orangepeel61

The Aldon Ignitor that I had lasted 2 months, guess I'm just unlucky with electronics. Ironic really after spending 39 years as an electronics engineer! 🤣

A quick update, the Sparkrite SX4000 has now packed up! Car started coughing and spluttering and lost power. The saving grace was I was able to flick the switch and revert to points, instant cure without drama or recovery truck. Will be sticking with points from now on! Neil.

I'm sure they're bespoke, Caterham sell silicon ones, bottom hose 594-3 £68.34. Bit pricey, maybe worth trying elsewhere. Neil.

I used Renovo on the roof of my Audi A4 and it brought it up well. The first time I used it with their cleaner and then proofer. It doesn't last for ever and I ended up redoing it every 2-3 years, to be fair, when its parked in the sun and weather you can't expect miracles. Once I'd used up the original bottles of cleaner and proofer I switched to soapy water and a brush to clean it and Fabsil to proof it and just used the Renovo black die which seemed to work ok. You shouldn't need a litre bottle, I would say the 500ml would be ample for at least two lots of treatment on a boot cover. One more thing, don't even think about using a jet washer on it! No amount of die will ever get the Mark's out! Good luck Neil.

Oily is correct, the Ignitor is just a trigger to replace the points with an amplifier to give a bigger pulse, I used one for a while until it starter misfiring, Burton Power were really good and refunded me. So I wouldn't be caught out by failing ignition again I replaced it with a Sparkrite SX4000 which is an amplifier that uses the points as a trigger, only a switching current goes through the points so they don't burn out, also the points gap is not an issue, as long as there is a small gap it will switch. The other feature I like is it has a switch on it that takes out the electronics and it reverts to purely points. Neil.

I was reading a recent post which brought up the old topic of vacuum advance and it prompted me to give an update here which may be useful and on reflection I should have done at the time. I bought some “T” pieces and some more rubber pipe, connected all the carbs together and to the distributor and I have to say the improvement was amazing, the slow running/light throttle performance was so much better, manoeuvring around Sainsbury’s car park is no longer a problem and popping and banging is a distant memory. When setting it up my vacuum gauges clearly showed that the pulsing from a single tract was far too erratic but when they were all connected together it was reduced considerably and more so when the distributor was added. I should point out that the vacuum take offs I’m using are the ones on the carbs, not off the inlet manifold, I don’t think all DCOE’s have them. Mine are 40DCOE 151’s. Distributor is Bosch. Although this set up has been running for over 2 years now without problem and so worth looking into, please note Roger King’s comments and warning above, his knowledge and experience is far greater than mine. Maybe there’s something different about my car that makes it work or I’ve just been lucky? Neil.

Andrew is correct, mine is in the same place, it was visible when the original standard roll bar was fitted but it now has a track day bar with bigger "feet" so it is now hidden.

The chassis on my car is marked AM 86 20 which I believe to be Arch, manufactured in 1986, presumably week 20. It has de Dion rear suspension with drum brakes. It's a 1700 Supersprint and was first registered in 1987, chassis number KLD 0155R. Neil.

The formatting looks a bit messed up in the guide, should be more like this: CS3 Caterham Series 3 LCS Long Cockpit S3B for Dutch market 5LC 5 Speed Gearbox, Long Cockpit KLCC Kit-built, long cockpit, CKD KLD Kit-built, long cockpit, deDion KLDC Kit-built, long cockpit, deDion, CKD KS3 Kit built (not CKD) KS3C Kit-built, standard cockpit, CKD (Completely Knocked Down ie all parts supplied by Caterham)

Have a look here: https://www.caterhamlotus7.club/guides/frequently-asked-questions/chassis-numbers-what-do-they-mean/

Heard good reports on this place: https://www.thestarterbay.com/ They're at Innsworth technology park just outside Gloucester.

