paul jacobs

Just what I was thinking James, it is because of the differential in the expansion of the ali. piston and the iron block. My car, with Omega pistons, sounds like a bag of nails for the first mile or two, once warmed through, the noise goes completely. It worried the hell out of me 'till I found out what was causing it. Otherwise Arnies suggestion about the oil is VERY valid, these engines just do not like 0-40, no matter how expensive it is!

This seems to be a bit of a weak area. I haven't been riding kerbs or had loose shock absorber bolts, so can only infer that it is due to the extra weight that the car can carry in the back, although frankly, apart from putting some fairly lightweight camping gear in for Stoneleigh, I usually travel with it virtually empty. It just seems to be an item that doesn't seem strong enough, I notice that the latest ones have a small bracket welded on now, perhaps this helps.

Has anyone else had a problem with the lower shock absorber bolt ripping open the DD tube, where the metal bush is welded on underneath it? NB - This won't apply to earlier cars in which the bolt goes through the tube. I'm waiting for JC [no not the religious JC, but the one at the factory] to get back to me on Monday, but have requested another DD tube as a goodwill gesture, as, even though the car is now 5 years old, I don't feel that this should ever happen to a car in its' lifetime. Anyone got any thoughts or similar experiences? I'd better mention that my car is a Vx 21, but all the components are identical to and interchangeable with, Seven parts.

If I guessed that your Seven wasn't made by Caterham Cars, would I be right? In which case all the standard brake upgrading stuff like the Caterham Competition master cylinder and AP big brake setup wouldn't mean much. On my Vx 21, which weighs in at around the 725kg - 745kg mark, I've changed my front rotors to 285mm, drilled and vented, using 4 pot AP calipers and their "competition" master cylinder, but I find that the front is now a little overbraked in comparison with the rear. Probably the better way to go, but you have to be very sensitive in the wet to avoid front end lock up. So I think on balance go with the 4 pots and use a pair of standard sized, vented discs, if your pedal is still a bit soft, then look at changing your master cylinder for one with a larger bore.

Wow, with all this talk of these Tamiya kits being worth £700 to serious collectors, I can't help wondering what my still boxed and pristine unstarted BRG/Ali, Cosworth engined, flared wing kit, on Prisoner wheels is now worth? I bought it to build one quiet winter, but just haven't had a quiet enough winter. I'm not thinking of selling it - yet, but it seems that these kits have now become currency.

The 21 is still for sale, I've now got a web site for it at: www.entty.co.uk the photos were scanned in and take an age to load, so apologies for that, but they are worth it if you can be bothered to wait, as a couple show the unique Vauxhall engine installation. Of course there could be some movement on price, but sadly can't afford to give the car away. P/X also considered but cash bettersmile.gif I would also consider selling just the engine, complete with all dry sump parts, wiring loom and ECU, and most ancillaries except alternator, which can obviously be heard and tried in situ at present. It has to be good value at £5000?

Hmm, yes, I seem to remember one of PCs' learned discourses on gear ratios too, not so long ago! Yes Christian, you've hit the nail on the head, because the Seven is so light and never pulls caravans up a 1-4 hill, the standard ratio that Ford so painstakingly worked out is all but useless for our cars, so just changing the first gear ratio makes a huge difference to the car at lower speeds, and because the car is so light, it doesn't mean very much heavy clutch slipping in traffic. The rest of the ratios stay the same, and in my opinion, are great if the car is used for mainly road and especially longer distance cruising work. This is a hotly debated topic, and it really depends on what you want to use the car for, and what engine it's got and the state of tune too. Edited by - Paul Jacobs on 29 May 2002 09:27:30

Well, actually Steve, on my heavier (Vx engined)biggrin.gif 21 I don't actually get tramlining, but I understand that this is a problem on Sevens. My main complaint is the abominably heavey steering at parking speed. I tried a set of 14" 185/60 tyres and wheels a couple of years ago, and the reduced steering effort was a revelation, but I can't use such small rims now because of the larger front discs that I've fitted, 15" wheels will just fit, but frankly there seems little difference with those, using 195's than the standard 16s, and I really need the extra ground clearance.

Hi Angus and PC, yes you're right about the longer 1st gear, perhaps not so satisfying as snicking up and down the 6 speed box, with only a 500 rpm rev drop between gears, but so much cheaper and more relaxing for M'way cruising. I've had mine done by Brian Hill in the past, but he seems to be having some personal family problems at the moment and is behind with his workload, I hear that Phil Stewart at Road and Race Transmissions is good - Arnie? PC is absolutely right about the suspension, though I would venture to suggest that instead of paying the exorbitant price that Caterham want for their beautifully crafted anodised adjustable spring seats, you have a look around for replacement dampers with adjustable spring seats built in, as well as instant adjustment for the damping. I've gone down the AVO route, but there are now several othe makes available at what look like reasonable prices. How about an adjustable Juno a/r bar too? So this is it then; New adjustable dampers all round with stiffer front springs [say 200lbs, Juno a/r bar, and a longer first gear on the standard 5 speed box, this little lot should be within your budget and give a usefull amount of chassis feel to the car. How does it sound?

Exactly Arnie, which is why I find that a 50 section seems to work well, using the compliance of the sidewall to ride the smaller irregularities in road surface. But I still can't help wondering if narrow front tyres but using the same 7" rim size would feel better, give lighter steering at slow speeds but not give massive understeer on higher speed corners, because of the smaller amount of rubber on the contact patch? Bear in mind the extra weight I'm carrying, the car weighs in at around 740kgs, in roadgoing trim with 6 gallons of fuel etc, and IMO is not skittish at all, quite the opposite infact, it feels very planted, same in the wet, perhaps even better then, which indicates that it is still a little too soft for serious track work.

