CAB

Ken What is the size of the slot? I recently opened up the sideskin of my 7 to suit a VHPD/SLR exhaust using a template supplied by CC. I found that the best way was to chain drill inside the profile and then cut the ligament of sheet between each hole with a cutting disc in a dremel type die grinder. The shape can then be smoothed using a combination of grinding stone in the dremel and draw filing (filing in the same plane as the sheet not across it). I have also used the same method to cut a hole in the scuttle for an ACES shift light connector. Make sure you use goggles, the thin dremel cutting disc snapped and hit me in the cheek below my left eye. Luckily I was wearing goggles.... CAB

Bruce Did you use a protractor as well as a DTI to find true TDC? I found the dwell at TDC to be several degrees. To find true TDC I set the piston as close to TDC as I could, then zero the DTI and then recorded the angle for a set distance down the bore BTDC and the angle for the same distance down the bore ATDC, true TDC is in the middle. I think I used 15thou. CAB

Simon Would you consider selling the throttle bodies, airbox and Emerald? Cheers CAB

Brucey Did you find true TDC with a protractor and dial gauge or did you rely on the timing marks on the cover and pulley? I found that the marks on the engine and cover were several degrees out when compared to finding true TDC. The inlet cam on my engine was nearly a tooth out. CAB

John The CRB had about 9000 miles on it when it started complaining. It didn't look or feel to be in too bad a condition but I removed it only a few miles after the noise started. I have put the twin springs on the clutch arm as per the article but with the lower preload for the new type of bearing. I'll let you kow how it goes.... Cheers. CAB

Hello Well it is all back together with the new CRB in. I thought that I would add a few notes to help anyone else who attempts it. In the end rather than just pull the engine forward and change the CRB I dragged it out completley and removed the sump foam and fitted a new timing belt and adjustable cam pulleys (1.8SS K series). It was much easier to these jobs with the engine on a stand rather than grovelling around under the car. I had to remove the Apollo tank, starter, alternator and the oil pressure sender (this just caught as I lifted the engine out). That exhaust manifold (standard short primary 4 into 1) is a pig to remove especially if you have studs fitted. I had to lift the engine and move it to get the manifold over the studs. It can just about be removed/reinstalled with the studs out, starter and water rail off with the engine in the car if you take off the lamda sensor off as well. I replaced the studs with cap headed bolts. I wanted to make sure that I could do this as I had planned to fit a 4-2-1 SLR/VHPD type of exhaust at a later date and I didn't want to have to take the engine out again to get the standard manifold off. It takes a bit of twisting and turning to get it in and out but it can be done. When I refitted it I put it in before the starter and then tied it back out of the way. That 17mm nut on the starter is very hard to get at, in the end I had to grind down a spanner. When I put the engine back in with a hoist I used a trolley jack to adjust the angle of the engine relative to the gearbox (that was still in the car). With the input shaft engaged against the spigot bearing and the faces of the engine and bellhousing parallel I then used two very long M12 bolts to keep it in line. The bolts (from B&Q) pass forward through the top two bellhousing holes and are screwed into the holes in the block. With the engine lined up the two can be pushed together quite easily if you have an extra pair of hands to rotate the crank. Thanks to all who offered advice. CAB

Bruce Have you transcribed the timing marks from the R300 pulleys onto the adjustable pulleys or are you trying to set the R300 cams with the original 1400 timing marks? I would make sure that your 90 deg BTDC timing marks match those on the R300 pulleys and ignore the original 1400 marks (make sure that you mark the two sets clearly). I have just fitted adjustable pullies to my 1.8SS and the inlet was nearly a tooth out (retarded), the exhaust wasn't too bad. Before I removed anything I measured the original valve lift at TDC and then worked out how far that I had to advance the cam to get to Oiley's recommended setting. To do this I put a protractor on the crank pulley and recorded the number of degrees from TDC that gave me the correct lift, then I divided this by two to get the equivalent cam figure. I then turned the adjustable pulley by the cam figure to make sure that I had enough adjustment before I fitted anything. If there wasn't enough adjustment I was going to advance the timing mark by one tooth. In the end I didn't have to do this as there was enough adjustment to get the desired lift using the original marks. I think that half a tooth shouldn't be a problem (assuming that there are the same number of teeth on our pulleys of course). Did you measure the lift on the R300 engine before you started? If not I think that I would put the R300 pulleys back on and set the timing to the original marks and then measure the lift at TDC. That way you have a datum to work from and you can work out how much you will actually need to move tha cams by and if you have sufficient adjustment on the adjustable pulleys. CAB

Hello Ian A friend of mine is thinking about fitting fuel injection to his 1700ccbig valve head244 cam x-flow. At the moment the favourite ECU seems to be a Megasquirt(around £330 built) with Jenvey throttle bodies (the cheapest that we have seen is about £400 for a pair). The other option is to use bike throttle bodies but these will have to be modified to fit. The Emerald would be nice but it is double the price of the Megasquirt. The intention is to get the ecu to control a wasted spark ignition set up with the coil pack from the latest generation of Fords. Hopefully the same car can supply the fuel injectors and sensors (crank position water temp). I think that the pump will be supplied to a swirl pot via the carb pump which will then feed the high pressure injection pump. This is as far as we have got at the moment and it is a very general plan. There must be someone out there that has fuel injected a x-flow. How about starting a new post asking this question? CAB

