Paul Turner

John Spot on there mate, bet Chris is still working out how to put the 4 Briggs and Stratton engines onto a common crankcase. Will it be a strait 4 or a V4, will it use magnetos or be on management, if it retains the rotary cutting blades will they be considered to be moving aerodynamic devices and finally where will the grass bag be fitted, a side mounted one could take out the timing beam. Paul

All the Ital diffs I fitted in my old LA car were definitely cast iron not alloy. Paul

Martin Simple fact no. 1, x-flows are great. This view dates back many years as my first 2 cars had pre x-flow engines in them. They are exceptionally tuneable, simple enough to be rebuilt by the village ludite with a big hammer and even in serious stages of tune are more reliable than they have a right to be. Simple fact no. 2, Zetecs are great. After several years of debating an engine swap I carried out a Zetec transplant over the winter and after 750 miles so far I am mightilly impressed, its a big step forward. I priced up the alternatives (VX XE and K) plus I considered the ease of the job and the Zetec won, on outright power possibilities the XE leaves it some way behind but the x-flow was out and Zetec in within 4 hours. There will probably be a guy named Barry Hunt along in a minute, he took a 1600 VX out and fitted a x-flow, think that says it all. Paul

Phil Where is the sender? when I first dry sumped my x-flow I followed "expert" advice and relocated it into the remote filter housing as the standard VDO one would no longer fit alonside the pump, the gauge told more lies than the average politition. I fitted a mechanical gauge with the sender in block and normality was returned. Dry sump pumps normally have an adjustable pressure relief valve but I would not suggest adjusting this until you have a reliable reading. As an example my dry sumped x-flows ran happily for 12 years with a hot idle pressure between 15 and 20 psi (1 to 1.25 bar) and a normal hot running pressure at 4000 rpm of about 65 psi (4.5 bar) on 10 - 40 oil. Paul

Back in the late 80's a mate of mine did a back to back test of 3 systems on his 1600 sprint, I think the 4 - 1 side exit liberated 4 bhp at the top end over a 4 - 2 - 1 rear exit. In reality it probably lost more than that in the mid range but the advantages/disadvantages were small with that spec of engine. Paul

Chris Can I expect a plain brown envelope in the post? Paul

Barry I would have thought it was an offer you could'nt refuse, we will be in different classes for the rest of the year. Just sitting here hoping that Chris will make me a better offer to keep quiet. Paul

Barry Promise that you will never beat me again and I will spill the beans. Paul

Tex Cannot say for certain but since they use standard mainshafts etc I would think not. The Quaiffe that has roller bearing gears uses a Quaife main shaft. Paul

Tex I have been using a BGH box for about 3 years now and it does exactly what it says on the tin. My ratios are 2.83, 1.81, 1.26 1.00 0.87 (only 1st and 5th modified) and it worked great with the 1800 x-flow and now seems fine with the 2 litre Zetec. The ratios quoted give you a slightly closer 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 3rd than mine and that will certainly be an advantage. My box is totally silent in all gears baring a very slight whine in 1st which was expected, the change is typically 5 speed using the Ford red oil. I personally prefer it to the 4 speed strait cut box I had in the car previously, some people call the noise character but I found it unpleasant on longer journeys, the wife found it intollerable, the BGH box was much cheaper than a divorce. Paul

I once had the gearbox rubber seperate due to oil contamination over a longish period (live axle car - oil collects on the tunnel floor not on the garage floor). Sounded life threatening as the front universal tried to machine its way through the tunnel on RH bends only. The bad news is it is only possible to change it with the box in the car if a cap head 12mm bolt was used to fix the mount to the box, Caterham supply hex heads in the kit. Because of the tunnel floor in LA cars its difficult to see any witness marks, take out the tunnel carpet and gear lever alloy cover to look at the front UJ, a look around the nose of the diff with a torch may also provide any clues about contact. Paul

My Zetec has now been on the rollers (see page 2) and the figures achieved are exactly as expected. Its a bog standard 63,000 mile 2 litre with a pair of FZ2002 cams, the corrected flywheel figure was 179.5 @7000 rpm (I had hoped for about 180) but everything happens about 300 rpm higher than I anticipated, thats probably down to the headers being a gnats bigger diameter than normal. I was very impressed before the engine was set up compared to the old x-flow, now I am even more impressed, it drives absolutely bloody great. I have plotted a graph showing the figures from the old 1800 x-flow (back in 95 254 spec, its the only one I have) and the Zetec and they are eerily similar, but the x-flow did everything about 750 later and peaked at about 175 bhp. At Curborough yesterday my times were crap (put that down to new tyres buffed by mad Frankie Fraser and a very rusty driver) but the speed across the line (taken from the tach) was about 3 mph up on the 1800 x-flow, exactly what I expected from the power increase. One very satisfied customer and at less than £3000 (the engine cost £150) fitted all in DIY, a cheaper way to 180 bhp with excellent drivability (its on 45's) I would like to find. Paul Edited by - Paul Turner on 8 Apr 2002 13:48:45

