Mike Bees

He's trying to get the light to come on...

Mike

Beware, you can't just fit new bulbs (whatever they're branded) to convert to the same purply-blue-twinkly lighting that you see on an increasing number of new cars - it's a completely different system (arc discharge), and is very expensive (not just the bulb!).

Some good sources of info:

http://lighting.mbz.org/tech/info/blue_bulbs/

http://www.overboost.com/story.asp?id=102

Mike

You shouldn't have to get behind any panelling. Some of the bolts are into rivnuts and so don't have nuts on the back.

Mike

Sold!

Mike

Quite pssiby.

Mike

Nick - you don't have to remove any panelling, the bottom/rearmost 3 are accessed using the up-and-under technique.

Number plate bolts will do fine although that's a rather expensive way to do it.

Mike

Oops, forgot the wink.gif

Mike

You mean Nick's problem is that he has too much grip at the rear not that he has a lack of grip at the front?

Mike

Actually no, it wasn't you Nig, but now you come to mention it they did work for you too...

Mike

They snap without damaging the skin - so I'm reliably informed by one who has bashed.

Mike

Offsets for 16x7" HPC wheels are the same as for 13x6" at -ve 19mm (according to the build manual). I specified this offset for my 15x7" rear wheels and it looks perfect.

Mike

Have they (Southern Carbs) moved? They used to be in Wimbledon:

Southern Carburetters and Injection

Unit 6, Nelson Trading Estate, Morden Road, Wimbledon SW19 3BL

Tel : +44 (0) 181 540 2723 - Fax : +44 (0) 181 540 0857

Mike

How's a tenner sound?

Mike

This has been covered on the sevens list in the past. Peter Carmichael has data logs of oil pressure before/after fitting the the air/oil separator tank, it can't and doesn't eliminate the effects of surge but it does reduce them - when the pickup is sucking air you still get a supply of oil from the tank albeit at less pressure than before.

Mike

Whoops, should have said "completely different blocks". Perhaps it's me that's completely blocks.

Mike

To further muddy the waters the 1.6 Ecotec and the 2.0 Ecotec are completely blocks. The 1.6 is much smaller and lighter.

Mike

I've never been to a track day where helmets are inspected (fnarr fnarr), but it's a good idea to get one that conforms to one of these standards:

SNELL SA95

SFI Foundation 31.1, 31.2

BS 6658 Type A/FR

These are acceptable for competition use, as are:

BS 6658-85 Type A (Type 'B' is not acceptable)

SNELL SA90

although the latter 2 may not be acceptable after this year.

If you're ever thinking of competing then you'll need a helmet with a visor or goggles in an open top car.

I've never been to a track day where fire extinguishers are anything more than advisory, although if the circuit isn't fully marshalled then it's definitely a good idea to carry a decent-sized one. A glovebox-sized handheld thing won't be much use. If you do carry a fire extinguisher make sure it is well secured, otherwise there's more chance of it coming loose and injuring you in an incident than there is of you catching fire.

Nothing else required for the FIA bar, but make sure you either have a head rest or you pad the cross brace on the bar very heavily.

Mike

What a bargain! Shame I can't afford 2 sevens...

Mike

I had the same problem as Andy on my first Caterham (1.4K) where the gauge went up to 100 with no sign of any flow. 'Phoned Caterham who said that it might need to get quite hot and/or be cycled a few times to get the thermostat to do it's first opening - they were right.

Running temperature should be governed by the thermostat. It's an 88deg 'stat in the standard K, but the gauge isn't *that* accurate (the ECU reads 10deg hotter than the dash gauge on my car). If you blank off the rad then you will make it more likely that you're running with the 'stat fully open more of the time, and make it likely that the rad fan will have to cut in sooner. I can't see any advantage in doing this. If the radiator is over capacity then the 'stat should stop the engine from getting too cool - that's what it's there for.

Mike

There are valves which can have a maximum pressure preset on them, which ensure that as the tyre heats up the pressure doesn't go up as well. Handy 'cos you can set the cold pressure to what you want to run at and the pressure will remain constant as the tyres heat up.

[Anorak on]

They're not allowed for competition use though, Year 2000 Blue Book Section E 12.9.4

[Anorak off.]

Mike

It's surprising how strong people can be when their teeth are gritted and the red mist is coming down...

You don't need to be particularly strong to mash the synchros, it's as much to do with speed as it is strength.

Mike

The standard flywheel isn't particularly light. Lightweight steel flywheels are available from Caterham, QED, Minister etc. Farndon are selling some for 60 quid each in Motoring News this week - don't know what's wrong with them!

Personally I don't like the idea of lightening the stock flyhweel significantly, owing to the fact that I like my feet attached the way they are :-)

Mike

http://hometown.aol.com/DVAndrews/quick.htm

The issues with the synchros is that the quickshift allows you to change gear quicker, thus giving the synchros a harder time - it's as simple at that. Synchros are a weak point on the type 9 box anyway.

Mike

A rather obvious but possibly overlooked point about tyre pressures: For a given situation there will be a tyre pressure that gives the optimum amount of grip from the tyre. Adding more pressure than this will reduce the grip, reducing the pressure from this will reduce grip.

Ergo you can't have a general rule which says "increasing the front tyre pressures will cause less/more understeer" because it depends (a) on where you're starting from and (b) on loads of other factors.

The best way to determine the tyre pressure for optimum grip (or more correctly to make optimum use of the tyre's width) is to use a pyrometer. Measure the temperature of the inside, centre and outside of the tyre. Plot them on a graph with temperature on the Y axis and position (inside, centre, outside) on the X axis. If the 3 points form a horizontal line then bingo you're heating the whole width of the tyre evenly. If they form a straight line but with the inside hotter than the outside or vice versa then the pressure is optimised but the camber and/or toe is causing a temperature gradient across the tyre. If they don't form a straight line then draw a straight line between the inside and outside temperature points - if the centre point is below this line then the middle of the tyre isn't doing enough work so more pressure required, if the centre point is above the line then the middle of the tyre is doing too much work hence less pressure is required.

The requirements will change from venue to venue and day to day (even hour to hour) at the same venue.

Mike

Older live axle cars have the hoop. It won't protect cockpit occupants from the flailing end of the propshaft 'cos the hoop is underneath, but it will prevent the front of the propshaft dropping down/digging in/launching the car... - don't know if that was it's purpose or whether it was just chassis stiffening.

Mike