PACR

When on a look-around visit at Nissan I was told that running in modern engines gently is worse than useless. The cars are driven straight into a rolling road bay from the end of the line and run flat out to the rev limiter through the gears for 5 or so minutes. When the subject of engine wear was raised we were informed that due to tolerences and oils being much better the old fashioned methods weren't needed, and could end up doing more harm than good. Piers

I've just Rain-Xed my windscreen and have found it very good, no real need to use the wipers except for drizzle (proper rain drops just slide off). Only thing is when I use the washer jets to clear dirt the fluid shoots up the screen and over the top into my face..... I was intending to use it on my glasses but read the small print just in time... One thing that really gets on my nerves is when the person in front uses their washers and you end up covered in foul smelling chemicals. B*****ds.... So no help on the visor bit but can recommend rain-X for the windscreen. I assume that the stuff for anti fog on visors can be used on the plastic windows in doors / hood? Heated screen is great but can't reach rear windows with harness on... Piers

No, but I noticed Tesco squirty cream uses Nitros Oxide as a propellent. If I can just figure out a way of stopping the cream blocking the air filter and also face explaining to the checkout girl that I don't run a 'massage' parlour I'll give it a try.... Piers

I've bought a Sigma BC800 but haven't got round to fitting it yet. Checked Jasons site and the idea of fitting it to the prop shaft is an appealing one - can rotate wheels around, doesn't look odd, don't need to worry about a magnet jamming my brakes when the glue lets go at a few hundred degrees. There wasn't any detail about where it was fitted. I was thinking about on the gearbox end as it's nearer the dash... Has anyone on the list tried this method yet? Pierre, the holder for the computer allows it to sit nicely on a bikes rounded handlebars. It can slide out to stop people nicking it when you leave your bike parked. However the holder for the computer I got looks crap. I'm going to use it whilst I check evrything works then if I'm happy solder the wires straight to the contacts on the back, stick velco on the back and a little bit to the dash somewhere where it's in my line of sight and a bit under the scuttle out of view. So when I want the car to look normal (well as normal as a Seven can ever be) I'll just stick it out of sight. Of course this works well in theory..... Piers

It's a good idea to make the surface that you are squirting WAXOYL onto as warm as possible as well. Otherwise you can spray it but it just solidifies as sonn as it hits a cool surface - like metal. Having cut open sections of a car that was WAXOYLed you can see it doesn't flow very well at all. Heating with a hair dryer and fan heater lets it run nicely into nooks and crannies. Practical Classics did a test on rust treatments. WAXOYL didn't score well because of this. Dinitrol 3125 got best product because it had excellent penetration (Anna?!!!?). I'll use this on my old car when it's finally back together, and only use WAXOYL where I want to cover large areas cheaply. Piers

Cars and Car Conversions (now, officially, CCC) had a 1.6 Vx that they had converted to a 1.8. Said the biggest improvement came from fitting the six-speed gear box. Try their back issues dept. Not sure how played with this engine is - certainly don't hear as much about tuning it as K-series and X-flows. But it's only an midly tuned engine so can't be impossible to coax plenty more horses out. Piers

Having tried out a G-Tech Pro on the weekend I was wondering if anyone had established how accurate they (or other such devices) really are? I found it to be quite easy to get a consistant 0-60 time with the odd really good one and the odd bad one. Standing 1/4 mile times were pretty good as well. I suppose that a consistant reading is most important - shows that your technique is improving / modifications are working rather than absolute times but I'd like to know how big a pinch of salt to take..... Didn't try this but as it measures accelaration and works out speed by how hard you've been accelerating and for how long, can you trick them by starting at a smooth 5 mph (no acceleration) then letting the device add 60 mph to that? Figured that I spent a few tenths getting traction? Of course you're cheating no-one but yourself but might help in settling a pub arguement? Anyone got accurate figures for a 1.8k SS 6-speed? (0-60 and 1/4 mile @mph) or any other staes of tune? Piers

Get sequential shift lights, I've seen a set up that has yellow for out of power band, a range of green for power band then red for redline. Can't remember if it was at demon tweeks or just on the net. You could program in the various points. R500 has a row of lights above the steering wheel. Are these a similar set-up? Bike speedo can be put pretty much where you fancy. Instead of using a bracket so you can slide the head unit in and out just solder wires straight onto the back and double side tape it to the dash where you can see it. Piers