I can confirm that the hydraulic switch requires too much pressure to operate. I found I was able to bring the car to a complete stop without the brake lights coming on! Replacing the switch made no difference, in the end I fitted a secondary switch, a cheap micro switch from flebay and an angle bracket! In more recent times I have replaced the master cylinder, that made no difference either! I'm convinced there's a lot of cars (not just Caterhams) out there with these hydraulic switches and the owners don't realise that they don't work!

What's it like on bare aluminum?

I removed the one on my 1987 Supersprint, from memory, I just unplugged it, one plug by the distributor and another under the dash, no problems with any of the electrics afterwards. Are you sure you haven't disturbed something else in the process?

#3 Yes, I'm happy with the Type 14 calipers, they seem fine although thinking about it now (it was a few months ago) there was a little imbalance in them, I took the pads out and put a (thinner) spacer in and worked the brake peddle a few times which seemed to bed them in. After that they were fine, no leeks etc, and have been ever since.

I've recently overhauled the front brake system with replacement front calipers and master cylinder. (Didn't touch the rear so cant comment on that) The master cylinder was the "standard" one from Caterham and the calipers were the Triumph type 14 from Rimmer bros. All the unions were 3/8" UNF which I got from Car Builder Solutions. The only issue I had was that the original brake pipes were steal not copper and my DIY flaring tool couldn't cope so I ended up replacing all the pipes but it sounds like you intend to do that anyway. My car is 1987 Supersprint. Hope that is useful. Good luck Neil.

So I took the starter motor off, no manufactures name or part number to identify it. (Other than it has a ten tooth drive) The solenoid is riveted together so i couldn't do anything to take it apart and get at the insides. The motor came apart ok, the commutator and brushes had a small amount of wear/burning so cleaned them up, everything else looked ok so cleand, oiled, greased and reassembled. Tested on the bench and refitted to the car. Checked the resistance of the wiring all the way from battery terminals to stater motor main feed and the control wire through the ignition switch. Car started fine, time will tell if it's done any good but on the plus side it looks like I got it back together ok. I'm now confident that if I get the "click" again it will be replace/overhaul time.

No, quite the opposite, only when cold (so far) but I'll check the proximity of the wires anyway thanks. I suppose it is getting more frequent but not much, it's been doing it for a while.

Thanks Jonathan, No, it doesn't have a relay. I haven't jumped the battery wiring, I'm confident the wire is good and as you point out its intermittent so unlikely to fail at the moment I try.

Every now and then I just get a click (single click) when trying to start the engine, second attempt it always starts (so far!). I've done the usual checks, cleaned the terminals checked earthing and voltages etc so it looks like it's the stater or solenoid. Reading through the archives I've found what looks to be an ideal replacement with good reviews (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/271765788262) and appears reasonably priced but before I order one was just wondering whether anyone has had any joy in taking one apart and fixing it? Does it come apart and if so can you get to the contacts to clean/lubricate them? Car is 1700 Supersprint with type 9 g/box and the starter motor looks like the 3 bolt mounting pinto (haven't removed it yet)

My first port of call would be idle jets, they should be 50F9. Weaker jets (ie 45F9) will cause the symptom you describe.

Decided to bite the bullet and do mine too, thanks Andrew for the info it was very helpful. Couple of additional things that I encounter that might be useful, firstly although the new master cyclinder has imperial connections for the brake unions the actuation rod has a metric thread, M8. Secondly, my car has steal brake pipes which makes modifications more difficult so I'm now replacing the whole front section with copper. It's not that clear from A7OOH's picture but it looks suspiciously like mine so thought it worth a mention. Because of the pipe issues this has taken longer than anticipated so haven't got it back together yet but if I encounter anything else I'll report back. Neil.

Found this in the archives, sure I read something like this and drilled a bypass hole in mine. Anyway, Roger King says 74 so there's your answer! /forum/techtalk/crossflow-thermostat Neil.

Not sure what the official answer is but for what it's worth I have an 82°C stat and the car runs at around 88-90°C on the gauge which seems about right to me. Neil.

I have the same m/c and have been contemplating this too, what do you intend to replace it with? Just a thought, would flexible pipe make the job easier?