CAB

Hello gents I have had a look at the on line RS and Maplins catalogues, no joy I'm afraid. MarkC the PC is the same as the one in Roger Ford's link. When the PC is on the outer ring of the switch lights up in blue. Some people have suggested fitting the following switches as upgrades to other PCs: http://www.directron.com/ele70.html It looks about the right size. I might give this a try. Thanks CAB

Hello I turned my PC on and the switch made a cracking sound (mechanical not electrical). The switch will not pop out after it is pressed in and unless I quickly hook the switch out it the PC switches off. I have called the supplier of the PC (Medion) but they will not sell me the switch (they will however assess what is required for £100 and give me a price to repair it). The PC is a Medion 8080 XL and the part number of the front bezel (containing the switch) according to Medion is 2001 5562. Can anyone suggest where I can get a spare or an alternative part to go in it's place? I understand that the front panels are all different and I may need a new case. Any advice would be welcome. Cheers CAB

Hi Oily How close are the SS cams to the BP270 and 633 profiles? Are the prices on your website up to date? I might be after a set of adjustable cam wheels and a new cambelt for an 1800 SS in the next few weeks. I need to take the engine out to change the clutch release bearing so this will be an ideal time to do it when it's on the bench. I might also be in the market for a K16 Caterham SS throttle body kit at some point. Is this supplied with instructions and does it work with the standard short primary 4-1 exhaust? Hello Willie/Irrotational. I'm a fellow Cornishman as well but stuck in Bristol. Willie, where do you live in Cornwall? My mothers maiden name is Pascoe.... CAB

Hello Brad I have a 2004 Focus ST170, the engine is the exactly the same as the 2.0 L SVT. It has an uprated Zetec bottom end; better con rods, pistons (I think), oil spray jets to cool the underside of the pistons, a trick cylinder head (big valves, variable intake cam timing and an adjustable lenth manifold) and a long branch (Cosworth) designed exhaust manifold. The engine is the Duratec ST in the UK and this is completely different from the later all aluminium alloy 2 and 2.3 L Duratecs. I have imported several bits from the US (adjustable cam pulley/FC throttle body/underdrive pulley/sports cat and Borla/Ford Racing exhaust). I'm afraid that the power output of these engines varies quite a bit in standard form (that could be down to the rolling road/temps etc). My car has been on two different rolling roads and the power was 165 on the first & 160 bhp on the second at the flywheel. The power at the wheels was higher on second RR at 136.7 (even with less power at the flywheel) and about 133 on the second. The first RR operator had tested several ST170s and only one made the full 170 (the Ford supplied press car funnily enough). At the time my car was standard with only about 4000 miles on it. Several experts have said that this engine needs over 10000 miles before it is fully loosened up. 129 in standard form does seem a bit low, I would expect to see slightly more from yours at the wheels, the in-line transmission should be more efficient than the transverse one fitted in the the ST. My first 1700 Supersprint X-flow 7 made about 133 at the flywheel and 100 at the wheels on the first RR above (reworked head/4-1 exhaust/ignition Type 9 5 speed box/de Dion). The 15% that you quoted for transmission losses seems a bit low for a transverse engine, especially compared to the inline installation above in my first 7. I think it is usually quoted as nearer 30% for a transverse engine/gearbox. Is your car fitted with the standard variable intake manifold? It sounds as if this could be stuck in the short runner (high RPM) position. I think that the manifold is in the high rpm position when the engine is stopped, switching on the ignition should switch the manifold to the long (low RPM) position. The cable to the manifold can be seen and should switch to the short position at about 5500 RPM. This could be causing your lack of torque in the low to mid range and possible affect the starting. As for cutting out with the clutch pedal depressed is the clutch dragging? Is your car fitted with the ST/SVT clutch/flywheel? The clutch in my ST was replaced at 2000 miles from new after first and reverse became hard to engage. On a flat surface the with no hand brake on the car would drive off by itself.... This was due to a faulty clutch pressure plate. I think that there is also a switch on the clutch pedal, I think that this might be for cold starting. There are several Focus SVT dedicated Forums in the US; http://www.focaljet.com is one, http://www.svtperformance.com/forums is another. I havn't been on these sites for a while but they are usually very helpful. I will try and dig out the plots and email them to you. Regards CAB Edited by - CAB on 23 Oct 2007 22:13:03 Edited by - CAB on 23 Oct 2007 22:18:04

