rkeywood

Not sure what would have been used but common to fit the larger 3/4" GWC1208 used on the Spitfire and elsewhere. The Italian made cylinders sold by some of the Triumph specialists seem reasonable quality. Rob

Is that seriously 84p EACH? An 8 x 1/2" black flange posi from a fixings co will be about £1 for 20. Try Spalding Fasteners or Kays- both on eBay or direct.

Those figures look like 20thou undersize on both mains and big ends already. You can go further but but you'd probably not want to.

I borrowed a spreader donkey's years ago to do the same job. Graham Sykes axle guide says one is needed so didn't attempt without. You need to be careful not to overstretch - the one I borrowed had the max number of flats to turn stamped on it.

Chris was out of stock when this came up a little while back but hopefully he's found some more. Mike Brotherwood suggested as possible source. It does need bending - the '88 Assembly Guide has instructions and diagram. Earlier car might differ but should be clear when trial fitted. Needs to be taken apart before bending and the rod bent separately.

Classic Lucas rubber bulkhead grommets here. Check the bulkhead hole size. The 2H2065 (#3) is widely used but 1 5/8" A seals-it split firewall grommet is a neat, albeit expensive, solution Rob

#16 Not revalving as such - Procomp provide a bespoke build service for Protech dampers. When I bought mine Protech didn't offer a 'standard' damper to suit and referred me to Procomp. ~18 and hence the reason Procomp do what they do. They've prepped race Westfields since the 80's and are also the manufacturers of the LA Gold and Locost.

Another with Protech from Procomp who know a lot about building, setting up and racing 7 type cars. Weight, springs, use and preference vary a lot. For example, my stripped track focused car is around 560kg with driver and half a tank whereas a fully trimmed car on the road with 2 up may be 700+kg. I had to use Spax when I first got the car (mandated for the race series in the early 90's) and they weren't great. Caterham didn't supply matched pairs so ended up having to dyno them before fitting. The first De Dion's rear dampers were poorly matched and changed to the G978 (stem and loop) around 1991.

The terminal no's on the diagram above are the Lucas motor connection numbers. Be careful when checking the cables - the early Caterham wiring diagram ('88) reverses the OG and OB with the OG being the park connection. This may be a drawing error, or how it was wired, or something has changed. I've not seen a later diagram to see if that's the same. This has a full guide to the motor and wiper assembly and shows the motor connections (the wiring colours are old school).

Start with the switch as JK says but I suspect it goes deeper. If it's the 'classic' Lucas type motor (without intermittent) then the live to the motor park switch will, when made, put live onto the 'off' connection for the switch but the other terminals shouldn't be live when disconnected from the switch. This is the typical wiring of the Lucas unit (shown with an MG slide switch but the principle is the same) The 'off' position on the switch connects 2 and 5 (to drive the wiper to it's parked position). The low and high on the switch connect the live on the switch to the respective speed. I have a vague recollection that based on the original Lucas connections the 1st speed was actually the high speed so these might be reversed.

The Mini/Triumph/Classic unit used on older 7s is a GXE7708 but do check this is what's used on later cars. A quick google will find plenty eg wiper motor Usually supplied with park switch but without drive gear. Intermittent is an add-on unit on older cars but it looks like replacement motors now wired for this. Spares also available if you want to do a DIY repair. .

Venhill do various imperial adjusters but I can't see a 1/4 UNF - it may be worth a call. They do a mounting (trinion) for the 6mm adjuster so you can swap that to metric as well.

Unusual for the inner end to be worn - even if the rubber fails in the bush the outer sleeve stays put. Is the new bush correct, it should be a '636' with an OD of 1 1/16"? Has the link been grit blasted at some point? The original fit of the ARB is a couple of Y9 rubber turrets sandwiching the link. If the upper half wishbone has been fitted then this bolts direct to the top link with a cup to take the end of the ARB with a single Y9 on the end of the ARB.

