NORTH KENT ARS

Oh, and I'm impressed by your static front yard 'junk'! I just have a 1987 VW on mine. Great old car, must find the time to do something with it.

Glad you're persuaded by the XF's charms Anker A trailing, open-ended hose from the crankcase breather was common on many early cars but it's not ideal, as it will potentially suck in all sorts of grot when the engine is on the over-run at revs with a closed throttle. If you run that hose to a catch tank, make sure the tank can breathe but also can't suck in contaminants. In my old set up I had a small K&N breather filter on the Caterham supplied plastic washer bottle catch tank but now have an aluminium Mocal (Think Automotive) catch tank which breathes and filters through its cap. There are people who have achieved huge mileages from XFs but 20-25,000 is where they often start to breathe heavily, due to the weight of the 1300 cast pistons originally used as a cheap and effective means of achieving high compression.

As Chris (aeroscreens) has said, the Zetec is a great engine and they are available cheaply, but the costs start to pile up when you add the essential Caterham-specific manifolding, fuelling, management, etc. Having said that, a full rebuild of a crossflow isn't cheap these days either. I'm in this boat myself as my crossflow is starting to get a little fumey, and I'm planning to rebuild it when the time comes as it's a key part of the car's personality for me. If your bores are merely uniformly worn and not heavily gouged, you could most likely go from +090" to 83.5mm bores (a very small increase) for which forged pistons are available. If I recall correctly this will give an extra 9cc (1691 to exactly1700) along with lower mass and reduced friction. That's probably the max. rebore for a 711M block like mine, although thicker walled AX blocks can go a lot further. Other than that you're looking at the usual regrinding/refacing/etc. engine overhaul procedures. Pretty much everything you need for a rebuild is still available, but it does add up to a pretty serious investment. When I started my 7 build 30 years ago there were loads of companies selling complete remanufactured and uprated 1700 crossflow engines in kit form for as little as £250, as it was the 'go to' engine for the majority of kit cars on the market. I decided to splash out and spent a whopping £650 on mine - about the current price of a decent set of pistons! As has been said above, there isn't much that Dave Gemzoe doesn't know about the crossflow engine, I'd recommend looking him up. Crudders

Hi Jonathan, Could you add me to the list for 2 x canisters, 1 x black roll and 1 x red bag please? TIA, Crudders

Two months on from the last post on this subject and most outlets are now showing Castrol Valvemaster as Out of Stock, or alternatively being offered at silly prices (over £40 a bottle on Amazon FFS ). But it is still available for a reasonable price at A-Head 4 Healeys (www.ahead4healeys.co.uk), although i suspect not for long. I've just stocked up at £13 a bottle for the 'Plus' version, which also contains an Octane booster. I should now have enough to last until I fit that unleaded head that's been gathering dust on the shelf for a while now . . . I don't think any of the other products available are phosphorous based or as concentrated as Castrol Valvemaster - one 250ml bottle treats 55 gallons, which is enough for over 1300 miles even in a thirsty crossflow. Some alternative products are not much cheaper and only treat one tank of fuel . And then there's the issue of building up a protective layer of the alternative element all over again, although I'll be the first to admit that I'm no Chemist. If you haven't already stocked up i suggest you do so now. Crudders

Hi Whatsup, YHM re. the silencer, I've been after one of these for a while. Regards, Crudders Crudders

Callum from Sevens & Classic taking a customer out for a test drive in two different Sevens, no not at the same time, on two separate occasions, yesterday afternoon. I was behind you as you returned to S&C in S300 ***. Looked like you were having fun. Doug.

