Grandmaster Flatcap

Thanks for the answers Does anyone know the rivet size? I'm at the outlaws so can't check the car, and I'm shopping on the interweb. Edited by - Nigel Mercer on 30 Dec 2012 09:06:59 Edited by - Nigel Mercer on 30 Dec 2012 09:08:17

Help please chaps... I recently bought myself a SBFS half hood - all very nice - and fitted the back-to-back push the dot fasteners to the boot cover. Problem is the two studs on the skin of the car that these push the dots fasten onto are, well, chewed (is the only word I can thing to describe them). This is the first time I've had the boot cover off these studs. All the other studs appear to be fine, it's just these two (in fact the skin of the car is a little pushed in around the near-side stud. god knows what has happened to them). I managed to get the off-side popper onto the stud after much swearing and numbing of thumbs, but the near-side is a complete non-starter. Can some kind soul please tell me how to replace them, and what special tools if any I will need? Thanks in advance.

Thanks everyone

Chaps, any recommendations on a reliable of checking tyre pressures / inflating at home? Never convinced the gauges you get in Hellfrauds are worth jack.

So whilst we are sharing... A few years ago, SWMBO managed to reverse her car into the garage using just the starter motor - and at the time the garage door was closed. After getting her car out of the garage door, I went to inspect the damage to the door. The door was an up-and-over door, and one of the spring loaded lifting arms had come loose and was waiting on a hair trigger. The arm came up with remarkable speed and force and hit the side of my head: (and no I'm not normally that lopped sided ) One broken cheek bone and seven hours in casualty. They wouldn't let me home until the nose bleed had stopped and it just wouldn't. The worst bit was a nurse coming every 15 mins or so to insect the blue paper towel I was bleeding into to check the only thing leaking out my head was blood and nothing more sinister. N.

So what about jacking / axle stands at the rear? Do we have a consensus of how / where?

LAN cross-over cable.

One to add to the list: Head light. Mine just fell off 200m after a particularly nasty pothole.

Quoting zetec: Which app pls, i want one! Can't speak for ipple, but on a decent OS, search Google play for "accelerometer" There's an app by "Alexander Ponomarev" Free version gets you an on screen graph, £0.93 gets you a version that writes to a file.

After more tintop miles than I care to think about, I've never checked the tintops suspension / engine mounts / etc for loose bits, and nothing has ever fallen off (well, apart from various trim bits on a MrkI Vectra company car... ) so.... Why should / would things work loose on a Caterham? Surely we build them well - don't we?

Quoting Stationary M25 Traveller: Not at all. Fill to bottom of filler plug. Oil below drive shaft outlet - especially as you have jacked up that side of the car. If you have had a leak, you need to check the oil level once job done and car back on the level. Isn't the level of the seal, much lower than the filler plug. Still confused, sorry 😳

Quoting John Hughes: 3. No need to drain the oil.The oil level is below the bottom edge of the seal. Quoting Stationary M25 Traveller: Check oil level - up to threads of filler plug on rear offside of diff. Through the boot floor is easiest. Sorry chaps - to many years readnig Tech Specs - the two quotes seem to contradict each other?

Quoting Stationary M25 Traveller: Yup - there is a seal where each driveshaft comes out of the diff. Remove the wheel, unbolt the caliper and secure it out of the way - carefully if a copper brake pipe. Unbolt the deDion ear and remove it while withdrawing the drive shaft from the diff. Lever the old seal out - carefully, so you don't score the inside of the diff housing. R&R advise filling back of new seal with grease to prevent spring from becoming dislodged as you tap it in. Press new one in using a suitable drift until home. Insert drive shaft and reattach deDion ear, caliper and wheel. Check oil level - up to threads of filler plug on rear offside of diff. Through the boot floor is easiest. Job done. You can get seals from Road & Race, Redline, CC and no doubt other places too. Need to get round to this before all the oil goes walkabout. Being a spanner newbie, and the sort of fool that needs to understand everything before I start a job, can I ask the wise heads some dumb questions? 1. unbolt the caliper and secure it out of the way - carefully if a copper brake pipe. – I have copper lines, so I guess I don’t bend the copper , but do I need to loosen a joint to get them to move, or...? 2. … withdrawing the drive shaft from the diff. – I assume this doesn’t just come out in my hand, so how is it released? There’s a “toothed” ring around the prop on the side facce of the diff. Does this need to be removed, if so what tool? 3. Is there a way to drain the diff first? 4. Is the seal a standard part across all diff? If not, how do I ID the one I need to buy? Thanks in advance chaps!