Thanks Stephen I'll probably just attempt to remove just the engine. Removing the box as well is a pain; to get to the gear lever mounting bolts I need to remove the tunnel cover which means removing the seats. Also there is the speedo drive to come off and the gearbox will have to be drained of it's fresh oil. Then there is a matter of storing the gearbox whilst it is out of the car. I expect I will end up taking the box out when I can't get it to line up though.... Cheers CAB

Hello Gents My new clutch release bearing is in the post..... I have had a look at Stephen Grant's write-up. Is it possible to go one step further and remove the engine whilst leaving the gearbox in the car? I have only ever taken the engine and box out at the same time. I was thinking of setting up the cam timing/fitting a new cambelt at the same time and I would rather do this with the engine on the bench rather than in the car. Also can anyone confirm what preload is needed for the SKF bearing? Cheers CAB

Hi I have just set my Superlight up with A048s. The previous owner had fitted medium A048s all around (6" front and replaced the original 6" rears with 8") and not altered the geometry. When I used the car a Castle Combe with this set up I had loads of understeer coming out of the Quarry corner. I put the original part worn medium compound 6" fronts on the back and put the new soft A048s on the original rear 6" rims back on the front. I figured that I didn't need the 8" rears with a 1.8 Supersport engine. I didn't alter the de-Dion ears but I set the front to 0 degrees toe in/out and -2.5 degrees camber (Gunsons Trakrite gauge and a borrowed camber gauge). I also set the ride height (15mm rake with 75 mm under the sump) and corner weighted the car with a corner weight gauge that I found on Ebay. With this set-up the steering was very light on the road and it didn't seem to tram-line as much as with the original set-up. After seeing the tyre wear on a friends 7 with -2.5 degrees camber I decided to reduce it and set it to -1.75 degrees negative camber (and re-set the tracking to 0 degrees). I used the car around Castle Combe again a few weeks ago (similar track temp) and the car didn't understeer once and it seemed much better under braking. I would suggest setting the camber to -1.75 degrees with 0 degrees toe-in as a starting point for mainly road use to get acceptable wear. I havn't competed in the car but more negative camber might be needed. You might find that you have more rear grip as you have altered the rear camber as well so you might need more than -1.75 degrees front to compensate for this. My soft front/medium rear combination might counter this. I don't know how handy you are with the spanners but you can get the Gunsons tracking gauge for about £65-70 and a camber gauge for about £80. I don't know what a professional would charge to do the tracking and camber but I expect that it would be near this if you need to do it more than once. At least with your own kit you can experiment a bit. I hope this gives you some ideas. CAB

Hello I need to take the engine/box out of my 7 to change the clutch release bearing. I had thought about fitting a dry sump system to the car at some point. Now that the engine is coming out it might be a good time to do it even though it is a bit earlier than planned. Can anyone give me a rough idea of the cost of the Caterham system that can be used with the existing Apollo tank? I understand that the PACE system might be cheaper and better. Is it possible to use the PACE system with the Caterham bell-housing tank? Any advice would be very welcome, as well as a set of instructions if anyone has a set knocking about. Cheers CAB

Thanks Steve What gearbox do you have? A type 9 or Caterham 6 speed? Thanks CAB

Well, it looks like I shall be changing the clutch release bearing soon.... John Vine has been kind enough to supply me with a copy of his CRB preload article. Does anyone happen to know what make of CRB Caterham Cars currently supply and is it of good quality? Cheers CAB

Hi I have a friend who is looking for a set. If Peter doesn't want them could you let me know and I will give him a call? Thanks CAB

Hello Gents A friend of mine is considering binning his X-flow in favour of a 165 bhp Zetec. I suggested that it might be worth refreshing the X-flow and fitting mapped ignition/fuel injection using a Megajolt/Megasquirt set up. The existing engine spec is 1700 cc with a big valve head, roller rockers, 244 cam, twin 40 DCOEs and 4-1 exhaust. I think that the carbs are on their last legs and will need to be rebuilt hence why I suggested going to throttle bodies. The engine will need a top end rebuild at least and possibly a set of rings, at least the oil pressure is very healthy. I have suggested that he gets a compression test done and possibly a rolling road session to assess the current state of his engine before ditching the existing lump and transferring his worn-out DCOEs to a worn-out Zetec that will still need an ignition system, new sump, inlet manifold, water rail, exhaust etc etc. Can any of you guys offer general advice or direct me to examples of fuel injected X-flows? I reckon that we can easily match the power/drivability of my 1.8 Superlight and use most of his existing parts. Thanks in advance. CAB.

