barrywilks

Thanks, I'll give him a try. Since you mention usage - it's done 2500 miles, all on the road, and I like to think I'm fairly mechanically sympathetic!

My 2003 1.6 K seems to be developing a nasty crunch when I change into third gear. Could this just be clutch adjustment? It doesn't do it in any other gear and the biting point seems reasonable (to me). It's the standard 5 speed 'box (yes I did want the 6 speed but couldn't afford it!) Should I be concerned or is this quite common?

Blimey, maybe I was expecting too much but the lack of interesting (in even reading this thread) leads me to believe that this must be totally normal behaviour. Do I have to post a thread entitled 'Head Gasket' to get some interest?!!!

II've done about 650 miles in my 1.6 K now and a couple of things have cropped up I'd like to ask: 1) The speedo has become very erratic. It didn't do this before the 500 mile service but to my knowledge there is nothing in the service that should have affected the speedo. The symptoms are that it reads fine most of the time but then starts 'flapping in the breeze' only to settle down to a steady reading again. At speed it goes absolutely nuts every now and then. (Up as well as down) 2) I've noticed this only two or three times now - noises from (I assume) the rear brakes. This is much more infrequent than the speedo problem. Sounds like a metal grinding and is periodic relative to speed - which disappears when I brake only to re-appear when I release, but goes after a very short time. What I really want to know is whether I should be concerned about either of these and get onto Caterham (under warranty etc) or whether 'they all do that sir'. Any advice?

Just to update - managed to use a couple of short bits of bar (think they were originaly metal tent pegs!) and then used adjustable pliers to sqeeze them together. Took the car the 40 or so miles to dartford for the PBC & SVA and all seemed fine (just got back). Barry.

Any suggestions on how to lock up the adjustable platforms on the widetrack suspension? I assume there is a proper 'c spanner' type tool for them but I don't have one and I'm driving it down for the PBC and SVA next Tuesday, so need to tighten these up!!!

Just in the process of building my new car and decided to tackle the interchangeable screen a couple of days ago. With the standard screen the (hex drive) bolts holding the screen mountings in to the sides of the bulkhead go into nyloc nuts behind the knee trim panels (the nearside one of these covers the windscreen motor). Without removing the knee trim panels I guess you can't remove these bolts. As a new build (I assume the set up is the same) Caterham leave the knee trim panels loose so you can get behind them. This allows you to remove the nyloc nuts and fit in place the two brackets supplied that have captive (i.e. fixed) nuts to them. They also replace the brackets holding the bulhead to the chassis of the car. Once these are fitted you can remove/replace the windscreen bolts without having to get behind the knee trim panels. Hope this is all correct for the parts you have recieved and not just for a new build. Barry. Edited by - barrywilks on 30 Jan 2003 16:16:22

Having recently fitted the diff on mine got a tip from Ian at Caterham: Putting the top bolt in can be a real pain, especially getting it through the washers. Tip is this: grind the end of the bolt (there's plenty of spare thread) to a taper as it picks up the washers and you don't have to have them positioned absolutely correctly. First time I put the bolt in I managed to trap one of the very fine spacers and hammer it through the mounting. Not the best of things to do AND it made getting the bolt out much more difficult ☹️

Steve - Yep they are handed - rhs is longer than lhs (which has gone in with no trouble at all). Tony - Tried it with and without grease but no joy. Any more suggestions?

Hi all, Got a slight problem with driveshafts - new build 1.6 Roadsport with 5speed 'box and standard diff to suit. The problem is this - the offside driveshaft will not insert fully into the diff. Looking at the grease it looks as though it's got about 1cm more to go. I've tried the suggestions in the manual (grease on splines, hit end of propshaft with soft mallet) but to no avail. Any suggestions/solutions? Thanks, Barry.