michaelw

Agree with all comments especially Noger. I have a 7.25" and mine came down from 103dB to 96db I think and it is really well made. It is quite big though but I have had mine for over a year and it has really grown on me and still looks as good as new despite the grief I give the car and the weather I drive in. Give me an e-mail if you would like a picture. Michael.

Yes mine leaks from all over the place and no sooner have I fixed one thing something else springs a leak. But that is the way someone has put it together rather than anything else as I am now nearly on top of it. I think mine still leaks from the end main bearing carrier as it is not flush with the block, i.e. one side is high and the other is low. But this does mean the sump (Caterham dry sump) is never going to seal for very long with the bottom of the block. Also worth noting that as mine has always leaked, I wasn't suprised when there was oil all over the bottom of the car when I was looking for the cause of a horrible noise. I thought at first it was engine oil as it didn't smell like gearbox oil. It turned out to be the gearbox which had dumped all its oil and the front of the car was covered in engine oil and the back gearbox oil - so be careful. I now think the diff is leaking but there you go!! Michael.

for the raceco I have done about 10 track days with mine and no problems and very quiet although still makes a nice noise. Michael.

James, It was fitted when I bought the car but I am pretty sure that it is not factory fit as the two sensors are not even at 180 degrees to each other and are bonded with something that looks like a mixture of araldite and liquid metal. I agree that wheelspin etc will give you a totally false reading, although I hadn't thought about it before. I only use speed and engine readings it being a track day and road car. There is a bracket on the diff to hold the wheel sensor but I am not sure what it used to be. Michael.

Mine picks up off the driveshaft, which has 2 what looks like bolt heads bonded to the outer casing of the inboard CV joint. It seems to work OK until you have to replace the driveshaft I guess. Michael. Why can't I spell teh Aaahhh. Edited by - michaelw on 25 Aug 2004 11:50:35

Sorry to hijack this thread but I have just removed the dry sump pan and it appears that the main bearing cap isn't flush with the block. It is about 10 thou high on one side compared to the block and about 5 thou low on the other. Is this normal or should the bearing cap be totally flush with the sump. The sump pan surface is damaged and it leaks with that instant gasket stuff you get at Halfords? (I now realise I need Vauxhall sealant thanks to this thread). The engine appears to be OK but the guy doing the work for me is worried that the main cap might have moved although I am not sure how it can. He has checked the bolts are tight, although only to the torque setting before the extra degrees you do to stretch the bolts as we didn't want to move them. Michael.

I have had a look at the car and I think a vent in the rear panel to let the air out from around the rear axle and hence the transmission tunnel would sort it out but would look wrong. The other option would to be to fit a brake duct in reverse sticking out of the back of the car if you see what I mean, which is what I think some one has suggested further up. I guess if you had a defuser this would also sort the problem - a bit extreme though. Michael.

As I got out of the car last week to fill up with Petrol I must of caught the gearshift gaiter and pulled a rivet out. It then had an inch gap which let air from the transmission tunnel into the cockpit. The cockpit side was much cooler after this and heated up again when I pressed it back down again. So I guess the "removing air from the transmission tunnel" solution would make a lot of difference. Not very scientific but just my two pence worth. Michael.

I have just fitted one that I bought from Caterham and boy is it a horrible job. It makes a huge difference to legroom though. But on my car certainly I need some sort of heat shield/lagging to stop the passengers feet cooking. Michael.

I have just bought the SD padding from DT. It is polyurethane and doesn't appear to give at all in fact you can only compress it slightly between your fingers. I guess in a shunt your head would hit pretty hard and it would absorb a lot of the shock. I had some foam stuff on it when I first got the car and you could feel the bar through the padding so I guess that would be hopeless in a shunt. Michael.

Mine clonks when you come off or go on the throttle in a hurry. I put this down t backlash which it has a fair ammount of and you can feel this when you rock the car backwards and forwards when it is stopped. But then again it is an LSD and it granches when on lock which I know they all do. Michael.

I had exactly the same thing and took the diff and gearbox to BHG who said the seals in the diff were worn but not leaking and everything else was fine. The gearbox was worn out but that is another story. The diff still clonks and apperently "They all do that sir". I have the slide in type and mine was definately grease leaking also as mentioned above the outer sleeve of the driveshaft is loose. It has now stopped leaking and the only reason I can see for this is that the driveshaft was over-filled and when the driveshaft is put into the diff it is spring loaded and effectively becomes shorter if you see what I mean. The gaiter acts like a bellows and squeezed the excess grease out of the gap between driveshaft and outer which is half in the diff. The grease then picks up on the sticky out things and sprays everywhere. I hope this all makes sense. The gearbox is now fantastic by the way I can't believe how much difference it has made to the car, full marks to BHG. Michael.

