neilg

Hi Geoff, i suspect myself, Holty, Ginty, Frost and W. Robinson will all be coming to Cadwell. I'll get them off their 🙆🏻 and fill in the forms. Cheers Neil

Hi Lawrence, good luck with the conversion. If you need any advice or piccies or anything at all to sooth the passage from the stone age to Blackbird please do blatmail me and i'll be very happy to help. Cheers Neil

Hi Charlie, just a word of suggestion. I would speak to some of the guys who rolling road and tune BECs and the like as they will have seen all sorts of airboxes and will know what works and what absolutely doesn't. My Blackbird on carbs works brilliantly on a Pipercross sausage foamy but was rubbish on the Caterham supplied fancy airbox that it originally came with. ( ask Nick Chan as well) The Blackbird on injection works fine with the Caterham airbox a la Simonpa. I would find someone who regularly sees R1 installations in cars and ask their advice. Try Richard at TTS Silverstone . It will be worth lots of effort as it can make ALL the difference. Been there done that 😬 😬 Cheers Neil

The differential is a bit of a tricky one i think. Mine in the Blackbird is a 3.22 or thereabouts and is geared at 11 mph per 1000 rpm in top on 205 13's . I do top out on the rev limiter on some circuits like Snetts.

I think bike engined caterhams are cheap once you've got one installed or buy complete but i suspect it's quite an expensive job to convert from a car engine , just as it is expensive to convert a k into a duratec. The engine is relatively cheap on a blade or blackbird as you say but once you add £700-00 for a reverser, £ 1200 to £1500 for a dry sump, special props, bespoke exhaust , gear linkage, lectrics, mounts for engine, radiator, etc etc it soon mounts up. Not to mention a £1500 Nova gear set which you'll surely need ( apart from Busa) . I suppose though you have your car engine and gearbox to sell in part ex . I'd buy one already done. Brilliant once you have one though. Cheers Neil PS i keep wondering about getting my Blackbird turbo charged by the nice chaps at Holeshot but at present the wife's finding other avenues for my spare cash!! 260 bhp in a 430 kg car does sound fun though.

On the Blackbird my oil pressure sensor is attached to a piece of braided hose and the braided hose goes into a hole in the block. The oil pressure sensor is mounted via a piece of foam onto the chassis. All this arrangement is to ensure the oil pressure sensor is not vibrated to death by being mounted direct to block on a rigidly mounted bike engine which will shake it to death. Just a tip and this may be particular to the Blackbird installation but worth a look. Cheers Neil

Fauldsport are up at uttoxeter somewhere. Midlands is a big place.

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Another great track day Geoff. Had the best fun all day on the new Snetts track which is brilliant. Cheers Neil

It took me 5 mins. Just undo the can bus type connector on the back and squeeze yourself upside down in the footwell and undo the four little nuts holding the brackets on. It then just slides out. Simples.

Well my Stack has just been returned so hopefully chocks away! My Stack has had condensation which came and went as temperature changes. Then i had my tacho needle stick at 8000 rpm , and then all my LCD went blank. Moisture buggered the PCB. I recommend you speak to Stack on 01869 240404. Cheers Neil

I would suggest you ring Stack direct , they are most helpful. My Stack has been with them for two weeks getting a new PCB and resealed due to damage with water ingress. Cheers Neil ps i presume you have checked all your earths are good and true as most electrical issues seem to stem from bad earths or /and water ingress!!

Drop me an email and i'll give you Colin at Sticky Slicks mobile number. Tyres are only £10-20 for second hand slicks and last ages on a Caterham. Using good road tyres on a trackday is a mugs game i reckon if you can get some four slicks for £80-00 that'll last 5 trackdays or so. More if you're not absolutely at 10 10ths. Cheers Neil .

