George C

Most people seem to use the F9 and the change to 45s will be noticeable - its trial and error and may not work. You will need to adjust the idle mixtures after and best to balance too. If its still too rich then there may be a problem with something else - out of adjustment (ie float levels?), something leaking (ie pump jets) etc etc. Good luck.

As said above there are many things to check etc etc etc but you could drop to 45 idle jets which will lean the low speed running. 50 seems quite high compared to the main jet you are running. If its too lean you will know quickly as it will cough and spit back through the carbs whilst driving slowly. Once at higher revs it will run on the mains so will have no effect. You need to be certain with the jets as they are often drilled out. If you are near Suffolk I can lend you some 45 jets and have a jet measuring thing.

Roger - Thanks for the explanation on the ignition timing etc, very informative.

You could talk to Scholar Engines who have been doing Xflows since the beginning of time or Vulcan Engineering or Burton or Wilcox. There are many more. Good luck.

It depends on the actual damage. I had a dent chap out who carefully removed two dents from my car and did a very good job.

If you look at the Burton website they have a nice selection of specs and prices for different heads including alloy ones. I don't think the stage 1,2, 3 etc means very much, you just need to get someone who knows what they are doing to make something nice. I would push the boat out and do it really well and then another year when you have some more money do something else - the bottom end or 3d ignition. I don't have any experience of the alloy heads but I havent heard anything negative. They use them in classic Formula Ford now so they must be fine. I think they save 6kg or more which is a great upgrade in itself by taking weight from high up at the front of the car. Also have a look at the Wilcox engines web site. These guys seem to know what they are doing but probably expensive. Roger K built me a big valve head (cast iron) with narrow stem valves etc and its great, unleaded too. I have since upgraded the bottom end to all steel so have the Accralite pistons, polished rods etc, all low mileage if any use to you.

A couple of things: A really light weight steel flywheel is a cheap good upgrade and not too expensive but only worth doing with the rest of the bottom end. I had one (on a crossflow) with slots machined out and a small diameter clutch and it gave the whole car a much more exciting feel as the revs picked up very quickly. No problems with tick over either. The 123 distributers look interesting but quite a few people don't get on with them, don't know why.

For the £ 500 budget I would concentrate on the head which you can remove yourself and then get a really good engine tuner to properly port, maybe some bigger valves, convert to unleaded, match to the inlet manifold. It all depends on what you have now but you would get a power increase from simply refreshing the head plus the other work will add to this. Some second hand Webber 45s would also work well. The bottom end could then be upgraded at a later date as your budget wont stretch to that at the moment. Don't worry about the pistons, if they are in good condition they will survive for the moment. Changing the cam is a relatively cheap upgrade but would lead to an expensive list of other things which would need doing so I would do that later.

Also check the prop shaft. I was surprised to find that mine needed rebuilding after only 10,000 miles although 1,500 of these were on track. Its about £ 60.

With clams the steering could be turned to the full extent of the old rack (mini rack upside down I think). But, with cycle guards the guards catch on the ali bodywork and also the wing brackets catch on the anti roll bar when turned the other way. I converted from clams to cycle and this was a downside of the conversion. I seem to remember reading somewhere that the turning circle with clams is second only to a London taxi. Caterham fitted rack stops to restrict steering movement and this then became standard and was carried over when they made their own rack. I have thought about sculpting a piece of the cycle guards and reprofiling the brackets to get full lock back which would be quite handy.

Some not very technical and probably useless feedback... I have a racing 2 stroke kart and so I tend to have spare 2 stroke fuel in my garage, mixed with expensive two stroke racing oil. Throughout the year I always end up running short of normal fuel and use the 2 stoke stuff in my 4 stroke lawn mower, strimmer and dare I say it, a little in the Caterham (170bhp steel crossflow) to get me to the fuel station. What has suprised me is that all these engines run really well with it. Maybe there is some sort of octane booster in the racing oil. You also get the added benefit that they smell of a racing kart which is a happy event for me.

If its an engine that gets reved hard and thrashed then my experience of XFlows in Caterhams and Formula Ford is that they need rebuilding to check for cracks and this together with a freshen up will keep everything running well and prevent failure. Often when they go bang there is no warning and its not that great if you are mid corner and accelerating etc etc (I have had that one!). A rebuild isnt too expensive and the engine will then be in good shape for many more miles - you might like to upgrade at the same time. If you are unlucky and it goes bang then you are in for a big bill. A compression test will tell you if the engine is worn out but it won't tell you about the components that could be about to break. If the engine is used on the road and is treated with respect then I am probably being pessimistic.

My experience is that they will work with softer springs (also on 87 dedion). I can't remember the rates but there is no right and wrong, its what works for you and how you like to drive the car. 170 is quite hard for an 87, maybe drop to around 130 / 140 but it depends on the front spring rates.

