Highside43

Thanks for the replies, I'll risk it being a Ford fitment.

Just after one number prisoner alloy if possible, if anyone knows of where I can source one. not too bothered on condition as I can / will get it refurbished if required (provided it can be repaired / refurbished). Many thanks.

Orange with black stripe, 2018 model. Roof off, dry(ish) roads, by yourself. Approximately 14.30??? You were pulling out of the promenade road onto Tywyn High Street, heading (I hope) towards the Mach loop and away from Aberdyfi. Not many this time of year in my playground, I was in the tin top but didn't flash / wave as thought it would just infuse confusion with other road users about.

I've put in the Halfords 150% brighter halogen bulbs (or whatever they are), standard 5.75 lights as on the car from 1998. They're OK for night use - no-where as good as the tin tops of modern age but for me they're fine. I'm also used to 2 wheel headlights so squinting into the abyss with a single bulb on dark Welsh roads - hence why I don't think mine are too bad. There was a noticeable difference from the standard bulbs to the updated Halfords ones though. As others have said, I don't do that much night driving in it, and if I do it's generally on roads I know, so not been a real issue. Having said that, I too am watching this thread with interest to see if I can get better lights....

VVC, mild piper cams, Emerald ECU. No tune yet, that's next year's project. Forged internals in prep for it though.

Finally, after 2 years and far, far too much money, it lives again. 166bhp, slightly up on the 77 it had when I unwittingly and unknowingly bought it. Just the suspension to sort now. And the brakes. Plus new seats (or re-furb then anyway as drivers is collapsed) More power.....etc....thought I had grown out of this upgraditis in my spotty 20's.... Pleased with the car, just in time as off to Nurburgring in it next week. Watch this space.

Just aim for the back end of the Moose when you hit one...that's what they teach on the driving test in Sweeten. Love Norway, go ice climbing up the frozen waterfalls in Rjuken most years, and Louise's in Oslo for the sea food platter is a must. Never taken a 7 though as too winter weather when I go, but wouldn't mind a blat round in the summer.

I found the escutchions impossible to drill, but maybe my drill bit was also toast. I just gently hammered them when in place and they clamp / hold by themselves. I did auger out the middle hole in bodywork to make the armrest spike fit through more easily though.

OK, thanks folks. I'll keep your comments in the memory bank and go back to the garage with them and see what the response will be - at the minute I was told catastrophic radiator failure was cause of piston hole and head to warp (again). CR (I was told) was high when I collected the car, and also told to listen out for pinking but I couldn't hear any while driving it the 170 odd miles back home, or throughout the weekend. I believe we are now using your pistons Oily? Head is being skimmed again, so I assume a shim will have to be used as well as gasket to pack it up / out - will this reduce compression (in a positive way, if I had a lot before)?

Thanks for the feedback, I'm an basic DIY mechanic but have to rely on garages / mechanics to repair my vehicles so have to take their word for it. The car was R/R'd to set it up a week or so before I collected it at Easter. I did report back that after driving home and out a few times that weekend it was running a little warm, say about 90 but not near the red. It was also struggling to tick over - sometimes it would just stall (mildly amusing the first couple of time, then annoying coupled with it's inability to start and the hassle of trying to bump start with a roof on....), or it would sit at 2100rpm with everyone looking at why I was about to do a GP start in the middle of a queue. They were Weisco (???) pistons on DVA con rods - I was future proofing the engine to allow me to take it to a goal of 200bhp when funds permit - it's cost 6K so far and I've ended up with a car worse than when I bought it, and unbeknown to me then it had a duff engine, hence why I spent so much trying to rectify it. It wasn't making any untoward noises to my knowledge though - no knocking or pinking.

What causes a hole in a piston please? Less than 500 miles driving of collecting my car at Easter weekend (after being 10 months in a garage having a refreshed VVC engine fitted - forged con rods, forged pistons, new triple pass rad from Caterham, Emerald ECU, Piper Cams (mild ones) and blanking kit and a whole raft of new bits as well as skimming the head and new liners), it has gone back due to the radiator spewing it's contents all over the place in the second weekend of driving it - enough for me to have to call the AA out - and the temp suddenly shooting into the red. After shelling out out many thousands of pounds fixing the knackered engine the car had when I bought it (20 months ago, and it's been in a garage for 11 of those....), it now apparently has a hole in one piston, and the radiator is leaking all over the place from everywhere (no stone damage, it's coming from the welds). Would a hot engine cause the piston to form a hole in the top? I'm no mechanic but understand the basics from tinkering with bike engines 20 odd years ago. Garage is saying it's because of the radiator failing and the engine getting hot. Who do I throw this several thousand pound bill at now for fixing my newly ruined engine, as I don't see why I should have to pay again. I'm not happy.

