CAB

The only thin spanner that I could find that would fit the ARB ball joint was in my bicycle puncture repair kit that I bought from Halfords. It's made from flat steel with lots with various open ended spanners punched in it. CAB

Thanks Cagey Are you planning on buying the cat to get through the equivalent of the MoT? I'd like to see some rolling road comparisons of the exhaust with and without the cat. If the difference was minimal I'd probably keep it on all the time. Although from what I have read about the K series I'd expect to loose bottom/mid-range torque and gain very little top end with the 4-1 (and cat). CAB

I saw it with a wheel clamp on and a sticker from the parking guards outside of the pass office by the main gate....

Cagey Well there's mine (orange Superlight but not really that light with me in it), the owner of the blue/silver 7 (that will be at Combe on Saturday) works in the New Tech Centre, I have seen a green and yellow outside the A380 building and burgundy and silver by the Airbridge. I don't take mine on site as I don't have a pass for 20 site and I usually cycle to work. There is another couple on the "other side" at Rolls Royce plus one that is used everyday rain or shine in Bradley Stoke. What colour is your 7? We almost have enough for our own club. CAB

Hello She who must be obeyed thinks that my 7 could do with a better sounding exhaust. She even suggested that I go out and buy one (without months of pleading or even having to replace the kitchen first and I don't even need to get a chit signed! My 7 is currently fitted with a standard short primary 4-1 with a combined cat and silencer. I would like a 4-2-1 with the option to fit a cat for MOT time. Caterham have quoted £695 for a 4-2-1 VHPD system and another £468 for the removable cat (both plus VAT). I shall investigate alternatives from EBD etc before I buy. Does anyone have some photos of the VHPD 4-2-1 with and without the cat? Thanks CAB

Dazzled My 1.8SS with an Apollo runs about 3.75 - 4 bar hot and the needle flicks between 1 and 2 bar at tickover.... I think I'll change the sender at the next oil change, it's only done 7000 miles. CAB

That's good news, Gary is pretty good. Will you be at Castle Combe on Saturday? I should be around the Avon Sports and Classic Car Club pitch in an orange Superlight. There will be another AUK Caterham owner there as well (Viper blue with silver nose band and stripe) a Cobra replica and a couple of others. Chris.

I'd check that you are getting full throttle on the front carb (I'd expect to see cylinders 1 & 2 equal if this was the case). The other thing to check is your valve clearances but they would have to be miles out. It would be worth getting a leakdown test done, maybe you have a couple of sticking/badly seating/burnt valves although I wouldn't expect to see this on two cylinders. What are the plugs like on 1 & 2? Any metal deposits from burnt valves? Do they indicat a very lean or rich mixture? Perhaps the front carb has been running very rich and washing the oil off the bores of 1 & 2 or very lean causing the exhaust valves to burn.... Have you ever had the head rebuilt, the guides could be worn allowing the valve to move about? Have you put a bit of oil in through the plug hole and repeated the compression test? This will temporarily improve the sealing of the rings if they are leaking. Good luck.... CAB

Cagey You are at Airbus Filton as I recall. Pop up to Gary Bowdens workshop at lunch time. He is located at the bottom of the road before the Barclays bank on the A38 near RR. To get there from work go to Patchway, around the roundabout, over the A38, head back to work on the other side of the A38, go past the Toyota garage, past the two speed cameras and turn left before Barclays. Go down to the bottom of the road and turn left, there are two workshops and he is in the left hand one. He should be able to repair it for a fair price. He regularly repairs fins on ally motorbike heads with TIG welding as well as general engine reconditioning. I have had an engine rebored there and my Dad has had two motorbike heads converted to run unleaded fuel. He is ex-RR and a very good machinist. CAB

Happened to me with my old 7, some little tyrant threw an egg at it when it was parked in my garage with the door open. I think it was the shell did the damage as it is sharp and it was still wet when I cleaned it off. The best way to stop it is to catch the little sod and finish them off with a pick-axe handle. CAB

