Lotus Boy

Hi all, What type fixings are used to attach the armrest to the sidescreen? Assume it is some sort of plastic/nylon bolt as per the current strap? Anyone have a link to what I would need? Also how many bolts are used to fix the armrest? Thanks David

Nice to see this pull out ahead of me today. Sadly I wasn’t in mine but I was sorting new tyres for it. Hope you had a nice drive!!!

And to confirm, I absolutely agree with Paul's comments about the baffle and the oil pip up pipe mod. When I bought my HPC it was ten years old. Dropped the sump to find what resembled crispy seaweed you might get from a Chinese restaurant. Spoke to the (one and only) previous owner and he had no idea it was a service item. I was very lucky that I didn't suffer oil starvation, flushed the engine through and had a sigh of relief. David

A few people on here have tried the permanent metal baffle replacement sold by Caterham Austria but i haven't heard about how it has performed. I probably need to change my baffle this year and umming and ahhing about trying the metal one. £54 for a piece of foam from CC is mildly ridiculous. I remember the days when they only cost 14 quid! David

Hello Ian, Yes indeed, something like that. Just end up with too many and not enough time to flick through them. Btw- thread update. These have now been provisionally reserved subject to collection arrangements Thanks David

Free to a good home. Complete set of Low Flying magazines from 2003 to date excluding the following: Jan 2015 Nov 2011 May 2011 March 2011 March 2009 Aug 2006 March 2006 Obviously due to the bulk these will have to be collection only from the Colchester, Essex area. Thanks David

Think you are right. My HPC badges are metal/enamel (?) and very good quality. A few years back someone got Caterham Cars to get a re-run of those HPC badges to original spec. Maybe they would be willing again for other badges.

Might have known you'd tease Andy! Thanks JNC, saw that but wondered if any cleaner ones out there.

Hi, Looking for a good, clean 50th anniversary nose cone badge (the silver, gold and black one) with no major scratches. Thanks David

Great to hear that the 888s have restored some confidence and mirror my experiences with them. As for the the fronts chirping, don't forget the VX engines are quite heavy and probably do understeer a little more than say a K engined car. A few people here in the club 'affectionately' refer to the VX as a boat anchor ;-). I experienced the same plenty of times when I blasted up and down the Alps on the Swiss trips One way to help improve that is to go down the wide track front suspension route.

There does seem to be a rule of thumb that Banners don't recover well, if at all, if it dies completely. They do come with a 4 or 5 year warranty so reckon you'd be better sending it back, assuming you have the receipt.

Spotted you twice! Lunchtime through Aldham and then at 'tea' time going the other way in Chappel. Looked great! cheers David

Gordon Blair (hope I have that right) who I see on the FB pages has one. Think he is planning to fit it this spring. Haven't heard of anyone else in the UK who is running one yet. I suppose it begs the question why something like that wasn't designed in the first place? Cost factor for Caterham?

Yes must say I change mne every other year and it always comes out looking fine (I'm only doing about 500 miles a year at present if that makes a difference) and use Comma SynerG 5w40. I think in the past that people have said what compromises the baffle is if you change oil types (grades, make etc.) with the same baffle. No idea how much there is in that.

When I bought my 2.0VX HPC twelve years ago, when it was ten years old, I took it to Steve Parker (RIP-such a lovely bloke) to give it a thorough review. When he dropped the sump he found the baffle to be like crispy seaweed. Steve flushed the engine through. I had a lucky escape. When speaking with the previous owner, who was incredibly fastidious and one of the reasons I bought the car, he simply didn't know about it. Wasn't part of the build or service info he had when he built it. It's a joke now that the baffles cost over £50. I recall paying just £14 each for them from Caterham in the late noughties when I changed them myself. Im half interested in the metal baffle offered by Caterham Austria next time I replace. Sorry to take your oil topic off track!

Can't help with a friendly Austrian MOT centre ( perhaps the Kumschick garage can offer a suggestion?) but yes Kumschick will look after you. They love their 2.0 VX engines. They built some beautiful turbo versions called the Seven Competition, back in the nineties, not that turbo charging is probably the best route. Must have helped with high altitude motoring??