Like yourself I purchased a dash-cam a couple of weeks ago due to third party involvement in a couple of incidents recently (one being an artic who backed into the Seven when I wasn't even in the car) - coupled with (again as yourself) some close calls, so I too went out and bought a Nextbase one from Halfords, and an extra window mount to transfer it from work hack to Seven. Mine is only forward facing but I have it under the mirror and don't find it too unobtrusive - it's mildly noticeable and I'd rather now have it than not so put up with it. I like the idea of the rear one though that you have done and will look into copying that idea on mine. One observation I have noticed is that in the Seven, it's obviously there and all road users can see it - conversely, the number of times cars and bikes used to try and 'push' you on country roads (think chavs and power rangers) has reduced quite significantly as when they come roaring up to within 6 inches of the spare wheel, most now then back off a considerable distance some 10 seconds later- I can only attribute this to them seeing the dash cam and the screen running / playing (I keep the screen on in the Seven as it's usually only sunny when I take it out so not put off by any glare, and other road users can see it on so I believe it acts even more as a deterrent). Its too much of a coincidence to be anything else.

I have Go Pro and Drift cameras - all of my videos on line have been shot with the drift cameras as they're the ones I reach for every time.

I bought a twin USB port from E-bay, it was about £2.50 from China with free postage.....!!! Mounted it where the passenger left knee goes, just bent the triangular bit of alloy down between door and bulkhead to accommodate it, wired directly to battery (with inline fuse) and isolator. Charges phone faster than ones in tin tops, very very pleased with it. I don't have anything that requires a cigarette lighter any more so went for the USB ports only. Tucked out of the way there.

OK....for those of you mildly interested... So I finally got my car back at Easter (Good Friday) after being Dyno'd at 165BHP. I had also put in forged pistons and con rods to future proof it for when I take it to the next stage late this year. It was a rocket compared to how it was before and I now see what the fuss is about with these little cars. Boy is it good fun. Blatting around Mid Wales over the Easter weekend, even in the snow around Bala, took it to work on the Tuesday and parked it up. 2 hours later, I watched from the office window an artic reverse alongside to do a 3 point turn, and as he pulled away the rear swing of the trailer ripping the rear arch clean off. I wasn't even sat in it and it gets damaged. Aric driver denied it at first, and then relented as I was not in the mood for negotiations. A phone call to the insurance company and the next day it was picked up and off to Kendrick Motors for repair. Enterprise provided me with an equivalent vehicle for the Caterham - a Nissan X Trail 4x4 automatic diesel. Which I managed to T-bone the side of some idiot who pulled right out infront of me, so now arguing with another insurance company about blame. Only the weekend before I was looking at Dash-Cams thinking I must get one....I'm hoping the mechanics of the accident and location damage to our cars (his was totalled) will tell the story of how it happened and that it wasn't my fault, but the 500 quid excess was still taken upon return of the hire car. Ho Hum. Cue another 3 weeks in the garage, and I finally got it back last week, in time for the Bank Holiday weekend. Had a great time blatting round Mid Wales again in the car, really enjoying it and it's now tucked up in the garage, wrapped in cotton wool and will be trotted out on when no idiots are on the roads. Tally ho...one happy chappy with his (relatively) new-to-him car. Now, suspension and brake upgrades before the final engine upgrade.....where's that catalogue.

I've been reading / following similar threads about this problem for a short while now, and my own amateur diagnosis is that of getting air movement in the footwell, instead of preventing it coming in in the first place - my philosophy (rightly or wrongly) is the heat still has to dissipate somewhere and will cook the engine bay even more if I preclude it's passage into the cockpit. For myself, I have been looking at either ductwork from the front or rear of the car, and 12v fans to assist flow? Something like a centrifugal blower which I can switch off and on. Just my 2p's worth. This is for a 1998 S3 with carpets, and I while not unbearable, it is uncomfortable to the extant I shuffle around.

