moosetestbestanden

I arrived on line prior to a track session Saturday, idled the engine to get some temperature in the thing, then shut it off. On our 1 minute-to-start warning I fired it up again and as I departed onto the track (med. throttle) the engine pulled to about 3200 then stumbled badly and simply wouldn't rev. Low throttle position and under 3 grand the engine would run and I limped around and returned to the "hot" pit lane. I shut the engine down, waited about a minute, fired it up and all was well (and how!). This is the 2nd occurrence of same, the 1st time the conditions were somewhat similar in terms of shutting down (go to bank, do banking, return to car) then re-starting. This seems very clearly to me to be a fuel delivery or "vapor locking" (is that possible w/ fuel injection?) issue and the car has never exhibited this behavior before recently in many miles and lots of track sessions. As this is a part of the world that I have no knowledge nor understanding of I'm mystified . (apologies for the dangling participle) Problem did not re-occur for the remainder of the track weekend. ECU is MBE, TBs (45mm I believe) and entire fuel delivery system from SBD, istr that the pressure gauge shows 3.5 bar on idle. Contributions on potential source of the problem and where and how to start the hunt for a solution appreciated. ------- Chris Exempli Blatia

Bravo Di nuovo Edit: What's your estimate on how often such an engine will require refreshing? ------- Chris Exempli Blatia Edited by - moosetestbestanden on 6 Apr 2007 01:37:04

Heathens indeed. Absolutely nobody's doing 2.0s anymore. One simply must have either the 2.1 or the 2.2 😬 ------- Chris Exempli Blatia

No, not for either car. We're both running 13s & aeroscreens. He does have the NASA (no, not that nasa but rather the National Auto Sport Assn.) rollbar which is quite different than the CC full cage and my bog std. FIA bar. I'm fairly certain I have a 3.62 and an overdriven 5th. I'm going to hit GearCalc this afternoon after work to make a run at what I think I should be able to do. His comment to me about not being able to pull top revs struck me oddly, given the HP difference between the 2 cars (I'm at about 200 or so). I mean, he's got a *lot* more HP. Anyway, he's a *very* competitive and is looking for a way to win (while spending as little as possible. Yeah, right, are we talking car racing here?). My intuition is that a firm boot cover, a tonneau, half doors, the diffuser & a flat tray under the engine bay will significantly clean up drag. Thoughts? Aside, coming around NASCAR 2 tight and letting the car drift up the banking and then BRAKING HARD into the left (#3 on the map) was very very entertaining and I left the weekend totally amazed - stunned even - at how capable the 7 is, even into the major triple digit speed zone. We were really having some fun. I'm sooo looking forward to having more AMMO-u-nition for next year.

Pun intended. This weekend past at the California Speedway the fastest Caterham around (he runs time trial competition) was losing a couple of seconds to cars w/ major HP & better aerodynamics. The course we were running was the ALMS configuration (map here and as you can see the long long straight - including "NASCAR turn 2" on the banking which is effectively a straight for a 7 - made for long flat out running. Both his car and mine were maxing out at about 6400 rpm - we simply couldn't push any more air out of the way. Both cars are Duratecs, mine a 2.0 w/ no internal mods, his a Cossie 2.3 making around 265 hp. He's been put into the top class on the basis of power to weight and wants - needs - to find some time. He wasn't running any half doors or a tonneau and my suggestion to him is that he needs to combine a number of elements in order to clean up the airflow. So the questions are: Does anyone have any quantitative evidence illustrating how much help doors & a tonneau can be? Would the CSR front wings help? Does anyone here have any experience w/ the rear diffuser that is available from various vendors? Thanks in advance! ------- Chris Blatus vincit omnia

Welcome to the land of big torque. Now go out for a trackday and find the true meaning of life 😬 ------- Chris Blatus vincit omnia

Many thanks Martin

Has anyone here seen anything like this here (click on the thumbnail) Background info: Car has been immobile for 6ish months, in a garage, right by Newport Beach. Salty air perhaps? Any help appreciated. He's our webmaster, and maintains our site gratis. ------- Chris Blatus vincit omnia

I was getting in 20 minute track sessions at wot on a smallish motorcycle battery when my alternator died at an event last year, Duratec engined car w/ MBE ecu. I figure the brake lights used up a fair chunk of the power available. So don't use them ------- Chris Blatus vincit omnia

Oops 😳. My bad. Thanks Simon! ------- Chris Blatus vincit omnia Edited by - moosetestbestanden on 4 Feb 2007 16:23:15

Fits no problem, unique engine mounts are about all that's required. The 2.0 drops right in. An entirely stock engine makes nowhere near a buck ninety. To get there you need to add things. Go to SBD's website for a very good description (note that SBD's site uses frames HTML and as such does not pass individual URLs for pages therein). Follow the Duratec link and at the top of that page there's a link for an article from Fast Ford magazine. That article is very informative, about both the basic design of the engine and what's required to get more out of it. I've had mine for 3 years now, in a proper 7 😬 and it has been utterly and completely reliable - touch wood - making around 190 or so (never measured). My only issue was a problem caused by an amazingly poorly designed and fabricated US "made" under-driven pulley (Don't Go There, it's not worth it). Edited to add: Nice web site Rob. I'll be referring to it sometime later this year I think. Thanks! ------- Chris Blatus vincit omnia Edited by - moosetestbestanden on 4 Feb 2007 15:39:00

Oh please Brad, it's not that much, particularly for just the head. My whole engine is likely to be around 5 bills, 1st class air freight, w/ champagne and caviar served by a short-skirted English beauty. Logistically speaking the real problem would be mapping. There may be somebody in California, yet to be found, who can actually figure out the combustion cycle (someone smarter than me of course). You're so tight you squeak when you walk 😬. Support your not-so-local Caterham expert. ------- Chris Blatus vincit omnia

