rhauri

Hey folks, I've had a good look in the archives and can't quite find what I need to know; and the Caterham Parts website isn't the most clear or informative either. My car is a 2003 with de-dion axle with standard Sierra rear calipers. I've seen these, but what are they? Rear Ford Sierra discs (253mm diameter) or Triumph Spitfire discs (232mm diameter)? https://caterhamparts.co.uk/brake-discs/391-brake-disc-front-and-rear.html Also, I've read that getting new disc to hub bolts is recommended when changing brake discs as the heads are very shallow and round off easily. Again, the Caterham parts website not being very clear; is that these ones: https://caterhamparts.co.uk/fixings-other/5422-bolt-reduced-head-big.html Thanks for any help in advance! Rhauri

Hey folks, As the title, I'm after a centre mirror for use with an aeroscreen and aeroscreen quick change mounts. Let me know what you have! Thanks, Rhauri

Sounds a lovely car Paul - any pics? GJT - What tyre sizes are you seeing the Rainmasters in? I've not seen them in the various Caterham-popular 13" / 14" / 15" sizes I've trawled through - but likely missed a few key size combinations out! I'd certainly consider those if the treadwear grade was 200 or below.

Ah you're in the same boat as I was exactly a year ago (bought mine 11/11/16)! It was a war of the heart and mind, I was utterly paranoid about the galvanic corrosion yet incredibly eager to drive my newly acquired dream car. Inevitably, I couldn't resist the urge and for the first few weeks of ownership I went on quite a few drives; in the first weekend I actually drove a total of 400 miles. To settle my paranoia though, after every drive out, I got the car up on axle stands and literally bathed the underneath of the car with an array of brushes, car shampoo and lots of rinsing. With me under the 7 on my back covered in soap suds, the neighbors thought I was bonkers. It allowed me to sleep at least, but also made the whole event of driving the car on salty roads that more taxing, factoring in the post-drive spa treatment. The spigot bearing gave up the ghost in early December so that forced my hand, and the car was off the road until I got that sorted (with the help of LADS) in March. I've had a good summer in it, couple of track days plus a blast out at Curborough, on top of a few blats and a trip to Le Mans and back. Honestly, I don't think I've used it enough this year though, but life can often get in the way. Next summer I plan on more track days and more early morning weekend blats. For this Winter I've SORN'd her (from this month onwards), with a few jobs lined up to be completed before Spring. Back on topic though, tyres. My 7 is putting out 196bhp on R888Rs, 185/60/13 fronts and 205/55/13 rears. With caution, I've not had any worrying moments even in the wet and cold, but then I really wasn't pushing on in those conditions and I wouldn't recommend doing so anyway. I did toy with the idea of a track-set and a road-set, the latter being more cold/wet friendly - but weighing up the cost, inconvenience and potential (lack of) differing levels of grip I've decided to just stick with my R888Rs and replace them as and when they wear out. The R888Rs come in the GG compound which is a touch harder wearing than the SG compound you can get in some R888 sizes. As a result they offer a little bit less grip, but that's the trade off I'm willing to accept for longevity and don't get me wrong, the R888Rs still hold on! Not really sure if my experience helps your dilemma as I don't really know how the V70A compares to the R888R. Everything is subjective. I've raced karts for years on slicks in the wet, so I know what its like to drive quickly with sod all grip and I've just jumped out of years in S2000s (RWD, no traction control) so I think to me it is just natural progression. I don't know about yourself, but if you've jumped out of something with more driver aids and more wet/cold friendly tyre options then it may just be a case that you'll need to adjust your expectations a little. As our 7s are so lightweight, there really are not many wet/cold weather tyre options out there as we struggle to generate the heat needed in tyres that would normally work wonders in a car twice the weight. Anyways, I hope that helps you somehow, and welcome to the fold!

No problem, if difficult to do by hand, that'll do for me Thanks Ivan, Rhauri

Hi Ivan, Can you put me down for a pair of the 'Superlight' / cut out brackets? I presume they are just as torsionally stiff as the solid brackets, just look better? Thanks! Rhauri

I could be around April 30th, will keep an eye out for this! PS.: Had the Cat back on the road this weekend, all running perfectly!

It was actually the spigot bearing that collapsed all of a sudden; the CRB was squeaking loudly though so showing signs of age - not uncommon for them to let go around 30k on these it seems anyway, and was hardly a big parts bill overall It let go literally as I got home after a drive out and I was trying to reverse up my drive - couldn't have timed it better really! That was early December, so really it's not been a bad thing - kept it off the road during the saltiest of months and given me the opportunity to really get to know the ins and outs of the motor and engine bay. Gave it a good clean in there too! Glad the MX is impressing you, hopefully will get to see it on some blats this Spring/Summer!

