Lotus Boy

Hi Steve, Hmm if those markings are after the 'DOT' then you may be right! Double check here. Can you see a triangle sign after the DOT code? Cheers David

Are you sure they are three years old? There is a 'DOT' code on the outside rim that will be four digits which state the time of manufacture e.g 1207 which would indicate they were made on the 12th week of 2007. I guess if there are no visual signs of cracking and the tyres aren't more than 6 years old and have been dry stored in a garage then they should be ok(?) Cheers David

Nick, Also check the exhaust cam alloy blanking cap/plate. You should have an electronic plug running from the alloy cap (which I think is a timing sensor). Wipe the underside of it and if you have traces of oil then I reckon that could be your problem. Mine had a leak from this and was fixed by replacing the o-ring seal. I think there is a ball bearing that is hammered into the end of the cam shaft. This way also be the cause of the weeping but reckon o-ring seal as your first check. Cheers David ps thanks again for the sump studs, very kind of you and much appreciated.

Well done Nick, sounds like a good result! cheers David

Mark (de Dion) HPC wheels are Ford fit and have a PCD of 108. If your live axle is 'Ital' then they won't fit as Ital axles have a different PCD (Pitch Circle Diameter) to the Ford ones. If you have what people refer to as a (Ford) English live axle then they will fit. Cheers David

Hi, Pretty sure my C20XE oil pressure readings are as follows: Cold idle = 5 bar Hot idle = 1.75 to 2 bar approx Hot above 3000rpm = 3.75 to 4 bar ...and these are from a mech oil pressure gauge. Cheers David

Hi Guy, I have to say I didn't have a great experience with Samco. Nice enough products in terms of quality but I really struggled with the Samco kit for the Vauxhall. See here. Obviously you will utilise the J pipe on your carb version and hopefully that will fit but just need to be cautious about the bottom rad hose and you will need more heater hose than is supplied in the pack. Basically I think they have done a one kit fits all approach which is particularly clever. And if you fancy a longer read, have a look here Cheers David

Could also be the gauge itself. As Madhatter says, mech OPG is the way forward. I've had two sender/gauge failures in five years, got fed up with it so binned it and went down the mechanical route. Get on the blower to Matthew Potter at Think Automotive and he'll sort you right. Mention the club for a discount Cheers Dave

Perfect. Cheers Alex

Hi Bob, Yep def the LN type and yeah I was aware of the idler pulley issue and made sure I had them all replaced last time. Will do the same again this year. As Billyboy says its better safe than sorry for sure! Thanks for the reassurance on the buld up. Also I'll check the tension. Cheers Dave b_r - no comment!

Thanks guys for all your help. I'll try cleaning it up first then but not before moving the swear jar fully out of arms reach and ear shot. I presume I can change the OPRV without draining the oil first. Cheers Dave

It's a long rubber thing, smooth one side, toothed the other...but that's not important right now. 😬 Sorry I couldn't help myself. Pics here here Looks ok to me but then my eye is un-trained on stuff like this. Does it look ok? Four years old now though and as I say I will change this spring. Cheers Dave

Thanks Paul. With my excuse of pipecleaners for hands and arms I may enlist the help of a friend to sort the OPRV then 😬 Dave

Took the belt cover off my VX HPC at teh weekend and noticed a large build up of ??? on the inside in one particular area. I am guessing it is deposits from the belt? See here here here Is it normal to see this build up? I had the belt changed 4 years ago and it will be replaced, with new tensioners etc, again this year. Cheers Dave

Hi All, For my sins I haven't touched the Seven over winter, it's just stayed tucked up in the garage, but doing some checking last Sunday I discovered a minor oil leak. There were a few spots of oil on the floor. I have had a good look around the engine and it only seems to be wet from the sump gaskets downwards and the whole sump has an oily film all the way round. Some photos here here here here Stating the obvious but I am guessing the leak is coming from the sump gaskets but just thought I would check to see if anyone has experienced similar and knows what might be causing it in particular?? The foam baffle was replaced two years ago and will be changed again when a full service is done on the car, just as soon as the weather bucks its ideas up, so hoping it will be cured then Also... Is this my OPRV? here I have noticed, since fitting a mech OPG, that my oil pressure sometimes flicks up to 75psi when the engine is under load (in first and second gear more than anything) and then drops back down to 55-60. I am thinking the OPRV is a bit sticky? Can you buy a replacement from Vauxhall and is it just a case of unscrew and re-fit with a new one (save for some swearing I understand 😬) Thanks for any advice and pointers Dave