Hi I'm going to lend my Dynoplus accelerometer to a fellow 7 owner. The unit can be used to measure 0-60 etc but if you connect it to the coil it will record the engine rpm as well as acceleration. You can use the software to calculate and graph the power at the wheels. The software requires the drag coefficient (Cd) and frontal area (for a cycle wing equipped car) or better still the CdA. I have only ever used this on my Focus. Does anyone have this information for the 7? Thanks CAB

Hi I bought one a while ago but I've not used it yet. The intention was to change the foam sump baffle at the same time as the oil. What's the sump gasket mod James? Cheers CAB

Hello Gents I saw the advert in the comic for the Millwood day after spending a week making up some levelling pads for the garage floor. I'll bring it long to see how far out I am.... I emailed PACE and had a very quick reply from Neil. It looks as if I'm using it correctly (level surface, anti roll bars disconnected, shim under the wheel to indicate when it is lifted just clear of the ground). He has confirmed the weight will be more than the total of the car; as you lift one side you compress the other. The gauge is for comparing each corner relative to the others. I have ballasted the car as if I'm in it so hopefully it shouldn't be too far out. Cheers CAB

Hello I have access to a PACE corner weight gauge (0-1000Lbs). Does anyone know what the bore diameter is (to work out the bore area) as I do not have any instructions with it? I assumed that the area of the bore was 1 sq/In therefore if the gauge showed 300 Lb/sqIn the weight was 300Lbs. I have disconnected the anti-roll bars (front and rear) and I am pulling a peice of thin flat plastic out from under the wheel to indicate when the wheel is clear of the ground. I have also made up some levelling pads so that the car is on a flat surface. Even if the pads were slightly out I would expect the weight on each wheel to equal the weight of the car. At the moment the total weight is 1430 Lbs, I estimate it should be no more than 1199 Lbs: Caterham Superlight (no driver) = 490 Kg + 20 Kg (windscreen + heater) + 20Kg (spare wheel + carrier) + 15 Kg (fuel) = 545 kg x 2.2 = 1199 Lbs. Anyone with a set of instructions out there? Regards CAB

Hello I pushed my Caterham out of the garage and the up and over garage door decided to close on the bonnet.... I now have a 2" crease on the centre line in the middle and a couple of small dents on the outside edges. Can anyone recommend a good bodyshop in the Bristol area? Alternatively I might respray it myself. What is the paint code for Aztec/McLAren orange? Cheers CAB.

Hello I'm after a Petty strut and fixings for a 2002 FIA roll bar with the single diagonal. Caterham can get them made on special order but it will take 4 weeks, they suggested trying Blatchat.... Thanks CAB

Mike that is pretty good if it is a standard Supersprint spec engine. I had mine rolling roaded after having the head rebuilt (Nick Stagg ported big valve unleaded) and it made 133 bhp (103 @ the wheels) on standard unleaded fuel. It would have probably made a little more on super-unleaded or 4 star. The rest of the engine had done 33K miles, so it wasn't that new. At the time I think Roger King said that you were lucky if a standard Caterham supplied 1700 made more than 118-120 bhp, I think he said the 1600 Sprint made about 100-105 bhp. CAB

Thanks gents. I think I will give Caterham a ring to see how much the spanners cost, when I find out I might just take up your offer Rob.... Chris

Hello Can anyone tell me if the C spanners sold by Demon Tweeks are the correct type for Bilstein adjustable dampers fitted to my Superlight? The platforms have round holes for the C spanner to fit into but the C spanners that I have seen have flat rectangular ends. Is this correct or do I need a C spanner with a different end? Thanks. CAB

Hello Don't forget to check around the windscreen wiper boses, mine used to leak there. CAB

Hello I'm looking to upgrade the exhaust on my 1.8 K SS. I'd prefer something along the lines of a SLR/VHPD 4-2-1 system with the collecter section that can be removed and replaced with a 4-1 collector & cat. I'm not sure if these come up very often but it's worth asking. Thanks CAB

Hi I'd start with the obvious things first like has it got fuel in it? Have you got a spark at the plugs etc etc? Do Minis of that vintage still have points? If yours does I would check/clean/change the points and condenser. If it restarted after it cooled down it suggests it could be electrical such as the coil or the condenser.... CAB.

Sounds like it could be the coil, the resistance changes with the temperature. The hotter it gets the weaker the spark. My friends EU3 K series Elise had the same problem with one of the coil packs, fine when cold but missing when hot. Old/fouled plugs, leads etc make it worse (but these can also cause the same problem). CAB