Joespeeder v2.0

Hey Guys, I have the wide track front end and have been running the stock 185/60/14 ZX3 tires till now. After looking at what's available over here my choice seems to be the Falken AZENIS RT-615 195/60R14. Any comments on the tire? More importantly, will that fit without hitting my Wing Stays? Thanks for any insight. Joe www.thecaterhamproject.com

Morning All, After seeing your posts and feeling really dumb, I went to the WH's web site and according to the rules it's 75db at the property line which my guess is about 30 yards away. Waterford installed a giant noise fence this past year so that should help things. Sorry to be misleading, I've never had a car that was close or ran a side exit system that points toward the meter, so I've never worried about the limit before. I've got some emails out to find out what really passes as too loud there. I'll let you know what I find out. It would be a shame not to run there. Sterling Moss is reported to have called it the "Most challenging short road course in North America" It's great fun and better yet only 1/2 an hour from my house. It's 1.3 miles and 13 corners with evevation changes. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3514282252117912619&q=waterford+hills My concern is ear comfort. Should I expect the switch to side exhaust to be a major pain in my...ear? I have visions of unmuffled RX7's ouch.... I currently have the standard Caterham Zetec rear exhaust with cat. I was going to get rid of the cat and go to the standard Caterham Zetec set up which is a side exit. Joe TheCaterhamProject.com - Build site with photos here Edited by - JoeSpeeder on 19 May 2006 14:45:39

Hey All, I'm about to order the side exit exhaust for my Zetec minus the cat. I was wondering about noise levels both for me and for the track. Any idea on db levles on the left side of the car for a side exhaust Zetec? Waterford Hills has a 75db limit measured from the left side of the car. You can thank the local courts and people bulding houses next to a race track only to figure out that cars make noise for the low limit. And so it begins.... Upgrades!!! Joe TheCaterhamProject.com - Build site with photos here Edited by - Joespeeder on 18 May 2006 20:00:57

Hi All, Looks like I had air trapped somewhere.... I fittied the "t" joint mod last night and had a mechanic friend look everything over. He gave it a clean bill of health. Refilled and bled it and it all works normally again. Now I have a new point to vent any trapped air from. I should have doone this earlier. Joe TheCaterhamProject.com - Build site with photos here

Hi All, I haven't done anything with the cooling system since the initial fill/bleed 5,500 miles ago. It worked perfectly till last blat. I mixed the antifreeze before filling the system so the mix was correct. That's when I noticed the level being down after the heat changed. It was at the high mark in the tank until this. Now it's just below the low mark. An airlock that moved would be great. When we filled it and bled it all the hoses and all of the radiator felt hot but air could have been in there somewhere. I bled it by lifting the nose rather than doing the t fitting mod. I'm going to have it looked at, just to be sure. Somethings a little wierd. Hope it's just and air lock that moved. BTW, it's a Zetec. Thanks for the help I'll keep you posted as to what I find. Joe TheCaterhamProject.com - Build site with photos here

Hi All, Went for a blat last night and the heater seemed to get cold on the way home. Turning the fan to high didn't help. In fact it felt cooler. This morning the coolant in the tank is at the minumum mark. I didn't see any drips anywhere and all the hoses seemed hot last night. Should I be thinking about the head gasket or is there something else I might be missing? Joe TheCaterhamProject.com - Build site with photos here

Steve, I just went through this on my car. I don't have good photos of this bit so I describe it the best I can. I used EMGO Euro Style mirrors here's a link. Any motorcycle shop should be able to get these for you. http://www.cyclepages.com/ProductGroupDisp.aspx?ProductGroupID=4001100 I got two of them for $18 US total. To bolt them to the car I bought some "L" shaped aluminum, cut it to about 2 1/4 inches in length. Then I used a dremel tool to cut a slot about 1 inch down the joint of the "L" so that I created two flaps. I opened up the slot so that I could "fold" each flap down at 90 degrees, one over the top of the other. Now you have an "L" shaped piece with a top on it. Trim the top flaps so they are square and tidy. Use the plastic hinge mount to mark the new bracket for drilling. Drill one of the legs of the "L" the same size as the hinge holes and then drill the though the top of the flaps that you bent the proper size for the mirror stalk. Oh yea, I trimed one side of the "L" so that it tapers to look nice. Mount the bracket on the wind deflectors outboard of the hinge. So you have the bracket, the hinge, the deflector, then the washers and nylocks. Here's the trick.... Take the fancy nut that comes with the mirrors off and cut off the cover that covers the threads. You only need the nut and it's smaller than a standard sized for a 10mm 1.25 thread. Buy a standard nut for that size, put it on the mirror and put that through your new bracket. Use your custom wizbang small nut that you cut down for the bottom. You have to spin it on by hand till you see the threads poke out. Now run the top nut down and tighten the mirror using the top nut. You have to do all this to clear the bolt heads of the hinge. After all of this you've spent $20 and now have mirrors that come off when you take the deflectors off. They are small and look like SPAs. Try this link http://www.thecaterhamproject.com/CaterhamMirrors.html Since only the hinge pin secures them, I thought they might flop around but so far they haven't. Joe TheCaterhamProject.com - Build site with photos here