I have just fitted this and it came with instructions. If you want a copy, e-mail me a fax number and I will fax them across tonight. The inner cross shaped bit should be UP according to the instructions. With mine fitted you can blow as hard as you like into the tank but can only suck slowly if you see what I mean (no comments thank you). I think if it is the wrong way up this isn't the case. This would make sense as it is meant to allow air in and not fuel out. Have you got a bag-tank and if you have the ball-valve in the tank, is it next to useless - mine is and was responsible for being black flagged at bedford hence the second valve. Michael.

Thanks for that foxy, how come I didn't think of that description I have spent what seems like hours trying to explain this to people. Oh well. Michael.

I have kind of sorted it out by drilling out the original stud and drilling into the terminal *eek* (how far to go). But it seems to have worked. It came with the car when I bought it a year and a half ago and I think it was fairly old then. What did you have in mind? Michael.

Thanks for that. Mine does do exactly that - the non-return valve gets blocked and the pedal then returns slowly and eventually the stop rises off the floor and teh pedal goes solid. I think I have put Castrol response fluid in this time but will check. I will also re-bleed as I have only bled once when the engine went back in. Maybe it is something to do with the Sussex sea air!!! Michael.

I have a VX with Caterham dry sump and have had problems ever since I got the car. I have replaced the slave cylinder which I know is a weak point about a year ago and this improved things. The master cylinder then went so I replaced that. This looked very badly made with a huge ammount of flashing all around the outside. I know this won't effect the performance but doesn't give me a lot of confidence about the rest of it. It also would not return when I was re-filling after fitting. I have now had the gearbox rebuilt and the car still won't go into gear as well as I would have thought it should. The fluid in the master cylinder turns black with a residue on top very regularly and then the pedal does not return properly. CC say the problem is that the fluid picks up residue off the ally parts but that sounds odd to me. Any ideas. Michael.

Thanks Foxy, by extension nut do you mean effectively a short internally threaded tube as I can't find anybody who knows what an extension nut is? If so that sounds like a plan as there is certainly enough thread without the terminal on. Michael.

I was just connecting everything up last night after an engine out job and I was tightening the battery terminal up on my SBS gel type battery and the stupid bl***y terminal snapped off (I had bearly got past finger tight). Angry face smilie!! Angry face smilie!! Angry face smilie!! (Smilies don't seem to work from my work browser). I now have one thread above the battery terminal without a washer to attach the nut to, although there is about 3 or 4mm of thread left sticking out of the battery. I think the terminal is an M3 threaded insert sticking out of the battery if you see what I mean. Any ideas without buying a new battery? Michael.

I have just fitted the lowered floor but cannot fit the Tillets due to an unusual cross-member. But it had occurred to me that as the rear panel slopes forward the leg room would be reduced. I also made the seat base on my tin-top thinner to give me more headroom and the seat has to be further back, which I put down to a combination of the above and the fact that my legs are flatter and therefore closer (triganometry wasn't my strong point at school - nor was spelling). The other thing I would say is that my Tilletts sometimes refuse to go fully back (rubbish in the runners and the ball bearing stop thing sometimes moves). Also on my car the mounts for the crutch strap sticks forward by 2 or so inches from the rear bulkhead this may foul as the seat is now lower. Have they fitted the original mounting bolts for the seat as these can foul if the heads are too thick? I am going for the foam seats but haven't done them yet so can't tell you if they are any better. Not sure how helpfull the above is but maybe give you some ideas. Michael.

Sorry I realise now that you do know what a brooklands screen is - the expression "teaching eggs and sucking" springs to mind. Mine is the removable type but I didn't mention that I am far too high in the car anyway, my helmetted head is level with the FIA bar. Michael.

I have the same problem but there are 2 gaps between the sump and the bottom of the block either side of the flywheel that allow you to see the flywheel with the gearbox and bell housing attached. I also have a bad external oil leak so I think that is where mine is coming from. Michael.

Do you mean the JPE type. I have one of these and am 6'3" and it hits me full in the face. My cheeks look like some sort of comedy wind tunnel effect. I think my neck may be out of the air stream but would not even be sure of this. The brooklands screens are meant to be better. Michael.

Thanks for that, it is the bolts through the sill I am interested in. Are these threaded as only the passenger side appears to be on my car? Although it is only the inside skin that has a hole in it, and there is no hole on the ouside of the car. This indicates to me that this is the FIA petty strut mount are they the same mount? Yes sorry to hear you had a nightmare, I saw your thread. I hope it is easier to fit than remove!! Michael.

I have 2 questions: I have a driveshaft that appears to be leaking grease from the diff end of the drive cup (not sure if that is the right name). The driveshafts are the push-in type and the round cover rotates slightly around the CV joint. Is this right and if so can this leak grease between cover and the CV joint and should you glue/bond/weld the 2 together? Does the Roadsport cage have a threaded insert on both front mounts as my car only seems to have one on the passenger side? Michael.