Lotus Boy

Yes 175bhp is the standard output for carbs. 165bhp for injection.

Another here who fitted NGK BCPR7ES. What came out interestingly were GM branded ones FLR8L, think Hyperion put them in about seven years ago. Found one identical set on eBay but decided to go with the lower cold rated and seemingly more recommended NGKs. Car is running well on the NGKs. Cheers David

I'd also recommend fitting a pedal stop on the clutch pedal to prevent you from over stretching the new cable. Drill and fit to the pedal box, then adjust the stop just past your bite point. The idea is the top of the pedal - where the cable connects - will hit the round end plate on the stop when you depress, thus stopping it from going further than needed and stretching it. http://caterhamparts.co.uk/search.php?orderby=position&orderway=desc&search_query=pedal+stop Cheers David ps I always still keep spare clutch and throttle cables in the car.

I've now ordered zinc plated high tensile bolts and washers from Kay Fasteners. Very nice to deal with on the phone. Good prices too I thought.

Having just taken my sump off, one of the bolts almost rounded off so reckon now is a good time to replace them. I have to remove the sump every two years to replace the baffle. Is it recommended to replace with 12.9 high tensile or is lesser strength acceptable? Vauxhall don't supply anymore so have to go down the eBay/one of the above suggested fastener routes thanks David

Alan, Re the QED baffle - does this fit the Caterham wet sump? Looking at the QED website, they also do their own shallow cast wet sump but I don't think it is the same as Caterham's own one i.e. not as shallow, judging by comments on another sevenesque forum. People have also questioned how safe the metal baffle only approach would be because the sump is so shallow. I.e. oil starvation in hard corning. Having had a lucky escape with my HPC when I bought it - first thing I did was service and replace the baffle (previous owner didn't realise it was there!) and it had turned to crispy disintegrated seaweed - I'd be interested to hear how you get on. Cheers David

No longer for sale. David

Selling on behalf of an ex-member, Seven_Nut, who used to own one of the James Whiting Fireblades, some of you I am sure will remember him. The trailer is approximately 12 years old, hardly used and always stored under cover in a garage therefore is in good condition. The trailer is quiet to use, it's not a rattler! Collection only from near Chelmsford, Essex. Just off the A12. Price is £999. Pictures available here https://www.flickr.com/photos/snapperseven/albums/72157660918301713/with/24190348916/#sthash.SGnNNAbh.dpuf

But the cover won't protect the car from condensation. For that you need a dehumidifier or something like an Airflow Air Chamber or Carcoon Veloce. I have one of the Specialised Car Covers - long term outdoor version at great expense (even though the car is never outdoors!?@*!) - but I have found that over time it just gets grubby to the point where I don't bother putting it on the car now as I think it might be detrimental. It's such a big, heavy duty thing that it's almost too awkward to clean/vacuum. Cheers David

When I replaced my fuel pump gasket with a JW version, I put mine on dry. No silicone or hylomar. I was over-cautious when tightening not to distort the tank so when I put some petrol in, it started to leak through so I tightened up the screws a bit more and leaking stopped. I'm guessing this doesn't necessarily help you other than to say that just using the gasket alone should work...unless I have been really lucky!? Cheers David

I've got the top one. I'll see if I can get dimensions tonight if no one does so before me.

Bri, Interesting - did you just put a drop or two of oil into the jaws then? David

Ah this is interesting as I recenlty bought a Stanley Heavy Duty rivet gun and am having the very same problem. I thought it was me! When I first used it it all worked perfectly but then after that it never releases the stem. I knock the stem out by taking off the nozzle and pushing the stem using a 6 or 7mm drill bit. Seems to fall out doing this. Royal pain though. The one I have is the Stanley 6 -MR55 All Steel Rivetter. David

If you have problems I could probably try to get some for you tomorrow and put them in the post to you? Send me a Blatmail if you want to go down this route. Cheers David

Hi, Sorry I wasn't clear enough. Nothing to do with silcine beeding - that is instead of gaskets if you are dry sumped as I gather. Studding is an allthread bar such as this: http://www.stainlessautomotivefastenings.co.uk/images/Studding%20Din%20975.jpg You should be able to get it at DIY/hardware shops or ebay no doubt, often in metre lengths, which you can then cut to suit. Basically when you are refitting everything after replacing the baffle, you are having to offer up a gasket, then a windage plate, another gasket and the sump to the block and unless you have 8 pairs of hands it is pretty tricky to support them all, line them up and screw in the sump bolts. Where the studding comes in is to get some M6 studding, say 4 rods each 6-8cm long, screw them into four of the holes in the block. What this then does is provide a guide to offer up the gaskets and sump. Once you have got everything lined up on the studding you can loosely hold up it all up with some nuts. This then frees your hands to screw in the other sump bolts and then remove the studding to do up the final four bolts. Hope that helps explain a bit better. David

Quote Bodhiseven "if in fact I don't need additional gaskets/parts etc. as I seem only to have the spare baffle itself " if you don't use silicone as ECR does - I've always used the gaskets as mine is standard wet sump - then you will need 2 x gaskets because there is a windage plate between the sump and the block, hence a gasket for either side. You should see this when you stick your head under the car. I used a tiny, and I really do mean tiny, amount of silicone to help keep the gaskets in place as I offered everything back up to the block. Fully recommend ECR's suggestion of using some short 6mm studding and nuts to hold the sump up whilst you tighten everything up. Cheers David oh and if you haven't already then I highly recommend a mechanical oil pressure gauge. The standard senders are notoriously unreliable. Gave myself two major scares before deciding to go mechanical.

