AnkerB-S

Thanks Tom and Jonathan, It is a De Dion. On the spring and damper side it is a bit sketchy since I am the third owner. The first "for sale" listing said "Adjustable dampers with adjustable spring perches". I seem to remember that the previous owner said they were Billsteins, but I won't swear to it. It also says it has 1989 specification springs. The car is a 1987. It also states that it has a rear anti roll bar, but assume that was standard. I hope this leads to some clarification.

I did the prerequisite search and didn't find anything. I am in the process of getting my Caterham ready for my first autocross season with it. The previous owner told me that it has a tendency to lift the inside rear wheel on sharp turns, and since it doesn't have a LSD, it prevents the car from putting the power down. He also told me that I should give the adjustable front coilovers 5 clicks clockwise when autocrossing. I am pretty sure the cure for lifting a rear wheel is a softer rear anti roll bar. And I don't believe the adjustments to the rebound in front will have anything to do with it. I don't have the funds to install a LSD this year, will have to wait for Santa to drop onbe under the Christmas tree. Am I correct, ir is there some other wisdom about this situation. I really would like to cure this. Thanks/Anker

Replace carb to manifold gasket and nuts. Replace original distributor with one from Aldon with and Ignitor. Install a decent electric cooling fan in front of the radiator and remove the blades on the useless Crossflow fan. Run sump breather through valve cover and a catch can before sending it out the back. Perform a leak down test to determine how worn the engine is, and where. Put new Toyo R888Rs on my autocross rims. Build a tire rack for transporting the track/autocross wheels to the track. Check alignment. Oil, filter and lube. Flush brake fluid. Give the car a thorough cleaning and polish. Have fun the rest of the season! And for the Boxster S: Replace all engine and transmission mounts. Check the shift linkages and possibly replace the shift cables. Oil and filter. Bleed brakes. Replace autocross alignment with street alignment. Sell the Dodge and second Boxster.

I will most probably have a set of 13" Minilites currently mounted with 225/45 13 tires for sale in the near future. $400 plus shipping.

I'll check the advance when I get it installed!

Interesting. I have heard that, but not seen actual figures. So if I buy 93 octane, as shown on the pump, in the US, it probably is the same as I would get if I bought 98 octane, again as shown on the pump, in Europe!

I live in the continent of low octane gasoline, 93 in my state and 91 in a lot of other states. I will probably never fill it with 91. So I'm looking for a recommendation for compression. I did get a new Aldon dustributor and Ignitor set up for 83 octane thay O will install as soon as I return to the state of ice and snow (Massachusetts) from Florida where I am recharging this month.

Thank you, Roger! I will really, really appreciate if someone with experience (hopefulle have done the job), can rattle through what needs to be done to replace the existing pistons and rings in a 1700 Superspeed with forged pistons. The best case, of course, would be a hone and simply replace the pistons and rings, but it sounds like a bore would be the realistic minimum. The Supersprint has a Caterham head and and a high lift cam, so anything relating to the Ford Crossflow head doesn't necessarily apply. Since the Supersprint already is bored to just under 1700cc it would imply that it uses pistons that aren't regular Ford pistons. Am I correct? Actually the absolutely bare minimum would be a hone and replacement of the rings, but that doesn't deal with the weakness.

Are the 83.5mm accralite forged pistons available from Burton Power direct replacements for the 1700 Supersprint after boring out to 1700 cc? Or does it entail more work?

The responses to my thread have been really useful and enlightening. My 1700 Crossflow has 25,000 miles on it, and it was great to see that Golf Juliet Tango's has done over 130,000 miles on his, so there should still be a lot of life left in mine. This gives even more credence to the theory that the smoke is caused by valve guides and/or seals. The crank vent has no catch can on it, just the hose going to the back of the transmission tunnel, and a bit of oil fumes come out when it is idling. It has been so long since I worked on older cars without AOSes that vent into the intake that I don't know whether it is normal. I have ordered a catch can since it seems a waste not to have one. The car has seen a lot of autocrosses and has had a tendency to overheat in hot conditions, which doesn't surprise me when I look at the whimpy cooling fan sitting quite a bit behind the radiator. I have a new, modern, radiator fan that I will mount in front of the radiator and it should help a lot since it will be mounted right up against it. It is always tempting to go with a newer, higher HP engine, and I am one to fall for the "big boat disease". I have a 35 foot ocean cruising sailboart from 1985 in my front yard that has never been in the water to show for it. It was out fifth boat in 7 years! I am retired and can do most work on my car, and need to ensure that I have enough to live on the rest of my life, so the "keep the car original" advice seems prudent.