Looks like your bonnet has not been positioned correctly when you've done up the clips. Being a bit sad I've realised that in order to get my bonnet stripe lined up nicely there is a certain order to doing up the clips...... As the inside edge if the bonnet is rolled back if this is not on the foam then it will contact the paint - Try fitting the bonnet so front and rear rolled bits are on the foam - if not possible then get some foam and put it in the right place. Can't see a problem with painted Dzuz - mine are and work so rather not worry... Perhaps your special paint is not very tough? I got a pot of touch up paint with mine - try and use this on nose cone / scuttle. Put insulation tape along side rails and edges of bonnet. Stops scratching when taking on and off. Only get a decent repaint done before selling it - it's not going to rust so a quick touch up will be fine. i did this where my jack caused a dent, nobody else has ever noticed... Piers

I think the theory is that LRP has the same Octane rating as Super and that it is more readily available than Super and may be cheaper. The crap in LRP will do no good for a CAT conv. but if you haven't got one won't do any damage. Not sure about the detonation suppression that LRP has - this might be a good thing... Not sure whether it's mainly down to the lead or the octane rating. Piers

Sounds like a bodge.... Law of tempory bodges: If you know how to do a better fix, and buy / make the parts to do it the bodge will last for ever. If you can't figure out a lasting fix the bodge will hold long enough for you to think it's worked and bolt everything together, and then fail in the most inconvenient location - in your case Peter outside your neighbours drive... If you are just after the silicon to give some compliance then it should be OK. But if it has to resist any shearing forces then it will be useless. Piers

Your acceleration will be much much better - as long as you forget to change the speedo drive.... Top speed is tricky - the aerodynamics, power available and gearing all roll together. Depends on whether you are limited by hitting the red-line or not. At top speed in my 1.8 SS 6-speed - about 130 mph indicated I was feeling that the gearing was pretty spot on - not many more revs to go but I was well into the power band to fight the awful aerodynamics. Reducing the gearing would have hit the limiter perhaps - but then again acceleration at the very top end isn't very good and plenty of road (sorry, air-field) is needed so in real world terms I'd say that as long as gearing allows 120 mph say sod it and just worry about acceleration. Piers

I got my red floor paint from an independant parts supplier - a fraction of Halfords and DIY shop price. It's proper floor paint and is lasting very well after spills etc and using jacks. I didn't spend days washing and painting the floor over and over again. I just brushed the crap up, thinned the paint 50 / 50 with white spirit and poured it onto the floor - then spread it about with a roller on a broom handle - if you go too fast you end up with what looks like sprays of blood up the wall, tumble drier, doors etc!! Wait for that to dry then dump the rest of the paint in big blobs around the floor and spead out. Remember to finish so you're not in a corner..... and keep cats out. This has had white spirit , brake fluid, oil and petrol spilled on it with no problems. The red helps spot little washers / springs etc but I'd go for light grey as it will lighten up the place a bit if you have a choice.

I hate the way that we can drive our perfectly legal cars along a road that we pay to use (with the money that's left over from Hospitals, Schools and single mothers from Road and Petrol tax) at perfectly legal and sensible speeds and can have severe damage inflicted on them by Sleeping Policemen. Potholes are bad enough but badly designed deliberate bumps are just stupid. Occasionally the design has a cut out so you can line this up with the sump - good idea for once. However some feel like you are trying to drive up a mountain! So don't put a sump guard on your Seven because of Speed Humps - buy a cheap, very heavy car and fit a sharp, strong 'sump guard' of a plough like design and drive over speed humps until there's a nice cut out in the middle! And then use your Seven in safety. Perhaps the club can fit Beryl with one and rent her out? Remember to sue the council if your car is damaged due to bad road surfaces - it's only when the solicitors letters mount up that they fix pot-holes. Living in a weathly area helps apparently as the council know that people can afford (good) solicitors / or are solicitors themselves so fix the road quicker as the cars wheels (from more expensive cars) cost a fortune. Bit of insider info passed to me.... Take a photo of damage and cause etc for evidence. Piers

