Paul Turner

Well spotted Oily, the Puma uses the Zetec SE and that uses solid tappets. Paul

Did not put it my earlier posting but my conversion uses a RS2000 alloy bellhousing but on a 92 de-dion chassis the "spare" starter housing is not a problem. It is important to use the correct release arm as the standard Caterham 5 speed on is too wide and fouls the webs at the back of the casting, found mine in a puddle at a scrap yard, lucky for once I guess. Paul

Back in my youth when all oils were, shall we say 20w50 and leave it at that, Duckhams Q always left a creamy deposit whereas GTX never did. Its probably clutching at straws but if it did not do it before the service and they have filled with a different brand of oil could this be the cause, but do modern oils still have this tendency? Paul

Bought some 7" Superlites many years ago and you are quite right, real Carlos Fandango wheels. Took them back and got Alleycat MX's in exchange and these were 100% perfect. Interestingly 8" superlites are fine. Paul

I need to purchase some List 1A tyres for my 15" rims. I have used RE720's before on 13" rims and found them to be excellent (for a crappy list 1A tyre). It appears from postings and what is being said that S02's are now in short supply or extinct and S03's are thought to be a poor replacement. Has anyone out there used RE720's on 15" rims? if so were they OK. Any other suggestions also appreciated. Thanks. Paul

Just fitted a 2 litre Zetec and the standard flywheel is huge, something like 12 kilo's. You would need to change the drive plate to one with a 1" 23 spline centre if there is a compatible one. As a cheap fix I was told that an 1800 flywheel, standard cover and a suitable drive plate and longer release bearing would do the job together with starter spacer. I fitted a steel flywheel and 8 1/2" clutch and used the existing release bearing and arm of the x-flow and needed no starter spacer, speak to James Whiting he knows what works. Paul

The screw thread makes the job a doddle, normally there are 2 locking rings and the best tool for the job is known as a C spanner, other than that a tap with a blunt chisel will start them moving. Best to move all 4 corners of the car by an identical ammount if the car is set up OK at present but remember any movement on the front dampers is approx doubled at the chassis as the dampers are inclined, the rears are vertical thus whatever the seat is moved the chassis is moved. Have fun but take plenty of reference measurements before you start so you can change back if necessary. Paul

If you are talking road Bilsteins they were offered with additional circlip groves machined into the body that allowed the ride height to be adjusted by the tedious method of moving circlips and thus the spring seat and if further fine adjustment was nececcary shimming up with alloy shims. Very tedious as you need to remove the damper from the car to do it easily. I believe Caterham now offer a kit to convert these to the threaded seat type, no idea of the price though. Remember before you adjust the ride height you should slacken off the bolts that pass through the rubber bushes on the front wishbones (4 no. each side) and radius arms and A frame rear (7 no. total) and then re-torque after to ensure the correct suspension pre load. It is not difficult to do but a profesional with corner weighting kit, alignment gauges etc. could set the car up far more accurately than you can do at home. Being a tight northerner I have always done mine with spirit levels, string, tapes and other similar hi-tech equipment. Know bugger all about A032's. Paul

Hi all Was starting to panic having read the earlier e-mails but Martins has calmed me down, when originally fitted mine took about 4 litres to take it to the mid dipstick mark (including filter) and all was well. When I put in extra oil I expected that if I overfilled it the extra would come out of the breather and settle at the right level (past wet sump x-flow experience). No oil was blown out even with the oil level up to the Mr Ford full mark but an oil leak from the front of the engine became evident, bugger I thought, so much for the oil tight Zetec. I changed the oil and refilled to the mid level on the dipstick using a bit less than 4 litres and since then all appears well. Martin, I will be very interested what Mr Dunnell says as when I asked the capacity all he said was to follow the instructions on the info sheet. I was told that the Raceline sumps hold a full 5 litres and since they are wider than the Dunnell sump must have a greater capacity. Anyone else noted the oil temperature, I have a mechanical sender in the sump and so far even on a motorway cruise it has not registered more than 60 degrees, I expected a higher temp than this (the dry sump x-flow ran at 80 ish in the return pipe) since I am not running a cooler at the moment, no panic yet (and bugger all I can do) but what should I expect during the summer? My old Golf GTI used to show 108 degrees when towing on the uphill sections of the M62 and after 113,000 miles was still in fine fettle. Thanks again. Paul PS my dipstick is between no's 2 & 3.

Guess the subject says it all, I have two different measurements the first one is a distance down the dipstick and this is below the bottom mark, the second is simply between the top and bottom marks. Where should the oil show on the dipstick? Paul

The last time I built a wet sump x-flow I filled the sump to almost the top mark on the standard dipstick and the engine over the first 100 miles put possibly 1/2 pint into the catch bottle. The oil level on the dipstick was then approx 1/2 way between the top and bottom marks. I continued to run it at this level with no problems. Cannot remember how much it held but it was certainly no more than 3 1/2 litres. Paul

Eric Just checked in my phone book and this is correct. You may find a call between 7pm and 9pm best if my memory is right. Paul Damm new laptop Edited by - Paul Turner on 13 Mar 2002 17:04:24

Eric Just checked in my phone book and this is correct. You may find a call between 7pm and 9pm best if my memory is right. Paul

Back in 1989 about 2 months into my first sevens life I was rear ended by a Cavalier whilst waiting to leave the M1 slip road at J 24. The car had the ply boot floor, standard roll bar and the spare wheel was in place. It was not a high speed impact (I was stationary) but I was surprised how well the seven stood up, the Cavalier needed a new bumper and grille assembly, the seven needed a new rear skin, number plate carrier, spare wheel carrier etc but the chassis tubes pulled strait (all by Arch). The main problem was removing the spare wheel as the number plate carrier had folded into it, but there was no damage to the fuel tank. Arch checked the car and declared it OK to drive until the winter (it did not look to bad until the spare wheel was removed) when it was lovingly repaired. The guy paid me out in cash based on Arch's estimate (bit of a risk but I did not want to be without the car during the summer when I had waited many years for one) and I more than covered my costs. When Dad was rear ended in his Primera at a lower speed the damage was far greater and the costs were unbelievable. Paul

