David aka Blue7

Martin, as you can see in Jonathan's link, I eventually chose Sabrecut.  It has generally been very good but if I have one criticism it is lack of power, which is probably due to it being cordless.  In hindsight, I might have chosen the corded mains variety.  The kit doesn't have any miniature circular saw blades, which are handy but they are readily available on Amazon.

David

Momo make a version that takes a central horn, the only drawback is that it cannot be quick release.

In the above photo, I fitted the dash mounted button myself, to operate an ooogah horn, which was later replaced by triple air horns.  I recently had the task of fitting the ooogah to an old Saab destined for a "Rust To Rome" trip but I just couldn't find anywhere to drill through the bulkhead to thread the wiring through.  My solution was to buy a wireless switch off Amazon and it works a treat although wiring up the relay using pigeon english instructions was "challenging" ... I ended up watching a You Tube video ... which was in Russian 

That's interesting because I thought it was only CSR's that had the centrally mounted horn button?  Amusingly, mine failed on the way home from Harris but fortunately it was within just 10 miles from home because every time I turned the steering wheel left or right of centre, the horn went off .

When I took delivery of my 2nd CSR I was puzzled as to why I had a new horn button located on the dashboard and why the one in the centre of the steering wheel wouldn't work.  Being inquisitive I removed the ring assembly to find ... no ring!!  CC had just ripped the copper ring off and the remaining assembly boss and was not a pretty sight but almost worthy of submission for a Turner prize ... shown below on the left

Finlay

It could be your horn button that has failed, which was a common issue with early CSR's.  I assume that your horn button is located in the centre of the steering wheel?  The component that fails is the rotary horn slip ring assembly, the copper ring breaks away from the assembly resulting in no contact when you press the central horn button.  From around 2008 CC stopped using the central button and fitted the standard push button to the dashboard.  This may be the culprit:

As suggested above, remove one or both horns and bench test

David

Finlay

Some new horns now available at Northton Machair

Nigel, it's aka ... old age

I assume that the 500kg is just a base standardised figure to use across the range to generate appropriate model identification names / numbers.  It is an easy way to identify the more "powerful" models in the range whilst not being a true bhp / tonne.

The other alternative is to use a cheap paint brush and dispose of it after use, which in my case it is burned on the fire.

That is the breather hose that runs from the catch tower to the catch tank.  I have had to remove the catch tank and tie the hose back to provide clear access to the leaking heater hose.

David

Ah ... thanks Neil, I didn't want anyone to waste any time on it but just thought that there must be someone who has actually removed that bolt and would know for sure how it was secured.  It does turn and unscrew but the last thing I want is to have to remove the fuse box if I hear the clatter of a nut on the other side and good point about fitting a rivnut in it's place   As a matter of interest I am removing the tank in order to get at the lower short length of heater hose which seems to be leaking.  Replacement hose arriving tomorrow and hopefully I can replace it without having to drain the system but no doubt it will be a b*gger to remove the old hose.

Ian, it didn't take long to take the photo and I type really quickly

David

There is one bolt securing the coolant tank bracket to the bulkhead as shown in the photo below, does anyone know if it is a rivnut or a nut that is secured to the other side of the bulkhead?  I can't get to the other side because the fuse box is in the way.  It isn't crucial because I have meantime removed the coolant tank by removing the two bolts that attach it to this bracket.  If it is a rivnut then it would be much easier to remove it rather than the other two bolts.

Thanks, David

Just to muddy the waters even further, I have just fitted JAL leds in place of RINRW772 H4 Xtreme Blue Performance Halogen Light Bulbs 60/55w.  First surprise was that the lenses are in 3 segments, upper half is dipped beam, middle narrow bar is sidelight and lower half is main beam.  Beam pattern on the wall was also surprising because the beam positions stayed at more or less the same height and there seemed to be more light on dipped?  I checked with Doug (JAL), and he confirmed that this was normal, stating:

"The bowl is split into two halves (top/bottom) and use different powered LED bulbs and different reflectors for each requirement. This is also the reason why Caterham owners should not replace their normal headlamp bulbs with LED bulbs. The reflectors are designed for the type and brightness of light produced by the standard bulb. If you simply replace the bulb then the type of light produced and brightness change and can be thrown into all directions by the reflector. You must replace the bulb and the reflector at the same time."