If its similar to my 87 dedion then the poundage of the springs (also on Spax adjustables) is much lower that the current springs (by about 40 or 50%). Mine also went down quite a bit when you got in the car and was really low with 2 on board but it all worked well and with the shocks stiffened up it worked well on track. I later fitted stiffer springs to the Spax which reduced suspension movement and bottoming out. I then changed to the Freestyle AVO setup which works well.

I have done a bit of both. Some people say powder coating is more durable and is what I have done to the rear suspension. Its durable other than when it is chipped and it then flakes off as the rust spreads underneath. My front suspension is spray painted to a high gloss and I prefer the look. I thought it might chip quickly but it has lasted very well. The earlier Caterham chassis were spray painted and they seem to last well - mine is 25 years old and looks good.

My Red Top 25 has been on the car for years now and has proved to be a good upgrade for road use. Cold starting is much better than previous standard batteries and it holds its charge very well. I use a master switch so can't comment on imobilisers etc. Main useage is day time blatting. Next step would be lithium which is again much lighter and smaller but not sure on reliability etc.

I also blanked them off and ran the car like that for many years and it was fine. But when I checked with the engine rebuilders when it was rebuilt they advised to link with a bypass pipe. Burtons sell the parts. For some reason which I don't really understand it runs cooler now which is good. I imagine it allows a more even temperature through the engine but thats a guess.

I changed from a standard 5 speed to a SPC helical gear set in a Quaiffe box all built by SPC. Not that much noiser than the standard box and quieter than staright cut boxes I have tried in other cars. I went with a high 1st gear and low 5th gear and it suits the car (with steel XFlow) well.

Sounds like the brakes need a really good service / check as the standard brakes should at least give fairly good braking and you shouldnt have to fight the car to keep it straight. You need to check that none of the calipers or rear brake cylinders are ceised or partially ceised (very common), bleed the system and check everything else. Also check the suspention / steering joints and tracking. Dont upgrade anything until you have understood what is wrong with the existing set up. LSD would be good but I would review and reconsider when you have changed the tyres. It may be that sticky tyres plus some decent dampers and springs are the way to go. LSD and bigger brakes are then the next step.

13 inch wheels should be better on the road and track as they are lighter. The suspention can do its job better with ligher wheels and tyres as the inertia of the wheels bouncing up and down is considerable and the more this is reduced the better and the tyres will stay in better contact with the road. Acceleration and braking should also be better as there is less weight to be accelerated and decelerated (rotational) - same as lightening a flywheel but to a lower degree. Higher sidewalls work very well on a 7 and on the road absorb the imperfectios of the road. There is also a great choice of tyres for 13 inch rims. Larger rims fill the arches better so look good.

I use Mobile Motorsport 15/50 which is slightly thicker than the 0/40. It is very expensive but suppossed to be very good. The 0/40 oil may give a tiny bit more power, the 15/50 oil is a bit safer, so I am told. Info on XFlows on Blatchat or Burton Power who sell parts etc or various engine builders including Wilcox.

Sounds like you are in safe hands.

I am no sure of what too look for. Probably check the numbers. You could call VSE, they are helpful and could advise. If you decide to rebuild in France you can also buy all of the parts through people like Martin Robey - who sell E Type parts. Unless the mechanic is really good, I would send to a specialist as you are more or less guaranteed a good result.

Just like the Caterham world there are many options. I can suggest two having rebuilt one of these to fast road spec. I would keep with the original engine even if doesnt have matching numbers as there as Jaguar built different specs for different models and to maintain / increase the value of the car it is best to have an E type engine. If when it is stripped it is found to be something else then you can then decide what to do. As E Types are of a certain value these days it is worth keeping the basic originality intact. VSE Engines (they have a web site) are a company who specialise in these engines and are set up just for that, in business for many years, have built thousands, advertise in club magazines etc etc. They tend to rebuild to original specification (cast pistons etc) or with some upgrades for reliability and power if you want it. I went for their VS02 club sport spec which has minor mods (larger inlet valves, porting, lightened flywheel - 20 to 30bhp up on standard) which I have found to be excellent. They are very good value and the engine comes back having been run on a test bed, everything polished, painted etc etc. If you want the very best then Rob Beere Racing are the people. Much more expensive as they are building with forged pistons, special parts etc etc. This is not necessary for a road engine unless you want over 300bhp or are prepared to spend allot more.

My experience with 234, 244 and A6 cams is that they all work really well. The most important thing is the person or company building the engine and getting the overall package right. What has amazed me in my latest spec rebuild with the 244 with more porting, bigger carbs etc etc etc is that it now has better low down torque than previous specs. This I believe is down to some more modern engine building theory and the 3 d ignition. Start it from cold and it will just tick over smoothly etc. The only downside of the modern technology is that the engines are now so tractable that they dont have the pronounced increase in power when 'on cam', they just seem to work through the rev range. I miss this a little but I like the characteristcs of the modernised engine. So I plan to upgrade to 254 to make the engine a bit more peaky. One word of caution is that the new cams available seem to have a very high rate of failure and so its better to find an old one if you can.