techbod

To answer my own question - yes it does help. Using the SO's hair-drier with more lights, buttons and switches than the 7 (full control over temperature and fan speed) and a cautious approach to how hot it all got, I found heating the whole area from both sides around and including the 'dint', made the window noticeably more pliable and soft. As it cooled it has pulled much of the 'dint' out. It took several attempts increasing the heat each time. They haven't gone completely but they are very much reduced. It might be a hair-drier doesn't get quite hot enough to completely remove them, but that's all the experimenting I want to try on them for now.

I've got a couple of finger size 'dints' (for want of a better word) in one of my sidecreen windows. The plastic must have been stretched slightly at some point to create them. Is there any way these can be persuade to shrink back again, perhaps with gentle heat? Or will I end up ruining the screen completely if I try this?

*thumbup*Thanks for the replies. I assumed the long rod had to have shorter piston since it still has to fit into the same cylinder. I couldn't work out what it would do for me though - I had been wondering if it meant a shallow combustion chamber and was basically going down the wrong path. Thanks for clearing that up. As I'm looking to keep the revs/performance the same as I have now, this confirms that the long rod route isn't one I'll be going down. Can anyone confirm the length for the standard rod? cheers

There was a stand at Autosport had alloy heads for the xflow. I think the basic version, just the head no valves etc, started at about £800 and worked its way up from there. (I can't remember who they were though ☹️) Edited by - techbod on 19 Feb 2011 11:04:45

I'm mulling over an engine rebuild for my 1700cc supersprint spec xflow. I'm looking for engine longevity rather than a hike in power, so will probably rebuild with forged pistons (which should bring a small increase anyway). Looking at the various forged pistons - I have two options: standard and long con rod length. Am I correct in assuming that my current rods are 4.9" this corresponds to standard length? What are the advantages/disadvantages of going to a longer length rod and suitable piston? Higher CR perhaps? What length are long rods? I'm assuming I probably won't need to go down this route but I'd like to know what it offers anyway. cheers

Can anyone hazard a guess as to when the approx date was the Caterham lightened flywheels started to appear on the xflow? Any pictures around or other information that might help identify one? (I have a lightened flywheel sitting in the garage I would like to use, but until I can be reasonably sure of its provenance I'm reluctant to use it...)

Nowt to do with me, spotted on ebay at the 11th hour: here

As above

*arrowup*According to that list, the Comma (Caterham supplied?) supplied antifreeze contains OAT - so I assume the suppliers of my silicon hoses would recommend it shouldn't be used. The situation isn't clear cut, you don't seem to be able to rely on colour as being an indicator of the antifreeze ingredients as you might once have done. Aside from the silicon hoses it seems to mainly be an issue for engines in older 'classic' cars which may have seals and gaskets with a silicon content. Whether a crossflow is old enough to be in that category, I don't know, but I'm playing it safe. There is a more general discussion about the suitability of OATS/HOATS use in older vehicles. The FBHVC covered the subject is two of their newsletters: here and here Couple of interesting links on the Rolls Royce and Bently owners club: here It seems a car owner has manage to extract reparations out of a supplier after claiming it damaged his engine. Also quite alot of discussion about it on the Lotus Elan.net forum. Edited by - techbod on 12 Feb 2011 13:05:58

Recently I bought some silicon hoses - when I picked the up the vendor advised that I should make sure I didn't use an antifreeze that contained any organic anticorrosives, since they could damage the silicon hoses. After further reading around the subject (some info on the web on OATS/HOAT and 'classic' engine problems) - and being a pet and XFlow owner - I tried to find some Comma propylene with ITA based antifreeze. However its not been made for a while now so I had no luck in sourcing any. Eventually via google I found this lot, which is the only UK based source for 5 litres I could find. Its a bit of an odd site, but I bit the bullet and ordered from them. The antifreeze and flush duly arrived and is about to go into the 7 . Only time will tell if its any good. So for anyone looking for a Propylene with ITA based antifreeze there seems to be at least one supplier at the moment.

YHM regarding propshaft. cheers

Classic Silicon hoses supplied mine - helpful to talk to and they do sets for both crossflows and K's. here

I'll have a look around on there.

