JAL73

Im looking for: 1. trackday rollcage for my SV (easy in/out version) 2. aeroscreen 3. set of half doors

I live in Putney and have used HWM Caterham in Walton-on-Thames for various things on my 420R and have founf them to be excellent. They have a race team there so they might be able to help with flat floor set ups, worth asking as probably the nearest Caterham outfit to SW London.

any specific preferred location on the instrument body to saw/drill the vents for condensation to escape? top or bottom?

Thanks very much for the link to the old thread, another common gremlin by the sounds of it, though I’m a bit nervous cutting drilling holes into the back of the instrument body. Will be busy this weekend hacking the dials and removing my rear ARB… Given this issue seems to go back a few decades, its amazing Caterham hasn’t modified the instruments with vents to avoid this happening to everyone during the colder months!

I have a 2020 420R, always stored in a garage, only driven on dry days. I’ve noticed that condensation starts to appear inside the instrument glass (all of them, incl speedo and rev counter) once the car is warmed up into a long drive. Theres no condensation when I start the car from cold, it just gradually appears the longer I drive it. I think this happened to a tiny extent over the summer, but is much more noticeable in winter, obviously I’m using the heater a lot more now. Not sure what could cause this, whether it is a common problem and what the fix might be? Thanks!

I’ve heard with ceramic coating they coat the inside as well as outside, is that correct? Did you notice any performance gains with the ceramic coating?

Thanks Jonathan, reading these threads it seems that nobody is claiming any noticeable performance benefits. The main positive is that it seems to prevent heat damage to starter motors and wires and keeps footwells a bit cooler but my 420 doesn’t really seem to suffer either of those problems (IMHO) so not sure its worth the bother, especially as there are concerns about resultant excessive heat transfer to other engine/ exhaust components upstream and downstream of the manifold. You would think that if exhausts wraps were that effective then they would be offered as factory fitted options I suppose.

I have a factory standard 420R and am considering having this done. It doesn’t seem like a very expensive upgrade but wondering whether any others on here have had this done and noticed any difference in performance, sound or reduction in heat ingress into cabin etc. I understand the main logic is to reduce air temp in the engine bay which might have favourable impact on air density going into throttle body and hence some incremental power gains but no idea if you would notice this or if its worth the hassle.

I didnt know you could have "easy in" zips retro fitted to a Soft Bits half hood - did you take it back to Soft Bits to do this work? If so what did they charge for this if you dont mind me asking?

...after application of WD40 with microfibre cloth

....after 15 mins with the hairdryer blasting and evaporating the trapped water

My car is a 2020 420R, so reasonably young but the carbon cycle wings suffer terribly if they get wet or damp for a few days. Car is fine when garaged but left it out under a decent outdoor cover over a rainy weekend and came back to this: Ive heard from a couple Caterham specialists that the issue is that the laquer is porous and the white marks are water trapped between the carbon weave and laquer. Was advised to take a hair dryer to it wings and then rub WD40 into wings and this did indeed get them back to looking brand new, but this never seems to last long. Hairdryer process took about 15mins per wing and you could visibly see the white marks evaporating, and the WD40 coat took them from looking like matt carbon to glossy carbon. Is there a permanent solution to protect the wings from water penetration? This was laborious and time consuming and dont want to have to do it every few months! Has any one tried covering the wings in pain protection film or ceramic coating them to preserve the glossy carbon look?

I have noticed a similar noise on my 2020 420R SV with feathered throttle. R&R also mentioned the Caterham spacer (see pic below) which I have purchased and is awaiting fitment. Note the website says its for 5 speed 2013 onwards, so not sure if its appropriate for an 08 CSR? Im not sure whether the spacer will fix my issue as it might be unavoidable crown wheel and pinion noise. I guess it would be interesting to hear whether the diff whine noise is also experienced by owners with open diffs and plated LSD diffs alike, in which case it would imply the crownwheel and pinion is the source and might be resolvable by adjusting the backlash. It might also be noise from the Titan LSD but i dont think it is because i get the noise when driving in a straight line when the LSD plates should be disengaged. R&R also mentioned their special LSD oil blend they make (with friction modifiers?) which sometimes reduces excessive noise from plated LSDs, though I imagine if it reduces friction in the LSD plates it means your LSD is less effective than with a higher friction oil?! (please correct me if im wrong on this) I noticed a lengthy thread here about how choice of diff oil can make a huge difference to diff noise. Hope this helps

I have a factory standard 420R SV I am soon to have a bespoke ECU remap done by 'the two Steves', primarily to reduce kangarooing and improve drivability. I am told their remap usually results in a modest performance improvement also. My question is about what experience people have had when moving to Jenvey DTH throttle bodies - do they enhance drivability over the standard single butterfly plenum setup, or is it just better noise and an extra 10bhp? Has anyone run into noise problems (black flags) on track after fitting Jenveys, where previously they were fine with noise I'm asking about Jenveys before the ECU map as don't want to have to do another bespoke map after this one if I switch to Jenveys at a later date, best decide on Jenveys now and just get it mapped properly once!

They told me to rev to 4,500 rpm and mine was at 90db. I was also short shifting more than usual as track was damp due to intermittent rain. My car is a 2020 with 2.5k miles so maybe the exhaust packing is still pretty good at keeping it quiet, there were some other 420s there a bit older than mine which were a bit louder, and have heard that other 420s have been black flagged for noise in the past, so it seems a bit random or down to fine margins. Im probably going to switch to a rear exit exhaust for reasons other than noise soon - I'll sell my decibel slayer (only used once on road for 20 minute test run!). PM me if interested.

Thanks for comments. I bought a decibel slayer from Sevens and Classics just incase but it wasn't needed in the end! Some of the tracks I have planned for later in the year are also restrictive on noise so it might come in handy one day. I'm considering getting a rear exit exhaust as Im not keen on the breathing in exhaust fumes, tho not sure if they are from my car or other surrounding traffic!? Also, quiet like the look of them

I'm looking for a few items to make my 420R SV better equipped for occasional track day use. *** Please note this is for an SV chassis car*** 1. "Easy-In" track day roll cage 2. Aero screen - not fussed whether clear perspex or carbon 3. 620 style rear exit exhaust I currently have track day roll bar and standard polished side exhaust so I'm open to part-exchanging these if anyone interested in that option Thanks for looking

Anyone on here going to Bedford autodrome next Monday? I'm a new owner of a standard 420R with side exhaust - can anyone advise if this should be ok with 87.5db drive by noise restrictions there?

See description above - not keen on luminous colours. Granted it's a nice spec, but a colour change would take me well over my budget sadly.

Hello I am looking to buy a Seven from a fellow enthusiast who has really looked after their car. I am flexible in terms of K-series, Sigma, Duratec engine and S3 or SV chassis cars. Budget range is very wide from 20k to 40k depending on the usual things and how close the car is to my perfect spec. Ideal spec I'm after is something like an 310R in S3 or a R400/ 420R in SV. I'm less keen on very bright/luminous coloured cars but would consider it if the spec and history is exceptional. Appreciate most things on these cars can be changed apart from chassis size. Please PM me in the first instance to get in touch. Ready to move quickly for the right car, based in London. Thanks