Angus

Alex - hi, hope you are keeping well. Ref the towing eyes - that sounds a good idea. From memory are there not two fitted as standard - diagonally opposite ? So I assume you just had two more fitted on the other two corners ? Elegant. Rgds Angus

Good stuff so far guys - keep it coming ! On the R400 heat issue: I was told that early cars ran hot because of the radiator installation. A shroud was fitted that filled the space between the rad and nose that had the effect of channeling all the airflow coming into the nose thorough the rad. The engine ran super-cool, but there was now no air flow past the engine, exhaust header, footwells etc. Result - hot feet. This shroud has been removed, and the heat problem allegedly much improved. Interestingly the demo / mule R400 I saw at Caterham did have some (tatty) heat shield applied to the outside of the drivers footwell, so perhaps there are still some lingering heat problems.

Another point about the current chassis - it doesnt have the engine bay diagonals - at all. The sales guy explained that the chassis was '10% stiffer' and could take all the current engine range without modification. Quite how removing the diagonals makes it stiffer wasnt explained. Are there any structural engineers on here ? Whats the view - could it be that the diagonals has so little effect on stiffness that removing them doesnt prevent a 10% improvement ? Angus Denny (ex-Surrey AO and ex-Seven owner who's been away far too long but now seen the light)

Hi Mick, good point about black absorbing heat, and heat is supposed to be a problem with the duratech. What about other colours for the powder coating - grey / silver perhaps ? Can you even get it in a colour other than black ?

....Strengthening round the diff area..... Now there's a thought I am going Duratec, as in the new R400 spec. Does that need diff strengthening ? Anyone with any experience ? Is there a 'standard' way to strengthen the diff mounts, or is the strengthening custom every time ?

If you were in the fortunate position of speccing up a new car for self-build from Caterham, what would be on your wish-list to have done to the chassis at Arch (or the new supplier, Cage), before it was fully assembled ? It would have to be an original (S3 ?) chassis, rather than a wide-body. The list I have so far is: Thicker cockpit floor fixed with steel rivets Black powder-coated cockpit, engine bay and boot area Removeable spare wheel carrier - this to be done so nothing is visible from rear of car, eg posts or holes. Fixing to be entirely underneath. What would you do ? Angus Denny (ex-Surrey AO and ex-Seven owner who's been away far too long but now seen the light)

I guess you can read this Angus Denny (occasional BlatChat browser, ex-Surrey AO, ex-Seven owner been away far too long)

Mike Car is viewable in Guildford, Surrey. You are most welcome to come and have a look anytime. Let me know if you are interested. Rgds Angus

roog007, YHM

This is a really sad time for me, but I am selling my Seven. I have owned her from new and she is in really clean original condition. I am sure people on this forum who know me can vouch for the car and its condition. 1700 Supersprint, standard factory spec, built 1992 on a J reg. 22000 miles Serviced by James Whiting De-dion, 5 speed, with the revised (1991 ?) suspension and Bilstein shocks 14 inch wheels with Yokohama tyres and unused spare Rear exit exhaust Braided brake hoses Locking wheelnuts Flared wings, painted factory red Full high visibility weather gear Adjustable leather seats Heated windscreen Heater and black carpets Tonneau 6-point Luke racing harness FIA roll bar Battery cut-out switch Fire extinguisher Tax March 05. Priced for a very reluctant but quick sale at £9950, or offers. ☹️ Edited by - angus on 24 Apr 2004 21:27:26

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1700 Supersprint 😬

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1700 Supersprint[J] Angus Denny (ex-Surrey AO and wishing Adrian all the best )

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I have had exactly this battery removal problem on my x-flow 92 de-dion - the chassis has 'y' bracing underneath the battery tray. The Torque Starter battery supplied as standard died, and the only way to remove it was to take of the carbs and the steering column. The good news is that if you replace it with a 'Banner' type battery (available from James Whiting), you can install and remove it from underneath. The Banner battery is smaller and fits (just) between the engine and chassis. You will also need a new battery tray from James that has a fixing strap going round over the top of the battery, rather that the spring clip that the TS battery has. However the fit is so tight that when removing the battery you must remove the bolts holding the tray to the chassis and slide the tray aside to allow enough clearance to wiggle the battery around between the block/sump and chassis tubes and out below. However beats taking off the carbs / steering column every time !! Angus Denny (ex-Surrey AO and wishing Adrian all the best biggrin.gif)

Well I've had so many replies that I must have got you al completely stumped !! Well you can now stop scatching your heads - I think I have found the solution: The helical gear on the end of the distributor spindle that meshes with the camshaft has 11 teeth. That means 11 possible positions for the distributor, each one being 360/11 (approx 33) degrees apart. Rather than trying all positions, what I did was to put the engine at TDC on No1 cyclinder on the firing stroke (No4 inlet and exhaust rockers moving - feel them through the oil filler on the rocker cover). Then with the distributor just poised above its mounting hole I rotated the spindle until the rotor arm was approximately opposite where the No1 electrode in the distributor cap would be if it were fitted. I then pushed the distributor fully home into the block. Unfortunately doing this caused the spindle to rotate slightly because of the helical gear meshing which meant that I had to allow for this in the initial position of the cap. Having reassembled the retaining bolt and cap, I tried for a start. Not surprisingly it didnt want to know. A few half-hearted farts and that was it. I then did everything again - removed everything, found TDC, and lifted out the distributor. I carefully rotated the spindle 1 'tooth' and replaced it. Refitting everything, and this time it worked - the engine fired first time ! I now need to fine-tune the timing on the strobe light, but at least the distributor is in the right place. Next time I think I will put some marks on the dissy so that refitting is straightforward !

I am attemting to refit the distributor on my 1991 Supersprint after the rotor arm disintegrated and smashed the pickup sensor. Of course the bits are obsolete, but I have managed to overcome that particular problem. Now my question is: Whats the secret to putting the thing back in the car so that the timing is not out ? If I line No1 cylinder at TDC are there some magic marks to line up to get the distibutor spindle in the correct alignment relative to the distributor body ? Any help much appreciated. Rgds, Angus Angus Denny Surrey AO (retiring)