thompster

Hi, are these still up for grabs? Interested if they are, provided I can find a time to collect that works for you.

I've had the halfords oil filter pliers for a few years, well worth twelve quid. Much less faff than a chain wrench and easier than bare hands. http://www.halfords.com/workshop-tools/tools/hand-tools/halfords-oil-filter-pliers-300mm-12

Hi Oily, That's pretty much my question... I get the importance of using a good filter and would always pick OE given the chance. While the current 'MG Rover' one is boxed as Rover it isn't actually an OE filter since that was made by unipart and stocks have long since run out. Rover only exists as a brand name owned by a chinese company who could conceivably stick in on any old tut (not that I'm saying they do of course). If the current Rover branded one is still good I'll happily pick one of those up. (As an example of brands not being what they appear I know that Crossland filters used to be very well thought of British made but these days it's just a brand name owned by euro car parts..)

What's the current thinking on K-Series oil filters? In the world of bikes people get pretty obsessive, stripping them down to compare filtration material, bypass valves etc, and usually conclude that OEM is best. In the case of Rover though, what I'd consider oem (i.e. fitted from new, Unipart I think) has been replaced by a Polish made one which although possibly fine wasn't fitted originally. So..what do people use and why?

I got mine done by Technozen who is pretty active on one of the MG forums. http://www.technozen-electronics.co.uk/ He matched my 5AS to a new ECU and added a couple of extra keyfobs I bought cheap on ebay.

Congratulations.... As Jonathan says start with reading the build manual cover to cover - you can download it from the caterham website if you register. There's loads of good build diaries both on here and the wider web. Google for 'Caterham Build diary' and look for something recentish. I presume a new car will have the Ford engine, Mazda box and a BMW diff but even older build diaries will show you lots of useful bits about the rest of the car. You didn't say whether you were assembling yourself or not but either way you'll find loads of interesting stuff to read

To solder big wires you need a big tip that will hold a lot of heat, something like a portasol gas iron with a 4.8mm tip will do the job (google it). Portasols are fantastic - standard issue for BT, or at least they used to be. If you try and use a small electric iron the wire will just act like a heatsink.

An overtightened cambelt will make an engine speed humming noise. Often it'll gets louder as the engine warms up and the pulleys expand slighty.

Also Brown and Gammons MG specialist near stevenage, about a fiver.

Holy '18 month old thread' resurrection. I found this helpful but inconclusive thread and thought I should confirm that what Revilla says is correct. I fitted Quinton Hazel QG1001 steering rack gaiters today which are identical to the standard caterham parts. Useful to know if you need them in a hurry.

'Normal size' is probably 7" isn't it? Cheapest new 5 3/4" ones I've found are £115 a pair from SVC; a pretty good price and about half what CC want. Cheaper would be better though as I'm pondering going black-pack in the not too distant future. I imagine shipping from Germany would cost a bit making them close to the SVC price but send me a PM if you don't think it'll be too bad, cheers, James.

Any cheap 5 3/4" chrome headlights up for grabs? Maybe you've switched to black pack and have some kicking around in the garage. TIA.

Trackday insurance always looks to me like something that doesn't make much financial sense. Based on the cheapest quote above you'd need to do £1500 of damage (not counting any subsequent increase in road policies) before getting any benefit so you could do quite a lot of damage before the insurance brings any benefit. How likely are you to have an accident on a car trackday? Pretty unlikley as far as I can tell. 5 car trackdays, 80-ish cars at each and no one crashed. I've got no idea what the 'crash per car trackday attendee' rate is but I'm sure it's pretty low, maybe 1 in 12 trackdays, so 1/1000 overall. How many of the few that have a mishap run to over a grand and a half of damage? Some, no doubt but I'll bet far from all. Perhaps I'm less risk averse than others but its never seemed like good value for money. Of course now I've said that I'll write my car off at the next one..

For reference you can't use acid from an old battery. As a battery discharges the sulphor in the sulpuric acid reacts with the lead plates, creating lead sulphate and water. When you charge the battery the process is reversed and the H20 turns back into H2SO4. Batteries generally fail either because the plates are mechanically damaged (e.g. through overcharging/heat) or because they've been left discharged (lead sulphate and water) which allows the sulphur to crystalise. The more time a battery spends at less than 100% charged the faster this will happen, hence why continuous chargers make batteries last for ever-ish.

Just for future info I phoned Corbeau/Luke and now have a pair of springs...Let the finger breaking installation commence.

My metric car has black ARB rubbers but all I can find mentioned anywhere are blue, red, orange and green. Anyone know where black sits in the arb hierarchy and whether it's an unusual choice? The bar itself measures 14.6mm including powder coat.

When I timed my cams I made up a bracket using a strip of about 20mm wide mild steel I had in the garage - I just bent and twisted it in a vice to about the right shape and drilled a couple of holes in it. It's not as pretty as DVA's but did the job - there's plenty of room and space to mount the gauge and as it says, it's all very intuitive and straightforward when you do it.

Thanks 7WotW.. I'll give them a call.

Anyone removed their headlights or changed to the classic look and have a pair of the lowered brackets for sale? It's the ones that just attach to the wishbone mount I'm after, Thanks, James.

Hi, investigating why one of my Luke lap straps loosens itself and realised the inside drivers and outside passenger lap straps are missing the anti-creep springs that keep the roller against the belt. Don't suppose anyone has any spare springs or knackered lap belts I can canibalise? They're for standard 50mm wide lap belts, TIA...

I used my Oxted Thundersport mohair half hood for the first time on Saturday after trusting the weather forecast rather than the sky. I only got up to about 60 but there was no flapping or lifting at that speed. Mine too is a right pig to fit onto the screen. The poppers themselves aren't particularly tight but I have to stretch it really hard between each popper to fit - no idea if that's normal or not. Other than being harder and less dignified to get in/out than with a full cage I was really chuffed with it. Is the hood old or new? Maybe check with the maker - don't know if poppers get loose over time or not?

Thanks both.. presumably the one I've been sent is for an imperial car.. looks like CC don't list a different metric one. I'll give them a ring. Mine has been folded over, I think, to gain access to the wiper motor. Maybe I'll just flatten and respray it.

My passenger knee panel has been bent at some point so I ordered a new one. It arrived a couple of days ago but is nothing like the one in my 2007 metric car and the angles are all wrong. Caterhamparts doesn't list anything like what I have. Old and new are below.. note the drill holes in the current one which change the installation angle. Can anyone look at their car and tell me if they have the same as me?

I used 'Bars Leaks' a few years ago with great successs. No doubt looked down upon but it worked well for me. Most motor factors sell it.

Thanks Rob.. more useful info.