fordy

I'm personally will be looking to set mt car up for a bit of gentle understeer as it suits my driving style. I always thought the thicker the arb the more understeer you should expect or am I talking out of my 🙆🏻 ?? Anyway I have a 5/8 arb and hope to tweek this aspect of handling with the damper settings.

Its all quite tricky this power lark. At the moment I certainly don't *need* anymore than I have as I am not accomplished enough in the car as it is. But it's always worth knowing what your upgrade options are in the long term beause it can drive some of the decisions in the short term. I have no doubt, given another 18mnths, i'll feel ready for more power. I am beginning to suspect that to go to larger power would be more cost effective to sell the car and move up to a car already installed with the 1.8, a better base for tuning. If thats my long term goal, then I should limit the spend on the current car as the Lord "law of diminishing returns" is worse if you only keep all the trick bits for a year! OTOH they do say a Caterham is for life and not just for Christmas, and its does keep striking me the lengths some people have gone too to upgrade their cars when it would clearly have made sense to just change car!!!! I'd reckon longer term something ITRO 160-180bhp would be nice. Heres another related question then, would it be easier to convert a later K car or a X-flow car to Duratec power? I do like the idea of a duratec 1) because of course I have been brainwashed by the company I work for and have blue blood and 2) I think its likely to be the next Caterham engine choice. Surely the K can't be stretched to meet Euro IV emmisions !!!

Ok, I gather the Emerald really is the DB's. My question is, on an otherwise standard 1.4SS K series (~128bhp apparently), what benefits would I get by binning the Rover MEMS and getting an Emerald suitably mapped. Can I expect improvements in power (how much?) an/or driveablitly?? Interested as long term this sounds like a nice piece of kit that you can move from car to car or engine to engine as the upgrade process proceeds. Again, assuming that the exhaust side was taken care of what benefits would I expect with throttle bodies/cam etc.. Or should I bin the 1.4 early on and try to source myself a 1.6/1.8 unit? Anybody out there with tuned 1.4's??

Exactly the same sort of things went through my mind when I got my car in October. I felt it handled poorly and felt very skittish on b-roads. Of course all my previous experience in cars that 'handle' were front drivers so I figured my senses needed re-calibrating. The Caterham is an ideal beast to set-up in terms of handling and I figured in the end that handling is purely about personal taste and style. The trick is to first understand your own style. Therefore I intend a healthy number of trackdays in the summer to get a better handle on how well I drive and what set-up suits me. I looked critically at the suspension set-up as the car came to me and decided that as the dampers where 55K miles old, they could probably do with changing along with a general refresh of the suspension. I opted for the Freestyle road/track lightweight ali springs/dampers setup because they looked good value, seemed to be rated by several blatchatters and were adjustable for height and damping. The idea is that I can play with the set-up to suit my style. Whether I ultimately achieve the right set-up for me is debateable but at least i'll get an education and have fun trying. I think the bottom line is that handling is a personal thing, so taking your car to CC and asking them to make it handle might not work in reality. On the plus side there is so much advice available on here that you should be able to find a set-up that suits you as long as your willing to listen and experiemnt.

you have mail re: plastic plenum and intruments

I am just fitting the freestyle kit and they supply these sleeves with the kit. They are aluminium I think. The o.d. of the bolt is indeed thinner than the i.d. od the lower damper bush, hence the sleeve. Dunno what the sizes are.

The front bottom damper mount won't come out. Serious abuse and it won't budge. Looks like it wasn't assembled with a bit of copper grease. Fortunately I'm replacing the bottom wishbones so although damper is now off the car. It is still attached to the old wishbone !!!! Took me 3 hours to get that far. Looks like a long job then.....

