November7

Hydraulic engine crane for sale, Midhurst West Sussex, buyer collects. Offers over £150. VGC but may need an oil change.

Reporting satisfactory conclusion to the Dip-Switch problem. With the switch removed from the car and tested at low current with a multi-meter, all seemed well. However, when the switch was connected and the circuit tested for 12v there was evidently still a problem. Flexing the wiring at the switch tags caused the lights to fail. Time for a new switch but Caterham have none in stock. Redline came to the rescue and, over a weekend, sent a replacement switch at almost half the Caterham quoted price. Since then I have dismantled the old switch and found that a small amount of grease, lubricating the switch lever end where it contacts the internal rocker arm, had migrated to the contacts, causing arcing and poor connection. That is now all cleaned up and adjusted, so I have a spare switch.

Conversation with Club members suggest that this is a known problem, but I cannot find reference to it in Blatchat. The car is a 1.8 K-Series Roadsport SV. The headlight dip switch has become very unreliable, sometimes causing total darkness on changeover from Main to Dip and vice-versa. The switch itself tests OK when removed from the car. Is there any known problem with the light relay? Which component, apart from the driver, should be replaced before I hit something in the dark? November7

Yes, you could use MultiClinometer, a mobile phone app which is simple and appears to be accurate. I use it for aligning telescopes. PGM adjusted my camber/castor settings when replacing a steering rack boot. The improvement in handling was immediately evident.

Jonathan, Thank you. I studied that webpage carefully earlier but could not find any guidance about the direction in which the piston should be turned. Back to the garage!

It's so long since I last did this - when resetting the rear n/s brake caliper piston (standard brakes, De Dion 2003 SV) does it turn clockwise or anticlockwise? Internet sources are ambiguous in their advice .

Dr Slotter - your prescription is exactly what was needed! In your picture the nut at the right cannot be removed because the threaded shaft rotates as I rotate the nut, presumably because it has a ball-joint at the left end. I will now try to find whatever spanner I used 12 years ago to fit the component, a bicycle spanner perhaps.

Simple job, or so I thought. I am trying to remove the rear suspension Watts linkage and roll-bar components (De-Dion SV). It is such a long time since the build, 12 years, that I have forgotten how I assembled the bits. The adjustable droplinks have threaded extensions that pass through the flat blade of the anti-roll bar and through the hub-carrier above. How does one remove the droplinks? I can loosen the securing nuts but the threaded "bolt" into the head of the droplink simply rotates. Is there a hidden flat or hexagon that must be held while turning the nut? The build manual simply says "Pass the threaded portion of the lower droplink through the anti-roll bar and secure with a Nyloc nut". Any ideas?

Andy Jupp, Partridge Green Motors at, you've guesssed, Partridge Green, just down the road

I had a problem with a clutch master cylinder (SV with hydraulic clutch). I was going to renew seals but then found that the cylinder bore appeared to be damaged. The best bet was to replace the master cylinder - much less hassle. Amazon came to the rescue and all is now well.

Wednesday 3.15pm, A286 Midhurst, a Black Seven, passenger wearing a GRRC hat - black smoke from the exhaust. Mixture a bit rich?

Spotted - three Sevens in a convoy, A272 in Easebourne, about to enter Midhurst on Saturday afternoon. I was in the orange Focus, waving and flashing lights, but I don't think you noticed as you were driving into the wonderful Sunlight.

Thanks both - once again Blatchat has come up with the goods

I can't find my way around the archives Can someone please point me to information about modifications to the K-Series cooling system, repositioning of thermostat etc?