That's great news. Engine mounts aren't bad. Its when the bell housing doesn't match that trouble starts. :-)

The higher power, newer engine option is tempting. My main question would be how easy it is to hook up to the existing clutch and transmission. If that isn't possible the cost skyrockets as the necessary upgrades cascade down the drivetrain. My path of choice is to follow Tony Ingram's suggestion and first determine whether it needs head work, block work or both. The power is fine, there is good oil pressure, no piston slap or big end knock. What is going on is exhaust smoke when the throttle is lifted when driving, which I suspect is caused by lifter seals and/or guides. If it needs that work I would also take a look at the valve seats and decide whether I need seats and/or valves replaced. If any symptoms of wear remain after the head work I'll tackle the block. All of this is long term. For the 2020 season I'll run it as is with some upgrades: carb mounting hardware, Aldon distributor, oil catch can. Also full service: replace all fluids except coolant, check, and if necessary, repair brakes and suspension. Winter 2020/2021 remove head and repair anything necessary. Drive 2021 season and then tackle whatever repairs are indicated the next winter, and so on and so forth. It has turned cold again here in Massachusetts, so I haven't done the warm engine, dry and wet compression tests. So far I have done a cold engine dry compression test which showed even compression close to 150 PSI across all four cylinders, so there don't appear to be any broken piston rings or scored cylinders. The responses to this thread have enlightened me and given me the names of several people who can further guide me down the happy path of Caterham ownership. I was at a Porsche club party yesterday evening and discovered that there would have been quite a bit of competition to purchase my Caterham if it had been widely known that it was up for sale. I know one person who would have grabbed it and imported it to Spain and another who would have bought it and kept it locally.

Thanks for the leads and suggestions. I'll follow up on them.

I looked in the technical guides and didn't find it. I am really, really curious whether anyone can enlighten me on the options for me when the engine in my 1987 1700 Supersprint gets worn enough to warrand rebuild/replacement. So my amateurish thoughts are as follows: The valve guides and seals, and maybe the valves are what will go in the heads. New valve seats, valve guides, seals and valves should, with a thorough cleaning, get the head to perform as good as new. I assume all the parts are readily available. Are they? Much harder with the block. Maybe a honing of the cylinders and new rings can prolong life as long as oil pressure remains good (does in my engine). Once the bearings get worn enough for oil pressure to suffer and the cylinders get worn enough to require oversized pistons it gets complicated. Are the pistons, cams and crankshaft readily available? Is it best to get a new 1600 block (the Formula Ford gang is keeping the demand alive, and they are surprisingly inexpensive), get it bored to 1700 cc and then install the Caterham-specific pieces (crank, cam, pistons, connecting rods?). Or is it better to get a "new" engine? And, if it is, which ones are the least painful to get fitted. I am a decent amateur mechanic. Know what I can do myself and when to hand the job over to professionals. Any thoughts, pointers, opinions and advice will be appreciated. Anker

The carb mounting kit arrived today. Great! I am off to Florida for a month a week from Thursday, and by the time I return I hope to have the new distributor and electronic ignition in hand. Replacing the distributer most easily done when the carbs are off, so those two jobs should happen at the same time. I found a wet of cycle wings and stays at a Caterham dealer in Denver Colorado. They are black. I'll see how they look when I put them on. If they don't look right I plan to paint them the same red as the rest of the car. Our first autocross is on May 3rd, so I should be able to get the car ready by then.

