PACR

Find someone who works in a warehouse with a 2 part foam packaging making machine. I used one to make a slimline base for my leather seat for use in sprints trackdays. I just made up a card box to the same width as the cockpit with the depth of the seat runners, lined with plastic, fill and sit after a couple of seconds. A bit of shaping with a breadknife gives a good fit. It's an inch or so lower and alters the angle of my back with decent support for the small of my back. Hence my head sits under the fia bar - but won't increase pedal room if that's your main priority.

Where can I buy one of the above for a Ford X-Flow to 4 speed? My local Motor Factors have drawn a blank and I need one for the weekend! Cheers Piers

Not in a Seven but... Something very odd has gone wrong with my clutch - I think it must have been poorly aligned and the release bearing had worn badly, and knacked the input shaft sleeve as well. The oddest thing it that the release arm has worn away a big chunk of the bellhousing at the fulcrum point - thus stopping the clitch from working - if the release bearing was describing an eccentric circle I can see how this arm would rub to and fro at this point. The fingers are worn badly as well - I should have fixed it properly when I first noticed it. I've got a spare box but have no idea of the condition of the internals - all the teeth are there at least! Best (only...) plan so far is to fit two cap head bolts for the arm to sit / pivot on / against. I can't think how else to build up the bell housing? Any ideas and how do I align the driven plate and keep it aligned when fitting the box back in? Should there be a spigot bearing in the end of the crank / flywheel. Manual refers to one but I can't see it on the exploeded views or find remains of one (could be reason for failure?)? PACR

I use Castrol Valve master plus in my x-flow (in an Escort) - the plus has an octane booster. When I had the head off last year the valve seats looked fine so I've carred on using it. I did run with Optimax and the additive for a while but have switched to Tesco ul with additive without any problems. It does seem to start better with Optimax but there's no scientific study behind it - probably a sub-consious justification of the extra price.... It's available in Halfords at £10 a bottle. Piers

Try: www.c-t-s-ltd.co.uk These people make racing car chassis and bodywork from carbon as well as various structures for other applications. They are based in Huntingdon. Not sure if they will be able to guide you to how to set up an in house operation - might be worth finding out how cost effective it would be to get them to provide a complete assembly. (I do have a slight connection but it's not exactly blatant advertising.....) PACR

I'm just getting around to putting my timing belt back on having swapped the head gasket. However the one I got from Halfords seems a little short and is proving very difficult to fit. I've counted the teeth and it's got 2 less than the original Rover one. As long as the timing marks line up it shouldn't make a difference but have I been sold the wrong belt? It's a HTB722 and going on a 1.8 k-series from a '99 car. My tensioner is also different to the one in the manual - plastic with a wire spring sticking out the side that hooks over a bolt - how do I set this up correctly? Cheers Piers

I've got the Rover 200 manual (current shape - now the 25) and it covers the 1.8k but not the VVC. Piers

Cheers guys. I noticed a bit of orange rubber beading hanging from where the drip was appearing - I assume this is the silicon rubber bit you refer to Peter. I'll see if I can pick up an improved gasket from DVA. Might just settle for a belt inspection then........ Piers

What are the special sockets required for the K-series through bolts? Are they standard TORX bits - in which case what size, and are there lots of different sizes used throughout the engine (making purchase of a set rather than one offs more economical)? I appear to have a very slight weep from the cylinder head / block joint at the very front of the engine just above the alternator bracket. There's no coolent in the oil or vice versa, but as I've got the sump off I might as well swap the gasket. Will the Rover dealer supply the correct gasket set or will Caterham do a set specially for this application? Is this a simplejob or are we talking easy off - ages to replace due to setting up cams etc. I suppose at 18k miles a belt change wouldn't hurt. Any advice would be most welcome... Piers

Where do you fit the pressure switch? Is there an adaptor that takes the gauge sender and pressure switch available? Cheers Piers