Long shot - but anyway. Looking for a VW T25 van/caravelle/camper project for this winter. Not particularly bothered if its air or water cooled, has no MOT, or been round the clock. Prefer it NOT to have a high top but would consider one if everything else is ok. (I have been trying/bidding on ebay for a while, the replies from some of the sellers has really put me off the idea of buying one unseen - for example a response to how much welding the chassis needed, the seller said ; "I'll tell you the same as I told everyone else - its a diesel and its got 8 months MOT". And that was it. Charming. )

My '89 live-axle long cockpit does have an enclosed transmission tunnel

Again, not sure if you've been down this route but in case... Have you looked at the s80 wiring diagram? Page 7 has some specific k20a information, including mention of a k20 map and connecting the VTEC valve to aux 3? In the west midlands so a long way for a scope!

I'm sure you've spotted this so apologies for re stating it... I wonder if its a pullup issue? Glancing through the manual for the s80 (picked one at random, I don't know which you have got) it says; "External Coil Amplifiers blah blah blah... Certain amplifiers need a pull up resistor between 12v and the ECU coil output. A 1K Ohm resistor is fitted internally in the ECU. Others have them fitted internally. If in doubt contact the coil manufacturer" I wonder if you need an external pull up? From your original post and the fact you were using a 1k resistor I suspect you've tried this, but just in case. You are right a scope will tell you what happening in no time at all. You are welcome to use mine but I imagine I'm a fair distance away... Edited by - techbod on 18 Nov 2010 11:12:00

That's what I did in the end, too may problems with bread board, based version, so bought this one, left out the relay (contact rating to low for this application plus it was unhappy at the frequencies it was being driven at) and changed the VRs to give a better period. Hunting round the web, most people seem to think the k20 COP has a built in amplifier, though I can't find a definitive answer. This thread has some conjecture on what voltage and which edge is used to fire, but again it just looks like someone's guess... You're right, the Honda stuff looks hard to find I'm guessing it that the ecu, engine and COP/ignition bits all came together? Edited by - techbod on 18 Nov 2010 00:58:00

I don't know how much this helps (I've not tried this with a COP setup yet) but I have done similar with a coilpack and external ignition amplifier. Using a 555 in astable mode (with suitably chosen resistor values to give a reasonable range and on/off ratio), it directly drove the ignition amplifier, which in turn drove the coil pack and so fired the plugs. As I'm using ford parts, a 4ms pulse was reasonable and it was an inverted signal. If you hunt around on the megasquirt forum you maybe able to find out if the Honda is inverted/non - inverted. (The only thing I can find so far is here, which implies that at least some civic engines are non-inverted.) I originally assumed the amplifier required a 12v signal, but it turned out it would turn on with only a few volts, can't remember exactly how many. I would expect to be able to fire a COP setup in a similar fashion As a matter of interest, what engine are you trying to use them on?

Don't think this has been posted before. here (Nothing to do with me just spotted it)

Sunday 17th at Mallory parked to watch the racing. Probably more but these are the ones I spotted. Blue GN57 *** Green/Ali Q438 *** Red/Silver (anniversary paint scheme) P144 *** Edited by - techbod on 17 Oct 2010 23:15:23

Blue with yellow '7' grill detail. Coventry city centre bound on the London Road, early afternoon ish.

Don't give up on the compressor just yet. It might be trickier than just plugging it in but have a look round the web first and see what other people have done to get a compressor running of a modified sine wave type inverter.

Having been down the same route myself (though my solar setup was mainly for running lights and much lower wattage tools) the thing I would comment on is the output of the inverter. Unless it is a true sine wave type, the AC output is often a very loose approximation of a mains output - often described as a 'modified sinewave'. When put on a scope, my first one was nearer a square wave than sine wave . Whilst devices with switch mode powers supplies didn't seem to care and would run of it quite happily, I destroyed a decent drill that just found the output to 'dirty' for it. Running AC motors of modified sine wave inverters might be a bit hit and miss - it might work, it might run badly, it might not run at all. IMHO of course. (Of course, if you have a pure sine wave inverter then none of this applies...) Edited by - techbod on 16 Sep 2010 00:32:02

Thanks for replyies. I'll see how mine fits when I get it, but tbird might be right....