Piers This is how I check the oil on my K with an Apollo tank: 1) With the engine cold remove the dipstick and wipe clean. It will be over the max mark as I believe that the oil drains back from the Apollo tank into the sump. I usually remove it and allow plenty of time for the oil that you have dragged up the dipstick tube to drain back down again or else it will be all over the dipstick. I usually remove the dipstick the night before, clean it, wrap it up and leave it across the driver's seat to remind me to check it. 2) Start the cold engine and allow enough time for the pump to fill the Apollo tank. I allow 1 minute for this. I then check the oil with the engine running and it is usually at the top of the fourth cross/hatch mark. Because the oil is thick-ish and the dipstick tube is clean you should get a decent reading. 3) Remove and clean the dipstick but do not put it back in. 4) The oil will expand as it gets hot, I have a switch to change from water to oil temp on the water temp gauge. I allow the engine to warm up to the 60 mark on the (oil) temp gauge and then dip it again. This should allow enough time for the oil in the dipstick tube to drain back. It is usually right at the top of the hatched section. I then repeat 3) and 4) when the fan cuts in and the oil temp is about 70, the level is usually just over the max mark. The oil temp is a bit higher than this on the road but not that much. Replace the dipstick and take it for a thrash. Hope this gives you some ideas. CAB

Jack Burtons sell the kit to test for combustion gasses in the header tank. The kit is around £35-40 and you can use it several times, the indicator fluid is available seperately. I've just changed my hoses and refilled it with 4 Life engine coolant from Demon Tweeks. This changes from red to yellow if combustion gases are present. It's still red at the moment..... CAB

Rob I have just changed a couple of perished hoses on my 1.8SS. I initially drained it just using the drain plug on the radiator and refilled it with clean water to flush out old coolant. I then drained it again and whilst changing the hoses noticed that you get at about another 3/4 litre of old coolant out of the engine by undoing the heater hose that goes to the standard thermostat housing and main bottom hoses. I think this syphons out the coolant trapped in the heater (if you have one) plus anything before the thermostat. Jacking the car front to rear then side to side also got a little bit more out. I am confident that I got all the old coolant out as I put in exactly 5.1 Litres of new coolant. The capacity of the coolant system (with heater) is 5.1 Litres according to the manual. I also added a couple of bleed Ts to the heater circuit; one in the top heater hose (near to the heater as possible) and one in the other heater hose where it goes into the metal pipe connecting to the main top hose. I refilled using 5 litres of 4 Life engine coolant sold by Demon Tweeks and 0.1 Litres of Redline Water Wetter (front of car jacked up). I refilled it until it just came out of the radiator bleed screw, then put the bleed screw back in and added the rest of the coolant whilst squeezing the hoses. The 4 Life coolant changes from red to yellow if there is leak of combustion gas into the cooant circuit. I used the 4 Life coolant to give me some early warning if I ever suspect that the worst has happened to the head gasket. I then bled the system in the following way: I started the engine (car level) with the header tank cap off and ran it for about 1 minute whilst squeezing all the hoses and opening and closing the additional bleed Ts and radiator bleed screws alternately. I topped up the coolant to just above the max mark and then put he cap on. For the next couple of minutes as the engine warmed up I opened and closed the bleed Ts and the radiator bleed screw to expel any trapped air. I then let the engine fully warm up and pressurise with a bit of light throttle. When the thermostat opens (standard thermostat in my case) and with a bit of throttle I could see air bubbles coming back to the header tank. After the engine cooled down I sealed the bleed T cap threads with liquid PTFE sealant. I have done about 100 road miles and two lapping sessions of Castle Combe Circuit since and the level is bang on the mark. Luckily the coolant is still red at the moment (touch wood etc etc)..... You can also get a kit to test the vapour in the header tank to see if it contains combustion gasses, Burtons sell this kit in the tool section of their website. Hope this helps. CAB

Gareth If Gavin doesn't have it I would be interested. Cheers CAB

Hello I'm thinking of attending the Club Lotus day at Castle Combe if there are any places left. I have a 1.8 Superlight fitted with the standard short primaries merging inside the body and silencer with built in cat. Will this pass the noise test (98 dB limit I think)? Thanks CAB

Thanks Gents CAB

Hello The digital display on my speedo is playing up, the horizontal top bar of the thousands digit is missing. For example if the mileage is 7000 only the near vertical part of 7 is displayed and it would look like I000. I'd like to get the display repaired rather than buy a new unit as the it can't be set to the correct mileage. Can anyone suggest who to contact with regards to getting it repaired/serviced? Cheers in advance. CAB