New Cat

My x-flow sounds right 😬 and goes well. Following Pete East's comment, I took mine on a 200 mile round trip over the weekend and the fuel consumption was very modest even with a few hard blasts along the way (around 30mpg I believe). I'll agree that fuel consumption is rubbish on short blats though.. If the future is Duratec (I'd certainly look long and hard into this if my x-flow blew up spectacularly) then maybe we should befriend the Westfield guys since their latest standard road car has around 200bhp from a Duratec (does anyone know who supplies it to them? how much it costs? how similar a Caterham installation would be?) I think Westfield supplies are usually relatively modestly priced too (compared with Caterham anyway!)

Somewhere on my 100 mile or so trip back from Poole this afternoon one of the allen bolts and nuts holding a cycle wing to its stay popped out. I'd like to get a replacement and a few spares, is Caterham the only/best place? Thanks

Hi, my caterham (de dion xflow) came with nearly new 185 60 14 Avon ZV1s on minilites and the car rode and handled pretty well. I used it on a few occasions before checking the tyre pressures only to discover they were all down at around 13.5 psi. After reading old advice on here I saw people suggesting 18-20 psi and pumped them up to 19 psi. The car now feels much more skittish and the ride has deteriorated. Is it nuts to take them back down to 13.5psi? What do people recommend? Thanks

My car is a little older still (1994 Super Sprint) and the wipers did the weirdest thing last weekend... At first I appeared to have normal, fast and off, then I had normal fast and intermitant/off. Sometimes they would switch off and sometimes they wouldn't. Usually after a few attempts the off position worked. Is there likely to be a culprit intermitent box somewhere?

Yes please, please email me offline with your details. Thanks, Jon

I'm looking for a late E34 model 525i saloon. I'm looking for a clean example with FSH but not too fussy about spec. I'll pay a reasonable price (higher than your px trade in offer). WHY?

Hi Ade, thanks for your very kind offer of your old catch tank. However, I'm quite eager to get it sorted this weekend so I can take the car away for easter (I live quite some way from where I garage the car so don't get the opportunity to do any fixing during the week). Think Auto is closest to me (although still quite a distance) and open on Saturdays, but as far as I can tell only do the alloy tanks like yours. Any thoughts where I can quickly get hold of a plastic catch tank, certainly until I determine whether it is spitting out very much at all...

Thanks for all your advice. Another stupid newbie question... where is the best place to get an catch tank for the breather hose (preferably in the south buck/berks/surrey/west london area?)

Thanks Pure Malt for your good advice on both topics.

What do you guys fo with the breather hose on your x-flows? Mine is a non-rigid rubber hose that kind of dangles in the direction of the sump.... I'm guessing that as the car moves the airflow maybe be lifting it so it spits and crap/gas in the direction of the cabin? A friend said I should direct it into an extra washer bottle. Is this a good idea? Thanks.

I need to check (and quite probably replace) the exhaust manifold gaskets on my 1.7 Supersprint X-flow this weekend. How straight forward is it? Do I need a torque wrench? Besides the gaskets is there anything else I need (exhaust paste or anything?) Advice gratefully received.

Thanks again guys. I had sidescreens on but no roof and it only seemed to affect my passenger, not me (I couldn't smell anything and felt no effects). Certainly need to check all these things and hopefully get it sorted... The car has no heater and has never had one (there is a riveted blanking plate where it would go). The breather pipe is a rubber hose that appears to exit around sump level but is not rigid and not in fantastic condition. Edited by - New Cat on 30 Mar 2004 21:37:23

Good tips guys, thanks. In spite of its low tech x-flow (which personally I prefer ) it generally seems to be running very sweetly - so hopefully paying attention all all these things will sort it out.

