Dave McCulloch

Thanks Hoopy Is there a recommended / preferred manifold & silencer combination (edited original post to say I'm thinking 4-2-1 as torque is more important to me than top end power)? One thought is that if I use the Caterham manifold, presumably I won't run into the problem of them not being willing to buy the car at some point in the future - any other manifold will obviously result in a different cut-out in the sideskin. Do you mean that emerald + verniers is an equally good first mod - ie before exhaust? - this would obviously be easier and wouldn't involve hacking the bodywork. I realise the headwork is going to be the most expensive stage, though I am considering doing the work myself following Dave Andrews' website, so at least it will only be the parts costs (oh, and another cylinder head so I can keep the car on the road as much as possible!). Ta Dave

Right, I'm toying with the first round of upgraditis. Currently have a bog standard 1.6 K series supersport, with the Caterham 4-1 (inside the engine bay) exhaust manifold and catalysed exhaust. A few thoughts and comments which hopefully someone who'd done this before can shed some light on - I've gleaned most of this from searching the archives: 1) Manifold and silencer is the best first mod. 2) The standard Rover supersport ECU will cope with this change - I'm assuming that as it's MAP based (I believe) that it won't "corect" the air/fuel ratio for any changes I make, so presumable it's sufficiently reach as standard that it won't go lean due to increased airflow through engine. 3) Which is the best manifold / silencer combination. Requirements are that it should be quiet (relatively anyway!) and look good - especially that it looks "tidy" where the manifold exits the sideskin. Choices seem to be (for a 4-2-1 manifold for good torque) Powerspeed, Exhausts By Design, Hayward & Scott, Caterham and best recommendation for the silencer seems to be Ammo (mine's a self build car register in June 1998, so I don't need a cat for MoT). Has anyone got any combination of these who could mail me some photos? What prices am I looking at for each of these? Utlimately I'm thinking of following the DVA route of (in order) Emerald, gas flowed head with larger valves, cams and throttle bodies, hoping for around 180 bhp. But this will have to spread out over time due to the cost. The above route seems better value than chopping the car in for an R300 which I guess would cost me over £10k to change. Any comments and help gratefully received. Thanks Dave Edited by - Dave McCulloch on 2 Oct 2003 11:16:02 Edited by - Dave McCulloch on 2 Oct 2003 11:49:57

If there are any spaces left, put me down for one please. Mail being sent now... Dave

Had my 98R 1.6 SS MoT's a couple of weeks ago - it has a cat fitted, but emissions were not even checked as part of the MoT. Didn't ask why not, in case they then tested it and it failed!! Dave

Thanks - reassurance was what I was looking for as this is the first time I have changed a cambelt. I too have suffered from a snapped cambelt due to a seized tensioner, on a Corrado. Luckily it was idling at the time so no damage done. Hence I did check tensioner pulley bearing - felt fine. Engine has only done 7,000 miles so I would hope it hadn't worn out in that time! Dave

Just fitted a new (Rover sourced) cambelt last night and I have a couple of quick questions: 1) the original (ie from new - though as refitted by Caterham after they'd fitted the supersport kit) cambelt was right on the front edge of the pulleys and judging by the shiny state of the front edge of the belt it had been touching the front cover. I centred the new belt on the pulleys, but after a couple of minutes of the engine running it has "walked" almost to the back of the pulleys and seems to have settled about 2mm from the rear edge of the cam pulleys. I assume this is normal / ok. 2) When setting the cambelt tensioner (manual tensioner) the manual says to use finger pressure on tensioner backplate and tighten locknut, then rotate crank 2 turns, slacken backplate bolt, check tensioner is tensioning belt on its spring, then retighten backplate bolt. To check tensioner was tensioning belt, I pulled backplate downwards slightly and made sure spring pulled it back up against belt (which it did). However, this left backplate some way below where it had been when set with "added finger pressure" - application of gentle finger pressure to backplate resulted in it moving a further 5mm or so at bolt slot (co-incidentally to a position pretty close to where it had been tightened for the original belt). I've therefore finally set it at the "with slight finger pressure" position. Is this right? Thanks Dave

