Jamesh

I am looking for a K-series wet sump for an 1.8 engine build; happy to consider anything in pretty much any condition for repair. Thank you! James.

Hi Rob, I just wanted to check - has you managed to sell this engine? If not I am interested. Thanks, James.

Hi Rich, I spent quite a while going around this loop earlier in the year; hence the previous posts in this thread. Despite huge help from the forum, the situation is far from absolute and as ever, I think an element of judgement is needed. IIt sounds like we are in similar places. Where I got to is as follows: 1) The cheap Chinese copies of sealed LED units are not generally worth buying. I know this because I bought a pair, tempted by the low cost and ease of fitting. They look good, but if you watch this video ( ) it explains in good humor where they fall down. The ones I have are sort of correctly marked, they have a DOT SAE E9 marking where the 9 is so small I had to take a picture of the lens and zoom in to max to see it. I also took some pictures of the spread pattern they create and it was variable at best. I eventually decided that it just wasn't worth the bother of worrying about MOT's and compliance.2) For me, the Caterham units are too expensive for the benefit at the moment, but I don't doubt that they are fully compliant. 3) At the recommendation of this forum, I purchased some H4 LED replacement bulbs which fit nicely into the existing units and crucially the beam/spread pattern is then generated by the existing glass lens which is correctly marked. To me, this is undoubtedly the best approach, they were easy to fit, less than £50 for the pair and included LED sidelights. The brightness and beam pattern are perfect (as you expect being behind the original lens) and they still maintain the same classic look. My MOT is due in December and, as long as I get the alignment right, I see no reason why they shouldn't pass. I hope that this helps? James.

John - you beat me to it! Thanks, ill review and add the holes as shown.

Perfect - thanks for the guidance and advice. One less thing to go wrong as far as I am concerned, happy to ditch it. Ill see if I can find some pics of the extra holes in the sump gasket on the forum, I presume that they allow the oil to flow more directly down through back into the sump itself rather than over the ends/sides and provide a easier return path? James.

Hi John, Andrew, Thanks for your comments, I figured it would likely be something like this and someone had already thought about it. Ill put it back together as it was. It was the foam that was in a mess and had deteriorated, the sump and gasket were fortunately ok. I have read some posts in favor of the foam and some against. My understanding was that because the engine in the Caterham is mounted at 90deg to the "normal" application in the Rover the foam helps prevent oil surges and ensures a constant pickup - especially when frequently cornering on the track? My application is for road use, so perhaps its less of an issue; but I would value any thoughts you might have. James.

Good Morning, I currently have my K-series engine and gearbox out of the car for an overhaul. Gearbox was dropped off at Road and Race Transmissions for Phil to work his magic on and a new clutch/flywheel has been supplied by RedLine Components. As the old baffle foam was ten years old, I took the opportunity to remove the sump and replace. As I suspected, the old foam was in bits completely clogging up the oil uptake to the engine. At the same time, I wanted to check the oil pressure sender assembly for blockages and also to remake the sender bracket. Fortunately the hose was all clear with no blockages. However, it occurred to me why does the engine have a braided flex and various adapters? The sender could be mounted directly into the gallery hole behind the filter - i.e. directly to the engine block, hence removing the complexity and potential failure of the braid, adapters and mount? It fits perfectly with no interference and the copper washer tightens snugly. I wondered if anyone can provide any thoughts as to why I shouldn't remove the braided hose and complexity? My best guesses are: - The sender must be oriented upright? - The flex removes any vibration and gives a better reading? - The oil cools along the braided hose which gives a more accurate reading? Happy to provide some pics if its helpful. Many thanks, James.

Hi Garth, I thought I had read all the LED headlamp related posts on this forum, but I had missed this one - thank you. On the advice of the forum, I have purchased some H4 LED replacement bulbs from Gemzoe motorsport. Ill start with installing these into the existing 7" enclosures and see how that goes. Thanks again...

I currently drive with the dipped beam on all the time, mainly for visibility, but the current original bulbs just provide what seems like a dim glow and I am certain to leave them on by mistake one day.... I have upgraded the indicators, brake lights etc - and got a super loud new LED relay, all of which works well. Its just the headlights to go - I chose to do this bit last because of the MOT alignment and pattern challenges and cost of the LED sealed units. Your path sounds much more appealing and i will probably take it. Any part numbers much appreciated, but please don't go to any trouble - I can call classiccarleds and have a chat with them about it. Thanks again, James.

Thank you, ill follow this up with them; a cheaper option is welcome, especially as I don't tend to use the car at night. I was under the impression that the performance of these wasn't great; but I guess the tech moves on pretty fast!

