Graham King

Albert, I can't comment on the 1320s and you don't say what your engine currently makes, but I run a 1800k of almost identical spec to yours but with a ported VHPD head and 285H cams, this makes 210BHP. It was built by DVA for me a few years ago and is a very nice flexible engine for road and track. I use a rev limit of 8000 for track work. graham

Hi Finmac, I may be interested in these, I assume they are in good condition? Could you send me some photos please, also given that you are in the Outer Hebrides so collection obviously won't be an option does your asking price include delivery? Thanks. Graham.

Dave, I can't look now but I have exactly the same setup as you so can have a look tomorrow night for you if no one else responds in the meantime. Graham.

Irrotational, if it is of interest, I have available my old engine I removed from my k-series superlight (I installed a VHPD based engine) about 4 years ago. It's a 1.8K (not 1.6), with verniers and lightweight flywheel. It had done about 23k when I removed it and has sat in my garage since then. I was originally keeping it in case I ever sold the car in which case my plan was to put it back into the car but in reality I'm not going to do that now. If you're interested drop me a PM and we can chat offline. Graham.

Elie, as no one else has responded then I'll give it a go, DVA's site has a lot more detail, but Dave built me a 1800K that is 210BHP from a base 1.8K (non VVC). For that I had a VHPD head that Dave ported, added an Emerald and Jenvey TB's, the advice was that over 160BHP I would require forged pistons and modified rods so have those as well. I retained hydraulic followers and use BP285H cams. If I'd wanted to go to 220BHP then, from memory, Dave said I would need 1144 cams that require manual followers. Graham

Zetec, fitted one to my brother's K-Series, much the same reasons as you really, it worked fine, oil warm up much quicker, kept track day oil temps under control nicely, only slight downside is that it drops the oil pressure by approx 1/2 bar. Any specific questions feel free to ask. Graham

Erngor, I'm pretty sure you'll find that the edges on those aren't carbon. If you look at the photos closely then the edges have no weave pattern. I think the description used to state something to this effect but it appears to have changed now. Having said all this I saw a pair of these on a car for sale at Sevens & Classics and they looked ok and for £250 a pair appear good value. Graham.

Albert, apologies for the slight thread hijack, but I'm looking at something similar at the moment, however unlike you I haven't managed to gather all the bits yet . I am looking to go the Brise kidney tank setup as I don't want to lose the passenger footwell. Anyway my question is that given the scarcity and expense of Dry Sump pans is there any reason why a normal Caterham sump pan couldn't be converted to use with a dry sump? I realise you'd need to insert somewhere for the scavenge system (maybe the current sump plug) and also the oil feed back and get a different sleeve made up to connect to the oilway. Am I missing something and this wouldn't work for some reason? Just contemplating alternatives really. Appreciate any views. Graham.

Andy, I reckon around £18k, depending on mileage and detailed condition. Maybe a bit more if spotless. graham

Be really interested to give this a go as well, really looking forward to tomorrow, first time on GP circuit See you all tomorrow

Thanks for all the responses folks. Nick, thanks for confirming that 205's will fit on 6" wheels Peter, good question actually, for road I guess the real answer is aesthetics as I like the look of cars on 8" rears. I also do the occasional trackday and on track I do find the current 185's can be overwhelmed at times (I have 210BHP). What made you change back to 6" from 8"? Graham.

Thanks 7wow, will the 205 sit on a 6" at the rear or does it require the 8". Wondering really if I need to buy 8" wheels at the moment or can use the 6" for a while?

Steve, I'd be interested in 2 sets please. Graham.

Folks, am looking to buy a new set of tyres and was planning to go up to 205 R13 from the current 185 on the back. Doing a bit of searching most sites say these are too big for my current 6" rims but too small for 8" rims. As these are both the standard Caterham rim sizes and Yokos and Toyos are only available in these sizes others must be running on one of these combinations. So do the 205's fit on the 6" rims, 8" rims, both or neither properly? Thanks. Graham.

Grant, hi, do you know if any of these are still available, if so I am interested in 4 to replace my very ageing trackday tyres. Thanks. Graham.

Removed as I was being daft, it's 13" I'm after Apologies John Edited by - Graham King on 22 Aug 2014 09:06:02

The Apollo has no impact on the "surge", the surge is due to oil already in or returning to the sump, the Apollo only affects the oil exiting the sump. I think the interesting point raised here is where is the surge happening? I had assumed it was surge in the sump, and I guess it must be partially, but Stu's explanation suggests it is more to do with oil not returning to the sump. I can see a dry sump would fix the issue in the sump and can't see why it would imapct the oil returning to the sump. I still don't understand why from my original post we have one engine that suffers from OP drop and one that doesn't, when they are very similar setups. Graham.