Roger King did a Weber Alpha 3d ignition conversion on my old 254 x-flow back in 98 and it certainly improved things. Cruising was far more pleasant, pick up much better and fuel economy improved from 18 to 22 on a decent run. Power as expected remained identical. Well worth doing. Paul

I did a set using various grades of wet & dry to remove any remaining laquer and the white powder that forms under it then polished with Autosol. They came up brilliant, lost my fingerprints for a fortnight, and I left them as a bare polished finish, during winter storage I just wiped them over with WD40 for protection. Paul

Aldon use modified Lucas distributors and they are available with side exit caps, maybe worth a call. Paul

Whether it is painted, bare alloy or powder coated simply Waxoyl everywhere you cannot see and or regulary clean. Take out the tank and do the back panel and tank, do under the tunnel and floor, under the back wings (inc. behind the black wing piping). The engine bay is a matter personal choice, I regulary spray the insides of the skins with WD40, easy to wipe off and does not look as messy. Paul

If we are talking 5 speed type 9 (or 4 speed rocket) they are a metric fine thread, if you have a sandwich plate they need to be longer than the standard Ford part. As a normal rule all later 4 speed and 5 speed are metric parts. Paul

The Rotary referred to was pretty quick, live axle, Mazda 5 speed box, bloody horrid sound, smashing couple who owned it, Jim and ?, are you still out there? Chris, the £3000 is my total spend including the engine which was the cheapest part. Its exactly the same when fitting a K or VX, all the bits add up, when I priced the options the Zetec was the most cost effective plus it required no chassis or body mods. I am not going to enter the Ford v's K v's VX v's Bike argument as they are all Caterhams, drive and enjoy. Paul

I have resisted replying to this thread so far but since my old mate Chris has now put in his five pennies worth I have to reply by law. I had been running a pretty good x-flow flow for 8 years, all steel 1800 (revved to 8400), various flywheels, various cams, weber alpha ignition by Roger King since 98, gave 143 @ wheels RK's figure (probably 170 at the flywheel), very reliable (once I had the block machined flat) but it was not all that pleasant on the road. All the parts for the above (mostly 2nd hand) plus machining plus labour probably came to £3000 originally. Won lots of sprints/hillclimbs in mod prod and roadgoing, stills holds the upto 1800 record at Curborough in 58.52 Have now fitted a 2 litre Zetec, total installtion including all parts, engine, Kent cams, VAT etc came to approx. £3000. Its on the rollers on Friday but it pulls like a train from 2000 to 7000 rpm, cruises at 1500 rpm in 5th and is much quieter. Doing a sprint at Curborough next Sunday, will then have a better idea how it compares. I will tell you in 8 years time which was the best value, there ain't nothing wrong with a x-flow though. Paul

Nick RE720's are listed in the 2002 Blue Book page 272 as Potenza RE720. Its the tyre used by most people using 13" rims and List 1A tyres. Paul

Adjusted the cam belt tension on Friday and all is now quiet. Paul

It used to be the norm to use it in the early 90's in sprints, put it on at least 2 days before and let them cure. Don't honestly know if it made any time improvement, if it did it was minimal. One guy applied it in the paddock once and promply fell of the track, the tyres were like driving on ice until the stuff had cured. I once used it to restore a knackered set of Hoosiers and it really did work. Paul

2 litre Zetec running on 5w/30 Ford spec oil, non Caterham mechanical gauge, shows 65 psi (4.5 bar) @ 70 mph cruise (3800 rpm) and 30 psi (2 bar) at idle. Paul

Jonathon Gave the Seven a checkover last evening, 250 miles since fitting the Zetec. Started the engine and there was a new rattle, not hideous, not metallic but I switched off and searched the engine bay in case anything was loose, nothing. At that point a beautiful assistant came into view, good old Dad, he who loans me his spare garage. He listened whilst I started the engine and immediately spotted it was the cam belt inside the top plastic cover. It disappeared after about 5 seconds, guess I need to check the belt tension tonight. Its only a thought but could it be the same for your Puma. Paul

Remember they need buffing to get to the softer rubber. Paul