Nigel B

When I changed my LSD last year, I simply removed the callipers & cable tied them to the springs to keep them out of the way. I didn't disconnect the brake pipes from the callipers. There's sufficient flex in the pipes to be able to do this without putting a permanent bend in them. It was Peter Scott's suggestion (ScottR400D). He provided me with an invaluable step by step guide! Good luck!

I fitted one of those recently & I can't recall having any problems with it. I think the sensor screwed through the top hat part relatively easily. Plenty of lubricant perhaps?

Interesting build thread, thanks for posting it up! I dove love a Vauxhall XE!

It's a carbon plate diff, by the looks of things. It's a good effort, I though mine looked bad when it was pulled apart!

I have a brand new 3.63 Ital CW&P. I bought it as a spare for my Ital axle 7, but I sold the car a couple of years ago & didn't end up using the spare CW&P. I sent you a blat mail a couple of days ago.

I had the same problem with the brake warning light flickering under acceleration on my 420R. Topping the fluid right up to the 'maximum' line stopped it & I haven't had a problem since. The brake fluid reservoir was leaking slightly when I first bought the car. I initially used Peter's kitchen roll & cable tie approach, but ruminating further on the problem, I realised that the plastic cap was bottoming out before the rubber sealing ring was sufficiently compressed. I added a second rubber sealing ring underneath the cap & it's been leak-free for the last couple of years, even on track.

I had a speed related whine from the diff on my last Caterham that sounded very similar to what you’re describing. It turned out to be caused by an incorrectly adjusted crown wheel and pinion. I sent the diff to Road and Race Transmissions who adjusted it. It immediately sounded much quieter and became progressively quieter still over the course of the next couple of thousand miles.

If it's quiet and appears to be working as it should, I'd simply get out there & enjoy it.

No problem Mark! I thought I'd share my recent experiences. I think it's a good idea to let whoever's setting up your car know what sort of balance you prefer, though no doubt they'll ask the relevant questions! I fitted a Tracsport diff last year too, which I'm very happy with. It's much quieter than the previous (knackered carbon plate!) Titan. I've covered 5500 miles with the Tracsport so far & it isn't any noisier than when it was first fitted. I changed the oil last month & it came out looking the same as when it went in. I find the Tracsport provides a bit more traction than the Titan, so it might make sense to fit the diff before you make changes to the set up, so you're looking at the whole picture when you make the final tweaks.

My 420R was fitted with 15 inch wheels when I bought it a couple of years ago, shod with 195/50 ZZS tyres all round. I actually rather liked the front/rear grip balance with those tyres. It could be persuaded to slide relatively easily, but still had decent traction, in the dry at least. It felt pleasantly lively, without being scary. I’ve never liked the look of 15 inch wheels on a Seven, so I’d planned to swap them for 13s. I actually had a chat with the salesman at Caterham Gatwick about it & he advised me that the 8 inch rears were ‘necessary’ on a 420. To be completely honest, at that point I hadn’t twigged that Caterham’s 15 inch wheels were of equal width front & rear. It’s something that never seems to be mentioned on threads about higher powered cars & wider rears. Several months later I bought a set of 13 inch wheels, on ZZSs with the wider rears. The car immediately felt more ‘planted’, but was definitely quite a bit more reluctant to oversteer on the throttle. More sure footed, but not quite as enjoyable for me. I’ve since had the car set up & flat floored by DPR & it now feels closer to how it felt on the old wheels, in terms of the balance of grip front to rear. I’d say the traction is better in comparison to the previous set up with the 15s, but it’s still possible to point the nose using the throttle at road going speeds. The best of both worlds really. I think I’m essentially agreeing with your comment that reviewing the geometry & corner weighting is essential after changing the size & width of the wheels! I hope you're pleased with the results.

That sounds like LSD related noise to me rather than an out of adjustment CW&P. Fitting a Tracsport cured the noise issues on my 420R. I've covered 5500 miles since fitting it & it's no noisier than when it was first fitted.

