p.mole1

Has anyone got one they want to sell

I have just stripped the head off my 1.4 super sport it had covered 22000 miles and 6 of the exhaust valves are severely pitted no 2 cylinder being the worst, no 4 cylinder was fine. The seats in the cylinder head are unmarked. All of the valves were the same colour but the valves from number 2 cylinder had more deposits on their heads. Do you think the engine could have been run to lean?

Does the engine block still require relieving with any of the after market starter motors?

Hi Nick, Do these pistons come the con rods? Thanks Phil

Rover K series Piper 774 camshafts 280 degree duration. only for use with solid tappets £ 250 or offers

4 Avon ZT5 185/60 14 these were all new when I bought the car 2 years ago. 3 tyres have over 7mm of tread and one has about 6mm due to a couple of track days. £75

Thanks for the information, more to think about!

I can get a new set of 160 VVC pistons with rings for £150 but I have yet to find any with rods other than knackered second hand stuff.

When fitting forged pistons I noticed that the gudgeon pins are fully floating, what stops the gudgeon pins from contacting the cylinder bores? I am trying to build a 1.8 on a budget and have found a set of VVC pistons but I have been told you cannot re-use the con rods with the interference fit. Can these be used with a fully floating gudgeon pin.

I'm after a pair of either 633, Supersport, 1320, Piper 270 but they must be for use with solid Tappets.

Thanks

Hi Paul, It can be a pig to remove, on mine I have to loosen the clutch cable nut off and push as much of the outer cable as possible back into the pedal box. I also filed the tabs down a bit to make it easier to fit. Check all the air horn nuts and studs as they seem to come loose, I used very strong loctite.

Hi Oily, Thanks for your advice, I will be in touch next month when I get my hands on the engine and decide what condition it's in and if my wife loves me enough to have another mid life crisis. She thought a Ducati would get out of system in 2010?

I'm after a full set of forged or 160 VVC pistons with or without barrels

Hi Oily, Thanks Some of the clearances had opened up a tad but only by 2 thou, although No 1 exhaust valves had closed down to 8 thou. My Janspeed head was used for motorsport and came with Piper solid followers and steel caps so the oilways have been blocked with pins, I don't think there is anyway I could remove them, any ideas ? The head came with camshafts and I was told the were 264 degree duration but it turns out the are 280 degree with 70 degrees of overlap so I can't use them either. Do you think it is worth persevering with the head or I should just transfer the the cams, verniers and throttle bodies onto a standard head

Hi Oily thanks, I have found two different pistons,a Mahle part number 710000117 and AE but I cannot see the part numbers, but the valve cutouts seem much shallower. The Mahle pistons are a wallet friendly £139 and £ 159 for the AE, I will try to get the part number. I am trying to keep to a budget so the 285 cam is out the window. Would you recommend using new liners or re-honing the originals? also the original SS camshafts were hydraulic tappets and I converted to solid tappets but valve train noise sounds like an old crossflow, was there a different profile SS camshaft to run with solid tappets I am worried that the opening and closing ramps might not be designed for solid tappets.

Thanks, I have seen pistons for sale but how do I know if they are genuine VVC 160 articles. I may fit a set of solid piper 285 cams do you think this would require forged pistons as a necessity.

I My current 1.4 K series is running with a gas flowed head, DTH throttle bodies and super sport cams with vernier timing wheels.It produces maximum power at 7500 rpm and I have set the rev limit to 7600 rpm. I am about to acquire a 1.8 K series and will be using the SS cams, head and throttle bodies, will the 1.8 produce it's power lower down in the rev range and will the standard pistons cope with track day use?

Oops PM sent

Hi Nick, Thanks I'll take it if you still have it. Do you have the injectors?,also do you think the pair of us would be able to lift it into a car? I can pay for it if you let me have your details, but I will probably not be able to pick it up till the end of November or early December if that's ok, I,m at the other end of the country. Best regards Phil

Hi Nick, Do you still have the engine for sale if so you have a sale Best regards Phil

The worst is Tower,then I seem to start getting high speed under steer in the Jim Clark Esses. Every where else is ok, so my bad driving is probably not helping. 20 psi is measured cold, I have 15mm rake. The rear anti roll bar is on its softest setting and so far it's been left it alone as so many people haven't got or seem to remove them, I will try that next. I have heard that the earlier cars front anti roll bar was too thick?

You could be right as it looks like a may have been able to machine a few mm off the bottom of the clamps, however I don't think the rack had ever been touched till I bought the car.

Thanks everyone, could be my bad driving,hurtling into corners to fast! because I have so little power! To be honest I never even considered tyre pressures, I have just been using the recommended pressure in my 1995 manual.

Hi Delbert, little did I know how much fun it could be and you can't fall off four wheels! I had no intention of track days when I bought the car, now I have little interest in driving it on the road. Just to point out it's fine on the open road, It's only a problem on a track day. I have nothing to compare it too, probably a good idea to get someone else who is experienced with Caterhams to give it a drive on the next track day. Being Northern and tight with money, so far I have set the suspension with me in the car and my wife measuring the ride height, not ideal but Simon from Meteor recommends it and it should be in the ball park. I have altered the damping stiffening up the rear and softening the front this made a small improvement.Tracking is set to 0 toe out so I will try altering a spot of toe out. Probably a good idea having it looked at by an expert just to check all the wheels are pointing in the correct directions.