Hi, picked up my Cat (an x-flow) last Friday and on Saturday did plenty of blatting including meeting up with some of the Penn Sevens guys... My girlfriend came with me and complained of some bad exhaust gas type smells and a headache... I thought initially that it could be the side exit exhaust location but a mechanic friend said this was unlikely and it could be leaking manifold gaskets (they don't look too great) or something from the breather hose (which just hangs freely - should it go into a washer bottle or something?) Any thoughts? Is it likely to be manifold gasket/breather issues? or do people often have problems with exhaust gases being blown back into the passenger side of the car? I hope not as my girlfriends enthusiasm (or lack of) is likely to hinge on her not being poisoned!!!

I bought the Mobil 5w40 in a Carrefor in Calais a couple of weeks back. Its about Eur 30 (just over £20) for 4 litres but lots of places in France sell it for a similar price. I've not seen it in the UK I'm afraid, but the ferry to dover for 2 & car only cost £34 return so well worth a trip away from rip off Britain. I would guess it will be ok in my supersprint although an earlier msg seemed to suggest that under hard use the 0w50 or 5w50 would be better.

What oil do people rate in a standard Caterham 1.7 Supersprint x-flow? I have a stash of French sourced Mobil 1 5w-40 Fully Synthetic. Is this a good or bad idea?

Good luck From my recent experience in buying something similar, you're likely to find very few cars with this spec and will have to make quite a lot of compromises. The biggest compromise of all that will open up a lot of cars to you is to either accept flared wings (about 75% of x-flow cars have flared wings) or look at other engine options. Saying that I bought a cycle winged de-dion in bare ally and sent it straight to the paint shop, while accepting that over the next few years I'm likely to make a number of upgrades/additions such as different seats/extra set of wheels etc... Given the car isn't new I see little harm in using one or two used bits (in vgc) for the upgrades, dramatically reducing the cost. The trend for cycle wings at the moment is so strong that in spite of the heavy cost (substantial re-skinning especially) some are looking at proper flared-cycle conversions given just how much cheaper flared winged cars have become (I'd say typically at least a grand cheaper if not £1500).

I'm lazy... and busy. Bought a beautifully kept Ali body Cat and sent it straight to the paint shop!

Thanks, Dino, Charlie, Chickenhawk. I'm likely to take the Eggar Lawson policy too so I'll reconfirm exactly what they require and if it is just an immobiliser (I thought Richard there said cat 2 but I'm not sure) then I may get a cat 3 mechanical one (Abus Granite one looks good) and probably a battery cut-out too. Chickenhawk, I should be taking delivery of the car 1st weekend in April (a 1.7 x-flow on carbs so no ecu) and am in Maida Vale (althoughthe car will be kept further west) thanks for your offer of assistance with the immobiliser - my past experience with 'professional' installers is bad even with tintops...

Thanks Chickenhawk for more useful stuff - I will phone Eggar Lawson. Any tips on good Caterham immobiliser installers? I fear if I take it to any old place they will have no experience with the seven and do and ulgy/bodged install.

Thanks guys. If the insurers will accept it I think I'll go with the Abus Granite too but I fear they will insist on a thatcham 2 and not accept a thatcham 3 mechanical device. I've tried Footman James, Adrain Flux and Caterham themselves (best deal so far, very slightly more expensive than Footman but with track day cover). Any tips on insurance and the companies that will accept a Thatcham 3? I have no power to the garage for a trickle charger (someway from my home) and fear an electronic device could be a major inconvenience.

I understand there are some immobilisers I could fit that meet at least Thatcham 2 standard but are not electronic and therefore will not put a drain on the battery. Anyone know which ones they are? Would be good to have something that is not too huge to carry around if not permanently fitted.

Mixed reaction when you come to sell though... Everyone will be convinced its a racecar (otherwise why would you spend the typical £1000 - 2000 cost?)

Sounds like my question too... Who is this to call? Can you disclose a ballpark figure on here? Or email it to me. Thanks & sorry for stealing this link...

Hi, just curious as to the approximate cost of getting a Caterham painted in a flat colour (i.e. something like Caterham Yellow). Two-pack paint I assume would be best. Any experience? or knowledge of cost.