8J on the front for normal use seems quite excessive doesn't it? Often see similar for sprint and hillclimb cars. Also, know the Fredy Kumschick cars in Switzerland run wider from wheels which seems to be the preference out there. As for tyres (I have a VXi HPC too!), I fitted 048s a long time ago and when I first tried the car with them on it would tramline but more alarmingly it would give a big wiggle when I went over the white lines in the road when overtaking, to the point where when it first happened I had to pull over to check obvious things like wheel nuts. A bit more research suggested that the stiffness of the sidewall and the sharpness of the shoulder of the tyre lends itself to give more of those characteristics in our little cars. I switched to R888s as they were back then and the difference was night and day. So much better and no more wiggling and much more compliant. That's not to say the 048s are bad tyres, sure lots us them fine, particularly on track, but I found them too nervous on the road. Cheers, David

Ditto. I have SPA Design mirrors, So much better.

Remember that there were two types, either made of metal or made of plastic. For some reason I think there are compatibility issues but a) not 100% sure and b) can't recall which would cause an issue. Good luck hunting.

This may help http://uk.caterhamcars.com/news/millfield-school-students-complete-caterham-seven-build ​ Seems like quite a few were built. Andy Noble headed up the scheme - he now runs Sevens and Classics down at Brands Hatch - sure he would be happy to tell you a bit more on the phone.

Thanks for all the thoughts and experiences. Robert - similar experience. Mine is a 93 chassis, registered in 94 and the powder coat all round is doing just fine (though I can't comment for the section where the bubbling is on the skin as I can't easily see it). My car, pampered though it is, has done nearly 47,000 miles. Tim - wonder if the Dorset sea air has accelerated problems or maybe it's a late 94 chassis and that is when the quality changed?? Anyway, guess we can assume that that is what Stuart was referring to in the article. Not the grot trap specifically but the period of poor coating in general which accelerates the grot trap issues for certain years. Maybe that period is earlier than the 96/97 period I thought it was. Cheers David

Hi, I was flicking through the Caterham article in the latest Classic and Sportscar magazine and Stuart Wylie (I believe of Woodcote Sports cars) said that cars built in the mid 90s are prone to corrosion on the side panels near the crease line (I am assuming this is the grot trap area). My car is a 1994 car and is suffering this blistering where the ali is oxidising. Does anyone know why Stuart said it is more common in cars from the mid 90s? I am aware that around '96/'97 there were powder coating issues, could he be referring to this in particular or is there something else specific to chassis/panels of cars in the mid 90s that make them more prone? i thought the grot trap corrosion would affect any car unless the area was specifically treated/protected. Thanks David

Thanks Alan - hmm, interesting about the condition of yours (good to know) though I think I will still change mine given I will be in that area and it's not an expensive part to replace. I need to drain the coolant anyway as I need to change that 'awkward to get to' hose that connects the submarine pipe to the pump. Just found and bought a Draper spanner on eBay for under four quid. Anything to make life easier! Roger - yep I saw that before when I first got my car. Can't seem to load the SBD link but from memory is that the metal idler option?? Is it worth the cost? My engine is standard and I replace everything including the newer GF25 wheel when changing my belt (which I do every five years). I guess you keep that metal idler for life, is that the idea? Thanks David

Hi, I am changing the cambelt next month on my HPC and I figured it's a sensible time to change my water pump too. The car is 21 years old and has 45k on the clock. My engine is an LN (later) version. Having searched the forums I think I have worked out that GM have plastic impellers but these aren't favoured. So the next question is which manufacturer? Best I have found so far is via AutoVaux which suggests a Valeo one (who are an OEM manufacturer - though assume not to GM) with metal impellers. Here's the link: http://www.autovaux.co.uk/product/24409355-water-pump-1334139-vauxhall-opel.aspx My guess is metal is better than plastic and Valeo can't be all bad. So... 1) Any thoughts from anyone who has changed their water pump? 2) Any tips and tricks for removing the pump. Any special tools? I've been told to soak the bolts etc in WD40 beforehand. 3) For the record I have always used GM cambelt kits with new tensioners. Anyone got anything to add on this? Any aftermarket ones that are better? Thanks David

Yes TSK spray the cars and regarded by many as THE only people to spray them. As to what the model actually is, the chassis number could give you a clue. If the seventh digit is an H then it would have been an HPC. More info on chassis numbers can be found at the link below. http://www.lotus7.club/guides/frequently-asked-questions/chassis-numbers-what-do-they-mean It's certainly a beautiful car and meticulously built.