thompster

Yup - the bias valve only dials out rear brakes, you can't bias towards the back. At the moment its all the way forward and in the rear line which I think (hope!) means it's not restricting the rear. Rear pads at the moment are cheapo EBCs rather than blue spots. They get warm, whereas the fronts get hot. My take on that is that they are scrubbing off less energy because they create less friction for the same amount of pedal pressure- something like that anyway. As to why I went 4 pot at the front? When I bought the car it had standard front calipers with unknown pads. I've never been happy with brake feel or performance and they overheat on track. I could have just bought some better pads but lets be honest, where's the fun in that? After all, ownership of a Caterham itself shows a certain disregard for practical and necessary!

Hi both, thanks for replies. The blue spots not being up to the temperature was my worry particularly as I'm a late/heavy braker. The DS2500s have a fairly consistent co-efficient of 0.42. Most of what I've read on here says the blue spots give decent balance with 4-pot fronts but I can't find a friction specification for them. My slight worry was that by fitting the same to the rear particularly given the large pad area at the back I'd have an over-braked back end. Dual masters and balance bars sound complicated - I do have a bias valve already though so maybe over-braked wouldn't be a bad place to start and then dial some of it out. Downside of course is that the blue spots can be had for 13 quid a set.. DS2500s not so much..! Cheers, James.

The rain finally stopped long enough for me to try out my new Wilwood/DS2500 front brake combo over the weekend. Following some 'spirited' braking the front discs were nice and hot but the standard rear calipers running EBC Ultimax (bought without thinking) barely got past tepid. That leads me to think that the rear friction material isn't doing too much so time for a change. I know that the Delphi 507CC pads aka blue spots are supposed to give good balance so they must be about the right friction coefficient and are far cheaper than 1144s or similar. Friction levels aside though do the Delphis cope with track temperatures or am I better with a race pad in the back?

While fitting my brake upgrade I found the right hand track rod end ball joint about 4mm closer to the disc than the left one. A few measurements later and it seems my right hand steering arm is slightly bent - apparently not unusual. Caterham part number is 211048B https://caterhamparts.co.uk/steering-arms/690-tie-rod-lever-rh-1975-onwards.html I can get what appears to be the same from pretty much any spitfire spares place for half the price but they list as part number 211048. See this example: https://www.canleyclassics.com/demoapp/?ptno=211048 Is this the same part as the CC or different? I've checked archives and found similar but not quite the same question. car is a 2007 metric.

I fitted a Helix one last year which has been fine and no noticeable difference from the AP one (which had disintegrated). Interestingly the AP one has Valeo written all over the friction material and my Helix one was actually a LUK plate. So you may be able to safe a few quid by just buying one of those. The Helix coverplate had the original markings ground off which made me suspect the whole thing was just a heavily marked up LUK clutch.

I bought 2nd hand on ebay - Active Plus with two headsets and paid £150 I think. A similar setup went not long ago for under £100. You can pick up both starcom (e.g. Digital) and Autocom (old like mine and much newer) units on ebay all the time but the headsets are much rarer.

I've got the basic autocom setup - two yellow peltor/autocom headsets and an intercom box that runs on a pp3 battery. I plug my phone in via the headphone socket and music automatically drops in volume if one of us speaks. It has an input for a walkie takie but I've not tried it yet. At some point I'll buy the bluetooth module so I can have 2 way phone calls - at the moment I get telephone audio through the music jackplug but the microphone stays on the phone handset - the bluetooth module fixes that. I've only used it on a handful of longer journeys but found it transformed long motorway runs. Only downside is you look a bit of a tit in bright yellow ear defenders. Recommended.

I've stripped both sides so too late to compare unless I stick the old disc back on. More interesting info though, thanks. Without the spacer (or rather using it as a giant 4-hole washer not as a spacer) the disc sits about 1mm off-centre in the caliper. Using the spacer/shim under the disc would push it further off. As I write this I'm thinking more that I should just not use them as they don't appear to serve much purpose as a giant washer....

10 points for encyclopedic knowledge of BC to JK...thanks. It's a de dion 2007 metric chassis. Interesting that the hubs are different between live axle and de dion - I wouldn't have expected that. Without the shims in place the clearance is fine. Thathas me wondering whether the disc offset has been updated in the last 14 years to suit de dion and the shims are only used to push them back inboard to suit live axle (per the 2003 post). If that's the case I may be able to do away with them. If no one here knows I'll try emailing Wilwood.