Sigh..... This is going downhil fast. I was going to buy the tool as a gift but I'm starting to think it's going to be too costly and/or hard to find. Thanks Edited by - JoeSpeeder on 13 Apr 2006 19:51:19

Hi All, Anyone have any experience aligning the rear of a 993 ? I have never seen the special tools needed and a google search dosen't turn anything up ohter than a brief discription of them. Here's what I've found. Aligning a 993 should not be done without Porsche's special tools (9549 an 9550) for measuring and setting kinematic toe on the rear axle. It is very possible to set the rear camber and toe with resultant "quirky" handling since the multi-link rear suspension is designed to change toe when cornering, it is essential to use these tools. They they are essentially curved bubble gauges that clip onto the wishbone and toe control arm and ascertain that they are parallel to each other. It is imperative that they read within 1.5 scale units of each other. Thanks in advance for any guideance or help you can give with a source for thes tools. Joe TheCaterhamProject.com - Build site with photos here Edited by - Joespeeder on 13 Apr 2006 14:23:18

James, I used obsurde amounts of cheep masking tape on my build. I did strip it all off and retape it about half way through the process. Any residue was cleaned easily with some WD-40. I also used flannel cloth(with a cool print) to protect the side skins and large areas from any damage durring the build. I even used masking tape over the entire surface of my wings. Since I was having them coated with truck bed liner at a local shop I didn't want the shop to scratch them. The tape ment they could handle them with no worries. Tool marks from mistakes I made durring building drive me insane. I can take you around my car and point out the little scratches(three of them) I made durring assembly and it's like someone's cutting off a leg. However, Stone chips, rub marks, or other stuff from driving including the little dents in my rear wing protectors don't bother me in the least. The mistakes I made on my build were due to my trying to rush something. I should have known better than to work on something close to a finshed surface with out taping over that surface first. Tape would have protected two of my slip ups. Take your time and enjoy the process. You can see my protection and 98% of my build here www.thecaterhamproject.com I need to update the site. BTW... Great colors !!! Have fun.... Joe TheCaterhamProject.com - Build site with photos here Edited by - JoeSpeeder on 9 Apr 2006 15:45:52

Guy, Now those are cool I'll have a look at the local bike shop. Thanks. Joe TheCaterhamProject.com - Build site with photos here

Ozzy, Guilty as charged 😬. In this case, I was just posting too quickly and didn't "translate" it in my head before I typed it. Although, I always wonder when posting how much to convert with out sounding like a fool. H***, I'm happy just to be here. Correct me anytime When building the car the only bit I couldn't figure out due to "translation" troubles was when it called for an "anti slip" washer in the break line assembly. Even a good friend who grew up in London didn't know. After a bunch of staring and one reassemble I found the correct style of "lock washers" they wanted Since mine is the only car I see for months at a time, I never know if what I'm seeing is unique. Is it common to get little saw tooth marks in the skin from the spring? Or do I need to address this? Joe TheCaterhamProject.com - Build site with photos here

Hi All, I noticed my right front hood spring has rubbed on the ali skin and put somne slight notches in the skin. Is this normal or am I just being a polisher by noticing ? I have them mounted correctly, spaced away from the body with those thick washers. Should I bend the clip a bit? I guess I'm wondering how common this is... Joe TheCaterhamProject.com - Build site with photos here

Those are the figures from the graphs and line by line print outs of the results. I guess I don't know enough to say the torque is measured at the rear wheels. Can't wait to drive it and feel the results. Joe

Nick, Not much in horsepower (4 hp increase), but I got an additional 10 ft lbs of torque at the rear wheels and the tourque curve is higher all the way up the band. The clearing of the codes was a big change. I have 85% of max torque at 2,500rpm. Looks like we have another day of snow here. Then some warming and three days of rain comming up. Cool !! I can't wait to get out and try the new mapping for real once a good bit of the salt is washed off the roads. After I drive it I'll contact the shop to say thanks and see if they did a run down test. Joe