Dave L.

Alan, Don't buy a Piper belt unless you are going to change the crankshaft sprocket. The Piper belt is wider and does not fit on the standard 1400K sprocket. I know 'cos I still have an unused Piper belt lying around in my garage - I had to go and buy a bog standard belt from my local motor factor - (easier in the UK of course). That's your company car !?!

Like to add my thanks to Graham and the LMC as well. Well organised, lots of interesting cars to watch, and what a cracking track - thoroughly enjoyed it. And I even knocked a second and a half off my practice times after I realised I'd left the spare wheel on 😬. Thanks for telling me guys . That's your company car !?!

sump plug on my 1.4K 1995 is : 1/4"BSP (British Standard Pipe) - 55Deg Thread - 19 TPi - O/D .518" (13.15mm) Pitch .0526" (1.33mm) Tapping size 11.8mm (0.4646") Almost certain it's the same on 1.8K. Only snag is, I think there is a shoulder at the washer end, which might make it necessary for a larger I/D on the washer than the O/D of the thread - if you see what I mean . If I can find my spare plug tonight I'll check. That's your company car !?!

Steve-B, Can't believe it, was just about to try and make such a thing myself Apart from basic shelter from heavy showers, I figured it would make a good sun-shade for touring. Just come back from a tour to Italy with temps in the high thirties and no cloud cover, unbearable with roof off OR on You can put me down for one right now - Any pics available ? That's your company car !?!

Find myself agreeing with Jonathan once again. What we are talking about here keeping the interest of the chaps who are further down the grid, for whatever reason, be it novice driver status or standard road car. It's the people that make up the entry numbers that keep the championship going - lose their interest and you wont get sufficient entries to allow the events to run. Part of the reason why British circuit racing is in such a bad state is because so many potential entries know they simply couldn't afford to be competitive. And I don't care what anybody says, money WILL always win in the end (I know, I've been beaten by it enough times in my career ). Look at all the great champions and you'll see that behind the scenes they worked hard making sure they were in the right team at the right time, and spent a lot of their time motivating the team to always give them the best car. There's a limit to what talent can do - Chris Amon was a perfect example ! What has always made sprinting/hillclimbing attractive over circuit racing, is that you you can just jump in any old car and go and have a go yourself, rather than sitting in your armchair criticising DC or JPM. Alex's point about part of the fun being improving yourself AND the car is very valid - if that's your bag. Other peoples bag is to jump in their road car and go and have a crack against like minded people. Surely both points of view can be accomodated. I would certainly agree with Alex that the championship should NOT become a handicap based one. Crikey, the arguments then would dwarf the current class arguments , but knowing unofficially how well you did against similar opposition gives you a much better sense of your achievement. One other idea that occurred to me, as practised by some circuit racing championships, would be an award for the fastest in each class that drove to the venue. Not sure if that's valid for us though. BB, I guess you would know if the trailered cars dominate in any way ? I also understand that for some it's a matter of convenience to trailer (families distance etc.). Certainly though, knowing you have to drive home in your race car moderates your risk-taking somewhat 😬 That's your company car !?!

I'd like to register my agreement with Andy and others that 1.8K's should be in class 2/3. It seems to me that in terms of sprinting, the difference between all the plenum K cars is negligible. And I run a humble bog-standard 1.4K SS with 15" wheels and plastic tyres, so I've got more to lose 😬 The way I look at competitiveness (is that a valid word ?), if Jim Clark or Stirling Moss had a few practice runs in my car, they'd be there or thereabouts on the class pace, so that's what I have to aim for. Having said that, I think part of the "fun" of sprinting IS the competitive element. Whilst I agree with Dave's "cheque book racing excuse" comment, if you know that ONLY by becoming a racing God or spending a shed-load of money can you be on the pace, you may as well just do trackdays. That's why I like Jonathan's idea of an additional handicapping system. That way you can become more involved competitively with a wider range of other drivers (instead of just one or two), even from other classes. Downside is that it's notoriously difficult to run a handicapping system. It needs a real expert and constant tuning throughout the season, but when it works it really spices up the competition. That's your company car !?!