Just fitted the new cambelt. Managed to torque crank pulley bolt up to 205Nm just with the car in top gear, handbrake on and wheels chocked. It was slightly fiddly for the reasons Peter pointed out - the combination of the clutch springs, the car creeping forward slightly and the limited arc available to turn the torque wrench . A couple of quick questions (sorry this has gone a bit off topic, but might also help Tom!): 1) the original (ie from new - though as refitted by Caterham after they'd fitted the supersport kit) cambelt was right on the front edge of the pulleys and judging by the shiny state of the front edge of the belt it had been touching the front cover. The new belt has "walked" almost to the back of the pulleys and seems to have settled about 2mm from the rear edge of the cam pulleys. I assume this is normal / ok. 2) When setting the cambelt tensioner (manual tensioner) the manual says to use finger pressure on tensioner backplate and tighten locknut, then rotate crank 2 turns, slacken backplate bolt, check tensioner is tensioning belt on its spring, then retighten backplate bolt. To check tensioner was tensioning belt, I pulled backplate downwards slightly and made sure spring pulled it back up against belt (which it did). However, this left backplate some way below where it had been when set with "added finger pressure" - application of gentle finger pressure to backplate resulted in it moving a further 5mm or so at bolt slot (conincidentally to a position pretty close to where it had been tightened for the original belt). I've therefore finally set it at the "with slight finger pressure" position. Is this right? Thanks Dave

Thanks all - followed Stu's method. Lined up timing marks initially, put car in top gear with handbrake on and wheels chocked and "cracked" the crank bolt - actually undid quite easily with a 24" breaker bar. Then used a smaller ratchet to realign timing marks, inserted cam lock tool and undid crank bolt and removed pulley. Interestingly, mine (1998 1600) didn't have a locating dowel - there was a very small key machined into the crank and a corresponding "notch" machined out of the crank pulley, so thankfully no dowel to break. Just got new cambelt this morning, so will reassemble everything tonight hopefully. Not sure why you can't get 205Nm torque using top gear / handbrake / wheels chocked method? - will soon find out! Should I use locktite on the crank bolt? Dave

As I'm about to do a cambelt change, this concerns me slightly... I realise you should not use the cam locking tool to lock the crankshaft, but reading Tom's post he was only following the Rover engine manual - ie lock flywheel, insert cam locking tool and undo crank pulley. Should (or can) you loosen the crank pulley bolt before locking the cam sprockets - presumably if the engine is "timed" first and is in gear with the handbrake on and the wheels chocked, the crank "shouldn't" turn while the bolt is undone (or loosened at least). The cam locking tool can then be inserted and the bolt and pulley removed. Assuming the pulley locating dowel shears (sods law and all), I presume my friendly local Rover dealer can provide a replacement (do I remember circa £8 mentioned on another thread?) Dave

The level notch on my metal wire dipstick (1998 model) is 413mm from the lip on the "handle" which sits against the top of the dipstick tube (if that makes sense!). Fordy (or anyone else) - can you measure your old broken dipstick to give me the distance to put a new mark on mine where the level should be with the engine hot and running. Thanks Dave

Len Thanks for the response. I assume then that this "Caterham specific" dipstick is the later plastic version, and hence the safest way to ensure correct oil level (and hence reduce the risk of surge/starvation) is to get one of these from Caterham and then check oil level hot and running. My dipstick is currently a metal wire - am I right in assuming that this was an earlier version (1998 car) and hence will have a difference level marked? Can someone with a later plastic dipstick measure from the top of the dipstick (ie under the "handle", flush with the top of the dipstick tube) to the various level marks (full and low?). I can then compare with mine! Many thanks Dave

Thanks for the replies so far - though I'm not sure if I'm much the wiser!! Fordy, do I take it that as you replaced your dispstick from Rover that the plastic dispstick is a standard Rover part and hence uses the standard Rover oil level markings? This would explain why the level should be checked with engine running to allow for the shallower Caterham sump - it would effectively amount to overfilling in order to keep an acceptable volume of oil to cater for all the oil in the pump, oilways, tappets and head. Does anyone know if the oil pickup pipe is standard Rover, or has this been shortened to cater for the shallower sump? Has anyone compared the oil level markings from a plastic dipstick with the metal wire version - I assumed the metal wire version was not standard Rover and the oil level notch was cut by Caterham to suit their installation. But maybe I'm completely wrong..... Does anyone have a metal wire dipstick and the manual says to check level with engine hot and running? Or vice versa does anyone have the plastic dipstick and the manual says check with engine cold and not running? Dave

Probably been asked a 100 times before, but a search of the archives didn't provide a conclusive answer. 1) Engine is a 1600 k series. Dipstick is a "piece of wire" with a notch cut into it. I find this very difficult to read the oil level with - do all k series have this, or do some have a "traditional" dipstick (ie a strip of metal rather than a wire). Anyone know if I can swap mine - would obviously need to make sure that the level notch was still in the right place. 2) Engine is wet sump. Manual says oil level should be checked cold with engine off. However, my search highlighted a number of comments that oil level should be checked hot and with engine running (and that some newer engines even have a plate on the cam cover stating this). So should I follow the manual, or should it be checked hot and running. I did notice when I changed the sump baffle that the notch in the dipstick appeared to be just below the bearing ladder and hence presumable if filled to this level with engine running I should still not suffer from windage? Any help gratefully received. Dave