Folks, Many thanks for the messages and advice - it is appreciated and taken on board. I think part of the trouble is me rushing head first into the purchase, without doing proper research. I haven't driven a car like it before to use as a benckmark / base line as to how they are meant to go, I should have got an independent inspection before handing over the readies (but it was bought from a bona fide car dealer, and the car has had one owner from new in it's 18 year history - to all intent and purposes - and the dealer knew the owner personally, the extensive service history was carried out at a local garage who service older vehicles, so the sums stacked up in my favour I thought...plus when driving the car there were no noises / smoke / any other issues to say it was knackered other than feeling a little gutless – but not having driven another I wasn’t to know at the time and a test drive isn't long enough to fully understand the car). I did take it back to the garage it was bought from twice, on separate occasions, but this meant taking a day off work each time to drop it off, and a separate day off to collect it – so that’s almost a weeks wages lost as self employed. After the second time, and being told again that nothing was wrong with the car, to then seeing that after a simple compression test it’s running on 2 cylinders, I lost faith in returning it back all the way up to Derby as they (now) obviously didn’t know what they were doing with the car. Hindsight is the greatest retrospect-o-scope…. The reason for buying an Emerald now is to future proof it, and trying to help get the car back on the road sooner than later – again, hindsight and all that. But at least I now have it. I still love the car – it’s the colour and shape (clam wings) that I have always wanted and have already cosmetically tweeked it a bit more – it was bought for pure driving pleasure instead of an outright performance machine, I am no car driver and when they go out of shape on me I let go of the steering wheel and cry – there are far too many wheels to control in a tin box and unlike the bike, there is no way I will be chasing 10th’s of a second off lap times. I just want it to be right and have a bit more punch than when I first bought it – if I had known then 14 months ago what I know now, I would have dug my heels in / got an AA inspection / test drove others for comparison (that would have opened my eyes for sure) / looked for another, but I didn’t and that’s my bad. I will get there though – or rather, poor old Chaz at I-Tech will get there…I pass on all the messages and advice which I know he is also grateful for – he knows his way competently round the K Series engine but this is his first Caterham and it’s been a steep learning curve for him too but think he’s (sometimes) enjoyed the challenge of this conversion. I’ll keep you updated but hope now that we are on the penultimate lap, and rounding the final corner to start last lap of this saga. Many thanks again everyone for your support, I hope to repay it over my future years of ownership with any advice I can impart.

Apologies for the delay in the update, but there have been quite a few challenges along the way of getting my car back on the road. Rightly or wrongly, I decided on the VVC route (and listening to some advise from others - this was decided as I wanted driveability due to it being a road car). I was going to keep the VVC gear until a later date (couple of years or so) when I would look then a dumping it, throttle bodies, Emerald ECU....etc....to liven things up even further. However, I just wanted my car back without breaking the bank, and even in standard VVC form (160 ZR engine), it would be twice as powerful as the earth shattering 77bhp that the original engine was chucking out. I commissioned I-Tech Racing in Trowbridge to carry out my brief, for a couple of reasons - they had the car already, I was working locally, it was already in bits, and he's a K-Series specialist (albeit Rover cars). Also, he could do a full engine in / out turnkey repair to my car - not to disrespect a few of the well known tuners for these cars, and I did talk to a couple of them and weigh up possibilities / timelines, but they would only do my engine if it turned up without the car - I personally haven't got time to sort out the logistics of engine in / out, shipping...etc...so wanted somewhere where I could drop it off, get all the work done and pick it up when it was fixed. It was already at somewhere that could do that so it stayed at I-Tech racing. Forgive my lack of technical knowledge on the below - I was a reasonable competent garage mechanic for the 2 wheel kind (such as having stripped gearboxes several times after rounding gear dogs off and bending selector forks with cluthless gearchanges), but that was 20 years ago and nowadays I am time and space precious. Working away all the time, if I then came home and spent the free time in the unit tinkering, I would experience levels beyond DeFcon 10 of hostility so a home re-build is just out of the question. One day in the future I hope to return to the spanners, but for the immediate time I take a vested interest and absorb as much of the information and problems as possible through the services of others. I bought a 160 ZR VVC lump off the internet, and had it refreshed with new liners, pistons, rings, bearings....etc...and the head was sent ff to be skimmed, checked (or whatever it is they do). It was all assembled (complete with the VVC mechanism) and bolted into the car. The first problem was the nearside strut brace fouling some oil feeder pipe (or a boss on it), which then had to be re-located along the rail. Next was the clutch cable fouling near the pedal box. Then the needle roller bearing on the end of the gearbox input shaft was ever so slightly too big (OEM part), so had to be shaved off at some minute tolerance to get it to fit. That was just the mechanics. Then the new engine wouldn't talk to the car, or the car wouldn't talk to the new engine. A VVC loom is a lot more complex than the standard one, so (the Royal we...) we were left scratching heads as to where wires go. Solution - buy an Emerald K6 ECU. I would need one later on anyway, and it would save a lot of head scratching. Cue lots of wiring diagrams and belling out of wires, but eventually it worked. It had a base map which would be suitable for running in, then smoothed out on the dyno once I had run it in. I collected it one weekend knowing that the drive home and back would pretty much run it in, and it would be a nice drive through the spine of Wales up to Aberdyfi. Within a few miles of driving it I was reminder of exactly the reson why I bought it in the first place. God I missed this. It also became alarmingly apparent that it was a totally different car.....the bloody thing just wanted to put me through the scenery backwards at the sniff of throttle - Chaz did warn me that it would be 'lairy in a good way compared to before', but boy oh boy, did it now go. And this was just running in up to 3.5K and taking it gently!!! I duly ran it in all the way home, taking it once through the gears up to 5K after about 300 miles on the clock, just because I couldn't resist. Oh yes, now I see why everyone gets so excited with them - if this is what they are meant to go like, then I am suitably impressed and the 620R must be an absolute hoon, as with my little 160ish bhp it was so much more fun than before. Back to I-tech having run it in over the weekend, ready for the dyno. Dyno showed 145 bhp up to 5K, then it dies every time - cue faulty fuel pressure regulator. Next Dyno run, cam sensor (or something like that - this is third hand I am relaying it by) - phone calls to Emerald and various others to try and find out why, but no avail. Chaz is also struggling with the VVC mechanism slightly, so the latest plan is now to ditch the VVC gear, put some mild second hand Piper Cams in it, I already have the ECU so in the future (when pennies permit - it is already spiralling upwards) TB's and hotter cams, with possibly some head work? However, the engine is now out again (we were also getting low oil pressure at warm temperature, so investigating), and the roller / needle bearing on the gearbox input shaft was shattered. there is some play (about 1 to 2mm) on the gearbox shaft - I know this is fixed in place and can't go anywhere with regards the engine as the casings are dowled in place, but is this normal? Does this indicate a gearbox rebuild as well (or bearings at least)? The only other issue is that the engine is pushing the bonnet up by about 10mm - which makes it sit in a concave form when bolted down - we used the same engine mounts but do Caterham use different engine mounts for the VVC engine to make it sit lower in the chassis compared to a non - VVC lump? Many thanks for any help anticipated, I'm having a bit of a nightmare with my first Caterham....!