I forgot I'd already asked this question in the past. A very comprehensive response. Thanks all. BTW I bought a set of imperial allen keys and the one that fitted was a 3/8 I think. Cheers

the freestyle/avo dampers look to be ali versions of the steel Avo Pro Race dampers. I'll not give the part numbers because that would be most unfair to Freestyle. From what I can glean, freestyle do not seem to be adding much on top and so I believe them to be excellent value. I'm fitting mine this weekend 😬 To those that have already fitted them. Whats the procedure for setting the ride height? Will I need a special tool to do this once the spring is under compression. I suppose my initial idea is to measure the ride height before I remove the old bilsteins and try to achieve the same with the avos. Also any dangers when removing the old springs/dampers? This slightly worries me cos I can imagine the springs could do me much damage. Do the bolts to hold in the dampers need to be torques up to specific values. I am replacing my bottom wishbones too. Do the bolts on these have torque values too. Finally, am I right in thinking that the uprights connect to the lower wishbones by just sitting in a cup secured by a circlip? can you tell i'm a suspension virgin yet? Edited by - fordy on 10 Jan 2003 12:00:53 Edited by - fordy on 10 Jan 2003 12:02:28

I bought a cheap a-frame at the weekend but fear I bought the wrong type. The part I bought is brand new and still in its packaging but says its for post 96 dedion chassis. My car is a 95 1.4 SS and therefore has a slightly different chassis and suspension geometry apparently and the parts catalogue lists a different a-frame for this chassis. They look the same on initial looksee. Anybody know if it matters or can tell me what the difference is?

I don't even seem to have a hole in the chassis cups to bolt through! (95 de dion chassis) Fitting new dampers this week so will investigate from underneath. I don't have the bolts either, are these a special type?

Provisionally sold to Jim

Will let you know Paul, had no response from Jim yet. Will offer to Andy next at 12.00pm Monday. If he doesn't want them you are next in line. Ta Carl.

I'm all excited now.... mine should arrive on Monday!! Any fitting tips to a novice?

i'll have a set of the 13" wheels please. Will phone to arrange collection/delivery thanks

Jim, wheels still for sale and are 14"x6J. Give us a ring. Andy, you have next refusal if Jim doesn't want them. Edited by - fordy on 4 Jan 2003 13:09:39

Its for a standard side exit 1.4 K series. Does size matter? Anyone?

Excellent news! 😬 I'm in Essex Anthony, but am often all over the country. Where are you?

exhaust guard wanted, preferably black. Carl 01245 426632

4 of 6x14" minotaurs from a 1995 de dion (Ford fit) fitted with good Colway F2 tyres. Plenty of tread left. Wheels are painted gold and could probably do with a respray maybe. Good condition otherwise as no chunks or scrapes out of them. Buyer collects Looking for £170 ono or swap for some 13" Ford fit wheels. Carl 01245 426632 (home) 01268 406719 (work) Edited by - fordy on 2 Jan 2003 14:26:56 Edited by - fordy on 5 Jan 2003 09:40:52

I have for sale an FIA boot cover for a car without weather gear. ie..a car without hoodsticks - came off a Superlight - £25 or preferably swap for an FIA boot cover for a car with hoodsticks/weather gear. Can you tell I have bought the wrong type? 🙆🏻 There must be someone out there with an FIA bar who has recently removed the weather gear and windscreen etc.. and need to swap boot covers. Also have a standard boot cover to sell - £offers? Let me know Carl. 01245 426632 home 01268 406719 work Edited by - fordy on 4 Feb 2003 11:44:56

I'm looking for an FIA boot cover for a car with weather gear. ie..my car has hood sticks or swap for an FIA boot cover for a car without weather gear (or a car without hoodsticks). Can you tell I have the wrong type? There must be someone out there with an FIA bar who has recently removed the weather gear and windscreen etc.. and need to swap boot covers. Let me know Carl. 01245 426632

you have mail

Am about to fit new freestyle springs dampers next week on my de dion car. I noticed the top hex cap bolt on the front dampers requires a largish hex socket. I only had 8mm and 10mm available and it looked somewhere between the two, maybe 9mm. Am I correct or is it some imperial size? If it is 9mm anyone suggest where I can get one as the local Halfrauds don't do 9mm. Any other funny size tools i'll need for this job?

I remember looking into this briefly. 38's are off the 340r. 48's are the new kids on the block and look set to replace the 32's. Not seen any user reports at all yet on the 48's however. They had them in the latest DT catalogue I think.