I did! I will give it a go

Hey Simon, good to see you're knocking around BlatChat! With the help of Peter & Paul from LADS, I've had the engine out to change the CRB and Spigot Bearing. When putting the engine back in, we wanted to check the OP at cranking speed before firing it up properly. Only thing we didn't realise was how long we needed to crank it before pressure built. Also worth bearing in mind the Apollo had been completely drained as had the engine and connecting pipework. No issues though, as last night I primed the Apollo by filling it up a bit from the top hose connection and also took the spark plugs out for a higher rate of cranking (and to take the strain off the starter and battery). In no time I saw OP so all good! Just ordered some new HT leads and spark plugs, so when they arrive on Friday I'll be in a position to get her running again! How's the MX5? Happy with its state of tune?

Excellent Peter - I'd love to take that off your hands, just let me know how much you want for it.

Thanks JK - your link took me to the "Tools 'n' spares" thread, just what I was looking for. I find the BC search function a pain unless you know exactly what to search for. I searched for 'Tools' and the aforementioned did not show up.

Hey folks, I was wondering where I could get one of these tool tubes as per below: https://www.lotus7.club/blogs/fitting-tool-canister I was also wondering what tools do most people carry in case of the event of an emergency fix (for an imperial chassis if that makes much difference)? Open to other tool carrying / storage suggestions too! Rhauri

Thank you Elie, much appreciated indeed

Thanks Elie, I'm well aware of the impact of using the wrong oil or even the long term affects of using a lesser quality oil - hence why I'm asking this very question. Ideally I'd like to know what base oil the MANNOL uses, I suspect it's a Group 3 but I cannot find any info to confirm that; whereas from what I gather Millers CFS is Group 5. I've always gone for Group 5 oils so I'm not one to 'skimp', but then, have I just fallen for more marketing blurb!?

Hey folks, Another oil question, I know! Just can't find any info on this oil... I was going to buy 10L of Millers CFS 10w 60 Triple Ester oil for £90, but then I saw this stuff: MANNOL Racing +Ester Oil on eBay for £49.99 delivered. Very quick over-view of the specs: Millers CFS: - A3/B4 - API: SM/CF MANNOL Racing +Ester - A3/B3/B4 - API: SN/SM/CF So there are similarities and differences between the specs. I guess the real question is, what specs should I be looking for my 1.8 Rover K with the following internal work: VVC Head, blanked off with solid Piper cams on verniers Tapered valves Omega forged pistons Single tang rods VVC 160 crank bearings Dyno'd at 196bhp ​Also have an Apollo tank, making oil changes pricey!​Use would be fast-road and 2, maybe 3, track days per year (4 to 5 thousand miles). Feel free to comment on frequency of oil changes with this use too. Thanks folks!

Payment sent Mark Rhauri

Great, I've sent you a BM. Rhauri

Will do the trick for a 2003 VVC K Series mated to Caterham's 6 Speed box? If so I'll take it.

Are these the metric brackets and have you fitted to an imperial chassis?

Not a bad idea Ivaan, will give that a go out of curiosity. Thanks Paul - I will proceed as planned and see what I find. Rhauri

Slight development (ish)... I've not started this job yet, but in attempt to move the car I started it up and once the engine is running I can't actually get it into gear, any gear in fact. Would this indicate a bigger issue, or just that the CRB has in fact catastrophically failed and possibly in more than one piece? Thanks!

Mark - Car is on c32,000 miles so presume its on the original clutch. JV - "I don't think the lower figure will have any bearing on the life of the CRB." My symptom is that the CRB squeals when the clutch is depressed. Will check the clutch fork ears, thanks for the heads up I won't be removing the engine completely, though, I will be going down the route of moving the block 4" forward to swap the CRB over. Clutch operation and performance has been absolutely fine; up until my last drive out where it was squeaking fairly loudly when clutch depressed and operation didn't feel as smooth as it should right at the very end of the drive - so I'm hopeful that a new CRB should be all that is needed. Coupled with an increase in pre-load as per your article, John, I'm hoping that'll do me until clutch replacement time.

One last question, I don't need any other bits do I, other than just a new CRB?

Cheers Sim & John. I've seen about the pre-load, I'll certainly have a look into correcting that. I'd already ordered the SKF bearing by the time you posted John. I have read that the SKF bearing requires less pre-load, so likely to last longer..? Don't know how true that is though. I'll go with the SKF bearing for now seeing as it was dispatched yesterday, appreciate I may have to do the job twice though! Thanks again - wish me luck!