If the price difference is still £1000 and they will using them on the road then get the 1.6. I've got a 1.8k SS (but not in a superlight) and if you use the gearbox and red light properly it's much too fast for the road. On track the speeds are much higher - you can corner as fast as possible right on the limit so acceleration is mainly up in the higher regions (70 - 110) where the areodynamics are taking a large chunk of your power. So the bigger capacity the better - any advantage is probably worth it. Down the straights the Elsies have better areodynamics and at Track days you normally cannot over take on the bends.... Other point is that more people are tuning 1.8 K series than 1.6. So you are more likely to be able to upgrade with the 1.8. I know the heads are the same etc but I'd want to know that the upgrade had been developed for the shorter stroke 1.6. When you go to 100 bhp per litre (not too expensive) you have 20 bhp advantage from the extra capacity. Piers

If the above comments are in relation to describing W********* as ugly then sorry, but they are. The Caterham 7 shape is of great importance to the company. They don't raise the bonnet line simply to save a bit of re-engineering. Sticking big bulges on to accomodate engines is fine, but it doesn't look nice. The W********s I've seen look alright but it's like seeing a supermodels sister - you recognise the shape but it's just hasn't got that indefinable thing that makes it 'right' or beautiful. Anyway, each to their own. I wouldn't buy anything that looked cheap, badly proportioned or tacky - car, camera, or clothes. But I acknowledge that there are those who think the more plastic thats stuck on a car the better so perhaps it's horses for courses = cars for customers. cheers

When driving on Motorways / DCs with the hood up (I know, but sometimes you have to get somewhere and look presentable)I have used a none-skip CD player and headphones. This cuts out the annoying drone that comes with sitting at fixed revs. You can hear the music quite well but I wouldn't recommend Classical - you need something noisy. I suspect an MP3 player would be ideal- light, small and non-skip. Fit it with some velcro somewhere so you can press the buttons and get an extension to plug headphones into. However it's more fun to just shift up and down the box, getting the little red light on and accelerating hard to get a nice noise!

I'd assume that the Carbon fibre one will not crack when the mirrors are mounted on it, as long as you have nice, smooth holes. Perspex ones apparently crack where mirrors are bolted to them. Check the mailing list archive at www.se7ens.net - the subjects been done to death..... Piers

Has anyone got a luggage rack for sale? Or hire (Oxford area) for a fistfull of dosh to Nuke the Luke? Caterham are sold out, I'm off on holiday on Saturday!!!! Thanks Piers Rex

At Brands Hatch the three bike engined cars weren't looking too fast compared to the Superlight R cars. I meant to get a couple of ball park lap times. However the flames shooting from the green goldarts blackbird would make it interesting on track days and entertaining on the road (esp. in towns...)! The main problem with the bike engined W******** is that they are as ugly as the normal ones....

Why not chuck in a motorbike engine? It seems that the live axle cars weight advantage would be useful with small amounts of torque to play with. Being on a hill you wouldn't need reverse gear, just roll..... The regulations that push motorbike engined cars away from 'traditional' Caterhams will no doupt be relaxed in the various championships so you should have plenty of people to race against.

I managed to fix my wobbly headrests (s-type seats from '99 Caterham) last week. If anyone else suffers from this problem, caused by shearing off the rivit that holds the strip of spring steel in place, and so doesn't use the headrests any more - here's how to fix it. Slide seats forward. Just under shoulder height on the rear of the seat the leather stops and meets the plastic back. The material has a strip of plastic attached that fits under a flap on the plastic back cover. Just pull the material down gently and unhook. The strip of spring steel will probably fall out... or reach in and find it. There are two holes at the top of the rectangular hole in the seat where the headrest goes. The smaller one is where the strip will be attached. Get a short length of M5 threaded bar or a bolt. Weld the bolt into the hole in the spring so it protrudes back about 10-15mm but doesn't poke out the other side too much. Put a nut and washer on to sit the spring on when welding. Grind it nice and smooth - can be about 2 mm proud but make sure it's rounded. Fit spring into slot in seat and poke bolt through small hole. Grope around and put a spring washer and nut onto the bolt - use loctite if you've got it. A Nyloc will be a swine to fit. Do up nut and refit the material under the flap. Rounding off the edge of the headrest post will also help a bit. It took me almost a year to get round to fixing mine, now my passenger doesn't look at the sky when I accelerate anymore. Piers