Mark, On the way to Italy a few weeks ago, we got deluged on in France and had to put the roof up. Of course I then packed it away in the hood bag not completely dry for the next week. When I got home and put the roof back on - just as you found the windows had gone all milky in places and it wasn't condensation. I thought it was ultimately going to be a new hood job, but slowly the windows recovered, and I must say I can't see the problem at all now. So, maybe worth waiting a week before shelling out ! That's your company car !?!

Well I was there in spirit I must admit to being hugely impressed with getting a time without actually competing (thanks Pat) - I must miss a few more 😬 That's your company car !?!

I have the yellow plastic dipstick, but mine has a "full" notch cut above the standard Rover crosshatch marking. I have assumed that this provides the compensation for the shallower sump and I therefore check level in the cold and off mode. Anyone know if this extra notch is a Caterham mod - I have heard that one or two other people have this ? Or could it just be a previous owner's attempt to compensate. Mine's an early-ish 1.4 K. That's your company car !?!

Dan, My 1.4K SS sump plug was (and still is, I guess 😬) 1/4"BSP (British Standard Pipe) 55Deg Thread - 19 TPi O/D .518" (13.15mm) Pitch .0526" (1.33mm) Tapping size 11.8mm (0.4646") I bought the correct Helicoil kit which came with about ten inserts, the correct size drill bit which won't fit into a 13mm chuck (thus I bought a bigger chuck as well). I guess you're intending to fit an oil temp sender like Chris, but if it's a thread repair you need, you're welcome to borrow the stuff. That's your company car !?!

Hey Ken, Wait 'til we get started on AC power theory ... eek That's your company car !?!

Chris, The magic words were "per cable" which did not appear in your original post. Subsequently armed with those I apologise for mis-interpreting the bit in brackets, but I'll be damned if I can find anywhere in your first post, even now, where it says power is proportional to current squared. It does however appear in your second post - pedantic, moi ? So it seems my reading lessons have paid off after all, and I do know how to read these simple things, thank you. That's your company car !?!

Oh, and another thing - JR is quite right that using Chris's figures of 20 amps flowing through a resistance of 1/20 ohm results in a drop of 1 Volt not 2. 20 times 1/20 results in 1 in anybody's maths ! Except for the GF's when it would result in 42.3 thingummijigs That's your company car !?!

JR, You give up too easily v=ir p=vi p=i*i*r i.e. p is proportional to i squared (which Chris's chart also proves !) v=ir i=v/r p=vi p=v*v/r i.e. p is also proportional to v squared Primary school electronics (and algebra for that matter). And JR is also right when he says that 1/10 ohm plus 1/10 ohm in series, as per your inference "to the switch and back", is indeed 1/5 ohm. Chris, you're thinking of resistor in parallel, when it would be 1/20 ohm. A little knowledge ... That's your company car !?!

Cheers Jeff, many thanks. That's your company car !?!

Sorry, searched the archives but can't find what I need. Can anyone tell me the dump resistor value for the battery master switch ? ISTR it is around 3-4 ohms and 10-15W. I have a switch to fit this weekend, but I've had it a few years and I've lost the resistor. Many Thanks That's your company car !?!

I bought the special punch tool and die from Frosts and it came with a goodly variety of Durable Dot fasteners for 30GBP. I tried fitting the fasteners that came with my tonneau cover without the tool and the results were messy to say the least. Get the tool ! Go to www.frost.co.uk and search for durable dot.