My 1.8 K series SS, wet sump, no Apollo Caterham is registering lowish oil pressure. I noticed the needle had dropped to just above the red whilst cruising home from work a week or so ago. When I stopped the needle didn't drop at idle or rise as revs rise. Water temperater doesn't seem to be affected (I'd expect the oil flow to have a cooling effect and absence of oil to lead to an increase in friction and heat). Checking this weekend - from cold the needle rose to the normal position (straight up) (position of the needle, not just confirming I was being truthful), dropped a bit as water temp rose but after a very short road test was sitting just above the red. I've added more oil, which I thought made a difference but I suspectnow was just due to turning the engine off for 10 minutes whilst I purchased a litre of oil for about £12.00 (!) and added a smidgen to the engine. level seems fine - bit high now if anything. So, how do I check the gauge / sender to see if they are at fault? Is there any likely / usual cause? I'll probably swap the oil and filter (Unipart - fitted by Cat Midlands at recent service) as it's a, easy b, reassures me I'm doing something to fix it and c, If it's not full of metal flakes I'll be doubly reassured. How difficult is an oil pump swap on the k-series? Which Haynes manual is best for the 1.8 1999 k-series. Any other suggestions? Is there an oil pressure relief valve fitted that can be tested / replaced? Piers

The VW VR6 engine is a narrow V config, much like a straight 6 with the cylinders 'squeezed' together - Imagine a row of 6 pennies, to shorten the overall length offset the pennies from the center line a little bit. If you have two seperate rows of 3 pennies you have the normal V6 config. The block casting is thus more like a normal straight engine than a V engine. I believe this makes casting and machining costs cheaper. With two of these 'bolted' together on a common crank you get 12 cylinders and 2 blocks like a normal V engine. And hence a W 12 (but I suspect it's not quite as simple as it sounds....). Piers Edited by - PACR on 22 Sep 2002 19:45:03

Fortunately there's a pretty hefty press in work and a few chaps who are aways willing to help out. Just a pity there's no simpler way of stopping the leak. I've just got to source the right bearings now... The garage are being quite good - I suspect the supplier sent the wrong exhaust and some young chap used his initative once he'd sawed my old one off. If it wasn't for the rather surprising dent in performance I probably wouldn't be too bothered. Piers

My Escorts live axle (tenuous Seven link...) is leaking oil into the nsr drum. It's just failed its MOT, as the garage thought it was brake fluid dripping from the drum... but it was just oil nicely lubricating the shoes.... I blame Milton Keynes - I can't resist doing Sweeny style screeching round the roundabouts.... According to the Haynes bible it appears that it's necessary to remove the halfshaft, and get someone to relace the bearing as the oil seal is integral to the bearing. Is this right, has anyone fixed it more simply? As an aside - my exhaust rear box had gone and would fail the MOT. The garage at first couldn't find another one. However they then rang and said they'd got a complete system. OK I thought and got them to change it for the MOT. They even sprayed it - 'as it looked a bit tatty having been hanging around for so long'. Strange, but what the hell - some people really care what their exhaust looks like... On the way home I noticed the car was reluctant to pull higher revs, and overtaking was a bit of a letdown. On the plus side it was a hell of a lot quieter..... Turns out the garage got a much smaller diameter exhaust (propbably for an 1100) and did a cut and shut on the pipe run from the manifold to centre box using a section of the larger diameter original pipe to get it to fit the manifold flange.... Needless to say I'm not impressed....... No wonder they sprayed it - to cover up the use of a rusty old pipe. Hopefully they'll sort it out - otherwise it's Trading Standards. Piers

I built one from an old garden chair - one of the folding steel tube frame ones. One of the hoops was the same width as the spare wheel carrier and of course theres an other bit that fits inside it to rest the luggage on, and fold up when not needed (not really necessary though). Very simple. Just need a drill and some bolts. I didn't paint it - just wrapped a roll of black electrical tape over it to stop it scratching anything. Worked fine for 3000 miles round Italy. I don't have a digital camera, sorry. Piers

I need to get the camshaft bearings in an x-flow block renewed and also a light hone / deglaze for the cylinders. Can anyone recommend a decent machine shop in the Oxford / Reading / Newbury area that can do this quickly, properly and cheaply, and also any motor factors which will stock the bearings? If anyone wants a manky 1600 x-flow short engine for free (from an Escort Mk 2 Ghia) it's yours if you come and pick it up. My girlfriend won't let me half bury it in the front garden and plant flowers in the bores. Give me a shout. Cheers Piers

