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.

Perfect, thanks Jonathan. I'll give them a try. Mike

Evening all, The previous owners have installed a Stack Lambda gauge in my car. It takes up the fuel gauge spot in the dash - the fuel gauge has been moved to a separate pod mount behind the gearstick. It's a £300+ bit of kit and provides a lambda or air/fuel mixture reading https://www.demon-tweeks.com/uk/stack-wideband-lambda-gauge-249506/ if it worked I'd leave well alone, but unfortunately the display is faulty. You can only see half of the numbers so the information it provides isn't legible. I was wondering if anyone else has one of these and actually gets any day to day benefit from using it? I could look at options to repair or replace, but the temptation is to just remove it and put the petrol gauge back in its normal spot. Thanks Mike

Thanks guys. Great advice and really useful links. Much appreciated

Thanks TomB, much appreciated. It looks like I'll be placing some orders with Polevolt! Out of interest, what type of tape did you use to wrap the loom? Mike

Afternoon all, As part of the of the planned upgrades and improvements on my car, I'll be tidying up the wiring loom as I go. It's a 1991 so there's thirty years of connector blocks, scotch-locks and add-ons. A real tangled nest in places, so no doubt there'll be some fun identifying what goes where and what's redundant! As and when I buy upgraded components - for example lets say the rear lights - the new kit will no doubt come with nice fly leads and Econoseal connectors. I'll need to plug them in to a loom which is currently a mismatch of various connector types and phase tape. It seems a shame to cut the Econoseals off. What have others done in this situation? Can I buy the opposite number Econoseal connectors and incorporate them in to the old loom to give me a modern connection? If so are they a crimp or solder installation and where is a good place to source them? Alternatively, are bullet connectors or something similar seen as an acceptable means to connect in to an old loom if installed correctly and perhaps have heatshrink over them to keep them dry and secure? Thanks Mike

Thanks Guys, It is indeed a Facet Fuel pump in the boot with a Fuel pressure regulator in the engine bay (not sure what psi it regulates it to, it's a 'Petrol King Fuel-Saver' with a grub screw on the top I assume for adjustment, but no pressure values indicated). There's no separate pressure switch as such and it's correct that the pump just runs all the time. I would still expect it to stop clicking though with the engine not running and the fuel line fully pressurised. There's no excessive fuel smells and it's running well so presumably not excessively rich. It sounds like I'd better check a spark plug to confirm though, and somehow check that the fill valves in the carbs are shutting off when they should? Regarding the disappearing tank of fuel, it would seem the mystery is solved. I've filled it up myself this morning and fitted 34.5 litres in it. Which means it was running pretty much on fumes again if the tank capacity is 36 litres. The fuel gauge works fine too and is registering full. So it appears there was a mix up when I collected the car and it really did only have >1/4 of a tank of fuel in it as per the gauge reading at the time. Cheers Mike

Hi all, I have a confusing fuel pump situation on my 91' Super Sprint with a Raceline Zetec running on Weber 40's When the ignition is switched on (engine not started) i would usually expect the fuel pump to tick for a few seconds max to prime and pressurise the fuel lines. I've only had the car a week and quite often this is exactly how it behaves. On a few occasions though, this afternoon included, the fuel pump just keeps ticking.endlessly and doesn't seem to achieve the pressure required to stop it trying to prime. The car does start and run ok, and there's no sign of any fuel leaks. It has an electronic ignition module, but running on carbs it has no ECU. Therefore I'm assuming the system is as simple as a pressure switch of some sort on the fuel pump that makes it shut down when line pressure is reached and then run as needed to maintain that pressure once the car starts? As a separate (but possibly related) issue, I have a mystery of a disappearing tank of fuel. When I picked it up last week from Sevens and Classics it was handed over with a full tank of fuel. I questioned this because the gauge only showed 1/4 full, but was assured it had been filled up that morning. I have no reason at all to doubt this - the guys up there have been great and really helpful - so the conclusion was that there must be an issue with the gauge or sender unit that I'll need to investigate. I drove it home to the Maidstone area, which is 18 miles. During that journey I reset the trip counter with the thought process that I'll drive it for 100miles or so then top it up to see how much I fit in the tank, and put a fuel can in the boot shortly as a back up until the gauge is fixed. I took the car out for a little drive during the week, then today drove it back up to Sevens and Classics as they kindly helped with a couple of extra poppers and fixings needed. As I drove away from them to head home, it ran out of fuel half a mile down the road. The trip counter showed 25 miles, so with some of the original journey home not recorded, the most I've covered is 35-40 miles. The guys came down the road with a Jerry can and rescued me, but nobody has any idea how the car could have run out of fuel 35-40 miles after being filled up. I'm going to remove the filler pipe tomorrow to physically check the fuel level in the tank, and/or fill it up to the brim myself to confirm if there is indeed a fault with the gauge or sender. I'll also get a petrol can in the boot to avoid getting stranded again! But the disappearing tank of fuel is most confusing. I will investigate and try to pin down the issue here,but thought it might be worth a forum post in case I'm missing something really obvious and silly. If anyone has any ideas, or can see a potential link between the two elements detailed above, your thoughts would be very welcome. Just to reiterate, there is no sign I can see of a fuel leak under the car. Thanks

Hi all, I'm trying to source a pair of standard Caterham sidescreen door mirrors (my screens have the arms but no mirrors). Nobody seems to have them in stock at the moment. I don't suppose anyone has a pair kicking around in their garage that they want to sell? Also, I currently have leather seats in my S3 of 1991 vintage and would like to upgrade them to Black leather S-types with headrests. Does anyone have a pair available, perhaps if changing to Tillets? Cheers Mike