I fill mine a couple of mm above the max mark as you say. I have one tappet that is a bit noisy when cold but the noise disappears when everything warms up. I keep toying with replacing but I understand it is a bit of a pain identifying the culprit and that it is best to change them all but I'm not really at that stage yet. I had a a scary experience not long after owning my Seven where I had unknowingly over filled the oil, was on a blat, went round a corner quite quicky and then panicked as smoke poured out of the exhaust as oil was sloshed through the inlet breather thanks to the Vauxhall's "eco friendly" rocker baffle. I've now done the SBD mod so no more scares! But what it did was help me find it's natural oil fill level 😬 5w/30 is the correct GM oil but Caterham use Comma Syner-G which is 5w/40. I have to say I think mine is better on the Comma. You could also try Mobil Motorsport 15w/50 which is recommended by all the VX big boys (ooh er) on here. My car was built in 1994 and I bought it in 2004. I had a full service carried out and had the foam baffle changed. To my horror I discovered that the foam baffle had never been changed in those 10 years. It was like chinese seaweed but thankfully never caused me an issue and once the engine was flushed it has been fine...but as Paul says, if you haven't checked it then do so and replace it. As a 'fingers crossed for a quick solution' you could try using a cleaning additive like Forte's Top End Treatment, which was recommended to me by Hyperion. This is supposed to clean up the deposits that stick to the lifters etc. Cheers Dave Edited by - Lotus Boy on 27 Feb 2010 08:42:48

Trotsky, The later LN low noise engines are no.14142839 onwards and I think the change roughly happened in 1992. Main difference is that they changed the profile of the teeth on the cams and timing belts and also used plastic cam belt idler pulleys rather than metal ones (a carry over from Vauxhall's ecotec developments I believe). The S in your chassic number suggests a 1996 year build so suspect it will be an LN engine. The D and K stand for D = De Dion and K = Kit. Cheers Dave Edited by - Lotus Boy on 23 Feb 2010 13:16:39

Cheers Kenny. Know what you mean. I run 13"s and also the 15" Prisoners (for the touringy stuff) but way back around the early nineties when I was a teenager I saw a red Seven HPC with the gold HPC wheels thrashing some supercars at Goodwood and that is one of the things that cemented my desire for a Seven. I now have a red HPC and also (soon to be) gold HPC wheels for it too. Just living a little dream... Glad to hear you are getting sorted with yours Cheers David

Hi Kenny, Well done for just going with it and getting the wheels! (says a man who has just bought a set of 16"'s for some cosmetic experimenting - won't replace the 13's though!) FWIW my HPC doesn't run with a rear ARB and have no issues with it on the road, think you will find it's quite a popular thing to do on these heavier nosed cars as you previously experienced. Never pushed the car on track mind so don't know how much of a difference it would make. Re tyres - 888's are the way to go (much better than 048s as are rounder shouldered and have a slightly softer side wall so the car is much less fidgety IMO) though perhaps you could run A021s as a compromise. I got my 888s some time back from Steve at Simply Tyres. Not sure if he is still around. A search on the interent or BC may find something. Think from memory he is based around Northampton but will deliver wherever. Cheers David

Hi Lloyd, I'll have 'em mate. Cheers David

Those tyres were/are referred to as Michelin Pile-ups (Pilots) and for a good reason, as Paul found out. I too run an HPC (there is no other choice...well that was until the Duratec came along - but even then the exhaust is on the wrong side ) and have 15" Prisoners and 13" miniltes. I fully agree that the car performs much better on the 13"'s but then I also think the cars look nice on the bigger wheels. I run Yoko A539's on the 15"s and I find they do well for the touring stuff but are clearly a hard wearing tyre as they have not really worn much in 10K miles. The Scudo Stunners, as I understand it are quite a soft compound, and therefore good for track days etc. A good compromise I think would be something like the Toyo Proxies T1-R as mentioned by Guy. Also please take the advice on here and make sure you run the same tyre on all four corners Cheers Dave Edited by - Lotus Boy on 30 Jan 2010 20:00:12

I don't wish to slate Samco's silicone hose products as they seem very good but their 'kits' leave a lot to be desired. I ordered a VX 2.0 injection kit (they listed this separately to the carb version) and three of the four pipes were wrong. The bottom hose was too short, there was not enough heater pipe to fully replace everything and they supplied a J pipe which, whilst needed for a carb, is not required for a inj model. I queried this with Samco directly, I even sent photos of the metal J pipe on the car but basically I got nowhere and the refused to listen. I ran the car and the hoses up to Hyperion (2 mins up the road for me at the time) and the hoses were an identical match for the standard rubber ones on a K series, so it would seem that 'one fits all'. I had to argue like hell just to get a 50% refund. So I paid 50% of the price of the kit (£150) just for a top rad hose and a metre of heater hose (both being the most straightforward parts in the kit). Not very impressed. Sorry about the rant. Cheers Dave

Hi John, No Caterham don't offer an Mech OPG in the same range as the existing gauges. Best out there IMO is the Mocal one from Think Automotive. Simple white on black. Cheers Dave

Hmm interesting. Mine snapped on me a couple of week's ago. I was driving round the Ford Dunton Test Track banked corners at the time I think. Mine snapped on the thin blade section just before it joins the fixed section though rather than the main bar itself. Mine is 10 years old and always set to softest. Speaking to Gary and he reckons that might be part if the problem. He said softest on the road means it will have flexed far more than if it was on a harder setting on the track. Wouldn't £60 for a new blade though not fitted yet. I've undone the adjusting nut but can't seem to prize the old blade remnant out. Any ideas? Cheers David Edited by - Lotus Boy on 22 Sep 2009 21:26:01

Steve, The Mech OPG from Think Auto (Mocal gauge) is pretty good match. It's a simple white on black affair. Sorry but don't think I have any snaps of mine to show you. Essentially it is this here Cheers Dave