Yellow CSR on a frosty A20, yesterday (Saturday) at 09:15 near Brands Hatch, between BH main entrance and Scratchers Lane. Reg. No. is a guess but I think it was Alan's (Alan, Alan, Alan!) old car? Doug Tulloch

Best practice is to have a Hi-Viz jacket for you and your passenger in the car and within easy reach. The last thing you want in such a situation is to be fumbling around at the rear of your Seven, undoing poppers and trying to find the Hi-Viz jackets in the boot - while being totally unaware of what's occurring behind you! In most European countries it is an offence to get out of your car or off your motorcycle on a motorway without wearing a Hi-Viz jacket. Even if you're not wearing it and it's in your hand, at least there is more chance of other road users seeing you much sooner. I had the front N/S wheel come off my Seven on the M25 on a Friday 5pm, Lane 3 at 70mph... so I know the hard shoulder is a very scary place! Doug Tulloch

Nick - you (should, if the website is behaving) have PM. Crudders

Hi Nick, Second dibs please on the stat housing, if Guy decides not to take it. I'd also like the radiator if it is the old extra thick black painted brass type made by Covrad and in good nick apart from the pinhole. I had one with what I thought was a pinhole until it disintegrated on the Paris Peripherique at the start of a tour, which thanks to piss-poor RAC service cost me a fortune and saw the rest of the tour being covered in a Citroen diesel I subsequently found out that the older soldered brass cooling system components don't like the OAT coolant I had been using, which probably hastened its demise Crudders

Thanks all :) I'll try calling Paynes tomorrow. I've also found what appear to be OEM Fiesta OHV/HCS seals online which may be worth a punt for £5.00 a set. I'll probably go for the Kent VS7 spring set in the absence of any other recommendations. Just have to pull it all together now . . . Thanks again, Cruds

Cheers, Sir Dick of Whereithurts Patience is one thing I do possess I've identified the correct Kent Cams valve spring spec, which is VS7, but there are various internet spurts (we all know one) who reckon they are over-stiff and put unnecessary strain on already stressed valve gear. Probably borrocks. Could the seals be from the Ford HCS engine? If nothing else, the ones I've seen for sale are the right colour. Looking forward etc. Crudders

Hi all, My unleaded RK head, acquired S/H from Aeroscreens, is being refurbed ready for fitting. The valve stem oil seals are in need of replacement and are far superior to the Burton spec ones with the miniscule springs that tend to break and end up in the sump. The seals on the head are a blue/green rubber under a metal top hat retainer, glued in place. This doesn't appear to be a Ford part and a net search has thrown up various references on other forums (fora?) to seals from Nissan, Honda and Mitsubishi, but no details of models or part numbers unfortunately. I'm sure Roger would have the answer if he still hangs out here? If not, anyone else? I'm also wondering about the best way to remove the top hats as they're pretty well stuck on. Some form of solvent to dissolve the rubber and glue? One final thing - one of the double valve springs is busted (which may have happened while compressing for removal as the break seems quite fresh) and I'm wondering about the best source and spec for the replacement set. The engine isn't revved to infinity and runs a 234 cam with standard Ford rocker gear. TIA, Crudders

I don't seem to be able to log in as 'me' at the moment but I could do with this Chris - my rad has developed a weep and the fan seems to be a bit moody on both switches (one on the rad, one on the head). I'll pick up from a Kent meet if that's OK. Are you coming to the fourth Tuesday meet in East Peckham tomorrow? Crudders

It's that time again, and the North Kent Area meeting is this Tuesday 4th November at The Plough in Eynsford. Don't forget to bring your membership card to take advantage of the specially discounted 7 Club Menu http://www.lotus7.club/sites/all/libraries/smileys/pheads/lick.gif Food is available up to about 9.00 pm from this, or the regular Plough menu. The Weather is presently looking very slightly damp, but may improve http://www.lotus7.club/sites/all/libraries/smileys/pheads/cool.gif Topics for discussion will no doubt include how wet does it need to be to abandon driving your seven to a club event , and how many trucks can you get on Brands Hatch Indy circuit at once! There are only 5 events left on the NK calendar for the rest of the year, so be sure to check them out and enrol where necessary. Suggestions for events for next year are always welcome, as are people to organise or help organise anything http://www.lotus7.club/sites/all/libraries/smileys/pheads/thumbup.gif The Plough is here next to the ford and hump-backed bridge over the River Darent in Eynsford. FYI, the PC is DA4 0AE. Members new, old and potential, all welcome (if you don't know anyone ask for Crudders or Ian B). NKARS http://www.lotus7.club/sites/all/libraries/smileys/pheads/wavey.gif