Based on advice on BlatChat I have ordered an Aldon distributor with an Ignitor. By the time I return from soaking up some sun in Florida I should have the distributor and the new mounting kit for the carbs. Tackling the two jobs at the same time makes sense since access to the distributor is so much easier with the carbs removed. I have the Lucas electronic ignition system, but have read horror stories here about the beam breaker going lose, so the Aldon will give me peace of mind. I considered going full ECU, but I have a lot of projects ahead and need to be somewhat conservative with spending. The aldon reps were really helpful selecting the right product for my specific engine and the fact that the highest octane fuel I can purchase in a regular gas station is 93, and 91 in some states.

I contacted Aldon yesterday and received a response from them this morning. They need more information before they can make a specific recommendation.

The blow back through the carburetors is gone. That seems to have been caused by the ignition being too far retarded, and possibly crud in the carburetors. Since I adjusted the timing and did some spirited driving with Sea Spray in the fuel that's gone. Good advice about the dyno. I know several independent Porsche shops with dynos. I am sure they will enjoy putting a Caterham on it.

My advice for purchasing collector cars is: If there is any deferred maintenance or unrepaired problems, walk. It is a sign that the owner didn't look after the car. There will be more problems than the ones you see. Have an expert on the particular brand, model and vintage take a look at a car. Every combination has its own quirks and the experts know exactly where to look. This is normally called a PPI. Take your time. Do as much research as you can before purchasing. Join the clubs, read the forums, check prices. Make sure that there is a vibrant and enthusiastic owner community. True for Porsche, Lotus 7/Caterham and many other brands. Not so much for others. Look at repair prices. Ideally you will want to DIY. How is parts availability and prices Very rarely are cars investments. They are objects of enjoyment

Thanks for the pointer. I asked them for a recommendation for my car.

After cleaning the air filters, rebalancing the two carbs, adjusting the idle mixture and advancing the ignition timing to 12 degrees it starts much better and runs much smoother than before. I'll se how a start without choke works in the cold soon.

So much for the wind deflectors. Since yesterday was the last warm day in this spell I took a longer trip and drove up to Chelmsford to show the car off to my friend Bill. On the way up I took the smaller roads and all was fine. On the way back I thought it would be a good idea to take it out on the highway (motorway) and let it stretch out. After my earlier run without any wind deflection I knew to wear a beanie that would cover ears and glasses, but at 80 MPH the buffeting was so high that I had to hold on to the beanie with one hand to prevent it from blowing off and steer with the other. So, so much for the fun. This week the car will go on jack stands and I'll finish working on the engine and move on to the suspension. It is interesting to write posts on a UK board. My upbringing was to a great extent Brithish english. I was born in Johannesburg, lived there until I was seven, then seven years in Denmark, followed by four years in Tanzania, followed by a return to Denmark. My high school certificate is an Oxford/Cambridge A level. At the age of 30 my wife, two young girls and I moved to the US where we gained permanent residency. After 5 years there we spent 3 years in Sydney, Australia and then returned to the US where we have been ever since. I am now 71, so it has been over 40 years since we moved to the US, and all the British english has been replaced by American english, with the exception of a trace of accent. So I know how to write bonnet instead of hood and hood instead of top, but it doesn't feel natural any more.

Thanks Harrebe and Roger, I saw in a note about needing a catch tank in one of the service invoices from the previous owner. I guess they run it that far back to prevent oil fumes from wafting into the cockpit. I'll definitely do one. Good info on checking the distributor. The bad news is that there is a Lucal electronic ignition amplifier mounted on the firewall, so looks like I have the apalling device. I'll do an advance test at 4500 RPM and see where it sits and then consider my options. Sounds like I definitely should plan to ditch the electronic ignition from the prince of darkness. Getting advice from here is invaluable. With so many different configurations I can understand why there isn't a regular shop manual available. Anker

I do Facebook, so I'll see the ChitChat and join the group, if they will let me. :-) Thanks/Anker

I couldn't find the Arlington Classic Car Club with a Google search. I get the impression that you are a member, or might know how to contact them. If you can give me a pointer I'll appreciate it. Thanks/Anker