Speedo reading?

Quoting Martin Jeffrey: Out of the interest do you have the standard Avon ZV3 tyres? Many discussions on here about them.....best to think about replacing them as they are a bit of a nightmare in the wet. Avon ZV 1's - must admit it was a little twitchy on the damp lanes yesterday.

Quoting Paul Richards: Nigel Yes. Certain it is de dion axle. The test you are thinking about is to check whether you have a limited slip differential (LSD) - a different thing. Suspect SM25 is correct about your tyres. Good advice to change to something like Yoko AO21s as a good all round touring tyre. Get along to LADS meet 5.9.12 for some advice/help. Paul, currently booked for child sitting duties on the 5th, but trying to organise a stunt double so that I can come along.

Quoting Paul Richards: Quoting Nigel Mercer: It is a live axle. Are you sure? I thought it was a de dion car that you bought. No, not sure - just dumb I remember that there is a test when the rear is jacked - something about turning one wheel and the other wheel behaves differently (turns the other way?). Or did I just make that up?

Quoting Martin Jeffrey: First thing to find out....is it gear oil or engine oil? HP gear oil has a much stronger smell than engine oil. Erm, not convinced I want to sniff my garage floor ... 😳 I'm definite its from the diff or immediate area. C8RHM always goes in the garage the same way - the engine has never been above where the drips, er, drip. N.

Quoting kenny.: Hi Nigel, I'm only around the corner from you. If it's a six speed box I'd have a small bet it could possibly be from the speedo drive.....notorious leak zone. 5 speed.

It is a live axle. So, if this is normal, where does it come from and why (I'm not a mechanical whizz) Does it mean the diff needs to be topped up?

I there would be problems with a car that has stood for 9 years, but had hoped none would surface this quick... I've noticed that after a run, when C8RHM is put back in the garage she drops 2/3 drips of oil onto the floor. It's only after a good run when she's nice and warm. I've not been able to have a good luck underneath yet - and not sure I'd know everything to look for. So, what should I check for, what can be ignored for a while, and what could prove fatal if left? Thanks for any advice! N.

Chaps, opinions please... I know that running air con uses a little fuel / power, but a friend has said that it should be left running all the time as it prevents the seals ni the system degrading and therefore prevents leaks or lose of coolant. Is he correct? ait con always on or not?

Quoting St Eve: CC's online shop is pants for newbie..... If you are not sure which bit you want, Nigel, give them a call. My experience is that they are extremely helpful and reassuring... That's my point. I have no issues phoning them if they're helpful - but - if you are going to sell things through an online portal, then do it properly. When was the last time you had to phone amazon to ask about an items description?

Quoting 6speedmanual: Go Aero! 😬 Peter All part of the five year plan. Mind SWMBO hasn't even sat in my C8RHM yet, let alone gone for a ride - and that's with screen and doors. An aero might just have her running for the hills. N.

So, thought I'd give it a go without the doors. Absolute cracking fun 😬 Would love to go "doorless" again, but would need to be able to quickly swap back to the doors. Does anyone know of a wing mirror / windscreen stanchion mounted mirror that quick releases? Is there a mirror that drops into the mounting tubes for the doors? (As an aside, CC's online shop is pants for newbie / non-techies. No product details, no "this is compatible with X,Y but not Z", no "whats in the box". One feels like shopping would be a little pot luck, with a 50/50 chance I'd buy the left handed thread instead of the right handed. Very discouraging) N.