Dave McCulloch

During the recent Oulton Park trackday, my K series turned over progressively slower on the starter motor (a brise one new at the end of 2005). By the end of the day I had to be lucky to get the engine to catch - but when I got home it wouldn't turn over fast enough to start- bit started ok with a jump start. On checking over, the battery was low on electrolyte level - 2 of the cells the plates were showing above the level - and the plates on most of the cells have a "crinkle" effect looking at them. Voltage with the engine running is 14.2v - irrespective of revs - which seems about right. The battery is 6.5 years old - which I think is pretty good - but I just wanted to check the failure is age or low electrolyte level, rather than overcharging or some other issue. Cheers Dave

Paul I can probably help you there - I'll be driving up north on saturday 21st and will be towing my seven. The trailer has a tyre rack on it, but I won't be taking any spare wheels with me. The snag is the trailer will be parked outside my inlaws house whilst I'm up north, so you'd need to be able to supply a suitable chain and padlock to secure the wheels to the trailer. I'm just outside East Grinstead - so not too far from you. If you want to take me up on the offer, call me on 07881 578682. Dave

Geoff Will there be helmets to borrow/hire at Oulton Park? My father in law seems keen on coming along for the day and it would be nice to be able to take him out for one of the sessions. Thanks Dave

I followed Dave's advice on mine - teaspoon of basmati rice and good squirt of brake cleaner. Worked a treat. Dave

Matthew I swapped from standard pads to Pagids in my standard calipers earlier this year - RS15s front and RS14s rear. However, I had problems with the rears locking before the front, resulting in some scary moments. It seems a few people suffer this, but most are alright - and I believe the Academy series drivers all run this combination without trouble. I've since removed the RS14s and returned to standard rear pads which, for my car, seems to provide good balance. The RS14s were, I think, about £110 plus postage and have done literally 30 miles. If you're interested in them, I'd sell them on for £75 incl p&p. Blatmail me if you're interested. Dave

No need to remove alternator - though space is tight with it still attached. Also, I put pipe lagging around chassis tubes in vulnerable places to avoid damage to the powdercoat. Dave

track day noise testing

Geoff Cheque in the post today for intermediate group. Dave

Excellent - a few final logistics to confirm and then I'll be putting a cheque in the post. Dave

Geoff Are there still places available at Oulton? Thanks Dave

Adam Thanks for the reassurance that they do spark - it was particularly surreal seeing a shower of sparks flying off both front brakes - probably wouldn't have noticed in daylight. I replaced the front disks with new ones as there was a distinct ridge at the edge, and they're only £30 a pair. The rears I rubbed down with 160 grit sandpaper - have to admit I didn't try to get hold of garnet paper, and I didn't spend 1/2 hour per side of each disk - more like 10 minutes. However, in defence, I was happy that the rears were maybe slightly below best performance. As it turned out, they were still far too effective. I did also find the front left tended to lock up - but as I messed up the flat floor setup when I changed the springs so will probably need to get that re-done at some point. Dave

Yes - they're definitely in right. I was quite surprised to see sparks! But the pads are definitely much more effective than the standard front pads - much less effort required.

Disorganised as usual, I finally got round to ordering upgraded brake pads following the bad fading of the standard brakes at Brands Hatch last September, in advance of the Abingdon track day I'm doing with MSE next friday. Fitted the Pagid RS15s to the front and RS14's to the rear, and took the car out to bed them in. First gentle braking felt fine, but the high speed bedding in proved interesting - when the rear end promptly locked up first and an alarming pendulum effect rapidly ensued . Repeated the process and exactly the same happened again. Gently drove home and replace the rear pads with the standard ones - not ideal as I hadn't expected to be doing this so hadn't labelled where the original pads were fitted. All then seemed fine - though I was completing the bedding in in the dark and there was a stream of sparks coming off the front pads. Proof will be on friday. Moral is if anyone is thinking of fitting upgraded pads on the standard calipers, don't try to add RS14's on the rear with RS15's on the front. Dave

Thanks for the kind offers. I actually went straight to Caterham parts first thing this morning because I wanted to get on and get it back together again. After some headscratching (I appeared to have a very odd set up including top "cones" on the front - where there should have been top hats - with the result that the top damper eye had also been changed to a rear type. The guys on parts and service were really helpful and rummaged around in the workshop and managed to find all the bits to sort fitting the 1.9" springs. Even better was that they were all "previously owned" bits that were supposed to have been thrown out 😬. Top marks to Caterham Cars for that - very very helpful. Dave