I have spent the early part of the year upgrading all the lights on my SV to LED's and now just have the headlights to convert to finish this part of the restoration. Having completed quite a bit of research, I wanted to share my experiences and get a feeling for the path that others have taken. I should caveat that I currently have original 7" headlights and am keen to stick to this size for several reasons, but not least to minimize the rewiring that comes with new 5 3/4" assemblies. My first conclusion is that the cheap LED upgrades from Amazon and Ebay, whilst tempting are a false economy and probably illegal in the UK - a really good YouTube video here which reviews a wide range: So, the remaining contenders seem to be Morimoto, JW Speaker or kc-highlights; but these are simply too expensive at £800 - £1000 for the pair to upgrade. However, I have found what I think might be a good compromise from Wipac: https://www.wipac-led.com/find-out-more. These claim to be UK legal and MOT compliant (assuming correct alignment of course). The best price I have found for these is about £400 for the pair here: https://www.paddockspares.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=s709 I would be very interested in any practical experience of these units, or any general guidance that might help with the decision? James.

That's a good point - its a 2004 Roadsport SV; however when I bought it about a year ago it had had some front end damage and I think the radiator had been replaced as a result. Perhaps I have ended up with a mismatch rad/bottle which would indeed explain things.

Every day is a school day as they say, i'm certainly learning! I think ill just make a mark on the reservoir with what I think is the right level and run with it for a while. In reality, the only thing I have done is reduced the expansion volume by a bit which should just increase the pressure in the reservoir when hot. I am sure the car will let me know if it becomes a problem. Great discussion and I really appreciate all the input, many thnaks to everyone. James.

Hi Stu, This proved to be quite a tricky picture to line up, but hopefully the following shows the situation clearly: Firstly, the car is on as near dead level ground as I can manage: And a second level balanced across the upper most part of the radiator such that it is also as level as I can reasonably make it: Now (and I hope that this is clear!) the four lines on the below are (in order): 1) Upper most point of the radiator. 2) Estimated upper most water level in the radiator and top hose. 3) The Max level on the reservoir. 4) The Min level on the reservoir. So, essentially, unless the coolant level is about an inch and a half higher than the max level; I don't think the radiator or top hose will ever be full? Would value any thoughts.... James.

Ill take a picture this evening when I get back and post it for comparison. The radiator was newly fitted when I bought the car a year or so ago, I did wonder if it had been fitted at the wrong height, but given the physical dimensions of the nose cone and the clearly defined mounts; I can't see how that can be the case. Likewise, there is only minimal clearance between the top of the reservoir and the underside of the cone. Ill come back with some photos later on... James.

Hi Stu, I completely agree with you and really appreciate the confirmation. I suspect that this was all caused by an airlock which has now either moved or disappeared. I am still struggling to get my head around having a max reservoir tank coolant level that is below the top of the radiator and how that can work; but I suspect this it is simply a lack of experience/knowledge on my part! I probably just need to take another look and do some more reading until I get it clear. Thanks again. James.

This all sounds very familiar. I think that this was effectively the same situation that I encountered - air getting trapped at the very top of the radiator and hence the fan temp sensor face was not being covered by hot coolant and hence not triggering the fan to switch on. I had considered replacing the fan temperature sensor with an inline version such as this: https://www.demon-tweeks.com/lma-fan-controller-thermostat-632341 and installing line with the top hose. Presumably that is what you have done with your remote stat - or am i misinterpreting? James.

Hi Brian, Steve, Thanks to you both for your replies. I will investigate the bleed valve, I had read about this solution, but not yet had a chance to get hold of one. The sender is indeed mounted in the rail near the exhaust primary; I I hadn't considered that this could cause localised heating and false readings, but that sounds absolutely feasible. As much as anything, I think I probably need to start to trust a bit more in the vehicle and not panic every time I see something reading slightly high or low! Thanks again. James.

I appreciate that this has been covered, probably numerous times in the past, but as a new member, I wanted to contribute and also hopefully learn from the wealth of experience that is clearly out there. I recently had a problem with my 1800 K series where the radiator fan wouldn't cut in and hence the coolant temperature worryingly increased significantly at almost every junction or set of traffic lights. The coolant in the reservoir was right between min and max lines on level ground, so I naturally assumed that this was either a problem with the fan, or something simple like a fuse. After some checking, I had proved that all the electrics, including the fan thermostatic switch at the top of the radiator were working as expected, but the fan just wasn't cutting in when needed. I even installed a new override switch on the dashboard for piece of mind which at least meant that the car was, to some extent, drive able even if I had to manually control the cooling fan and just hope for green traffic lights. Eventually, I worked out that it was (as usual) something simple. In my car, if the coolant is between the min and max in the reservoir, on level ground the radiator just isn't full. This in turn means that a) there is air in the system and b) the coolant switch face isn't covered by coolant and hence, rarely, if ever switches on. I removed the small (overflow?) hose from the top of the radiator and added coolant to the reservoir tank until I saw it escaping from the radiator. Interestingly this took about half a litre but once completed, there was still a reasonable air-gap at the top of the bottle for expansion. I replaced the hose and added a drop more to ensure that the top hose was completely full. Since then everything has been fine, fan cutting in as expected and the coolant temperature sitting at about 76deg. Ironically I have not needed to use the override switch since. I am comfortable that everything is ok now, however I have effectively reduced the air expansion within the reservoir, which will, assuming it is not now too small to accommodate the resulting expansion, increase the pressure within the system; hopefully this is not a major concern? Just wondering if anyone else has tackled this issue, or am i just overthinking it? James.