine bay doesn't have the long diagonals in it and instead has short corner diagonal braces so I'm sure its metric. I think am 'X' trackday bar will go with the boot cover I have now ('X'/double D cage) so I'll track down one of those. No stock at CC so I've posted a wanted ad. I recall reading about people going straight to Caged so i might try that too, cheers, James.

Hello again, various 'wanteds' in case anyone has bits kicking about before I go out and buy stuff new: Leather Tillet seat liners - diamond patterned ones. (tempted to make my own from 10mm foam but leather would be nicer) Set of four anthracite centres for 13" R500 alloys Pair of steering rack gaiters on the offchance anyone has an unused set not needed. Set of silicon hoses for wet sump k series (black or blue)Ta, James.

Hi, I'm after a metric FIA roll bar. It needs to be the X style one (2006 onwards) so I can keep the same boot cover. I'm near Watford so London/Herts area ideally but can travel or arrange courier. Thanks, James.

Hi all, I'm in the market for some silicon hoses for my K-series but which set should I got for? There's Samco at £127 with 4 hoses or SFS at £147 including a fifth hose, albeit a dull looking straight pipe (not sure where it goes). The Z-bend pipe looks slightly different in the two sets so presumably one of the sets will fit better than the other. Thoughts?

Evening all, thought I'd bump this up just in case anyone knows the answer but missed it before. I was planning to buy an imperial single diagonal rollbar from another member but have realised I have a metric chassis. I'm pretty sure the imperial bar mounting 'bushes' will be too long for the wells on the metric chassis. Unless anyone knows differently (also re the boot cover) I'll drop the seller a line and apologise and probably buy a new metric one from CC (if they ever have any stock of course). Cheers, James.

Hi, I've found lots of simillar threads on this but none that tell me exactly what I want to know. I'm changing the rollcage on my 2006 model year (07 plate) S3 to a roll bar. I thought it was an imperial but the engine bay has the short corner braces instead of long diagonals so I'm pretty sure its metric. Question 1) Can I fit an imperial roll bar in a metric chassis? I know the reverse works if you pack out the locating holes with washers but does it work this way around? Question 2) If I fit a single diagonal bar in place of a Caged double-D cage will I have to change the boot cover? Ta.

HI Christian, I had something simillar on my new purchase. Wipers worked fine on the 3 hour drive back through the fog. Tried them the next weekend, still good. An hour later nothing; no noise, movement, anything. I checked everything electrical then found that if I pushed the motor body towards the outside of the car the wipers worked. I suspect if the alignment of the rack isn't spot on the motor stalls. I did try removing the motor to check the rack but gave up after taking the strap off as I think it needs the wiper mounts removing from the scuttle - I'll save that for a warmer day. One other thing.. My wiper body has visible slight movement when the wipers are going. The strap is tight so either 'they all do that' or my rack needs a good greasing. James

Hi Les, no need for pics, happy with your description. Once it's off just let me know and I'll sort out payment via bacs or PayPal gift, whichever suits. What with you being in the lakes and me being down south I'll need to arrange a courier. Hopefully a courier collection is OK with you, we can sort details once you're ready for it to go. Cheers, James.

Hi Les, I hadn't thought about the strut but I presume I won't need it? If you could let me know the dimensions it will be packed up (LxHxD) I'll work out what a courier will cost. Also whether it will need recoating, the exact version if you know and of course what you want for it. Thanks, James

Hi Les, 'X' style would be my preference but if no one comes along with one of those then I'd be interested. I'm going the other way - cage to roll bar. Let me know what timescales you're looking at and what you want for it (pm if you prefer). The only issue I can see is location as I'm inside the M25, the lakes are a bit of a trek..! Cheer James.