MJW16

Thanks guys I'll have a look at that circlip this morning. CV joint click- Looks like it might be just an annoying coincidence that one or more have failed immediately after new boots being fitted. Back up to S&C's to get those done I guess, once the steering is sorted and safe to drive

Hi all, I had the Caterham out for a blast today - the first decent drive since it was MOT'd and serviced - and a couple of pesky problems have reared their head. The steering has suddenly developed some major play. On investigation when I got home, you can see the column moving in and out of the rack when you move the steering wheel back and forth in the 'dead spot'. Has anyone come across this? Also, it's developed a horrible click at the rear end when starting off from a stand still, which is worse if turning. It sounds exactly like when I've had CV joints go in the past on front wheel drive cars. When I had the service done, it was recommended that I have four CV boots replaced along with two diff oil seals as there was a slight leak. I had all that done, so strange that a noticeable issue should now manifest itself after the advisory work was completed? As ever, any pearls of wisdom would be much appreciated. Mike

Yes I did shamelessly copy your brackets then put them on a bit of a diet! Good shout on the carpet fitting with poppers. Works well and it's nice to know it can be taken out really easily if needed.

Mission Accomplished! Brackets were made up to suit. Old next to new below.. Everything cleaned up. Sound/Heat proofing added to tunnel sides, and to 'flesh out' the top the tunnel where previous owners had flattened it Carpet fitted (went for the popper option so that it's easy to remove) And then in went the seats. All went well, and got her out for a drive in the sunshine this afternoon too! I know the subject of seat weights has been covered extensively in the past, but out of interest I weighed the old leather seats complete with runners and brackets and compared them to the new S-types complete with runners, brackets and headrests. There was very little in it - 9.5kg for the old ones vs 9.8kg for the S-types. But lets face it if I was chasing weight loss it would be Tillets going in with no carpet or front mats! Thanks again for the advice gents

Update: I managed to get the gauge out of the pod mount and scrape all the grip fill off without damaging it too much more. Reattached the needle and confirmed fully functional. The damage to the casing is almost completely hidden by the internal bezel, so I've got it back together and in its rightful place in the dashboard via the gifts of phase tape and superglue. It'll do for now. Managed to tidy up a few accessible wiring horrors whilst poking around under the dash too, and move the kill switch to a better spot so that it doesn't get knocked off when steering. Sometimes the simplest jobs have a habit of snowballing don't they! A job for next winter is a new dashboard (scuttle off etc) so I'll look at a better fix then. For now, priority is to get it back on the road and enjoy. On closer inspection, the temperature gauge has already been replaced by the previous owner for a newer VDO with the V-profile bezel (rather than square) and a red needle. So I've already got a bit of a mismatch going on.

Sorry guys I should have explained myself a bit better there. It's more of a physical breakage. Both the gauge and sender work fine, however... The previous owner had installed a stack Lambda gauge in the dash where the fuel gauge should be. Fuel gauge had been put in a pod/cylinder mount screwed to the top of the tunnel in front of the gearstick. The Lambda gauge digital display was broken and I didn't see much point or benefit to it anyway. So I thought I'd tidy things up a bit and put the fuel gauge back where it should be. Lambda gauge removed from the dash no problem, not so lucky on the fuel gauge. It looks like it's been put in the mounting with superglue, and in my efforts to 'ease it out gently' it's broken fairly catastrophically. One of those jobs that falls in to the 'I wish I hadn't started this' category! Mike

Hi all, My fuel gauge has broken and I need to source a replacement. It's for a 91' Supersprint so the older VDO type, black face and bezel. I've asked S&C but they don't stock them. They've suggested redline components, so I've just sent them an enquiry. in the meantime I thought it might be worth a post here on the off chance somebody might have one they'd be happy to sell? Thanks Mike

Thanks guys. The forum as ever proves to be a fantastic source of advice and experience. I'm inclined to agree on the merit of the brackets - I'd feel happier with the weight of the seats on the original mounting points rather than the floor pan taking the load. I'll have a chat with my friendly local fabricator about adapting the old brackets or making new to suit and update with a photo in a week or two.

Evening all, So I've removed my old style leather seats from my 91 Supersprint and it's time to install recently purchased S-types. Naively I hoped the mounting holes/brackets might be the same - no such luck of course! The S-type runners sit further apart then the old ones. The old seats have a pair of mounting brackets that run front to back, bolting between the cross member and mounting points by the rear bulkhead. I could reclaim these brackets for a clean up and reinstall if beneficial, but that wouldn't help the fact they would position too close together for the S-type runners to land on them. From a quick search it looks like I have two options: Ignore the old mounting holes/brackets completely and buy later style ally seat mount plates that go under the floor pan and reinforce it. Make up some bespoke brackets that run front to back and utilise the old mounting holes, but step outwards to achieve the right width for the new seats runners.Has anyone else done this upgrade and found an easy solution? Or a product on the market that adapts the fitment? Thanks Mike

Hi Ian, Yes the curved ally of the tunnel top has had quite a beating over the years by the looks of it! A new piece of rolled ally would be good if was staying exposed. As it's going to be under carpet or a vinyl/leather tunnel top though, i thought maybe a couple of strips of self adhesive sound deadening in the low spot might flesh it out and do the job? Mike

Cheers, I completely agree on the belt and braces. Rude not to do proper job whilst everything's stripped out. I'll be making sure all holes that shouldn't be there get filled and sealed. Good shout on some heat proofing too. Any recommendations on a good product that can be fitted under the carpet? Mike

Evening all, This weekend's upgraditis has me stripping out the old seats and carpet ready for recent purchases to go in - black carpet (bulkhead and tunnel sides), Caterham rubber foot well mats, and a nice pair of black leather s-type seats. Tunnel top will be next on the shopping list. The old seats came out easily enough. The carpet has put up a hell of a fight though and taken up most of the day as it had been fitted with a combination of contact adhesive and Gripfill! Getting there now though. I've attached some before and during photos. Under it all I've found a some things to sort... A fair few holes drilled historically by previous owners and no longer used. Varying from 2-3mm (will probably just put a rivet in those) to larger ones that will need a blind grommet. There's two aluminum cover plates on the top of the transmission tunnel - one over the gear selector, the other at the back of the tunnel above where the prop meets the diff. Both were loose and had missing fixings, so wouldn't have been doing a great job of keeping noise or water out. I'll get the fixings sorted, but should here be a seal around these plates? Where the floor meets the sides of the foot well there's evidence in a couple of places of brown discoloration peeking out from under the black trim. It makes sense to do something with this before the new carpet/mats go in. I guess just clean out the grot as best I can and get some ACF-50 in there. Would anyone suggest a different plan of attack? There is a circular air vent in the end of each foot well as seen in the photos. It looks aftermarket/homemade - I'd assume it isn't a Caterham part as on the engine bay side it's just a foot or so of flexible aluminum duct held up with cable ties. Presumably a previous owners attempt to get some air flow through the foot well, but it doesn't appear to be very effective and isn't the prettiest job. I'm tempted to remove and blank off. Has anyone got a similar arrangement on their car?Any thoughts very welcome. Thanks

Good to know. Hoping to get a set on the next production run

There's a pair of S-Type leather seats on eBay at the moment. Starting bid £400. Not in perfect condition, but might be worth a look?

I would like a set please.