AndrewGP

Scott, my car is being flat-floored and corner weighted at Solutions Racing tomorrow. They see plenty of Sevens and I know several on here have used them too, equally I spoke to Peter the owner on the phone and he seemed a thoroughly nice chap. They are near Witney in Oxfordshire. I'll let you know how I get on

I always got my wife to hold the top of the Apollo whilst I cracked the drain plug underneath 😬 She was never very impressed and it always took all her strength to hold it. Little did she know it was just a ploy to get her to agree to me getting the car dry-sumped

I didn't fit it when I put my 'box back on the bellhousing, just a good lot of clear silicone sealant (esp round the 'o' ring) and squished the whole lot back together.

Thanks chaps, much appreciated, got them off this evening

Just waiting for cleared payment, Kev

Spotted on the A4 going towards Marlborough about 1.30pm today, lovely day for it

I want to fit new springs to my rear Bilstein dampers which are currently off the car as the old ones are a bit manky. I have adjustable platforms but any pointers on how to do it? There seems to be no obvious way to unscrew the platforms past the lower stop to remove the spring. Any help gratefully received!

Andy, yes of course. Drop me a blatmail so I can reply with an image for you.

Hi Gary, yes it is, I'll drop you a Blatmail shortly.

Well it may be a bit of placebo effect, but I do expect to feel some difference; Bilstein said of my front shocks that the oil was filthy and the seals were not in great condition. That said both sides of the front of my car had worn bushes so I've now changed them to Powerflex bushes, so clearly that will have a marked effect as well.

Jack, I'll tell you in a few weeks when the car is back on the road. My dampers are 13 years old and had done 36k miles.

Hi Phil, YHM

^ Me too and they did a lovely job for a very decent price. Edited by - grenpayne on 2 Apr 2014 14:29:24

Not the Pace one no, it was the CC one with the external easiclean tank. I did look at the Pace one, but it was a lot more expensive and although CC are not the easiest people to deal with (in terms of certain kit parts are not correct), Pace were very difficult to pin down. It's not been the easiest process to get it fitted either, but I'm 95% the way there now, thanks mainly to some very helpful people on BC and for Steve Tourle's excellent PDF instructions

Yes of course, YHM

All K Series bits: Aluminium sump baffle plate as per here £5 Engine Mount (Wet Sump) Driver's side as per here £10 Standard Submarine coolant pipe single outlet £5 P&P extra, but shouldn't be much Edited by - grenpayne on 31 Mar 2014 15:22:45 Edited by - grenpayne on 31 Mar 2014 15:23:14

Going spare after my dry sump install, 1x Silicone Coolant Bottom Hose suitable for Dry Sumped K Series Cars, CC Part Number 30C079A. It's as per the image below and is Brand New. It may fit the wet sumped cars too. http://www.caterhamparts.co.uk/img/p/4900-5444-large.jpg CC's price is £57 + p&p , any offers at £40 £25 posted? I have no use for it and it's just gathering dust! Edited by - grenpayne on 31 Mar 2014 15:11:59

Thanks chaps I'm going to give it a quick flush then fill it with the pink Halfords Advanced stuff

So, my winter rebuild and refresh is coming to an end and now the engine is back in the car, the thorny issue of refilling the coolant is rapidly approaching. It's a 1.8 K Series and the only fact I know of the previous coolant was that is was green. I have no idea what type it was other than the colour 😔 So, what does the POBC recommend I do now? I've been through the vast amount of threads in the archives and frankly I'm as confused as before. As part of the refresh I've fitted new silicon hoses from SFS which again crops up in the threads as a potential issue. Which coolant should I buy? And would it be a good idea to flush it a few times prior to getting the car back on the road? Many thanks and sorry for yet another coolant thread!

Thanks Jonathan, I'm 99% sure it's UNF 2.5" x 0.5" from those links. Bookmarked Charles pages too, very useful

Chaps, what size (length and diameter) is the bolt that connects the de Dion tube to the A frame on a 2001 Superlight ie imperial S3 car?

FWIW, whilst yours is a Duratec, I had my 1800 K Series rebuilt last year with omega forged pistons, upgraded liners, modified rods etc and after speaking to lots of people about running engines in I did it the 'giving it the beans' way! On it's first run when the (mineral not synth) oil was warm (~70 degrees) I thrashed the nuts off it 😬 Lots of full throttle runs though the gears then off the throttle to coast back down to slow speed and repeat to gets the rings properly bedded in. The oil was changed at 250 miles for semi-synth, again at 500 and again 1000 for synth and it's been superb ever since. It uses virtually no oil (where as the previous incarnation of the engine used quite a bit) and it pulls and revs like a train. Whatever you do though, you need to get the rings bedded in or it'll use oil and not develop decent power

Just in case any one is thinking of getting their Bilstein dampers refurbed, Bilstein have moved premises. The new address is: David Masters Workshop Manager 7 Vitruvius Way Meridian Business Park Leicester LE19 1WA I've just had mine done and the service was excellent, with the turn round time being 1-2 weeks.

Ian, again thanks, just replied top your earlier email. Quite right on the longer bolts, my mistake they are M8 x 25mm. I'm away on business for a few days from tomorrow, but will drop the sump pan when I'm back to see which of your suggestions will work. Andrew

I've stripped a thread fitting the dry sump pan on to my 1800 K Series. It's the thread in the forward hole of the scavenge pipe/bracket where the M8 x 20mm bolt goes in to the block and stripped as I was torquing them up to the specified 25nm. I'm aware I can helicoil it - will this kit on ebay do the trick? Also any pifalls/tips for me to know about?