JP

Driving home tonight on little B roads I must have gone over a large rock. The loud bang was shortly followed by a smell of burning oil and an slow drop in oil pressure. I stopped and looked (in the dark) I thought I must have cracked the sump. Once I was towed home (good AA service) I had a good look. It looks like there is a crack in the leading edge of the oil filter adaptor (oil is still dripping v. slowly. Is this a Caterham part or can I just go to my local Rover (1.6KSS) dealer? It looks like the unit is held on by 4 bolts. Can I just unbolt these, bin it and replace ?gasket and part or is there anything more complex I should know? (Although there are a number of scrapes on the sump I think it is intact.) Help please, James.

Maccers, Was the 4 pot conversion for the Mini worth it? I'm rebuilding my Mini at the moment with standard brakes (8.4in discs) - was there a worthwhile difference?

A sensible reply almost immediately! Cheers Oily!

I've need a bit of advice about a potential upgrade. Last week I had planned to have a 4-2-1 manifold made for my otherwise standard (catalysed) 1.6KSS. My paln was to keep the cat'd silencer as the emissions position is unclear (kit built but SVA'd in 1999). On arrival at Powerspeed it became obvious that the length of the standard silencer would not allow a long primary 4-2-1 manifold. So I now have a long primary 4-1 manifold on my old silencer with lambda sensor within the engine compartment. Questions: 1) My plan is to have an interchangeable system at the collector stage so I would have a 4-1 + cat for emissions purposes and a 4-2-1 collector and short silencer for "other "days. The car has come alive since going from a standard manifold to the 4-1. Will I notice an appreciable difference if I get the rest of the 4-2-1 made? 2) Do I need a lambda sensor? I've been advised to drill to side of the car and have a sensor at the collector for the 4-2-1. I'm not too keen unless performance makes it worthwhile. (Plans for the car are TB's/cams and an Emerald ECU at some point.) Sorry to waffle but any advice gratefully received. James.

Bugger, up again! Alex, Bet you haven't got an on call room without a phone! Sorry, I can't think of a useful contribution to the ARB topic at this time, but I'm working on it. James.

As the bar is a cross piece with trailing arms, if the two ends are set differently won't the moment arms at each end be different giving different resistance to roll for a given degree of suspension travel? James. (It's too late for this!)

Good point Blatman! Alex? Mmmm need sleep. Will probably be joining in discussion again about 02:00 knowing my luck! James.

Blatman, I suppose that depends on whether the torsional stiffness is communicated evenly across the bar from wheel to wheel. If it is, then it doesn't matter whether it is 1:4 or 4:1, for example. If I am wrong and it does matter, what is the point of having different anti-roll settings across an axle? James.

10! where do you get 10 from? - Surely it's 5!

Maybe I'm just being a bit dim, but how do 4 holes give rise to twelve settings on the rear ARB (or can it be set assymmetrically)? James.

Just keep driving!!!!! James.

I'm getting a powerspeed manifold next week for my 1.6KSS. Will let you know how it goes. Is the standard silencer (with catalyst) the same length as the race type? I was hoping to keep the possibility of making swaps at MOT time but do not want to compromise the length of the 4-2-1 manifold which, as I understand needs long primaries to get the most out of it. Should I simply ask for an entire system next week? James. P.S. Car is '99 kit built but went through SVA so I'm not sure of the emmisions status w.r.t. MOT.

Arnie, I obviously need a spell in Safeway's car park practicing my doughnuts!!! James.

While we're on the subject of tyres, I need to replace the rears on my 1.6KSS. I have a set of 13" with 32Rs for the dry and the track and 14" wheels (the car came with them) for touring / wet. It's the 14" that need replacing. I was planning on 21Rs - any suggestions? Also I'm forever spinning in the wet at the moment. It's probably me being clumsy with the throttle, but should I go for wider rear tyres? James.

Mine's WT ('99) - green steering rack, extensions on dampers and adjustable rear ARB. Out of interest, does anyone know if WT affects turning circle? Mine seems to have the turning circle of an oil tanker whereas a friend of mine with a '92 Vx (don't even start F.A.) seems to have a much tighter turning circle. James.

I fitted (or rather Ratrace fitted) an AP racing master cylinder about a month ago (1.6KSS). Feels great! You're right in that the overall braking performance should not be altered but I think that the front/rear balance is different with the upgrade so locking the rears happens less now. The pedal feel is initially hard but you get used to it. I'm looking forward to the pads wearing so I can try some red or green stuffs - doing my best. Hope this is of help. James.

I fitted (or rather Ratrace fitted) an AP racing master cylinder about a month ago (1.6KSS). Feels great! You're right in that the overall braking performance should not be altered but I think that the front/rear balance is different with the upgrade so locking the rears happens less now. The pedal feel is initially hard but you get used to it. I'm looking forward to the pads wearing so I can try some red or green stuffs - doing my best. Hope this is of help. James.

Tarek, Cheers. James.

Is the legal position altered if your car comes new with a spare and you choose to ditch it? Tarek, I've been considering this myself. Would be interested if you find someone in the SW who does this well. James.

I had the same on mine (99 1.6KSS) - fault was with the rev counter (Caterham gauges) - problem sorted by replacing with a newer dial. James.

FA, Interesting. Particularly your last sentence, BGH's selling point (in our phone calls) was the improved 1/2 change to provide a useable 1st for slow hairpins on track. Thank God I haven't coughed up any cash yet! James

Seems expensive FA. I'm looking for a re-ratio 5spd for my 1.6KSS - I spoke to BGH and we were talking in the region of £400-£500 (gearbox, not kit). I suppose if you're going to race then the 6spd is more of a need. Bear in mind also that widetrack suspension requires cycle wings (this may be an MOT issue rather than absolute neccessity). James

Good luck - I got zero replies when I advertised mine on this forum! Mine was a year younger and 1.8 and I got £6500 - for anyone considering it this sounds like a good deal! James.

Mine's a 1.6K SS with supersport susp. Recently had ratrace service and I mentioned this problem to them. There was lots of talk about new ARBs etc. but in the end they just moved the rear ARB setting one notch forward towards a stiffer setting. The difference was immediately obvious. Much more neutral car, but if anything a slight tendency towards oversteer. The car feels so much nicer to drive and this upgrade was of course free. You may still want an adjustable front setup but I would suggest giving this a go first. James.

Simon, This may be of help. Had a service this weekend. I've never had the scale of problem you seem to have had, but I did suffer from rapid heating up in traffic jams. I initially bled the system, changed the fan switch, changed the sender and finally concluded that (as I hadn't lost any coolant) that the gauge was crap and have since ignored it. After the service, I was told that the water / antifreeze mix (bad) had been completely drained and instead replaced with a neat pre-prepared proprietary coolant (can't remember the name but will check). I then had to endure a traffic jam lasting a million years while driving across London in pretty hot weather. The temp gauge reached 80deg and remained steady throughout. No fan, no overheating - the only difference being the coolant. I know it sounds basic, but this was something I had overlooked in the past. Hope it's of some help, James