I ordered replacement track rod ends only to find they are 6mm longer than the old ones I have just taken off. 6mm measurement is centre of the TRE to the end of the threaded arm (hope you follow!). When removing the old ones, to aid re-fit, I measured the distance between where the thread on the rack starts to where the locking nut against the track rod end is, using vernier calipers and also counted the number of turns. Given the new ones are longer, is it sound logic just to minus 6mm from my measurements so that the TRE bolt is the same distance it was before?? Thanks David

I'm not aero screened but I have a Soft Bits For Sevens Track and Touring day cover which is waterproof and rolls up into quite a small bag. Hopefully you can see in the picture below Mine is the blue one. I can't get pictures to work on here from Flickr (sure there is a way) so here is the link https://flic.kr/p/Hi4uN Interestingly though, looking on the Soft Bits site I can't see it listed anywhere. I did buy mine quite a few years ago it has to be said. Cheers David

ECR makes a good point about the plastic idler pulley. Well worth getting the full cambelt kit and replacing the lot if you don't know when last done. Vauxhall Schedule says the belt should be changed every 4 years (or 40,000 miles). As mentioned earlier, there are two engine variations based on the profile of the cam teeth. The latter, is known as the LN (Low Noise variant). if you do a search, as I can't recall off the top of my head, you will be able to find the engine number at which point they switched the design. Mine as a 1994 car (delivered late 1993) and is an LN model. One other thing, the sump has a foam baffle in it that should ideally be changed every two years - or recommended changed when you change the grade of oil). If the baffle gets too old it can degrade and turn into something resembling chinese seaweed, which is not a good thing as it can break up and block oilways. When I got my car. I nearly had a heart attack when I saw the state of the baffle. Previous owner had the car for ten years and never knew to change it!! From memory, I think you will need two new windage plates if changing. Oh and one last thing to recommend, if you have the sump off then cut a little V groove into the oil pick up pipe - this will help prevent it accidentally sucking itself to the pan and cause starvation. It is very interesting to hear the bottom end went on yours, as these cars are often referred to as 'bullet proof'. Oh I lied, one more thng! if you are wet sumped - if not done already it might be worth doing the SBD mod http://www.sbdev.co.uk/FAQs/Modifications.htm#faqmods2 There is a diagram/template for the cutting of the baffle but can't seem to find it in the above link. I can probably dig it out if/when you want to do the mod. Enjoy the car! David

I use 5w 40 Comma Synger G will no ill effects. When I last checked with Vauxhall they said their spec for the C20XE was 5w30 fully synthetic - different to what Bio has been told. Why isn't it simple?? Agree with the others though for you, 15W 50 Mobil 1 Motorsport would probably be best.

Ditto. I'd be interested if it is still for sale. I am in CO4 Colchester so easy to collect. Thanks David

When I was sorting my mags out I almost bought of set of aluminium ones on the basis I thought they were noticeably cheaper than magnesium ones but because Mike makes them the same way with similar dies to cast from, the costs were comparable due to effort. Though I don't really envisage issues with my mags I may choose to switch to aluminium centres in a couple of years time when I refurb and powder coat, given I'm not a racer and after absolute light weight (I have a VX for heavens sake !) ;-) Cheers

Hmm I hit reply thinking that would "quote" the post I wanted to answer but it seems that doesn't do it. Titanium7 - in answer to your question... Yes you can. He doesn't always have them on the shelf so you may have to wait for him to make them up. I would imagine it's a like for like fit. He produces Ali ones in the same way he does the mag ones.

I agree with 2GBR. I had no problems when dealing with Mike when sorting out my MBs. Very friendly on the phone, happy to give his time and chat and his turn around time was most reasonable. It would be advisable, if you do wish to chat/chase him up, to just to pick up the phone. When I first spoke to him and talked about the failures he believes it was a particular bad batch but yes, as noted above, changed the design slightly, maybe just to appease - I don't know. Definitely the best looking wheel for a Seven - although Mavic's new ally ones do look very nice too! Can't think of the name at present. I've had my MBs for three years now but only done light road use and not bothered to have them crack tested yet. I need to refinish them at some point as the gold paint wasn't great so will get them crack tested when I get them powder coated.

I bought Samco hoses via Merllin Motorsport for my VX about six years back. Quality seems very good and yes the top rad hose is the same as the Rover. For anyone else reading for future reference - be wary buying their full VX hose kit as it's the same as the Rover kit and gave me lots of fitment issues for the other hoses. Bottom rad hose if I recall is a modded X-flow one.