That's good news. If supply becomes a problem in the future then they can be made from Venhill kits like this with just one end needing soldering

IIRC the original is something like a Spitfire cable fitted the reverse way around. The last Caterham supplied cable I saw just looked like a standard 2ft universal cable with adjuster. The mounting block for the adjuster isn't spitfire so might be something else or a Caterham add on. If you want to make your own you should be able to get a cable or components from Car Builder and the like. The ends can be soldered on if you need to. I have a spare adjuster and mounting block if you need them. If you have a Weber underslung linkage then the Caterham cable needs cutting back and new carb end fitted in any case. Rob

I use Kayfast or Spalding Fasteners for bolts etc. Both do HT 5/16 x 1 3/4" UNF socket caps Kayfast in HT (buy from them on ebay for small quants) and Spalding Fasteners in s/steel. I've always used hex head on my '89 chassis and fitted the mount before putting the box in (as per manual) without a problem. I just put a couple of washers into the socket to space the 12 x 25mm bolt up in the socket when feeding it in and use a 12-point socket with minimal chamfer on the points. Doing it this way also makes the final lowering in of the engine in easier as you've got a dead stop of the box once you've dropped the tail into the mount.

Have you tried these guys? A neighbour who rebuilds old hydraulic plant suggested them. They have several depots so may be one fairly close Barnwell I have a Sealey RJA 1800 low entry aluminium 'motorsport' jack which is a nice bit of kit although more expensive than others mentioned. Its hardly used and gathering dust so may sell on if interested hope this helps robert

As #3, call Arch with your chassis no and they should be able to sort a bar to suit. The rearward facing braces sat on top of the rear edge of the boot on the earlier cars. Later cars had the lower mounting point, as your link and I guess what you'll need. I'd go for a petty strut as well. I don't know if the later supplied bars are stronger but I've seen the period bars fold far enough to hurt. Also check the height if you're using a standard type adjustable seat. I'm 5ft 9 and use a single seater fixed plastic seat that puts me about an inch off the floor and gets about 3" clearance above helmet with a standard FIA bar. hope this help Rob

From the pictures I've seen the S4 uses Smith gauges so if there's anything left they may be recoverable or alternatively original refurbished gauges are available. Quite a while back I used this guy Gauge repairs for replacements (non 7 but same period). Smiths Classic gauges are also available from the likes of SVC 2" gauges and Speedy 3/4" gauges If the suspension has Europa parts then try Kelvedon Lotus Hope this helps and good luck! Rob

Hi 'The Great Axle Debate' article in the March '93 Low Flying is probably the best guide for live axle work - should be available in the archive but I can scan and send if you want Rob

There's usually 711M's on ebay but buyer beware! There's a short engine for £350 at the moment which I'd be tempted to look at rather than just a block that might have come off a heap of rubbish and been tidied up. Also have a punt around the FF1600 builders - a friend bought a decent prepped block a while back for reasonable money. The Burton price is high for the Ford recast block. Hartwell Ford in Hemel Hemstead are the suppliers for Ford engine parts for FF1600 and sell the block for £1400 +VAT here A good AX block will be very expensive if you can find one. They are stronger but they're also heavier (5kg?). The 711M should be plenty strong enough for a normal 1700 that's been well tuned. The recast block is also stronger than the original.

Another vote for taking it to a local repair / refurbish outfit. The last refurb I had done a couple of years ago was £45 including a new solenoid. The ebay starter would best be described as cheap and cheerful and not what I'd call lightweight. An Edge or Powerlite gear reduction starter might be the way to go if you want a lightweight upgrade but they are expensive.

Try one of the freezing release fluids - Wurth Rost-off Ice works well

I'm not that familiar with de dion setup but yes, considerably softer on the rear, mainly to help with traction and kerbing. Another thing is weight - a stripped LA car is probably 35-40kg lighter than a typical early de dion and I'm guessing a race S2 will be lighter still. Mine is under 540kg with (light) driver and half a tank. Late on Caterham did supply progressive springs for live axles and that might be worth exploring. Maybe have a word with ProComp Motorsport who have a lot of experience with light (7 type) live axle cars. They may also be able to supply steel dampers in matched pairs valved to suit the weight or dyno and revalve stock dampers. Caterham stock dampers are not, from my experience, matched or sensibly valved for lighter cars. Ride height at 100mm sounds too low - I'd worry about the 'box and sump (if wet) and want to stay well clear of kerbs at that. As you say, no adjustment on the front so there's also the question of rack height and how much you'd need to lift that, particularly if running very low. Can you at least use the negative camber lower wishbone?

Good you've got it sorted. What alternator have you got? The longer belt is the normal fit for a 1.6 Kent with alternator. With a Lucas type alternator it's hard to get enough movement on the alternator and adjustment bar to get a shorter belt on. The shorter belt is generally only used on the early 1.6 Capri and Cortina (with dynamo)