However, I couldn’t help wondering if some additional wiring would allow me to illuminate the top dipped beam while the lower main beam was selected.  My bench test was surprising, I supplied power to both dipped and main terminals thinking that both upper and lower segments would illuminate but they don’t or more accurately won’t.  The upper dipped segment always extinguishes when power is supplied to the main beam terminal.  So there must be some sort of intricate relay switch within the led lens that kills power to dipped when main is powered.  I can only assume that it is some sort of regulation and maybe having both segments illuminated would be too bright and not comply with Euro E regulations, which confirms Doug’s comments above.  The interior switching mechanism must add considerable cost and maybe the cheaper Chinese lights / bulbs that are available do not conform to E regulations?  Here are some comparison photos

David

I have just completed a Mk2 draught excluder using 1.6mm thick pvc (similar to sidescreens), 25mm velcro and 50mm velcro, total cost £29.  Just been for a test drive and no problems at all up to 70 mph, no noise, absolutely secure and 1st class rear visibility.  It should be excellent in preventing ingress of spray when used with half hood, which is the only time I would use it.  It rolls up easily inside the half hood.  I have prepared a pdf file complete with instructions, materials, costs and photos but I am not sure it will upload.  If it doesn't I will have to upload individual photos and instructions in a further post.  PDF file is below, you have to right click it and choose Open in new tab or open in new window to open

Draught Excluder Mk2.pdf

Here are a few photos, the overlap at the bottom will be trimmed off eventually:

David

I have done this a few times recently in a change to carbon bowls that eventually had to be returned for a modification.  As stated above, the spade connectors can be removed from the bulb connecting plug with the aid of a small screwdriver to release the plastic securing strip.  However, mine are "L" shaped and too wide to pass back through the hollow mounting bolt.  I had to use a pair of pliers to carefully fold the spade connectors over so that they would pass through the hole.

I am just about to fit the new carbon bowls again ... and it's freezing!

David

I am just about to fit JAL leds to some new carbon headlight bowls that I have purchased from Daviid Lale of Classic Carbon.  I should have fitted them a few weeks ago but the bowls had to be returned for a modification.  I have the garage wall marked to indicate where dipped and main beam project with the existing lights.  I did have the leds fitted temporarily prior to the bowls being returned and the pattern is really quite different, dipped is very wide ... and exceptionally bright.  I will maybe fit one and take a photo of the two together for comparison purposes..  With the JAL lights, the sidelight is in the form of a horizontal running light across the centre of the lens.  There are cheaper options available (probably Chinese), but JAL are assured quality IMO.

On the subject of lower headlights, my first 2008 CSR had the standard 7" and my wife and I always thought the nearside light often obscured a lot of vision.  What a great improvement to vision when I bought the 2011 CSR with the lower 5.75" headlights, much improved vision.

David

Thanks everyone for the replies, especially Mike's which gets close to explaining it. 

First of all 7 Wonders is correct ... confusingly, when I looked at the CC website last night it was showing a weight of 500kg for the 420 but this morning I just can't find that page but I can locate another page that indicates a weight of 560kg.  Your other information regarding the weights being dry as opposed to kerb is also very interesting.

Nevertheless I seem to be getting closer to an answer in that all the designations are based on the bhp of the engine, which I assume is a bench test or maybe in S3 chassis on a rolling road.  Regardless this figure is assessed against a nominal weight of 500kg which is applied to all models in the range.

On that basis 237 bhp against the nominal 500 kg weight results in 474 and maybe there is now a EU compliance reg. EU11 so add 11 to result in 485?  However, I hate mysteries so further research reveals a further complication in that sometimes CC quote bhp and other time ps, which is pferdestärke (German), sometimes referred to as metric bhp, which is about 98.6% of a single bhp ... now we're getting closer.