Steve Not a clue how Caterham do it, probably not with a grinder, when you order a 6 speed I believe you have to specify either x-flow or VX/K, presume it would be the same with a 5 speed. With some careful measuring relative to the rear of the block and the end of the crank etc together with the dimension from the bellhousing face (including spacer) to the end of the input shaft you should be able to ascertain if there is a chance or not that the end of the shaft will make it down the bearing. All this presumes you have the Zetec out of the car, if not my cunning plan would be useless. I cannot believe that someone out there does not have this valuable information at their fingertips. Maybe a call to James Whiting would help. Brian Hill at BGH is very helpfull try him on 01580 714114. Chris I took the Quaife out in 1998, er indoors complained that it sounded like it was about to self destruct (it was an alloy cased 4 speed pro) and I fitted a 5 speed BGH "sport ratio" box. Smashing box, totally silent (well almost, never hear it with the x-flow but with the far quieter Zetec it is slightly audible). The 4 speed had a far better change and weighed bugger all. My mate is now testing it to destruction in his VX racecar. Paul

Steve I probably cannot give you the definitive answer here but at least it will put it back to the top. When I sold the quaife box out of my x-flow to a mate who planned to fit it in his VX car he phoned to say the input shaft was too long. That was when I discovered the difference between a X-flow and VX/K series box, the x-flow input shaft was approx 1/2" longer. The simple cure was to cut this extra off with a grinder and chamfer off the edges but doing the opposite i.e stick the 1/2" back on is not possible. I did note when we had cut the 1/2" off that the witness mark where the x-flow spiggot bearing had been running was still on the remaining shaft, it was right at the end but it was still visible. I would suspect that this would mean that that providing the shaft was running in the bearing (and I mean the full length of the bearing to give full support) you would be OK. I would guess that the piece that passes through the bearing into the space at the rear of the crank does nothing once through the bearing. It will be a case of very careful measuring to ensure the shaft is long enough to pass through the bearing. I can confirm that the spigot shaft length required by a x-flow and Zetec is the same, I have just converted to Zetec myself. Paul

Tim I have always installed/removed engine and gearbox together and found it straitforward, be aware that the gearbox oil will spill out of the back of the box as the whole assembly tilts. A large plastic sheet or container is essential. Once helped a mate who insisted on splitting them in the car and then refitting engine later, never again. The next time I assisted him I persuaded him to try it as a full assembly, he has never split them in the car since. Paul

Without knowing what non standard bits are in your engine I would do the following. Kent 244 cam Forged pistons (rebore to 1800 if AX block, stick to 1700 if 711m) Duplex timing gear (if not fitted) Steel rocker posts (if not fitted) VP bearings Some head porting, hard valve seats, valves to suit etc. Should give 150 hp approx and still drive beautifully on the road. Then Dry sump the engine to ensure reliable oil supply and improved ground clearance Custom exhaust with matched primaries and big silencer, improves top end power and keeps it quiet for track days etc. Improved gearbox with closer 1st gear Paul

Roger King fitted a Weber alpha 3D to my 1800 x-flow and it certainly improved pickup, part throttle running and economy but max power was exactly the same. I would expect a 234 to be fine in a 1600 as the 244 was great in my 1660. I ran a Aldon 103fxy for a weekend about 10 years ago, the static advance required to achieve the advance needed for power and torque made the engine a bugger to start, I re-fitted the standard Bosch. I would expect a 1600 with a 234 cam and mapped ignition to be a very sweet engine. Paul

I have converted to Zetec over the winter from an approx 160 ish HP 1800 x-flow. Total cost including cams (should give 180 - 185 bhp) and engine (£150 write off) approx £2700. I used mainly Jame Whiting parts and there were no major hitches. Only done about 100 miles so far but the driving experience is very different and I have to say very pleasant. There is no hesitation or spitting, runs at 1500 rpm in 5th and is very quiet. Paul

The ECE 22 standard is not accepted by the MSA. This was in the December bulletin. Paul

Early de-dion cars (up to about 1991?) had trunions. Paul

The nipples on the prop are on the front and rear UJ's (diff and gearbox ends), these should be greased every **** miles, I do mine every spring with ???? grease. The end of the gun should snap onto the nipple and provide a leak proof fit (not). If it snaps on then its the right fitting. It then requires a firm pull to remove (sometimes not easy when you are covered in grease). The nipple has a small ball in the end to make it like a one way fitting so you cannot poke it out with a pin. With all this talk of nipples and poking i'm off to lunch. Paul

I seem to remember (back to the late 80's) having to change the nipples on the front uprights as the ones fitted were incompatible with my grease gun and that fitted all the nipples on the propshaft perfectly, try your gun on the prop but don't grease it with EP. Paul Edited by - Paul Turner on 12 Feb 2002 11:26:38

Phil The cam timing is dead easy to check if you have timing marks on the sump (would be surprised if the Raceline one didn't but mine's Dunnell) and the tool that goes between the slots in the cams. I purchased a short piece of stainless angle 5mm thick, works a treat, the guy told me that mild steel is still imperial. Follow the instructions in Mr Haynes manual but ignore the bit about the auto tensioner, mine was as tight as a drum and sounded like it. James Whiting recommended a 90 degree twist on the longest run and it was fine after that. With no timing marks on the sump a dial gauge will be needed with a very long probe. Paul