Evening all, Just fitted the first side of my Powerlite brakes (BK23M Kit). The discs came with circular spacers/shims but it's not clear if they go between the disc and the hub as a spacer, or on the inboard face of the disc so the bolts pass through the plate then the disc and then into the hub. If I use them as a spacer the disc almost rubs the trackrod end so I've gone with 'plate-disc-hub' which seems to work. Anyone know if that's right before I do the other side...?

Pair of unused front vented discs, bought last year for an upgrade that's never happened and have been in the living room ever since. Don't know if they are caterham supplied or not as they are all silver rather than black centres as in the photo on the caterham part website. Now sold.

'and while your doing swap the passenger buckle to the inside too' What's the idea behind that?

It's funny - my caterham has standard Bilsteins and I've never really thought about swapping them but I wouldn't track a bike without an ohlins on it. On a bike, cheap shocks are either stiff and skittish over bumps or any softer and they wallow, whereas with a good 2-way adjustable shock set up right you get a plush ride, a planted back end and far better tyre wear. I imagine a Caterham with a set of nitrons (or ohlins!) would be like a different car. Hmmm. Maybe I should start saving too....

I've had this.. Flicked the hazard warning switch on and off and it cleared it. I can partially press the hazard switch and get the relay to buzz in a sort of half of half on half off way so I reckon it's just a trait of the switch design.

I've just done mine using the same SKF bearing CC supply but bought from Amazon (SKF VKC 2144) and a Helix plate and cover, plus a new spigot bearing while I was there. All back together and working fine. The Helix clutch has the same pedal feel as the AP but the cover is 300g heavier than the AP one. The Helix plate looks like a LUK one to me (common OEM supplier) and the cover had presumably incriminating markings ground off so could well just be a decent quality OEM one. Having said that the AP clutch uses a Valeo friction plate so not particularly exotic either. My own AP clutch plate disintegrated and after a bit of googling I found plenty of other cases of that happening so I wasn't too concerned about trying a different make.

Much easier with the wheel off as you can angle the top of the stay into the space the wheel occupies. When I changed mine I just did the bolt that goes through behind the stub axle and then remove the nut from under the top link ball joint. Disconnect the brake hose and the stays sort of pivot off.

Injectors? They can be noisy. Worth getting someone else to have a listen - when I first got my car I was sure the top end was too noisy but it turns out they all sound like that. But if you do think it's the followers then check your oil pressure at low revs in case the followers are a symptom of low oil pressure. For them to be tappy they'd need to have air in them or be pumped up to too low a pressure. Maybe try an oil change, possibly to a thicker grade.

Hi Andy, Jason at DRE is away for a few days but as you were on the list it's still ok, in fact encouraged. Remaining orders will go out in about a week. We committed to at least 25 and had 28 people at the end. There's been one drop-out that I know of so I hope we've bought what we promised so please do go ahead and order. Aside from anything it's a really neat unit and with our discount an absolute bargain. Cheers, James,

Anything kicking about in the garage?

Thanks all... Received mine today, not plugged it in but it's a really neat unit...

Thanks all. I contacted AP with a photo but they said as its OEM I'd have to go through Caterham who then might send it to AP for inspection. Not very helpful but rules is rules. I've ended up ordering a Helix replacement - unfortunately from Burton Power who it transpires are hopeless and rude. Live and learn...

Thanks all. Helix clutch plate and cover ordered. Now I just have to remember how to get the engine back in...

20 people paid - those orders will go out this week. Same for any more orders paid for by weds at the latest - after that there will be a couple of weeks delay. I'll send a PM to anyone that's not paid yet shortly. Cheers, James

Looking at options to replace my knackered AP clutch. Has anyone fitted the Helix equivalent? There's lots of mixed views on cerametallic paddles so looking at the normal organic one.

No sign of any overheating of the plate but that's not to say it hasn't at some point. I'm not a clutch rider either though the previous owner may have been - in 25 year driving this is the first clutch I've had to do. My car is a lowly 140bhp on a good day with 12k miles (10k of those it was 120bhp). I have been known to make the occasional heavy downshift though. Having done some reading there are quite a few reports of the AP plate shedding its material on one side. My knackered plate is manufactured by Schwungrad whereas the latest AP plates are made by Valeo. I might give them a ring on Monday and see what they say but at the minute I'm pondering alternatives.