What sort of noise are you getting from the diff Andy? I had problems with an incorrectly set up crown wheel & pinion in my last Seven. The noise it was making was what I can only describe as a whine that smoothly changed in volume & pitch as your speed increased or decreased. Road & Race adjusted the CW&P & I had no further problems.

A ha! I see what you mean. By the looks of things, extending the throttle pedal laterally to the left might be the answer. Perhaps a length of pipe inserted into the pedal? (As Wrightpayne was suggesting).

Positioning the pedals for intuitive heel & toe is something I struggled with for quite a while with my 420R. My previous live axle seven had perfectly positioned pedals & I found heel toe was second nature, something I did automatically after a while, without thinking about it. The pedals in the 420R were positioned in such a way that heel & toe was utterly impossible when I got the car. The throttle pedal was on the mounting point closest to the driver & was nowhere near the brake. To cut a very long story short, by shortening the throttle cable to move the pedal towards the front of the car & fitting a high ratio ‘race’ brake pedal from Caterham, to reduce the brake pedal travel, the set up now feels perfect for me. I think it’s well worth persevering with, as it feels SO much better when the pedals are positioned correctly for you. You say your foot ends up ‘under the throttle pedal’. Perhaps positioning the brake pedal a little higher when it ‘bites’ by adjusting the point at which the clevis connects to the master cylinder push rod might do the trick?

That sounds like a good plan. They look great!

I'm glad you managed to fit the LED lights Peter. It sounds typically convoluted though, it takes me back to when I built my first Caterham! There were a variety of occasions where the reality of the build wasn't really adequately covered by the assembly guide! [Rolleyes] I'm glad you're pleased with the results though, do you have any pictures?

That looks great Peter!

My car was a couple of years old when I bought it, but I presume the heat insulation was fitted from new. It's a factory built car & the insulation is very neatly installed.

My 2017 420R S3 is fitted with heat insulation that looks the same as the kit in your link. I find it very effective. I'd read about problems with footwell heat in Duratec cars before I bought the 420, so I was expecting it to get warm, particularly in hot weather. But in reality it feels very similar to my previous 7. (An 8 valve Vauxhall, that admittedly had no heat insulation fitted!) If you're experiencing problems with excessive cockpit heat, I'd say it would be worth the investment.

If you're on Facebook, Alastair Westle who runs the Caterham & Lotus 7 owners group, produces his own stripes, graphics & badges, including the nose cone badges. His work looks very professional.

Caterham do a mounting boss which bolts to the ARB drop link bracket & moves the drop links inboard of the ARB. That should give you sufficient clearance to use any of the four settings. I bought mine from Redline, who are a bit cheaper than Caterham. https://caterhamparts.co.uk/fixings/435-anti-roll-bar-mounting-boss.html

500 posts!

That sounds like a great offer! I quite fancy popping in there myself some time. It's a bit of a jaunt from Edinburgh, but I do sometimes find myself on the M40 on trips to visit my mother in law, so you never know! Enjoy the visit, they always seem to have an interesting selection of machinery parked up.

No problem Peter! Thinking about it, the mileage I've covered with the Tracsport means the car has covered more miles with the Tracsport than it had when I first realised the Titan had zero pre load. The noise from the Titan dominated the experience of driving the car, completely drowning out the engine & exhaust sounds at times, whereas the Tracsport sounds about as close to silent as any diff I've experienced in a Caterham. I hope your son is enjoying your car (when the weather permits!) & it's not TOO long until you get it back!

#490 I think Peter might be referring to a recent post of mine. It prompted me to look back at invoices & MOTs. I didn't make a note of the exact mileage when I fitted the Tracsport last year, but going from an invoice from a fortnight before, when I had the front tracking adjusted, I've covered 4,577 miles since then & the Tracsport is no noisier than when it was first fitted. I'm very pleased I made the decision to fit one.