My 4-2-1 manifold for an x-flow has two small holes where a strengthening plate is tacked across two of the pipes. I can't see the need for the plate but is it easy to weld (MIG) the steel used for a manifold (not stainless). Is there anything fancy about it? I was just going to seam weld a small plate on top of each hole. Piers

My 1300 GT spec X-flow has the markings BM 3 and FR-05 on it. It doesn't have the cut out to designate it as the original Ford GT version. I can't find anything to identify it on the web so far. Anyone know if it's the right GT spec (1974 vintage) or a GT spec after-market one. It's in reasonable condition so I will only swap it if it's an 'ordinary' one put in at the last rebuild. Cheers Piers

Anyone know a part no for the Caterham (96 on) water temp sender. Mines knackered and the 'by eye'replacement has the wrong range. Unfortunately the original ones markings can't be decipered by the local parts chap to get an exact match. Failing this can anyone measure the resistance of the sender when cold and when nice and warm so I can dangle the possibles in a hot cup of tea and find the right one. Piers

I have bought and used a 1 ton folding crane to remove the X-Flow engine from my Escort. Will lift 250 kg at max extension. Having hired cranes in the past my advice is only get them from a reputable hire company and check them before accepting them - I got one delivered (at extra cost) that dropped the load due to problems with the hydraulics and was missing some safety pins. Might be worth checking track / leg interference as some models allow the legs to be moved inwards to increase clearance. It's badged as a Nu-Tool but is identical to others so I suspect it's just the sticker and price that varies. I purchased it for £146 inc vat and delivery from www.msctool.com Tel 0870 7468333 Piers

If you are chopping off the spare wheel carrier you could be able to either tap the stumps to accept a 'bolt-on' rack or have a rack made with 'male' protrusions on the bottom cross piece which insert into the 'female' tube stumps and a grub screw / clamp used to retain in place - with the spare wheel retaining bolt threaded boss used as a third fixing. A triangular bit of bent and welded tube with suitable fold down platform for cases wouldn't be too hard to draw up and get fabricated by a local jobbing shop. In fact you'd possibly be best off just finding a fabricator and showing him the back of the car, the size of the case and getting them to design it for you. Depending on the age of the car you might have two watts linkage bushes at the back, beside the petrol tank ends on each side. Your rack could sweep up under the rear of the car to attach to these and the swrb used as a third point. Piers

Heel and toe is great - your passengers will be really impressed. But I love the noise so much I change through all intermediate gears rather than just slow and then select the correct gear to pull away in. There's a lot of difference between results of the various LFB techniques - try, in a FWD car, stamping on the brake with your left foot when swerving to avoid something whilst flooring the throttle - exactly as if you hit the wrong pedals in a Mini whilst coming down hill on a wet road in a lowish gear and having a pheasant run in front of you! Massive over steer which is then caught nicely as soon as you lift from the brake. However, don't lift from the throttle or you'll point the wrong way. I tried it in my seven at the sprint last year - a bit of drizzle for my final run and I found myself understeering round the top bend. Thought I'll just dab the brakes to get the front to grip. Lot's of oversteer, lift off in panic and pootle down straight over finish line. It cost lots of time and to make it worst didn't even look impressive on video. I used to LFB in an auto all the time, just as the reactions are a bit quicker - obviously my leg reverted to clutch stamping technique! Piers

I've been quoted £188 all in for 4 off 185/60 14 RE720s from a local tyre place. I can't find a price on the bmtr site - has anyone got a cheaper source? Piers

Dampen the leather of the gloves a little - improves the grip Piers

Not really a difficult job at all. I left the original belts in - just tie wrap the buckle to the little bracket at the rear of the bulkhead and remove the socket. No need to remove panels. Fitting the top straps takes a bit of care to prevent the boot cover from twisting and you may need to move some poppers for the tonneau (if fitted). Piers