Hi, if you do a search you will find all the answers to this but to summise:- Ditch the 16 inch alloys. Apart from aesthetics they are not recommended due to their heavy weight, lack of tyre options and crappy handling. On your 13 inchers, which is the way to go, you have a loads of options. Most expensive is a set of CR500 Avon from Caterham which is a purpose designed tyre for a Caterham, being lightweight. These are very good on road, dry or wet and track. Less expensive and more roady is a set of Yoko Ao21 R from George Polley which are a great all round tyre. Available in 60 and 70 profile. More tracky but less good in wet is Yoko A048R and Toyo R888. These are most common types. These are track day staples. Do you have adjustable spring platforms so you can adjust ride height? You will need to do a bit of adjustment to reset your ride height with these platforms. This is a very brief summary but do a quick search and you'll find all the answers you need and more.... Cheers Neil

Hi guys, just a cautionary tale. My Stack like many i've seen had a history of misting behind the glass. Sometimes it was clear, sometimes a slight bit of condensation etc. Anyway a couple of weeks ago it stopped working all together , the tacho sticking at 8000 rpm and then all the LCD went blank. I rang up Stack , who were very helpful and informative and despatched the unit to them. A couple of days later the bad news...... boogered PCB due to moisture. Cost £230-00. They replace PCB and then go through quite a complicated process of resealing the unit. They tell me that Stacks screen seals do degrade over time so it may be worth getting a new seal if your Stack does this before the PCB gets damaged. Mine by the way is 10 years old. Cheers Neil PS At all times Stack have been a pleasure to deal with and very professional which is a refreshing change.

Good point Mark, they are all on roller barrels with a foamy i think. What product is best then ? A box from Caterham or some other supplier? Cheers Neil

My mates with R400's k series all struggled last night at Donny on 98db drive by. Two had brand new RaceCos so i think a bit miffed.

I think my mates R400 has those on. We're at Donny tomorrow night. I'll take a look at them and report back. Cheers Neil

For some reason my tacho part of the Stack on the Blackbird has gone U/S. The needle jumps up to about 7000 rpm and sort of stays there irrespective of the actual revs. The digital part of the dash, oil temp, speed etc all works fine. I've got to check the green wire to the ECU for voltage but anyone any other ideas. My main earth seems ok. *confused* Cheers Neil

Yep i agree, check regulator> £50-00 from ebay. My Blackbird did the same thing.

Hi Gary, good luck with the sale. Someone will get a lovely car there. Cheers Neil

Anyone fancy owning one?here . It'd be a nice drive over to pick it up. 😬 Edited by - neilg on 17 May 2011 08:30:36

Simon Rogers is your man i think

Hi Simon , you have an email from me ref dry sump and propshafts Thanks Neil

Hi chaps, for those who are interested Just changing my wheels from SLR rims with Toyo R888s to MBs with Michelin slicks ( for Cadwell trackday) and i thought i'd weigh them just to compare. ( time on my hands this evening ) 1. 8inch SLR with 205/60-13 Toyo R888 is 14.1kg 😳 ( 85% worn) 2. 6inch SLR with 185/60-13 Toyo R888 is 11.9 kg 3. 8.5inch MB with 20/54-13 Michelin slick radial is 9.9kg 🥰 4. 6.5 inch MB with 16/53-13 Michelin slick radial is 9.2kg 🥰 🥰 So 52kg against 38.2kg. A saving of 13.8kg. Blimey No wonder they cost so much ! Just for comparison i weighed my Minilights with Yoko A021Rs and they weigh 1. 6 inch minilight with 205/60-13 A021R is 12.5kg ( 80% worn) 2. 6 inch minilight with 185/60-13 A021R is 12.2kg While i was being anal i also removed my fire extinguisher which was 3.9 kg and weighed my nose cone ( fibre glass) with number plate at 3.4kg In terms of power to weight then i know from a piccy of my car on proper scales with full tank of fuel and SLR rims that it weighs 465 kg. With slicks then and MB's it weighs 451 kg. Assuming i have about 185 bhp( tuned Honda Blackbird 1.2) this gives a power to weight of 397 bhp/tonne and 410 bhp /tonne repectively when brimmed with fuel. I am 87 kg ( ) so then this falls to 335 bhp/t and 343bhp/t when i'm in it. I suppose with carbon nose cone and rear wings i could shave off another 5kg?? Anyway anal mode off- Cheers Neil