JonT

He always was a good salesman /cynic

I ordered a seat refurb kit from them a couple of weeks ago and it arrived next day so if they've got it on the shelf, it might be pretty quick.

Ezibleed, but as SM25T says, I never use it with fluid in, just as a source of air pressure. It's easy enough to keep topping up the reservoir every so often.

Thanks for the suggestions. Found frontmost and rearmost exhaust nuts would take a tiny nip, and no1 spark plug slightly loose. Tick appears to have gone although yesterday it was still warm - so I really need to go for another blat just to be sure...

Feb 2021, p18. I'm just in the middle of this myself The refurb kits do come with some instructions too, but I think the article is a little more clear.

I've just dug the 7 out of hibernation and had a nice blat for a couple of hours this morning. When I got back I did an oil change, and I've noticed since that there's a distinct ticking noise from the engine. Thing is, it's so bloody long since I've driven it, I can't remember if it's normal. Seems to be matched to engine speed, and possibly louder near the sump rather than top end. I had the tappets changed a couple of years ago, I guess it's possible one is sticking although it had a good run this morning and usually those quieten down with a bit of a rev, while this doesn't seem to change. Engine has done ~62k miles (1.6 K-series) Probably loudest around 15-20s in: Any ideas? Is it TADTS, or do I need to get it looked at? Thanks, Jon

The uniroyals are a bit squeally in the dry. Great in the wet. I've got Dunlop Sport Bluresponse on mine at the moment and they seem to work ok as a road tyre with a bit of light track use too. It's a sod that Continental stopped doing their premium contact tyre in 14, that was great. Dunlops are close but not quite as good. When it's swap time (I've got 2 sets of wheels) the Uniroyals are going to get replaced with the Nankangs mentioned above and I'll keep the Dunlops on the second set. I don't see the point in ZZR/ZZS for road use. They don't come with full tread depth and are very soft. Even for track days I'm not that bothered, I'm not trying to win.

I have a PRRT as shown in the linked thread, post #3 and still have the heater and it works fine for me - at least down to ~0C.

Hotel Cymyran has a massive car park https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.2602281,-4.5455934,3a,75y,273.95h,88.12t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1slmnvqS1SU8I8E2BhRQUerw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DlmnvqS1SU8I8E2BhRQUerw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D235.35988%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656 and is not far away.

One thought on the sealant - ISTR when fixing roof seals on my M100 Elan, after putting the blob of sealant down, put a double layer of clingfilm over it, then close the gap. The clingfilm stops it sticking (I might have used a bit of vaseline on the clingfilm side that touched the sealant to stop it sticking to the clingfilm), but you get the gap filled more precisely than trying to guess.

On my long euro trips, I'm more of the view that parts are more useful than tools (although perhaps taking availability of imperial tools for granted on the continent is risky). Garages/recovery drivers should have tools, but it will be things like cables (throttle/clutch), plugs, dizzy cap etc that you may struggle to get hold of.

My views are similar to Toby (with a 1.6 K-series and ~130bhp). If you start chasing power, then you're into stickier tyres, upgraded brakes etc etc. Track days are fine on road tyres in mine - yes, it sometimes gets frustrating when the bigger engined cars don't let you through, but on open pit lane days it's easy enough to take a quick break and find some space. An aeroscreen will help (so may be worth getting the brackets fitted to enable quick swapping of windscreen and aeroscreen) And for road use the only time I've felt the need for more power is when 2-up. But I also enjoy using the whole power band of the engine and not short shifting. My 1.6 still never feels short of torque - it's not like there's much weight to get moving. But no naturally aspirated engine will ever give you the on-boost sudden kick in the back of a turbo. On the other hand nor will it then go completely flat with no real change in response as you wind it out.

Messaged about the petty strut.

I'm seeing exactly the same problems as reported in #1. Only using desktop browsers (Chrome on Win10 and OS X)

Get over to SELOC and get some real world owner experiences. The S1 roof was an afterthought, but the short roof S2 onwards is much better (and smaller), I think afterthought is unfair even if it's not to MX5 standards. The S1 I had had a fair bit of space behind the seats for stowage. Not sure what the S2 is like

Thanks all, maybe I have overdone it. I don't have any water shields on mine.

Am I getting the greasing bit wrong? I installed new felt seals on mine, and following advice on here tried to lubricate thoroughly but all it's done is flick grease all over the side skin, especially if there's any steering lock applied.

I can see that the lack of independent rear suspension on the Caterham may be a particular challenge for the ATB diffs. I've got a torque biasing diff in my BRZ (standard fit), and on Car Limits days it's had no issues doing donuts or powersliding in a controlled way. I'm following the thread with interest - my caterham has an open diff, and I have wondered about getting some sort of LSD, however I'm doing 6k+ miles most years, primarily on road with 2-3 track days, so I'm not interested in something unless it's fit and forget (bar oil changes).

re #5 I'd have thought it's more that there's no way a low power car to overwhelm the rear tyres under power, so you'll only ever get understeer. As others have suggested, at 135bhp I'd think a square setup (185 all round) would make more sense. As a bonus you can rotate the tyres to even up wear/life.

I found this website a while ago, may help (or not!) with the calculations. https://robrobinette.com/DIYAlignmentCalculator.htm Is your garage floor perfectly flat? Don't forget to put enough ballast in the car too. I've done DIY toe alignment on mine, and it's very satisfying to get right (although I did assume the rear was square). Much easier than most cars as you can get at the toe links without needing to jack the car or take the wheels off.

+1 for 7workshop.

Are these straight line issues at higher speed? ie where the caterham aerodynamics are really costly and the low weight no longer offers as much advantage? I'm really wondering what cars are faster than a 420 at country road speeds.

Here's Stelvio. Note the altitude and the snow on the windscreen. I was back the following year - this time the pass was shut due to the depth of snow. Still only a half hood!

I've only taken the halfhood and a showercap on my Alps trips, including coming down Stelvio in a snow storm. The biggest problem is that rain can run down the roll cage and into the boot, so everything needs to be in properly watertight bags. The roof is quite claustrophobic and the ventilation terrible, so you'll steam up worse and overheat too.

Are you going to be mostly travelling alone or with a passenger? I have a lowly 130bhp K-series, which on my own, feels like about all the power you need on the road. Even with the 6-speed box I've driven to the Pyrenees, Alps, Dolomites and do 3 or 4 track days most years (driving to/from them, including a couple in France) and it's fine. Where it feels "slow" is when I'm 2-up, and I'd definitely want more power if I was regulalry having a passenger. If you want to enjoy sliding the 310 around, just go for 6" rear wheels and fit some less grippy tyres. I've always run road tyres on mine, even on track days, and find there's much more fun to be had with slow-car-fast. It also reduces wear and tear on consumables.