Midnight

I dont know if you intend to do any corrosion proofing prior to your build, but i polished and used a clear spray laquer on the underside panels of my seven. its better than an underseal or paint because it allows you to keep a look out for alloy corrosion whilst maintaining a reasonable looking underside. After almost ten years you can still see your face in my underside and no corrosion. Sad bugger aren't I? p.s I also waxoyled all the tubes via rivet holes, and also between the foot boxes and the outer alloy skin, as inevitably these areas fill up with dust, sand gravel which turns to mud when wet . Regards

I dont know if you intend to do any corrosion proofing prior to your build, but i polished and used a clear spray laquer on the underside panels of my seven. its better than an underseal or paint because it allows you to keep a look out for alloy corrosion whilst maintaining a reasonable looking underside. After almost ten years you can still see your face in my underside and no corrosion. Sad bugger aren't I? p.s I also waxoyled all the tubes via rivet holes, and also between the foot boxes and the outer alloy skin, as inevitably these areas fill up with dust, sand gravel which turns to mud when wet . Regards

How often should the the universal joints at either end of the prop shaft be greased? I dont seem to be able to find any references to this in the Caterham manual.

Probably best to get your sump gasket from someone like Burton's I had the same problem ie asked for a 711m crossflow 1600 sump gasket from the local Ford main dealer and got one that was too short. apparently it was a Festa item. I believe that the timing chain cover is deeper. They could'nt supply the correct one as it wasn't listed on their parts computer any more.

Good luck taking off your rear wings. You may have a problem with the rivnuts. These are the forward 3 bolts on each rear wing. If they were originally done up tight you may find that the bolts just go round without coming out. unfortunately to fix this you may have to remove the seats and the cockpit inner panelling to get a grip on the back of the rivnuts!. here's hoping you dont get this problem. good luck.

I had a similar problem with my 1700 XF. the problem showed itsellf initially as a misfire at high revs due to fuel starvation. went through everthing from plugs to a new fuel pump and a sssion at a tuners and still couldnt cure it. i took my tank out in desperation becuase if I blew down the fuel pipe from the engine end i could hear the bubbles escaping at the tank. However if i tried sucking by using a spare electric fuel pump i could hardly get anything out. it turned out to be a tiny plug of cork which was pushed out of the fuel gauge sender unit by one of its fixing screws. it must of floated for a little while then got fuel logged and sank to the bottom of the tank and eventually got caught in the mouth of the pick-up pipe. It acted like a little valve (a bit like those little flaps that vertical exhaust stacks have on some lorries) I got rid of it with a bit of wire down the fuel tank metal tube, and then fished it out with one of those nifty devices you use to retrive lost screw. Hope this is of use. Regards Des east

My lower upright bearing (93 Dedion) had a slight bit of play in it, which was revealed at the last MOT, which necessitated a new bearing (rose joint). These bearings can be a pain to change because the old ones usually rust in, and even the Loctite which Caterham use on these bearings can also prevent easy removal. They normally require an hydraulic press to remove and replace. A note of caution, make sure you also get the new design of retaining circlip to hold the new bearing in, as apprently some of the older retaining circlips have been known to somehow catch and ping out!. As to the wishbone bushes Caterham actually said to me that they often don't try to replace them as they are difficult to remove without distorting the steel tube around the bush. They would obviously rather sell you a complete new one!

Sorry I forgot to mention that I use a discarnect Battery isolator device on the neg earth terminal. It will go either round a round post terminal, or with a bit of filing will slide either side of the new flat battery terminal. As for the Starter lead, I put the round terminal in a vice and flattened it, then drilled a suitable hole to connect to the positive battery terminal. All works fine.

I've just changed my 10 year old Ford Torque-starter (gel) battery for a new Banner from Caterham. The ideal solution for changing is to also buy the stainless battery tray/clamp and a set of flat post earth and starter leads. However, being tight I've found that the original Caterham tray can be eased outwards at either end to fit the Banner item. You can use long tie wraps to hold the battery in place (bear in mind that from time to time you will need to get at the cells to top them up). I used a nylon camera strap with a metal ring on one end which I rivetted to the back of the tray, went over the battery and connected up to the original spring hook.

Thanks for the advice, I'll try all the options, although I don't fancy changing the battery as you know it involves taking off the carbs, steering column and coil/ignition pack to hike the old battery out! Oh for the latest scuttle mounted version. If I need to change the battery can anyone recommend the best make/appropriate size for a 1993 crossflow de-dion chassis with the y shaped tube under the battery tray?

Tried to start my crossflow about an hour after a longish run, and got nothing but a clicking noise from the starter solenoid. Flat battery I thought, so I tried jump starting from my other car, but still just the clicking noise from the solenoid. I've Checked my alternator output recently which was in the region of 13.5 -14 volts at 3.000rpm because the starting wasn't as brisk as usual, after the car was not used for approx two weeks. Next took the starter off, and tried running it directly from my battery charger/starter and also from a spare fully charged car battery. The solenoid worked and the motor span over fine, but of course not under any load. tried running it from the Caterham battery, jump leads, and again it ran strongly. Checked connection and resistance of the Caterham's starting circuit cables, and all o.k.. I put the starter back on the car, and again just the clicking solenoid. Voltmeter on the Cat battery showed 12.45 volts at rest. Help needed! do I change the starter, the battery,the leads to the starter, or all of them! Any advice gratefully received. Regards, Midnight

my clutch cable is about eight years old and is still going strong as stated by Mcalvert, it is essential that the brass eyelet which connects the cable to the pedelwith a through bolt is relatively loose on the bolt and able to move up and down.