Antonella: Those guys w/ the 1000+ pony Duratec are burning nitro. I have the article at home. "come mai parli Italiano" This is an English club, and an English board, so it's only proper to use english, mostly. Oh, and my italian is like my english; it kind of sucks really. "hai fatto una scelta buona" I'm sure of it. "ora mi buttano via da qua per aver detto questo" I hope not! If you are even half so lovely as your name you should be kept around! Tom: It's a 2.1 (1mm over pistons in a 2.0), all steel, tall(ish) lift cams. I wanted to stay w/ a short stroke, oversquare motor. My current 2.0 makes enough torque (for me) as is and the realities on track here led me to decide to keep revving and pulling after the car I'm trying to overtake (big cars w/ big hp but bad handling and brakes are the norm here) has shifted. Can't say what the projected hp is but it will be north of 250 for sure. Just think of the sound at around 8500! And, yes, I always anticipate having trouble w/ the U.S. gummint. We're all terrorists doncha know. Actually, I have been in contact w/ a guy back east who imported a K. He said it wasn't that difficult. EPA isn't an issue I don't think (hope!), just customs. Ammo, Put me in the garage too please 😬 ------- Chris Blatus vincit omnia

Imo, getting the most from an engine of given displacement is down to the amount of air that the pump can move per unit of time per unit of volume. All other major engine components being equal, that means the induction system & headwork I think. So the cost isn't just in the components but also very much in the expertise that an individual who knows how to breathe a head brings to the party. I know Ammo's got the credentials to qualify as an artist in this regard (e.g. Danny's engine, the Guzzis, et. al.). That's a skill that's very hard to quantify in pounds n pence, and it's one that I'm willing to pay for because experience matters a ton in the (black) art of breathing an engine. It would have been far simpler (but not much cheaper I think) logistically and otherwise for me to just toddle down the road to Cosworth and write a big check. But that wouldn't have been nearly as much fun and nowhere near as satisfying to me personally as working on a one-to-one basis w/ a Caterham owner who's also a very experienced pro. As a longtime independent contractor myself I prefer to support a small business like Raceco. I'm not a rich guy and I've been funding this work as I can, and he's been very patient w/ me. He's been great to deal with and I'm looking forward to the day when I can meet him personally. And run the engine too of course. Besides, non c'e nessuno chi parla in Italiano a Cosworth in Torrance, e loro non hanno la sensibilita per cibo buonissimo come Italiani! ------- Chris Blatus vincit omnia

More *cool*ness Ammo, YHM. ------- Chris Blatus vincit omnia

Fwiw, crate engines are available for about $2100 (US - about £17.50 😳) or so. I couldn't find much online when looking for just a long block. I used the following number for the crate engine (found in our NASA - a grassroots racing sanction body, not the space fellas - rules & regs): Duratec 2.3 M-6007-D23 ------- Chris Blatus vincit omnia

Extra !! ------- Chris Blatus vincit omnia

------- Chris Blatus vincit omnia

Thanks again Alex. As we have both Quaife and now Elite here in SoCal we have the dilemma of choice. That's above and beyond the dilemma of how to find the dough for a sequential or h pattern box. ------- Chris Blatus vincit omnia

If you don't mind the question: Hi spec means? p.s.: thanks for posting the ratios, diff ratio etc. As I have the same rear end would you mind telling what size wheels you use on-track please? ------- Chris Blatus vincit omnia

I did this exactly. Building the car was the only thing that kept me sane throughout all of the turmoil. Sunday in the garage was pure therapy. Don't let the remodel stop you from the build, imo. Call Ammo too sez I. He knows lots. Edited to fix a missing backslash! ------- Chris Blatus vincit omnia Edited by - moosetestbestanden on 20 Dec 2006 20:11:45

Thanks Neil. ------- Chris Blatus quo

Cool! I'm sooo looking forward to having this problem, or rather the source thereof. Danny, I think you need to come over here and bring that car w/ you. Only Laguna Seca does this to people - the rest of the tracks are WFO noise-wise (and otherwise 😬). ------- Chris Blatus quo

A guy over here had all kinds of trouble. 1st engine was built by a bonehead - twice - and it blew in grand fashion both times. I put that down to the builder purely and only. He had Cosworth go through it and had a problem again w/ the head gasket. Since, no issues. There was reports of another guy hereabouts who went through 2 or 3 in a major way but the story was that he was downshifting and spinning the things to 10000+ rpm. If true, well, how many (normal) engines can survive that kind of abuse? I heard tale of some engines going kaboom in races in France but was never able to independently verify that information. Mine has been rock-reliable. I hit the limiter at about 7000 more often than I should on trackdays w/out any issues, other than the problems I've had w/ aftermarket crapola that have since gone the way of the dodo (thanks again Neil!). It's really to have both power and reliability. ------- Chris Blatus quo

I have a 2 liter in the car now and the new engine that's on the build is a 2.0 (+ a bit as the pistons are slightly oversized) as well. I thought long and hard about increasing displacement by going to the longer stroke 2.3 but decided to stick w/ the shorter stroke of the 2L. Fwiw, I have noticed that all of the engines that have had problems are of the 2.3L variety. Conversely, I have yet to hear of a 2L going kaboom. W/ steel down low the 2L will be able to pull major high rpm (for a mass produced engine) w/ no loss of torque in the mid-range, which I have always found more than ample in my current internally stock engine. At the end of the day I realized that I've always prefered the idea of a higher revving engine w/ close to square dimensions. I'm really looking forward to the day when I hear the new engine sing at 8k+. ------- Chris Blatus quo