No one has mentioned using a larger tyre yet. For example, instead of using 204/45/16 tyres, I used 205/50/16 and my speedo was as near perfect as it is likely to get, up to 90mph it was true, according to the RR that I was using, at 100 mph it was under 2 mph fast. Of course that brings other factors into play, but personally I needed the extra ground clearance, so all I can say is it worked for me.

OK Arnie, good point about retaining working temps. so the smaller the tyre the more it "works" which is a GOOd thing, the geomety is a whole different kettle of fish of course. I've always had great difficulty in finding the best setup, it is just so much trial and error. When you are using a car with known setup it is much easier, but don't forget that I'm now running a 21, which has "narrow" wishbones, but a wider engine compartment, effectively giving me "wide" track, but I've got a heavy thumbsdown.gif but reliable teeth.gif Vauxhall engine, and to cap it all, Caterham in their wisdom used different suspension pickup and roll centres from the standard chassis, with the result that all 21's roll a lot when cornering, unless unacceptabley hard springs are used. I am now running 450lbs on the front and 200 at the rear for example, whilst the factory 21 GTO fitted with a featherweight K engine, uses 600 lbs on the front. OK I grant you that, according to Caterham the 21 chassis is 4 times stiffer [no rude jokes there, those at the back!wink.gif so can make these harder springs work better, but it is still far to hard for road use. I've also noticed that the steering is substantially heavier at all speeds with 205s on, not really surprising I suppose, but there again would 195's help this too? Yes Steve, toe in would help a lot, but you then lose the turn in advantage, so it's always swings and roundabouts, and it's the roundabouts where you need good turn in [sorry couldn't help myself]. Edited by - Paul Jacobs on 27 May 2002 20:11:48

>modern petrol does not old its octane rating over a long period >of time. That's all right, after it's been in a can over the winter, it's just right for my lawn mower then.biggrin.gif

Raise the ride height and an LSD works a treat to get you across ploughed field - well worked for me anyhow. Sorry, it's getting late and I should be in bed confused.gif Edited by - Paul Jacobs on 26 May 2002 23:12:17

Given that the general feeling about 16" wheels is that the front tyres are too wide, causing tramlining and other unwanted side effects, has anybody tried fitting 185 or 195 section tyres to the fronts only, leaving the 205/45/16 on the rear? On the face of it, this seems to be a perfectly plausable route to take. Obviously it then prohibits using the fronts at the rear, but that isn't such a big deal, keep a std 205 as spare, then it can be used on any axle. As a by the by, I have been using 205/ 50 / 16 tyres recently and find that the speedo is now accurate to within 1% and I have no other unwanted side effects, but I still wonder if narrower fronts on the 7" rims would work.

Nope Steve, in my case I put the blame squarely on Sainsburys or at least their fuel supplier. Once I'd discovered that my engine ran perfectly on anyone elses fuel, I then filled my tank with Mr Sainsburys best and exactly the same thing happened again. I really was mad, but I cannot prove anything, although I was several hundred pounds out of pocket and much time running my vehicle to different garages, none of whom fixed the "bad" petrol. As I said I've never touched the stuff since - which is more than I can say for one of Scotlands best exports, teeth.gif Edited by - Paul Jacobs on 26 May 2002 20:27:09

There's no gain without pain......

Yep, I have had exactly the same probs. with Sainsbury's fuel, except it was in a VW Type 4 campervan, about 6 years ago. It cost me a fortune, checking ECU, new airflow meter [ still got a perfectly good one sitting in the garage now] etc. I've never used any supermarket fuel since, always go for ESSo or Shell or BP whenever possible, more recently have found Optimax works OK. Wasn't Saimsbury's fuel responsible for causing Vx engines to blow up some years ago?

Just where does Catflap 777 fit into all this?

You'll probably find it very difficult to find just the CBU, probably just as easy to get one off Caterham in the end, but certainly worth seeing if there is one around that is surplus to requirements. Best of luck with the project.

This is just such a great club. Thanks Rob. Yes, this kit is still available, best to give me a ring one evening when I can tell you all about it. If you want to see it all, I am situated just south of Taunton. Call me on 01823 421 748.

I've left a message on your cell phone Graham, get on back to me when you can.

Double D - well spotted biggrin.gif In the states, don't people fit a protective cover over the nose of their cars that they call the Nose Bra? Perhaps I should get one of theseteeth.gif

It seems to have got onto chit chat somehow. Thats what happens when you get bored at work wink.gif James, I was very tempted to go for that combination, but in the end went for the boring Titanium Silver with the Imola red leather interior. I have to say that in the metal, the carbon black with it's slightly bluish overtones looks absolutley stunning, but it is just such a high maintanance colour - in english you have to wash it every bl##dy time you take it out, whereas the silver will take stacks of dirt before it needs a clean. I heard that 75% of BMWs are actually ordered in silver though, that's the prob.

Thanks Tor - I hope I won't be disappointed. Just like a Seven it's one of the only cars that I've ordered on reputation alone, but never driven. Yes, you rumbled me, I haven't actually driven an SLK, or even a Z3 for that matter. I was assuming that after a Seven virtually all normal "Sports" cars would feel a little bloated. I do currently have an older style E36 328 convertible which I'm most impressed with, and far from carrying around friends and family, I find the room in the back just great for coats, maps, coffee, shopping etc. I real luxury after a Seven [or even the 21 with its huge boot [trunk!]