Ian Macquarie

This car is still for sale. Anybody who is interested should contact the owner using the details at the bottom of the first post. Ian

A few years ago I had what sounds like the same thing but on the driver's side. Drove the car to Arch (pre-booked appointment) and they did it while I waited. They did have to remove a small amount of Ali from the top of the rail but you wouldn't notice unless you compared each side carefully. I seem to recall that they like to reduce their bank charges by accepting cash rather than a cheque for this scale of work - a pocket full of cash may be beneficial all round. Ian

The block breather needs to be able to breath, so whatever arrangement of catchpot you have, it needs to be open to atmosphere. (Though it sounds like you may already be addressing this.) As others have said many Xflows breathe heavily even when there are no significant problems with them. If you find the fumes through the bonnet disturbing it may be worth changing the standard oil filler cap (which is designed to allow the passage of air) for one which is designed to take a piece of tubing. The tube can then be directed below the car, thus avoiding the "smoke from the bonnet louvres" syndrome. I used a Halfords filler cap type HOC606. Ian

You should be more careful Chris - I'm actually thinking "What Biker!" Ian

I've got a X/flow with a Pace 5 port side mounted pump like this here which I fitted last year with a custom dry sump tank that fits in front of the driver's (RHD) footwell. (Here's hoping the link works) Ian

Uncle, I don't have any personal experience with the front mounted pump, however I was under the impression that there were clearance issues between the pump and chassis tubes – I hope I’m wrong. With regards to the hole, I presume that there is some kind of plate that is used in the original oil pump position to feed the high pressure oil back into the gallery. I would expect this to cover the external end of the original oil pickup and pressure bypass holes. If it doesn’t I’m not sure I’d be happy leaving a hole into the engine without some kind of seal on it. Anyway it looks as though you’ve got access to someone who has got experience of this installation so I’d ask him. Regards Ian

I don't think you need to do anything with the hole that is left - I certainly didn't. It is just a passageway that leads to the oil pump that is no longer used. The external end of the hole will be covered by the pump. (I'm assuming that you are using a side mounted dry sump pump in the normal oil pump position and not a front mounted pump?) One thing I was warned about when fitting a dry sump pump is that the three tapped holes into the block can vary in depth slightly and some people have found that the bolts bottom out before the pump is fully tight against the block leading to leaks. Ian

BTTT Ian

This is posted on behalf of a friend. His description and contact details follow...... Caterham 7 HPC J Reg 1991 Factory built 35000 miles 2 Owners, current owner 10 years plus 2.0 Vauxhall engine on carbs 175 bhp (no Cat required) Limited slip diff 5 Speed box Twin rear stainless steel exhaust White with clamshell wings Black leather interior with inertia reel belts Heated screen All weather kit plus wind deflecters This is an all original car, never raced or rallied but very quick by any standards 0-60mph 4.7 secs claimed by Caterham £9750 o.n.o David Spong 01424 842069 Bexhill, Sussex davidspong46@hotmail.com

Phil, I have a 1990 X flow and in the first few years had 5 clutch cables break. I then took the pedal out and made up a little bracket that I had welded on so that the business end of the pedal was then a proper yoke with support for the pin on both sides. (I also changed to a pin and clip rather than a bolt. Since then I've not had one break in 35,000 miles. (Though I did change one that went stiff.) Ian

I have a custom built one that fits in front of the DRIVER's footwell of a 1990 X/flow. I have no idea whether it would be any use for a Duratec installation though. Ian

When I bought some for the injection conversion back in 2002, I used Dalroad Distribution Ltd - WWW.Dalroad.com. You have to buy all the parts separately, housing, pins, seals, tabs etc. but, from memory I emailed them what I wanted in in terms of "two 4 way econoseal connectors" and they emailed back with the exact part codes I needed and prices. At that time ordering was by fax - no web shop but they were happy to sell me one or two of this and that. Ian

I've used Dalroad Distribution Ltd (WWW.dalroad.com) for econoseal connectors in the past. I think I Had to phone / fax the order through after talking to them. My contact at the time was Chris Hall - though that was back in 2002. Ian

I think you'd probably need to stack two adaptors - your existing sandwich plate and a remote filter take off. If you really want to do it, try looking at www.thinkauto.com for parts. However I use a tool that looks like this http://www.cromwell.co.uk/SYK5031605D (which you can buy cheaper from Halfords) and removing the filter is quite easy. Ian

