Graham Howard

Glad everyone enjoyed the day. I certainly did. Yellow trowel.....I noticed a yellow car driving round with a missing rear wing, so I think Andrew is saved for now.

I have sent an email with final instructions to all participants. Please let me know if you haven't recieved this.

Just take it steady on right handers then you won't have to worry if the oil is a bit low.

The concensus seems to be to stick with the outer layout which will be used for our sprint in September. And Andy, yes you have paid.

Peter, I always use a 7/32 hex socket attachment which is a good fit. This equates to 5.55625 mm. You are welcome to borrow it. Graham

The day will run in 2 halves with a lunch break. I have been asked if we want to use a different track layout for the afternoon session. As far as I know the September sprint will use the outer layout only after some near misses at our 2014 event. Please post here what option you would like for the afternoon so I can feed it back to Blyton. We can either spend all day practising for the sprint or introduce some variety for the afternoon. I will be emailing instructions to you all about a week before. Thanks Graham

Yes it did take less effort to press in the new ones, I still used a press but a big vice may do it. In either case I don't grease will make any difference.

I did this job a year ago. Grease will make little or no difference as they are an interference fit. Mine needed a 10 ton press to shift them.

James you have the last place. Now full. I have sent you a pm.

Due to a cancellation there is now 1 place available if anybody else is interested.

Message sent.

I have one That's been sitting in my garage for the last 5 years. Near Milton Keynes. Graham

Hi Gary Yes you have the last place. Look out for an email with payment details. Graham

Hi Phil Yes of course, only 1 place left now. Just sent you an email. Graham

Hi Steve I think the thoughts at looking at driving style are right. Several years ago I had a session with Don Palmer. Whilst I have not always been able to put into practice what he taught, he does instill some thoughts which give an understanding of car behaviour in a corner. It is easy to forget that the tyre is flexible so when you turn the steering the first thing that happens is that the tyre deforms and will not grip until it has settled into its deformed shape. So if you turn into a corner very quickly you are bound to get initial understeer as the outer front tyre flexes. Being more gentle with the initial turn will help. During my session with Don Palmer he got me to drive through a slalom marked out with cones and the car was under steering. I was having to lift off to get through. He then drove my car, power sliding and playing with the brakes. His question was, why does your car understeer and mine oversteer? Obviously it was just the driver! Don has a book on all this, available from Amazon. I am not sure if he still does tuition, but you may find this is a better way to spend your money than on the car. Graham

Everybody who has booked should have receieved an email from me. If you haven't please would you send me a message letting me know your email address. Thanks Graham

Thanks all for booking. We now have enough people and I have confirmed the date with Blyton. 3 or 4 places left if anybody else wants to join us. I will be sending you all emails very soon with a request for payment. Graham

Thanks all for responding so quickly. That makes 7. Any more sprinters before I open this up to others?

Last year Matthew arranged a pre season test day at Blyton. I thought it would be good to try and do the same this year, even though our sprint is towards the end of the season. I have contacted Blyton and they are prepared to hold a similar day to last year on 16th April and I have made a provisional booking. We need a minimum of 10 cars and a maximum of 20. The cost will be £85 per car. There will be a maximum of 4 cars on the track at the same time which will give plenty of track time without tripping over each other. The cost is £10 more than last year because of increases in the cost of medical cover. So who's up for it? Please post here or message me if you want to attend. I need to confirm with Blyton by the end of a January. Graham Bookings : Graham HowardClive MarsdenAndy MckayRob SpencerJohn BransfieldRoger LeggAndrew WilloughbyBob RiceMatthew WilloughbyPaul CollinsJon DaviesSteve Marsh John ClarkeRichard AbrahamRoger CummingSteve CauseyPhilip MatchwickPhil CookGary BeezerJames Thornton

Hi Phil. Thanks for pointing these out to me on the other thread. Not very keen on the different colours, so I will pass. Graham

Juju I am also after some 13 x 6 rims. You seem to have 3 offers and I would be interested in any sets that you decide not to buy. ​Graham

I changed all my bushes about a year ago. It needed a 10 ton press to get them out and even that was difficult. Also required was a cup shaped piece to support the metal round the bush and accept the bush as it came out. I removed the one in the De dion tube by drilling out the rubber with a 3 mm drill then carefully sawing the metal surround. Not a pleasant job on your back under the car. For the cost I would just buy new radius arms. For the rest it's helpful if you can get the assistance of a local machine shop. Here is what I wrote at the time, but my pictures seem to have got lost. http://www.lotus7.club/forum/techtalk/changing-suspension-bushes-probably-dont-try-home

Does anybody else read through this and end up disagreeing with themselves?! Whichever set of rules we use, 2014 or proposed 2015 the main contentious issue seems to be the eligibility of the R300 k. If we look at the power levels of currently available Caterhams we have the Sigma 125, class 1, the Sigma 140, class 2 and 3, and the Supersport R, 180 bhp class 4.In the main the rules allow mods to obtain small power increases from these levels. This is not very different to when K series engines were supplied. As far as I know there was never a 155 bhp k series engine available as standard. This is just the level that has been reached with the permitted modifications. The current rules work , particularly in class 2 with good support and close competition. Perhaps we should stick with the current rules with standard R300 k permitted for 2015 which will then be reviewed. I don't see hoards of these cars entering anyway.

We need some stability in the rules to encourage new competitors and keep costs down for those already competing. If we have 155 bhp in 2015 then 150 for class 2 and 160 for class 3 in 2016 that will be 3 years with different engine rules. I am still in favour of 155 bhp by any means. All current competing cars fall into this and it opens things up a bit for others. Also there is not enough difference between 150 and 160bhp. We have to accept that there won't be a class for every car otherwise we have too few in each class. Richard's point about the torquey 1800 would be relevant at any power level and the only way to prevent this is to keep the current style of regs with specified mods allowed for each engine type, a difficult task as new engines are introduced.

I agree about having a specified rolling road. But I think excluding R300k's is being a bit protective of current competitors and discouraging others who may want to join but be hopelessly uncompetitive in class 4. I like Richard's proposal that only cars origanally supplied with TB's will be eligible in classes 2 and 3. This would allow in Sigma 150's and R300k. Could we also ban any adjustment of the ECU on these cars? I am afraid I don't know what ecu an R300k has and whether it is easily programmable. Some of us may have also already embarked on modifications to reach the 155BHP limit proposed last year.