Good luck Simon I remember going to a rally once and they were running the historics after the modern cars and there was a very smokey Imp (I think) on Castrol R. I'm not sure if it was the smoke or the nostalga making the old boys eyes water. I keep trying to get my dad to run it in his old Brit bikes but he said that it was a race oil in his day and fine if you stripped the engine to clean out the sticky residue that used to form in the engine. He does have an old lawn mower that could do with an oil change though.... If you do decide to add some to your tank I would start with a very small amount. I would also make sure that you don't put any in for the first and last couple of tanks of fuel each so that you flush it all out. CAB

Hello all Apparently it is supposed to be like that so it pulls up against the gasket. Well, that is what the man from CC said.... CAB

If you want the authentic smell just add a capful to a full tank of fuel.... I think that you will have to strip the engine and clean it, I'm pretty sure that you can't just drain your GTX and switch to Castrol R. I would suggest that you contact the Castrol technical department. I would stay with your GTX. Regards CAB Do a search for Castrol R on the Castrol website and you will see: "Castrol R40 provides the ultimate in lubrication. If the best possible performance coupled with reliability is the aim then the remarkable stamina and great film strength of Castrol R40 will provide a valuable margin of safety at ultra high engine speeds and temperatures. A castor based lubricant which is primarily designed for the racing world; however its unique properties can also benefit private owners interested in high performance. Never mix Castrol R40 with mineral based or synthetic crankcase oils" I would definitely give them a call. Edited by - CAB on 30 Jan 2008 22:08:26

Hello This has probably been done to death but several posts give conflicting information.... I have a K series with a wet sump and apollo oil/air seperator. I have recently drained the oil and carried out the sump gasket mod and removed the foam (no bits in the strainer). My build manual states 6.5 litres of oil for the initial fill and then top up as required, my handbook states 7 litres of oil (inc filter) and I think that the 7FAQ page states 7.5 litres. Has anyone actually measured accurately how much they put in? Cheers CAB

Hello I have just unpacked my new (and not very shiney) 4 into 1 exhaust system from CC. I have noticed that the exhaust manifold flanges are not flat. If you place a steel rule in line with the bolt holes there is a gap of approximately 1mm at both ends. The flange around the bolt holes stand proud of the manifold face if you offer it up to the head. Is this deliberate so that it pulls up against the gasket? Assuming that it was TIG welded, I wouldn't of thought that 8mm thick stainless would bend like this unless you put a significantly more heat into it. If anyone has a VHPD type system off their car (possible because it is blowing on the manifold....) could you have a look to see if the flanges are flat.... Cheers CAB

Hi I have a pump type oil extractor. It was very slow when I used it to extract cold engine oil. If you can, give the car a run to get the diff nice and warm first. Cheers. CAB.

I have just modified my gasket as per Oiley's instructions and removed the sump foam. In the 7 the engine is canted over, I would imagine that in the standard transverse installation the sump gasket line is horizontal. CAB

Hello Richard, I rang Caterham today and they confirmed that my car was built with a 1.8 supersport. Their in-house engine builder said that the lift of theses cams should be approximately 9mm. They suggested that I contact Piper who ground the cams and they in turn said that both the inlet and exhaust supersport cams should give 8.84mm of lift and both be timed to give 62 thou lift at TDC on overlap. David, I have an EU3 engine. I was concerned about the cams because the lift that I have measured conflicts with the information that Oiley supplied. I have e-mailed Oiley to see what he thinks. Regards CAB

Hello Happy new year to you all. I am trying to identify the cams that I have fitted to my 1.8 Superlight. Oiley has told me that I should have 9.32mm of lift for the later X power profiles and 9.6 to 10mm of lift for the early SS cams. I have 8.86mm (In) and 8.79mm (Ex)..... The car is a factory built 7 and the invoice lists the following: EG177L Eng. Assy K1.8 Supersport. I have assumed that this is a 1.8 Supersport engine but is it only the standard 1.8 instead of the 1.6 K? Does anyone know what the lift of the standard 1.8 K series cams is? Regards CAB

Thanks gents. Flat faced bearing with rounded fingers. It looks like I'm OK then (or at least no worse of than I was before). Cheers. CAB

Hi The original INA bearing was on the way out, it was getting very noisey. CAB

Hello Does the air-filter sit within the bonnet lines or does it need a cut out? Cheers CAB

Hello I have taken the K series out of my 7 in order to change the clutch release bearing that was making a lot of noise. The replacement from CC is manufactured by SKF, the original was INA. Another member of the 7 club has told me to check the shape of the contact faces on the fingers of the clutch springs and the bearing. He was told that a flat faced bearing must be fitted with a clutch that has a rounded contact face on the fingers and vice versa. Is there any truth in this? Both the old and new bearings have flat faces and the fingers on the clutch (9000 miles old) appear to be rounded. There is a small flat on the rounded part of the curves persumably due to wear. CAB

Thanks Gents I was going to borrow a load leveller from a friend, we used it last year when we transplanted a X-flow. I've always rope in the past but I might get some lifting strops from Machine Mart as they are only about £8 each. CAB

Hi Over the next few months I'm going to take the engine out of my 7. I have to change the clutch release bearing and I'm going to change the cam belt and set up the cam timing as well. I'm only going to take out the engine, I intend to leave the g'box in the car. There are no lifting brackets on the block to connect to the hook on the engine crane. I was going to use two lifting strops around the engine but I would rather use chains with hooks on the end to proper brackets. What does everyone else do? Cheers CAB

Hi Does the refresh include getting rid of the layshaft rattle or is it just part of the character of the gearbox? I'd be willing to pay for a refresh even if it wasn't needed just to get rid of that damn noise. CAB

Hello You could try one of the vacum oil extraction pumps from Machine Mart or similar. The oil is extracted via the dip stick tube using vacuum. I have just used mine on a Fiesta for the first time and it is much better than scrabbling around underneath the car. CAB