Same for me please, 2 x cannisters, 1 x red bag, 1 x black bag and whatever is required to post such items. Many thanks.

Passed you all going in the opposite direction yesterday (Saturday) about a mile from the A6 - I imagine you were heading where I had just come from and the wonderful Via Gella road? Six of you in total, stuck slightly in traffic, think the last one was orange with Aero screen and two up. I passed you on the corners before you would have turned left towards Grangemill on the B5056??? I'm guessing that's where you would have gone as not many stray up there unless you know it.... A good day for it, I wasn't in mine but on 2 wheels. I did contemplate turning round....

OK, thanks for all the input folks - it gives me food for thought and I need to go and do some more research / thinking about which route will best suit budget and future use.

"Confused by teh VVC is better for tuning comment, maybe something changed over time but I was always led to believe they were less tunable due to the VVC element" Reading the DVA website, and other sites, my understanding is that the VVC engine is a better engine for tuning. To cut and paste from Dave's website:- http://kengine.dvapower.com/ The VVC head is a superior casting which as well as containing the VVC mechanisms also has larger valves (31.5mm inlet, 27mm exhaust) and revised port geometry. The inlet ports are larger by a mm or two and the port angle is higher by 1.5mm giving a straighter shot into the cylinder. The cam followers are also an improved design and are a little lighter than the normal K16 ones, they also hold less oil when charged. Having 160bhp as a base line has got to be better than 140bhp base line from a non-vvc / current engine? It would cost a couple of thousand at least to get to 160bhp in my engine, and I would reach a limit of power before I have to spend some serious money to go up again - for the same price as going up on a non VVC engine I can get to 185bhp (according to DVA) with some bolt on goodies and a couple of grand - the same spend as on my engine would get me to 160bhp. Unless I'm missing a trick somewhere? As mentioned, it will be a road car and hardly ever used on track so not chasing outright power and speed - if I want that there are other toys to give me those thrills which beat the Caterham hands down. I just want a bit more punch than the 77bhp I have had in the car since buying it.

I want to keep it K Series as it came from the factory with one, and want to keep it as standard / original as possible. I did toy with the idea of a bike engine or upgrading to the Ford lump (or even the Honda unit), but in my mind it would decrease in value with a different engine in it. Just my head and the way it works. The VVC is slightly newer than what is in there, and a little better for tuning. It is and will be a road car and I may do the odd trackday, but these will be once or maybe twice a year max, if at all. I bought it for touring and a bit more comfort.

Thanks for the replies to all, I'm not too bothered about revs as it is a road car, so the few times it will be up the top end will be far and few between. Whichever engine I get will be re-built, I think the vvc route is the one to go for future proofing it but yes, any engine has issues whichever variant it is.