MikeE

Yep I got this from Dave at Powerspeed I just got this from Graham at Exhausts by Design Both are for stainless steel 4-2-1 systems, I certainly will be making the change to a Powerspeed system, probably in November. cheers, Mike

OK I've sent an email to Dave artpowerspeed asking him about questions 1, 2, 4 and 5. However does anyone know the answer to question 3, what happens to the lambda sensor if it doesn't fit an after market exhausts (what's the effect on the ECU of not using it?) thanks, Mike

When I picked my car up from Caterham in April they'd inadvertently reversed a Suburu into it and cracked the CF nose cone. They subseuqnetly replaced it in May with one without the bottom clips. The cars a year 2000 SL, don't know what the difference between an SV and standard nose cone would be either, surely the width of the cars are the same at that point?

Obviously Caterham came to the same conclusion 'cos the botom ones don't exist anymore. The nose cone now has a lip at the bottom which curves around the back of the chassis tube, the top is still fixed with to cdzus fittings

Not a feature of having a CF nose cone is it (cos mines the same). On that subject I note that they've changed the design of the nose cone recently, it now only has the two fixings at the top (none at the bottom).

OK so a PowerSpeed 4-2-1 with repackable silencer seems to be the best candidate for my SL 1600SS. A few questions: 1. I want the complete system including silencer in stainless steel, does anyone have a price for this? 2. Does this system still allow you to fit a lambda sensor (I see in the pictures of the yellow car it's using the lambda sensor)? 3. If not what happens to the lambda sensor? Whats the effect of not fitting it? 4. How long does it take PoweSpeed to make up one of these systems? 5. How much does it cost to get them to install it as well? thanks, Mike.

Erm well no actually. I know why they are called prisoner wheels (I remeber seeing the Prisoner on TV RERUNS ). What I didn't know was what they look like.

Forgive my ignorance but what do the prisoner rims look like? Any pictures?

I emailed Caterham for a price a few weeks back. This was the response!!!!! Thank you for your e-mail. Hi, I'm interested in the new bolt-on aeroscreen which attaches to the existing windscreen mounts. Is it available yet? Not yet ! Scheduled for the end of August How much is it? Approx £225 plus Vat (composite) and £350 plus Vat in Carbon What is it made of (carbon fibre)? Are any pictures available? Not yet ! When we get them I will post a picture on our web site. Regards Darren Phillips Parts Sales Manager

Well then doesn't that make the R500 mag wheels reasonable value then at approx £250 a wheel?

Have you got the six speed box. If so this will make a similar noise when in neutral, you depress the clutch and the noise goes away, when driving (in gear) the noise isn't present either. If this is the case then this is perfectly normal (apparently, well my Superlight does it anyway). cheers, Mike.

John, Thanks for the offer but someone else scanned the article and sent it to me. I actually fitted the tank over the weekend, took about 8 hours total without any real problems (thanks to your instructions). I've driven the 7 into work today and on startup I noticed the oil pressure takes several seconds to rise, I think I'll have to fit the non-return valve as well. cheers, Mike.

Thats interesting because the official fitting instructions from Caterham suggest: "run the car for 2 minute, switch off and leave for 30 seconds then check the oil level. Add more oil if necessary" This implies the oil will have found it's own level within 30 seconds but I guess your experience contradicts this. It also suggests that the air bleed back to the cam cover also bleeds excess oil back to the cam when the tank fills up? Whatever they appear to work. Mike.

Mark, I'd be interested in the wheels only (I want to fit A032 Rs) - would you be interested in splitting them? I'd need to know they'd fit a 2000 Superlight (1600) hub as well. Where are you based in Berkshire, if not to far away i could pop over and see if they fit OK. cheers, Mike.

