Nick Woods

As the title says. Most of the features being asked for are already available in off-the-shelf forum packages, so IMHO it would be a better use of developer resource to migrate the current content to a better platform. It will be hard work upfront but once its done , its done.... I have no confidence that the drupal forum module will ever be as good as we want it to be

I agree Its frustrating only using half of the width of the screen. There also seems to be a lot of white space between lines too

If you take the car for a run and the expansion tank is still overfilling, let it cool then undo the radiator bleed nut (on top of the rad). If you get gas rushing out and the level in the header goes back to normal (ie what it was before you started the engine) then you might be looking at the early signs of head gasket failure. If you can repeat this scenario over and over again I'd say its almost certainly the gasket, and will be caused by gases leaking past it into the coolant, causing it to overpressure and pushing up the level in the header. The gases will then accumulate in the pipes and/or the top of the rad, giving the impression they are empty. If the above is not repeatable in this way then there may be some other cause such as an airlock Mine did this but it took a long time to realise that it was gasket failure, because none of the other indicators such as 'mayonnaise' or tests for gases in the coolant were present. Mine only did it when the car was being driven fairly hard , presumably because the pressures on the gasket were higher. See here for the full story Edited by - Nick Woods on 22 May 2014 12:35:55

I made my own larger ones out of 4mm perspex, much better than the standard ones IMHO .... More photos and a cutting plan are here. I might make version 2 a bit deeper as they could do with being a little further out into the airflow, this is shown on the cutting plan (There's also another thread here and http://www.blatchat.com/t.asp?id=231820)

I also have a set of Freestyle springs & AVOs and when I got them I did a little research. I don't have any confirmed figures but my notes from the time say possibly 245lb/in for the Green springs on the front and 170 for the Whites on the rear Don't take this as gospel though but it might help

Good news , glad you got it sorted

SM25T - I think we are talking about the same thing - the self adjuster holds the piston in position and 'takes up the slack' as the pads wear so that the handbrake cable doesnt need to be adjusted once its been initially set. Except that mine doesnt appear to be doing that, the lever to which the handbrake caliper attaches can move all the way over without the pad biting on the disc, so I have no handbrake on the left-hand side. I can also see a small gap between the inner pad and disc on that side, which adds to my suspicion that its not working and needs a strip down to ascertain why. Having read the Haynes manual I've realised that it might be tricky without the correct tools. Ian - thanks for that, it confirms what I already thought c7trp - thanks even more, that sounds like a solution

Thanks Jonathan , I've previously found the same postings but couldnt find any more than that either.

Thats whats supposed to happen, and AFAIK we are taking about the same adjuster, but sometimes it doesnt seem to work . Theres a diagram here showing what the internals are like, and some background info here : The actual adjustment for wear on the brake pads is taken up by the group (21). The piston and seals marked as (19) rotate about the shaft (21). As the pads wear the rod is rotated slightly and becomes longer - this compensates for the thinner brake pad by moving the brake piston out Edited by - Nick Woods on 20 Apr 2014 14:05:29

My handbrake self-adjuster on the left rear caliper isnt working - the actuation lever to which the cable attaches can be pulled right down to the caliper but the pads dont touch the disk. So, with help from OBNS ( ) we intend to take the caliper off and strip down the self adjuster so see if we can fix it. However, section 7 of the Haynes manual here says Note: Complete dismantling of the rear caliper should not be attempted unless Ford spring compressor (tool No 12-007) is available, or unless the problems likely to arise in the absence of the tool are understood. The problem is that I cant find a 12-007 anywhere so was wondering if anyone knows where I can get one. Please note that this is not the caliper windback tool, its a special spring compressor for the handbrake self-adjuster Edited by - Nick Woods on 20 Apr 2014 13:48:03

Quoting elie boone: All Caterham data about rake is without driver. Ok , but therefore that must assume a certain value for the weight of driver and/or passenger which may or may not be appropriate for the person who actually uses it. For example, the unladen rake of my car is higher on the drivers side than on the passengers because it was set up to be correct when I drive it solo. When I'm in it the rake is the same both sides, but when I have a passenger its a little lower on that side. As I drive it solo more often than not , and drive it harder when on my own I wanted it set up that way. One of the car mags (ISTR it was Evo) used to run a 7 and they had it set up to be correct with a passenger on board as that's how they used to run it most of the time

I'd just like to reiterate what 7wotw said - all measurements should be done with the driver or an equivalent ballast on board. To me, 35mm rake seems way too high unless that's with the car unladen; in which case the car will settle down according to the weight of the driver who gets in it. My car has a noticeably wonky attitude until 95Kg ( ) gets added to the drivers side when I get in. IMHO a proper corner-weight and ride-height session is always a good place to start before you start fiddling with anything else, assuming your shocks have adjustable platforms or the grooves already mentioned.

Thanks Having spoken to AVO again they cant supply 5/16" sleeves anyway so I'll take the dampers off and see if they are seized in , and if so I'll order them from Caterham. AVO can service the dampers for £25 a corner so I may send them off and get them to do the bushes at the same time.

I appreciate you've already done it now, but I've always understood that you shouldn't run a K-series with the expansion cap off as the reduction in pressure may allow localised boiling and overheating in the head. Apart from that I'd do as SM25T says and keep the car level and do the last bit of the top-up via the bleed tee. When its warming up, feel around all the hoses to make sure they are all warming up and there are no cold spots, and make sure the cooling fan comes on when it gets hot enough. Just keep checking the level regularly once you start to use the car again in case there are any airlocks or leaks etc

I need to replace the bushes on my AVO dampers and they've asked me if I want new sleeves to go with them, which seems like a good idea to me and as they are only £1.50 each its not going to break the bank. Before I order them could someone confirm if I only need the sleeves for the lower front and that they are 5/16" inside diameter (1996 K-series). Caterham only list lower front sleeves for the Bilsteins here and ISTR the upper front and both rears dont need sleeving, but its been a while since I fitted and I cant remember for sure if they were sleeved or not