So another calculation could be that CC quote for CSR 485 is 237ps, which would be 240 bhp, which using the nominal but incorrect 500 kg dry weight (that doesn't relate to a CSR because it is SV only), would be 480 bhp per tonne plus EUC5 and voilla ... 485 voilà !! 

Talk about confusing

The reason I posed the question is that I attend and enter a lot of static car displays during the year and display a CV for my CSR, which previously indicated that production ceased in 2016.  I have now modified the CV to make reference to the (none Cosworth) European variant CSR 485.  There are always al lot of questions about CC and the variants and what the numbers represent, which I could explain ... apart from the CSR 485 ... but now it is all quite clear ... as Mud!   Thanks again, it has been a very useful exercise for a 70 yo brain

David

PS ... I am going to fit a couple of additional heavy duty battery cables to the bulkhead so that I can claim to comply with EUC 100 "the approval of vehicles with regard to specific requirements for the electric power train" ... and rebadge my CSR 260 as a CSR 360

Can anyone clarify the designation of the Caterham Seven 485 CSR.  I thought the numbers indicated the bhp per tonne eg:

Seven 270 / 500kg / 135 bhp / 270 bhp per tonne … hence designation “Seven 270”

Seven 420 / 500kg / 210 bhp / 420 bhp per tonne … hence designation “Seven 420”

Seven 485 CSR / 580kg / 237 bhp / 409 bhp per tonne … but designated “Seven 485”?  Where does the 485 come from, why not 409?  Is it a dastardly Brexit trick to confuse the Europeans

David

yes cr500 but prior to present tyres I had ZZS rear and same problem ... wear down centre at 22 psi

I agree 18 psi.  The recommended pressure is 22 psi but this is too high and just results in excessive wear down the centre of the tyres due to over inflation.

It will be interesting to see if they fit on the front ok, with or without any modification.

I just can't find the email with price and I would just have paid over cash to Boyd.  The price you show above looks reasonable and cheaper than Caterham.  Fitting seems pricey though, I have paid half that price in the past but I use a mobile fitter that I know.  I think read something here a while back that Kwikfit are usually very reasonable.

I don't know where Boyd sourced them, originally it  was going to be Avon but I think he eventually found a source in the Midlands somewhere.  However, in the long run it will eventually require a modification.  The suggested mod' of elongating the hole in the wing so that it can be moved upwards seems simple enough but I would have thought that in doing so it would just push the rear section of the wing down and put stress on the wing.  I did have a quick look at the wing last year but couldn't shift the securing bolt because it looks like Caterham have added black silicone to the bolt so the head is actually stuck to the wing.

It is one of the disadvantages of the CSR, there are alternatives for front, Toya seems to spring to mind but I have never found an alternative to replace the rears.  I damaged a front tyre at the 60th at Donington, Avon only had ZZS and when I went to the Caterham crew, their advice was to remove the cycle wing and fit the ZZS ... doh!

Hi Finlay

CR500's are still being made and sold so I did a bulk buy with Boyd Stokes of Highland Caterham Hire, he has two CSR 200's for hire.  So I have two CR500's presently fitted and two more in stock.  Funnily enough, when on Harris last year I did wonder what I would do if a trye got trashed because the only "quick" option would probably be to get a ZZS 195/50 sent to the garage at Tarbert.  Looking closely at my front cycle wings I think I might be able to fit a 195/50 on the passenger side but not drivers side because the rear of the cycle wing is already quite close to the tyre.  So if the driver side tyre got damaged I could just swap wheels fit the ZZS to the passenger side.  Not an ideal situation so modifying the front cycle wings is something I will have to consider in the future ... unless Avon reintroduce the CR500's again ..,. after 31st January

At one time there was a standard answer to such questions "Go Aero!"

I don't know anyone who uses the standard hood now, most people use the half hood but I wouldn't worry too much because it is easy to fit replacement or additional poppers to the hood using the CC kit with the punch and die but it is much easier to make the hole in the hood using a hole punch (£3.99).

Our jackets arrived today and both perfect fits ... glad I changed up to Xtra large.  Many thanks for organising Stephen