I want to supplement my R500 wheels (with CR500s) with a cheap set of 6 (or 6.5) x 13 wheels for trackday use. They need to fit a 2000 superlight 1600 hub. Cheers, Mike

sorry, meant to put this in the wanted section Edited by - MikeE on 12 Aug 2002 17:31:56

Gary, The caterham supplied fitting instructions just said to put the oil into the usual (cam cover) place. They suggested about 6 litres to start with, run the engine for 2 minutes, let it stand for 30 seconds then check the oil level. Then top up if necessary. So to answer your question yes you can just fill up with 6-7 litres in the normal way. However, when you start the engine for the first time the oil pump needs to pump this fresh oil from the sump, through the (black) feed pipe to the top of the anti-cav tank. Once the tank is filled 3 or 4 inches the oil will then be forced down the lower (black feed pipe) and into the oil filter, finally it will get to the bairings - this is why it takes a few seconds for the pressure to build the first time you start up. You can alleviate this slightly by partially filling the anti-cav tank with a litre or so of oil through the top by removing the braided air return hose. To remove this house is very easy (once you've unclipped the nose) and won't take you more than 10 seconds. Whether you doi this or not you will still need to drain the anti-cav tank first and this will entail removing the drain plug (carefully) from the bottom of the tank (with a large allen key). One final thing, make sure you fill the new filter with fresh oil before fitting. Although some of this will spill out whilst you're trying to (quickly) line it up with the sandwich plate this method is supposed to avoid the possibility of air-locks (or so the Caterham instructions said). cheers, Mike. Edited by - MikeE on 12 Aug 2002 17:24:58

Having successfully fitted my apollo yesterday (well it's not leaking yet - touch wood) I know the apollo drain plug only too well. As someone else said you want to be careful you don't dislodge the tank when you remove the plug. However the plug screws into a large nut (26mm or larger) which is welded to the ali tank. I'd suggest you get a spanner onto the nut, to hold the tank, and then undo the drain plug. I was also advised that once refilled it could take an age for the oil pressure to build again (as the oil pumps got to expell all the air from the system first). However I looked in side the tank, and contrary to some info I'd been given, it doesn't contain any baffles. So with the aid of a very small funnel you can put a litre or so of fresh oil into the apollo through the openning in the top (i.e remove the air return pipe) which means there's less air to expell and the oil pump builds up pressure much quicker. cheers, Mike.

On the subject of steering racks, I noticed that where the column joins the rack, the splines (at the end of the column) only go about <1cm into the rack (bracket) splines. Now this 'looks' a bit dodgy to me as there's far more spline out of the rack than in it. Is this normal (and OK)?!?!?!?!

I found that sometimes it had fore and aft play, other times it was fine. I figured out that it was possible to put the wheel on and the ball bearing retainers didn't seem to engage fully. The answers is to take it off and try again giving it a good shove on. It should then be rock solid.

So I ordered the kit on Monday (made sure I asked for the fitting kit AND instructions). It arrived yesterday and of course there's no instructions in the box......... I hope to do the job on Satruday and Sunday so hope Caterham can get me the instructions by tomorrow. Mike

Slarty Blat Fast, Thanks for the offer, I've sent you mail. Today I've cancelled my appointment at the Caterham workshop and mail ordered the Apollo from Caterham. So now I'm going to fit it myself I'll need all the help I can get! cheers, Mike.

Spoke to Caterham today and they say the oil temp sender is included in the price (£395 fully fitted). This sender is then wired up to the Water temperature guage and you can manually switch between Water and Oil temps. Mike

As some sort of guide, I just sold the plate T11SCN which I used to have on my TVR Tuscan. I tried for months to get £1,500 for it, I eventually managed £1,000. i.e an outlay of £1K for a plate on a £50K, so maybe £750 for yours might be more realistic?

Appologies for raising this again but..... I've decided I definitely need an anti-cav tank fitting but Caterham can't do it to the end of the month (and I can't be bother to drive all the way to Dartford to drop the car off). SO I'm considering having a go at fitting it my self. The questions are: 1. How long does it take? 2. Do I need any special tools/equipment? 3. Will I get a comprehensive set of fitting instructions with the kit? 4. If not does anyone have a comprehensive set of instructions I could have? 5. Is there anyone in the Fleet/Hampshire area that has experience of this and could help me out (for a few beers of course) Thanks in advance. Mike.