Midas

I have S-type leather seats fitted, but when I was refurbishing them today I noticed there are stress cracks in the seat frames. The joint where the backrest meets the squab frame. is this repairable, or do I have a pair of scrap seats? Would rather not have to buy a new set - oh wait, they are not in stock at Caterham

The standard seats are fitted to runners, but in basic terms they are simply bolted directly to/through the floor and then are held in place by the penny washers and nyloc nuts that bolt it to the floor. The important bolts are the seatbelt bolts which in my car affix to threaded inserts on the chassis.

Thanks for the replies and 'thumbs up' - always better to check

I'd like a bit of advice/sanity check - went to replace the rear belt on my K Series VVC. The photo shows the alignment of the cams and belt when I first took off the cover. It's run like that for over 5 years. I have changed the belt but cannot get more accurate alignment than it was originally - as shown on the photo - I can't seem to get it dead-on straight. It's either half a spoke out one way or another. The engine is original. - and I have replaced the front cambelt first this morning and that is all nicely aligned. Flywheel/cams were locked before I tried to do remove any belts. Am I doing something wrong?

In the recent Webinar Bob Laishley identified that Nova could be a supplier to Caterham in the future - what was unclear was whether the tyres would be 'affordable', now that Nova was an independent tyre company. It is not known whether Avon had relied on cost subsidies when they were part of their recent American parent company. Cost might not be a factor for the aftermarket buyer, but might influence their fitment as original equipment.

We had a lot of questions at the Webinar from members asking what Caterham was doing to replace Avon tyres on our cars. Simon Lambert has been back in touch and kindly provided the following table showing a read a cross from Avon to Toyo - the new favoured tyre brand going forward. Simon produced the following table Caterham - New Tyre Table Here is an Avon-to-Toyo table that was requested by several. Please note, some tyre sizes have changed due to an exact equivalent not being available; most notably the Academy 185/70R13. Avon Size Toyo Replacement Toyo Size ZZS/ZZR 185/55R13 Proxes R888R 185/60R13 ZZS/ZZR 215/55R13 Proxes R888R 205/60R13 ZZS/ZZR 195/50R15 Proxes R888R 195/50R15 ZT7 185/60R14 Proxes Comfort 185/60R14 ZT7 175/65R14 Proxes Comfort 175/65R14 ZT7 155/65R14 Nanoenergy 3 155/65R14 Academy 185/70R13 Proxes CF2 185/60R13 CSR Tyres As the CSR is still a product for Europe, selecting which of the Toyo options will be appropriate has a homologation impact which again makes things less straight-forward you would hope, so this remains TBA.

If you contact the CC Archivist - Martin Phipps and give him your chassis number, he will be able to tell you the complete breakdown of what was originally supplied by the factory to the original owner. If I recall it will tell you the spec of the engine e.g. on mine it says '1700 Ford Crossflow Supersprint engine'. It will not show the components within said engine, but the original record will get you started.

Great turnout! Nice to see a 73 plate Caterham, used during the winter. Almost made me feel embarrassed I turned up in the tintop.

I contacted Bob Laishley on 5th November and asked him if there was any update we could share with Club Members. Bob's reply was that Caterham are currently heavily involved with the DVSA regarding a fix for the problem. That was as much as he could say at this time. I plan to meet up with Bob before Christmas, and I will ask again if there is an update - assuming a more public statement has not been released beforehand. Regards Richard Chair

We don't think of our cars as unloved: I hope the owner hasn't suffered a mishap.

Thanks for the relies. I have found that the original pump seems to be an AC-DELCO part - 6443327, which appears to have been fitted to a number of Rover cars (Rover Metro GTI and Rover 200 Turbo) according to a Google search. I cant find it on the caterham website. I'll try Redline and Merlin tomorrow, and in the meantime take the car apart!

The fuel pump has gone on my MY 2000 1.8 VVC Roadsport. Does anyone know what the replacement part number is for this item. Also, anyone who has done the job - do you have to remove the fuel tank from the car, or can it be done in situ? Any tips or advice welcomed.

Having upgraded to an alloy race rad, I have my original fit Caterham radiator and SPAL fan unit for sale. Car is a 1.8 VVC, K Series Roadsport which has done 30k miles. The radiator and fan are the original fit, but still fully functioning. I can supply pictures if you PM me. It is not fitted with the fan switch, as this was transferred to the new radiator. Price £50 + postage/courier. Or I can meet you in the Bristol area if that is preferable.

I also replaced my A021s with Uniroyal Rain Experts - and I only tour. Very pleased with them, and will fit them again. Also very reasonably priced

Jonathan, thanks for that - much appreciated