I bought a set of adjustable platforms a while ago and had these fitted to the standard Bilsteins last September by Hyperion. I had hoped to retain the existing springs (1.9" dia std springs off a 1600 SS) - however Hyperion said they wouldn't fit and I'd have to use 2.25" springs. As I hadn't turned up with any springs they fitted some they had - 250lb front and 225lb rear. At the same time as fitting these they removed the extenders from the front shocks. However I found the rear way too hard for road use - lots of skipping and then wheelspin, so I've now acquired a set of freestyle springs which are much softer for the rear. These are 1.9" diameter and I'm struggling to see how I can fit them with the parts I've got. Here and here are pics of the dampers and fittings I have for the rears. Do I need to buy different "top hat" adaptors for the top of the damper (with the 1.9" fitting)? For the adjustable platforms themselves, at the front these appear to be reversible with one ring having a flange for 1.9" and the other 2.25". But on the rear dampers one of the rings has the 2.25" flange but the other has no flange at all - any thoughts? Thanks Dave

Peter I fitted the Brise starter to my k series at the beginning of this year - I also have the SLR 4-2-1 primaries, and I have the earlier version which provides less clearance for the starter. BC advice, which I followed, was to replace the rearmost caphead bolt with a piece of stud (10mm diameter I think) and then use a nut on the stud to hold the starter in place. One gotcha (unless Brise have modified the starter) is that innermost bolt holding the adaptor plate to the starter was not recessed fully, and was fouling the rear face of the flywheel - make sure this small caphead bolt is flush with the face of the adaptor. I had to remove the bolt and I filed a couple of millimetres off the top of the caphead bolt - still plenty left for the allen key to get a good purchase. You will also need to get a new +ve lead made up to run from battery to starter - the Brise has the solenoid underneath and the standard lead was too close to the exhaust for my comfort. I got Road Radio in Crawley to make one up. Other than the above, I've got nothing but praise for the Brise starter - spins the 1900 engine over fine hot or cold (replaced the old standard starter because it was incapable of spinning the still tight new 1900 when hot). Dave

Cagey Do you know how the Freestyle rates compare to the 225lb / 150lb recommended earlier in this thread - I had adjustable platforms fitted earlier this year but the choice of springs was limited - I'll check this evening what rates were eventually fitted but the back end is now far too hard with the result the back skips over bumps and the back wheels promptly start spinning - a bit scary at this time of year on slippery roads. Depending on rates, I may well be interested if they're still available. Thanks Dave

Thanks all - as I suspected not really any consensus. Mick - I have read that thread several times, and certainly follow the Peter C "stupid" logic about sealing the system - even though both CC and Pace seem to advise running this way. I might try plumbing the system the "Dave Jackson way" and see how I get on. There certainly appeared to be quite a few strange noises with it sealed when idling - including some quite noticeable juddering / lumpiness after being stuck in slow moving traffic at idle waiting at a junction, which I'd never experienced before sealing the system - no other changes made. Dave

I fitted the CC standard dry sump system to my K series last January, and ran it initally with one cam cover breather (the small one) blocked and the other connected to the airbox. This resulted in quite a lot of air (and hence presumably oil misting) being blown into the catch tank and out through its lid - I'm using the CC washer bottle catch tank. I then found CC (and a number of others including Pace) recommend running the engine sealed, so I've just sealed both cam cover breathers. This has resulted in a number of stange sounds appearing at idle - which could also be there when driving but drowned out by general engine noise) - which are all related to the vacuum. Releasing the oil filler cap results in an inrush of air to the engine and the odd noises stopping. I've read the previous thread about sealed versus atmospheric running of the engine. Hence I thought I'd ask the BC community - do you run your dry sump engine sealed, have you noticed strange noises, and have there been any unwelcome results from running sealed? Thanks Dave ps - it was a bit slipper out there today Edited by - Dave McCulloch on 9 Dec 2006 19:53:26

Is Loctite 598 an anaerobic sealant? I've read on here before that the blue plate and the bellhousing surface aren't always absolutely flat with the result that an anaerobic sealant won't seal properly - which is why I used silicone sealant last time around (only a small amount) - and there was no sign of any excess having tried to break away inside the bellhousing. Dave

Thanks all - picked up some silicone eater from Screwfix at lunchtime. Dave

Davesport - where do I get that from?? Ta

I've searched the archives but can't find an answer to this one. I'm doing my first oil change since dry sumping my K series, and when I built it I fitted the blue plate with silicone gasket gloop as recommended in the instructions. After many hefty wallops with a mallet and drift, I've finally persuaded the blue plate to part company with the bellhousing, but how do I remove the layer of silicone I'm now left with? Tried brake cleaner and cellulose thinners so far with no joy - is there a solvent which dissolves this stuff? Hopefully won't have the problem again as I'll be fitting a Hellier plate with drain plug. Thanks Dave

Peter Thanks for the offer. I'm going to do the oil change and clean out the header tank first - if it sludges up again I'll take you up on the offer. Cheers Dave

No not sorted yet - likely to be one night next week before I get a chance to look at it again...