Graham, It's about 5 years since I did this so my memory has faded a bit. I definitely had to remove the diff bolts and lower the diff out of the way to get the pipe in. I think I had to thread it in from the back towards the front. I think the fuel tank was removed at the time. As someone else said some adjustment of the shape was required. I think I held it in place with cable ties in the tunnel and possibly some clip(s) at the rear. The only fitting that I could find to fit the front connection was from Caterham as part of a hose for a carburettor car (cut the fitting off the carb end and used the hose from the metal pipe to the Jenveys). Ian

Dobuy, I found it quite easy to make up the circuit on a piece of "vero" board - It is now covered in insulating tape tucked up behind my dash. The circuit is linked to in this thread on the innovate forums http://www.innovatemotorsports.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1462&page=1&pp=15 Ian

Dobuy, Just a comment about the LC1, On my installation with an early M3DK I found an interaction between the LC1 and the Emerald which gave a very noisy signal. There was nothing wrong with the LC1 and nothing wrong with the Emerald, however when the two were connected the signal noise was appalling. I did talk about this with Bill Shurvinton and I think he may have a solution to the problem that he could provide. I made up an interface board based on info on the Innovate site that cured the problem for me. Once I cured the noise problem, I found the kit really useful as a guide to adjusting the fuelling. Ian

Tyrone, I'm not familiar with the megajolt but presume that it is 3D? At full throttle, Robster's comments are about right. However at part throttle, the air / fuel mixture burns more slowly and therefore more advance can be beneficial. On my Emerald, the maximum advance at full throttle is 36 deg, however at part throttle it is 48deg. In fact throughout the rev range, the part throttle advance is greater than the full throttle advance. (I believe that this is one of the main reasons that the fuel economy is better with the 3D ignition.) Ian

I may use steel fittings and non-braided hose, however the smaller minimum bend radius of the "racing" braided hoses may be an advantage. If I go down the "Racing" hose and aluminium fittings route, are there any advantages or drawbacks between the different makes? ie Aeroquip Pace Earl's Goodridge As I would be making the hoses up myself, are any of the above easier than the others to assemble? Ian

Paul, Just to make it clear, I'm in the same position as you - Thinking about installing a dry sump and laminova (albeit on a X/flow). My comments therefore reflect what I have researched and noted from other threads, not personal experience (yet). Mav, Where does your laminova feature in the oil circuit? Is it in the pressure side (either dry sumped or not) or in the scavenge return of a dry sump system? One of my main concerns with the laminova is the pressure drop through it with cold oil. With high scavenge flows the backpressure could be considerable, leading to very high oil pressure (I think this has been mentioned in relation to blowing oil seals in other threads) What have your experiences been? Ian

Paul, Have a good look around here. As I understand it, the only part of the water side that is effective for heat transfer are the outer water channels. However in some situations, eg main radiator circuit, if all of the water was put through these then the pressure drop would be too great. Therefore the central chanel can be left open for use in high flow circuits or (partially or) fully blanked off in low flow water circuits - eg as a replacement for a heater or parrallel with one. Good luck talking with Think - At the point they told me that the water flows from the bottom to the top of the radiator I lost faith, mind you I was not talking to the usually recommended person (perhaps I should have!) Ian

Paul, There is some technical information about the laminova here -http://www.opconab.com/www/files/laminova/pdf/Aftermarket.pdf This link here may work if I've got it right. The laminova water side consists of a number of small water chanels around the outer edge and a large round internal water by pass. If I read the graph on page 4 correctly, with the central bypass blocked, a water flow of 15 litres /min will give the same cooling effect as 110 litres /min with the bypass open. In the heater circuit you could block the internal bypass whereas I doubt you could do that in the main radiator circuit. I've not looked at what water temperature rise you would expect if you did this - does anybody have a ball park figure for the specific heat of engine oil? Ian

Rob and Norman, Thanks for your efforts. The clearance around the pump looks slightly more than I had imagined. I've taken quite a few measurements to assess the possibilities but only just realised the significance of a comment in another thread. As it seems that the "Dry sump" engine mount moves the engine as well as being bent to fit around the pump, I think I had better fit that and then check everything again. All your photos have been very useful. Dave, My wash bottle was fitted over the bellhousing. I think the area under the carbs may be a little difficult to access if I put the (custom) tank in front of the driver's footwell. I think I may persue Graham's pointer of near the steering rack - it looks as if I may be able to position it between the rack and fan in which case it would be above the lower chassis rails, but with nothing below it making changes cleaner. Thanks all Ian

Robin, No, I only got what looked like a front page for Webshots - I've seen other people make comments about having to make them public, or not being signed in or something, however as I've never used webshots I don't know how to make it work. Thanks for trying, perhaps someone else can let you know how to do it. Ian

Robster, Thanks - I can't make the link work - is it me or is there a problem? Ian