Colin Heseltine

I built my 1600 K series car in 1997 and after a week or too noticed smell of petrol, which I had not noticed earlier. The only thing I had done was to fill the car brimfull. It turned out to be leaking from round the sender 7 unit. Took boot floor out to check seal and screws and after undoing about 3 of the 8? screw the unit lifted away in my handsl. As built from new 50% of the rivnuts had pulled through the ally Give them their due Classic Carriage replaced it under warranty and fitted it for me. Colin.

Mark, Thanks will pick it up tonight. Regards, Colin

Richard, Yes they are the green large diameter 250lb springs. They certainly cant be used as is as the top spring retainer could jump out. Need to talk to Mark D. Colin

Currently attempting to fit adjustable platforms to front suspension on my 1600 K Series Widetrack Supersport. Shockers are standard Bilsteins (M0). I have fitted the platforms on the second circlip groove (i.e. the one above the Bilstein label. The springs are Green colour coded. If I set the platform to give height of chassis rail a 130mm as was set with standard springs and no platforms, and then jack the car up to put the suspension on full droop then the springs drop away from the upper aluminium mounting. For this not to happen the platforms need to be set so that the chassis rail to floor measurement is over 150mm. Way too high. What am I doing wrong. The shockers have been fitted from original with approx 1" extension spacer above the top washer which screws into the mounting eye. Do I need to remove this? All suggestions gratefully received. Colin.

I had the dreaded click around 4 years ago on my 1600K series. I had read about the relay fix but was not sure that would cure the problem. Took starter off car, cleaned round the solenoid and then examined the low volatge connection pillar on the solenoid witha very bright light and a good magnifying glass. What I found was a hairline crack in the solder where the solid wire comes out of the solenoid and into the pillar base. I used a jewellers welding torch and a solder sucker and removed all the solder from the join very carefully. Having done this I then stripped solenoid and cleaned it, but it did not really need this doing. Reassembled solenoid and then resoldered the join. So no click for the last four years. I think I may now need to take another look. I no longer get the dreaded click, but when the engine is hot I occasionally get nothing whatsoever. Tapped the connection and it appeared to work!!!! I may remove the pillar in its entirety and run a cable soldered directly into the solenoid. Colin.

1. Yes 2. 14,000 miles approx 3. 6000 miles since head mods and EVO2 upgrade, no problems (touch wood) 4. Standard 1600 Super sport at time of failure, used for sprints and road use. Colin

Graham, Will be there, Cheque and form in post. Sorry for delay. Colin.

Looks like I'd better take it out and strip it down then. Spend the £95 if/when i've b......ed it up. Thanks, Colin

Out for a early morning run last sunday and waiting for mileometer to roll over to 20,000 miles. It didn't, both the mileometer and distance meter stopped. Speedo works OK. I have taken these things apart in the past and fixed them. Anybody done the same withe the Caterham one and got any tips or suggestions. Thanks, Colin.

Dannyboy, Now who might you be referring to as the other saga guys??????? Colin

Is anyone going to the trackday camping Thursay night or just turning up early Friday morning. Colin.

I can confirm that Radtec are very helpful, and made me a new one when they found a minor split many months after I had fitted the unit. I live 10 minutes away from Radtec (and as it happens 5 mins away from Banner UK HQ) so if anyone wants their radiator collecting during the day and wants to call and collect from me in evening I could organise this. Regards, Colin.

I'm not certain whether they supply a rubber 'O' ring with the bottom drain plug on the Apollo. I seem to remember mine leaked when I first had it. Removed the plug and was surprised not to see an 'O' ring. Fitted an 'O' ring and have never had an oil leak from the bottom since. Colin

My Powerspeed has a similar leak where the primaries are joined. I took the view it was pretty impossible to weld the very last pinhole up and smeared some clear silicone in the gap and it appeared to fix it. May need doing again but does not affect noise readings. 94db at 5K at last sprint. Colin

When I fitted mine I used lots of masking/tank tape. The initial cuts I made with tin snips but then reverted to Dremel type device and half round file. Support the ali panel as much as you can to stop it flexing. As someone else stated measure lots of times and then cut. It pays to do each primary one at a time if possible. You will most likely find that individually they all fit wonderfully but when all bolted up together thing change a little. Also fitting the silencer will spread the primaries slightly. I found that no.1 primary fouled on the bolt on top of the engine mounting and had to put a relief into the primary. This requires lots of head and a big hammer and plenty of support for the primary. If you have to do this you will also find the primary will have bent slightly and more fettling of the hole will be required. When mine was finally fitted after it had been warm a few times and settled down I neede a bit more fettling around the front lower primary. I did this using bent riffler files and also junior hacksaw blade. All in all a good exhaust and made a great difference to the car. Best of luck, Colin.

Nifty, Your comment re Standard 10 rings bells. When I was 17 my mother had a Standard 8. I was told I could have the car providing I stripped it down and rebuilt it. To this end I had the engine out, new mains, big ends, honed all the bores using big 300rpm electric drill and Delapena hones. Decoked the head, lapped all valves in. Once I had done the engine I then had to strip and rebuild all the brakes and front suspension. This was the way to learn. My 21st birthday present was hydraulic crane 😬 After all this I the ended up having to do all my mates cars. 50 odd engine rebuild later we get to the modern day. Try not to do them now, BUT my 'K' series deems otherwise *thumbdown*. Best bit of advice I can give GeeWhizz is to buy the best tools you can. My dad taught me a lesson early on, he let me buy a very cheap socket set. Lots of damaged knuckles and rounded nuts later later and I bought decent tools from then on. Colin

Mark, Don't worry about it, leave them on for Curborough!!! 😬 and let us all see the wonderful handling. Colin

Does anyone have a set of Brooklands screens and mounting bar they would like to find a new home for??

One L tee-shirt for me please. Many Thanks Colin

Mike, I've got the first two , dont want to lower it (cant afford another rebuild, if break sump on sleepy policeman), not sure of aeroscreens for regular road use, so have to go for the free option, put my foot down further. Colin

As one of those with little talent and a 'slightly modded' engine what can I do next to get to the front of Class 2??? I was close to the front 2 years ago, but appear to have gone backwards since then???!!!! Colin.

Slight Hijack. What PDA holder are you using? I'm think of getting TomTom (with Bluetooth GPS) to use with existing Dell Axim X3i and am looking at methods of mounting PDA. Thanks, Colin

I am running my car (1.6 Supersport) with Apollo and Laminova. At startup oil pressure is around 4.5 bar cold. At between 60 and 70 degrees water temp (Normal temp with Radtec rad) pressure is down to around 3.5-3.75, at tickover it drops to about 2. At 80 degrees pressure is between 3.25 and 3.5 with around 1 bar at tickover. Haven't as yet tried changing sender to see if can get higher pressure when hot. Colin

Simon, I assume from your posting Simon that you got home alright. Hope you get it fixed for MIRA. Socially I had a good day at Curborough, but race wise it was absolute c..p Need some proper working brakes for MIRA. Christian Not a problem, if you find the crank is in the North East I am likely to be back in Consett in the near future, possibly next week. Best Regards, Colin.

Regarding the comment earlier about stripping the head so that it can be checked you will need to beg steal or borrow a suitable valve spring compressor, or even make modifications to an existing unit. I tried modifying existing unit but it was just not strong enough and twisted. The collets are b......s to get it and out. Colin.