Having not cleaned them for 5 years, I decided I was overdue to clean the front brake calipers last weekend. Tried using Swissol Multiclean and eventually after several applications and lots of agitation with a brush, some of the original gold colour started to appear. However, there's still a lot of (what I assume is) black brake dust "welded" onto the caliper. Any hints on how to clean these up properly (short of removing them and getting a garage to put them in an ultrasonic tank)? Thanks Dave

Whilst under the 7 last week, I noticed that about 10 or so rivets which are supposed to hold the driver's side aluminium sheet floor to the chassis have pulled out of the chassis at the rear edge and along the back part of the transmission tunnel chassis tube. Also the "U" channel which supports the inner seat runner mountings has a distinct bend in it where the rear bolt is. 2 questions - is this common (or am I just too fat!), and should I just drill out and re-rivet or do I need to replace the rivets with either larger rivets or screws (don't want it to just pull out again). I assume that at the least I'll need to use a trolley jack to lift the floor back to the correct position before I can re-attach it. Thanks Dave

Elie I won't need to cut the carpet - I only glued it along the top edge - it hangs loose down the rear bulkhead and with the seat fully forward I can lift the carpet far enough to reach both bolts without undoing anything else (including the transmission tunnel). Dave ps - as the manual doesn't include any instructions on changing the filter, I've read elsewhere that it's a good idea to pull out the fuel pump fuse with the engine running to release the fuel pressure before undoing any fuel pipes - avoids high pressure fuel spraying around!

Ta - I had considered them but wanted to ask first - the connector is only brass and will, I guess, distort relatively easily leaving me with an even bigger problem (at least it doesn't leak at the moment, even if I couldn't shift it!) Oh well, yet again brute force over ignorance... Dave

Anyone else had trouble undoing the fuel pipe fixing at the top of the fuel filter - the brass nut on the fuel pipe just seems to be rounding itself off - neither 14mm or 9/16" seems a very good fit. Tried soaking in WD40 for several hours and still can't shift it. Anyone got any suggestions?? Dave

Buy a conditioner before you kill the battery - left mine a few times for over a month and the battery got so flat it refused to accept any charge - had to buy a new one, and was recommended to buy a conditioner at the same time (only about £40 from Caterham) - been fine ever since, Dave

Graham I wouldn't use a diode as the conditioner works by monitoring the battery voltage fairly accurately, and a diode results in a 0.7V drop - this may confuse the conditioner into trying to overcharge the battery. Dave

Rob I have an Airflow battery conditioner. I fitted a panel mount socket to the scuttle under the fuse box, wired direct to the battery terminals (with a 4A fuse in the +ve line as close to the battery as possible). The connectors I used are actually audio connectors, but the current for a battery conditioner is quite low so they are up to the job. The ones I used were XLR type - Maplin part numbers KC53H (panel mount female) and KC58N (free plug male). I've used these succesfully for about a year now and they are a neat installation - this location is fairly easy to connect/disconnect (ie you don't have to take the bonnet off) but they are also fairly out of sight. I think the reason for the handbook not recommending connecting the negative of a charger to the battery itself is that you can get a spark on attaching the second lead which could (theoretically) ignite gases given off by the battery - hence connect +ve to battery first and then -ve to some remote part of the chassis or engine. If you hard-wire the charger connections this is no longer a problem - any spark created would be well away from the battery. Dave Edited by - Dave McCulloch on 14 Nov 2002 19:30:47

Ah but if my memory from Low Flying serves me correctly, I believe you may be a bit biased!

Afraid I'm a bit of a wimp, and the wife would definitely refuse to go anywhere in it without a heater!! Though I can see why people without heaters won't have this problem, as air from the "heater" pipe from the thermostat would naturally escape vie the water rail if the front of the car is raised. Dave

I've searched the archives and found a load of useful info on this. Looking at the pipework, it does strike me that raising the front of the car (however high) will never bleed the pipe from the thermostat housing to the heater, as this goes to the top connection on the heater and the water rail connects to the bottom hose. The manual is very specific to ensure that the pipes are connected this way round due to the heater valve, but is there any reason why these cannot be reversed, so that air could rise up the pipe from the themostat housing, through the heater and bleed out via the water rail through the radiator bleed screw? If the pipes cannot simply be reversed, could the valve also be reversed? As an alternative I may get a price for a small engineering shop to knock up a short section if 5/8" brass pipe with a bleed screw in it which I could insert in the top end of the heater hose from the thermostat. (Was going to doctor the heater pipe used by Rover which has a bleed screw already in it, but apparently they stopped making these cause they caused too many problems - leaking I assume!) Any thoughts please? Dave