Mankee, interesting link, I'd not seen that one before. I've just recently fitted a new gasket whilst trying to fix a persistent weep from the sump and did consider cutting the whole "ledge" off the gasket but instead went for 5 holes, it's made no discernible difference. I've only found the North/South issue that PC refers to when the oil level gets a bit too low then it is noticeable under heavy acceleration. The thread does sort of explain why right hand bends may be an issue in that it implies the oil may go beyond the pickup. But why this is more of an issue than left hand bends when the oil surges completely away from the pickup is still not clear. Would the angle of the engine have anything to do with it, although I would have thought that the cornering forces were sufficient to overcome the slight angle the engine is canted at. Interesting stuff though, still interested in any other views.

Sorry folks have been on train back from work, to deal with the queries; Grenpayne, we are both running mechanical gauges so pretty confident in the readings, oil level on both was correct, according to the dipsticks of course. I wasn't actually aware that Caterham had the Dry Sump kits back in, I assumed they were permanently out of stock but I'll have another look. Grant, we are both using Halfords 0-50 Track Day oil and as said both using mechanical gauges, I tend to run at or just over the level on the dipstick. I'm pretty sure that Oily modified the oil pump when he built the engine for me, how worn it is I don't know to be honest but the engine was 2nd hand when I got it, I then had the bottom end rebuilt but pretty sure the oil pump was retained so that's a possibility. I've not heard of a modified strainer, what does that involve? Can confirm the O-ring is fine as I checked that. My OP at idle after a track session is approx 20, it does come back up after cooling so never been too worried about it but would be interested in the larger capacity filter. What I struggle with is why right handers cause the issue when the pickup is on that side of the engine and why two similar engines behave so differently. Thanks for the responses so far. Graham.

Folks, I know there have been a lot of posts on this subject before, I've even contributed to some of them, but having done the club trackday at Brands last week I am after a better understanding of what is occuring as it doesn't make sense to me. This also happens on the road so it's not just a track only issue. I am running a 1.8K, EU2, DVA modified to 210BHP, with forged pistons, wet sump (all DVA mods to gasket etc, no foam) and apollo. I know a Dry Sump is the real answer but a) that's an expensive option for the small number of trackdays I do and b) there is no realistic offering on the market now. So I'm stuck with making the best of what I have. Symptoms: been discussed by others before, on right handers the oil pressure drops away markedly (down to 15 - 20 psi), depending on temps. I always understood that popular opinion was that this was due to the fact that oil surge moved the oil away from the pickup, but the oil pickup is on the left hand side of the engine (from in the car) so on right handers it should be better than on left handers but the opposite is true as on left hand bends there's little if any change in oil pressure. I used to run with a Hellier baffle to try and combat this behaviour but it made no discernable difference so I removed it at the last oil change. At Brands, my brother was also there in his car, which to all intents and purposes is a similar spec (EU3 not 2) but he also runs a Laminova to control oil temps, on reviewing video footage afterwards, on his car the oil pressure hardly fluctuates whereas on mine it's all over the place. Obviously as my oil temp climbs the surge and change in pressure becomes more exaggerated but even when we are showing similar temp on the gauge the difference in behaviour is marked. Can anyone explain what is actually going on, or have any theories? Is it possible that the Laminova is having an impact (other than temp)? I may well go down the laminova route anyway to control temp but I would love to know how to address the issue properly or at least understand properly what is going on. Apologies for the long post and appreciate anyone with a better understanding than I obviously have. Thanks. Graham.

Culminator, this thread here, contains the details you are after. However, I don't think you would do this for a weight saving, it's more about what you find more comfortable. I changed from S-Types to Tillets a few years ago and find the Tillets much more comfortable, especially on track but even driving down to Le Mans they were way better than the S-Types, but you'll find equal numbers of people that say the opposite. If you are of a larger build you may well not find them suitable as they are very snug, especially around the hips. I know you were at Brands last night but if you plan to do lots of track days then they make even more sense. Graham.

Martin, if Ben for some reason drops out from the wings, let me know, I'm interested and will be at Dunsfold next weekend. Graham.

Ian, I say 4" (it's only a guesstimate) as that is what I think he needs at the front, the bottom of the nosecone support (it's not like a Caterham) rests on a frame, the frame is approx 2" off the floor at the moment. I haven't measured mine as it's on stands at the moment but I guessed about 6" of clearance from the nosecone to the ground. CP, he and I are going to do some measurements this weekend and see if we can work something out, this thread (and the email responses I have had) have helped with my understanding of how things work, so it's been an interesting exercise. Graham.

Phil, I do think the tyres are some of the issue, he is running 195/50 R15. The angle of the dampers is almost identical to the 7, so you're right that adjusting has limited impact on ride height. I reckon he needs approx another 4" of ride height which is a lot of extra length on the dampers if that is the answer. Unfortunately the car wasn't a runner when he got it and the old dampers were seized so we've never seen it on the road to compare to now. Graham.

Thanks both for the responses, there seems to be a common theme to them. I'll have a chat with him and see if we can work out what is going on by taking some measurements. Grant I'll pass on your kind offer as well. Graham