James.Burton

I'm fitting some bucket seats, and can't for the life of me get all 4 passenger bolts to fit. I'm believing that it's the seatbelts that hold the passenger in place. The seat bolts could surely pull through the aluminium floor easily enough in a crash. In the standard cloth / leather seats, the bottom seat squab isn't fixed in place at all. Hence I'm thinking as long as I have the front two in place to stop the seat tipping, all is good. Does my thinking make sense, or am I being a complete idiot?

Many thanks. Yes, that's very clearly marked!

Any VX experts out there? I have a 1996 VXi. I've upgraded the top end, cams, etc. and am now in the process of getting the ECU reprogrammed. The guys doing the reprogramming (JUBU) told me that they could increase the rpm limit from the standard 6800, to 7500, to get the most out of the new cams etc. However they said I need to check if my motor already has the reinforced con rod bolts. They weren't sure when they became standard on the engine. Is there any way of finding out which bolts will have been fitted, without pulling the bottom of the engine, and having a look? If not, is there a way of telling just by pulling the bottom off and having a look? Thanks in advance for any advice

Thanks for the info. 1) I'll give up on the search for an off the shelf dimmer 2) Just one telltales. Not done the diodes. Was thinking of it, but thought a variable diode (dimmer) would be preferable. Hence the reason for this post. 3) Will use tape to get me home tonight.... Much appreciated

On my lovely old VXi, I upgraded my indicator and high beam dashboard lights with some bright LEDs. Works great in daytime, with sunglasses. Unfortunately, at night, they are so bright I get blinded. Any suggestions? Can a dimmer be added easily?

Many thanks

I've ordered a turn up kit, that my local garage will fix. In the mean time the firm I ordered the tune up kit from, says they need a picture of the front of the engine to make sure they are ordering all the right stuff. So can I "just" unbolt the front cover and take a pic? Something I'm happy to do myself. or Do i need to drain fluids and have half a clue what I'm doing? I.e. best left to somebody else. Thanks in advance for any tips

Thanks all.

That's the sort of thing. Is a very different shape than the current one. Will ask CC for their input. Thanks

Hi, My cycle wing stay broke through. Looking at Caterham car parts, none of the designs they show match my part (1996 VXi). 1st pic - broken rear leg. 2nd pic - stress crack coming on front leg. 3rd pic - large additional web weld across the bend of the leg, which looks to be original. And it's this I can't find a match for in Caterham Car parts online store. Should I ask my local garage to do a weld up job? Or will one of the new designs fit? Cheers for any advice. James

Thanks guys. There is a dash of red, and it's certainly a twin cam. So I guess Red top would fit. I think the C20XE was on carbs, which mine isn't. I'm in Austria so Premier Power is too far away. There are some experts on the other side of the country called Jubu who also make wild Lotus upgrades, but they are really on the other side of the country. I was planning to use a local shop as they have tuned lots of Opel versions of this engine. Was just wondering what the experience was with mild upgrades. Thanks again

Loving the torque VXi and 5 speed for blatting over the alps. Fast enough, but as always some more umph for overtaking would be nice. A local shop says a typical light tune on this motor is: Cylinder head, Cam shaft, and narrower valve shafts, which should be doable on the current ECU. Upping power from the current 150, to about 180. And keep things "subtle" for the local police, as it's internal and not a throttle bodies change. This all sounds like it'll help free up horses at the top end. Would it rob much from the bottom end? Would it make a significant difference to the reliability? Any comments from people with knowledge would be much appreciated.

Hi, Sorry to pick up an old thread, but I'm looking to take the ancient and wobbly 3 legged side mirrors off my 7 The bottom two legs hold the stanchion to the scuttle. Hence I need to get replacement screws/bolts for the bottom. So would you know the speck of the stanchion to scuttle bolts (I think the terms are correct)? Thanks for any advice.

My older pedal box only has 2 positions. Yes moved it forwards, and adjusted position with the nuts on the brake cylinder push rod. Can't adjust the throttle pedal on VXi cars. So I had to pull forward the brake, so at full pressure it was high enough to still catch the throttle pedal. Meant it started sky high in the pedal box. I'll look into the pedal itself. I hadn't thought of that. Although I think the travel is the biggest issue. It goes through quite a long range.

I'm looking to upgrade to the AP racing master cylinder for a harder pedal to ease heel and toeing (I've already played with pedal mount points, and didn't find what I wanted. The pedal ended up so high at the start of travel, so that it was close to the throttle under extreme braking, it was just a mess...). Before I splash the cash, I won't to check what I currently have in use. I heard the original has a blue cable tie, and the uprated has orange. I have black. This is from a 1996 VXi. Can anybody recognize this / confirm if the AP racing cylinder will give me a harder pedal feel versus this? Planning to stick to the standard discs, as I'm only (fast) road driving. Haven't yet experienced fade so strong I could no longer lock the brakes. Thanks in advance for any advice James

Thanks to all for the tipps. I'm getting a better understanding, of what's going on in the gearbox and final drive. Not quite figured out the speedo yet, but having fun in the process. :)

Since picking up my '96 VXi 4 years ago, the speedo has been under reading by almost 25%. I had thought this may be down to somebody replacing the final drive with a 3.14 or something like that. However I realised that in 3rd I hit the rev limiter around 150kmph. From tech specs sheets that's 6800 rpm (the needle of the rev counter waggles so wildly when accelerating you can't read it). Doing some maths with 559mm diameter ZZS tyres, and assuming standard ratios in the gearbox, the standard 3.92 final drive would max out at 145kmph. Close enough given wheel diameter changes with speed, pressure, temperature. Further checking at my best estimates of a constant 4000rpm, and GPS speedo readings in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th it would seem to confirm standard final drive. So I assume the gearbox and final drive are standard. BUT the speedo is still under reading by almost 25%. Does anybody have a clue how can that be?

Thanks

Hello All, I can't seem to get a good set up for heel and toeing in my VX. Brake pedal too far below the accelerator. Any suggestions or tips? James

Jonathan, Thanks that's great. If you could send the assy guide for a European VXi (1996) that would be much appreciated. James

Thanks all. Coke can showed me to be 1cm too low, so I adjusted all corners up (taking notes so I can return it if required). I`ll look to find the suggested settings as there isn't any specialist nearby. I looked in the technical blog and didn't see details of set up suggestions (not just ride height but toe in/out, etcetera). I would have thought that to be one of the most obvious topics to have there. Looking forward to the test drive tomorrow morning, over the FachinaJoch pass

I keep scraping my sump, and the exhaust. ride height is I think kind of standard with about 6cm under the sump (VXi). I have the street Nitrons on. Can I just wind up the stops under the springs to give me another 1 cm, or am I being dumb?

FYI - It turned out to be an incorrect clutch plate - too big. As the American's would say, "WTF".

I think I've joined the LSC group and suggested a route (in Austria). Do we get feedback if the route isn't added to the club BlattMap?

Perfect. Many thanks. :)