Slipper man

With my R500, the advice from Minister was very simple. "We build race engines. Do you see race drivers trundling around circuits breaking their engines in? Just go for it - you will be fine". I never could quite bring myself to do that, but I did take away the message that it doesn't really matter all that much these days.

Good grief! Minister only charged me £6,500 for a new R500 engine! That was in my car for 7 years and 7,500 circuit miles before I removed it, just because I thought I was playing with fire going so far beyond the 3,000 mile recommended rebuild time. The engine was just fine as far as I could tell. One day i will strip it and see what the innards look like.

If yours is an R500 Evo engine (i.e. the 2 litre one) you are very lucky. That is the best engine ever put into a Caterham IMHO. It has a much better crank than the 1800's - made by a French firm which somehow was far better balanced than the 1800 Farndon steel crank. It will certainly have the big radiator as it was a special build engine. You can tell the "triple pass" rad because it has a flat top, but as I say, yours will certainly have all the best kit if it is a real EVO engine, including an ECU driven fan. When you take it on track, once the oil is over 50deg, it is actually the water that you probably need to keep a more frequent eye on. It can go above the ideal level quite easily and with the 1800's certainly, if it goes above just 86 deg (IIRC) it will start to retard the ignition to protect itself. Also on track, watch the oil level. It should be 9 3/4 inches above the bottom of the oil bell/tank housing when hot and the engine has just been switched off. I was advised to build a gauge out of stiff wire with a kink in it at the right point as the original dip sticks have a habit of dropping out when hot! Three of mine did ust that! The other measure if you have a catch tank is to fill until some starts to vent into the catch tank. Some (healthy) engines use quite a bit of oil, others hardly any.

I have had my R500K since it was new in 2000. The first thing I would say is don't worry about it too much. So long as you respect the fact that it is a full race engine from the late 90's, these things are totally reliable these days (the very first weren't!) And don't worry about rebuilds - the official rebuild mileage (this is not often realised) is actually double the mileage recommendation for a Swindon Vauxhall! However, temperature management is very important. When my car was new, I was given a very firm briefing by Minister about how to look after it. First, the minimum oil temperature for using significant throttle (say over half) and 5,000 RPM is 50 deg C. As it says above, it can take a while to get there. So long as it is above that level, you will be OK, though 70-odd is ideal. At this time of year you may need to blank part of the radiator to get it to reach that. One piece of education that Jez Coates gave me at the time is to think of the engine of a 'system' and not to think of oil and water temperatures as separate. The maximum oil temperature is 105 deg C. This doesn't sound much, but the sensor is in the bulk oil tank and they say that if the bulk oil is at 105 deg C, the oil at the bearing would be 140 deg or so. Jez's solution to the fact that on circuit the oil temperature was too high was a bigger water radiator. It worked of course. Max water temp, by the way should be about 84 - 86 deg. If on circuit it goes above that you probably have the "Version 1" radiator

My R500 magnesium sump certainly does have Caterham cast into it

I had two BDR's and they were both on 711M blocks. The later one was upgraded to an AX block as I had two blocks fail on me.

You should bear in mind that you don't have to change the diff. By changing the crownwheel and pinion, you can change the ratio quite cheaply. Road and Race Transmissions have done mine twice.

+1

I have run my R500 with both 7inch rims all round, and the standard 6 1/2 and 8 rims. It was much better balanced with the 7 inch tyres all round, but it is definately faster with the larger rears.

I haven't been sure about the value of balancing slicks since David Morell pointed out to me how much they move on the rim. Try marking the tyre and rim and going on circuit. On mine, in an afternoon, the tyre moves up to 1/4 of a turn in an afternoon!

Thanks - I can never figure out how to do the link!

I always use wheelworks in Crawley: http://www.wheelworksuk.co.uk They do wheels on an industrial scale. They strip the wheels, shot blast them, straighten them if needed and then stove enamel them in a variety of optional finishes. The wheels come back looking new, but with a far more robust finish. Last time I had some wheels done they were £50 each (can't recall if that was before or after VAT)

I can't agree that the car was designed for 15 inch wheels - they are a relatively new innovation. I have tried most wheel tyre combos and 13 inch is the way to go. The car feels much better and as Caterham pointed out, with higher profile tyres, the overall diameter (and therefore ride height) need not change. When I ordered my first Caterham I went through the same debate, ignored the advice and ended up with the then fashionable 16 inch wheels. Big (and expensive) mistake. 13 inch wheels transformed the car for the better. Not just in handling etc, but in ride quality and steering feel too

Ask Eddie Marriot at Oxted Trimming (they make them). He is very helpful and will tell you what to do

3.6 for the road, 3.9 for the track. Depends where you will use it most.

MIne is I think set for 77 deg. The sender for the ECU is on a pipe at the back of the engine, so I guess that it isn't reading the same as the temperature the thermostat sees.

I used to have a heater in mine, but have since removed it (mainly because access to the engine is easier without it. Although the heater gives out a lot of hot air, I found that it heated my legs and perversely made my top end actually feel cooler. So, no, I don't think it is a worthwhile upgrade

I once 'locked' my crank by putting it in top gear and applying the brakes. It worked pretty well, but it used my impact wrench to undo, which you might not be able to do. What does Lotus recommend? There must be an accepted method that is quick and easy on an Elise

Looking at the data sheet for my engine, it is interesting that it says 97RON fuel. At the time, they said it was mapped for 95RON fuel.

The answers above are correct, so long as you have the Caterham dry sump system. These temperatures are for the oil in the bulk oil tank, and I recall Jez Coates saying when my car was new that if the gauge read 100 deg, the oil at the bearings would be c. 130 deg. If you don't have dry sump, the acceptable readings would be higher, but I am afraid I don't know how much.

Hmmm. So, does the 2203 on my 048R's mean they might be past their best?

My advice - don't bother. Just top it up, until it needs to come out for service. These components are designed to take much harder stress than a Caterham will expose them to (assuming you are not racing it) and are designed to last for a hundred thousand miles or more.

I know it is a new car, so you may not want to do this, but... If the 5 speed box is like the ones I used to have before going to 6-speed cars, the top gear ratio is too high and the first gear far too low (it was designed to ensure Sierra's could do hill starts when towing caravans etc). BGH used to do a modification for not much money where they raised first gear and dropped fifth. It totally transforms the car and should eradicate the crunch you have in first/second changes, because the rev change would be much lower. Does the car crunch if you double declutch on changing up, by the way?

I fitted these to my S3 when they first came out. Big improvement - they stop your elbows getting wet when the roads are wet, and they are a much easier way of securing the door. Fitting them is easy, but you need to be careful to ensure the holes are in the right places, so it took me an afternoon

Mick at Redline is the man!