Just had my sump off at the weekend to helicoil sump plug hole (not me - ham-fisted previous owner or dealer). Naturally took the opportunity to change the foam "baffle" at the same time. Lucky for me, no bits in the rest of the engine, but the foam at the "upper" part of the windage plate (if you see what I mean) was like crispy seaweed, falling apart at the merest touch. However, the foam on the "lower" part was fine and dandy. It's my contention that the foam is being roasted in the hot air after engine switch-off, thus causing the break-up. The foam that sits on the "lower" part of the windage plate remains immersed in oil and thus isolated from the air responsible for the roasting effect. I noticed that the new gasket I fitted (previous ham-fist used micron thick bead of instant gasket - who are these people ?) has a wide lip on the nearside, and the gap netween the windage plate and the gasket is virtually nothing. So I decided to cut the baffle width so it wasn't crushed between the "upper" part of the windage plate and the gasket. This also means that none of the baffle should be out of the oil when the engine is at rest. So far so good. I do nearly 500 miles a week, so I'll let you know soon if there's any problems. Won't be sprinting or tracking again for a while though, so it's only road-testing. I note there has been some discussion previously regarding topping up engine oil. I understand the official Caterham method is to top up to the line while the engine is running. Personally I don't do this, but doing it this way may result in enough oil to just keep the baffle submerged with the engine at rest. Perhaps that is why some people suffer the foam breakup and some don't. I personally believe the baffle is there to protect the crankshaft from crashing into "solid" oil as it slops about. Hence my reticence to overfill, because then the point of the baffle is defeated. I don't believe the baffle makes any contribution to stopping oil surge other than in that sense.

Windscreen assembly black '86 onwards - 76086A That's your company car !?!

Thanks for the tip Allegro - I have this problem, but like you have not been too concerned about it. But I was sure it had to be something to do with variable friction around the disc, 'cos warped discs just give you a pulsing feeling through the brake pedals and I definitely don't get that. The braking force doesn't seem to vary much with a warped disc either. I also considered wheel bearings, but just couldn't figure out logically how they could give this effect. That's your company car !?!

Just changed the cambelt on my 1.4 SS. Worth remembering that on the earlier engines the crankshaft sprocket ain't wide enough to accomodate the Piper belt ! Found this out on New Year's Eve so my only option with the car being in bits was to fit a standard pattern belt (eek) from my local auto supplies. So if anyone wants a Piper belt in the Beds/Herts/Cambs border country (or at the next Ace meeting), a tenner will get you it. (Unless I come across a wider crankshaft sprocket in the mean time !!) Is the 205 Nm figure from Rover ? Considering all the horror posts I've read here regarding the "undoing" of said bolt - I decided to clean mine up, apply loctite and torque to 120 Nm (it seemed to be done up to less than that when I undid it and the cars done over 30,000 miles). I'm always dubious about overtightening - most of the nasty jobs I have ended up doing on all sorts of cars and bikes stem from a over zealous previous tinkerer with a jack handle for a torque wrench. So, should I be re-loctiting and re-torquing this weekend ? On the same subject, does anyone think like me, that the "spring" on the "manual" cambelt tensioner seems rather a weedy affair ? I know it's subjective, but it would put my mind at rest if someone else feels the same !! Whilst rotating the engine the unclamped back-plate would smack against the clamp bolt at the point where the valve springs were being compressed, and the spring would only just move the back-plate away from the clamp bolt at the 90 BTDC point. Cambelt twist seems a tad more than 90 degrees on the longest run, so I guess it's OK. Got me the 50 miles to work this morning, so maybe I should stop worrying ! That's your company car !?!

1997 1.8i Supersport, 5300 miles road use only. Boston green with silver nose. Factory built to the best possible specification. 6 speed, FIA roll bar, external battery cut-off, leather, heater, push button start, flush filler, carbon dash, Yoko's on 14" Minilites, cycle wings, full weather equipment. Fitted cover included. Exceptional condition throughout, the best there is. £15,500 This post is for a friend - you can e-mail me for images. To discuss the car and for viewing contact Phil Stainton. 01767 651565 or 07768 870105 That's your company car !?!

w1scb, Do you wear the practice headsets on the road in the UK ? Don't plod take a dim view ? I wear custom earplugs all the time in the car ( I SAID .....) but they are a little more discrete shall we say than the Peltor headsets ! Anyone know what the real law is on wearing headphones in the car ?

I reckon Caterham modify a Rover original. My 1.4 SS dipstick seems to have the original markings ground off and a "waist" ground in, which I presume is the MAX level since there are no words !! If you've broken yours beyond all recognition, I could let you know the measurement from o-ring to "waist" and overall so you can compare with a Rover item. Dave