Willie.

Thanks for the report. Needing to get a dash soon and just investigating the options. Meant to say, based on the spec...nice car. Willie

£7.5k...but I'll give you £8.5k for it 😬 Not wanting to hijack too much, but what do you think of the Fluke dashboard? Any tiny air pits or is it good shiny quality? (2x2 twill?) Willie

Fletch, What engine's in it? Also, I bet its brown. Mk5 Cortinas seemed to sell most in brown or dark cream. We have a few (As in about 9) Mk2 Granadas, all 2.8 V6s, a couple of injections, mostly carbs and mostly completely rotten. All the best with the project. Get a tow bar on it and it'll be a super tow car (Unless its a 1300). Willie

Martin, Can't see your photos but if its an individual pipe per cylinder type manifold, are you aware that you should fit the exhaust system with the manifold bolts loose? This allows the manifold pipes to wiggle about and makes fitting much easier. Just be careful they don't wiggle too much and damage the panel where they exit. Slack the nuts a tiny bit and it should really help without letting the pipes hit the body. Willie

Stephen, go for it If you do, I suggest that you try it first of all without the sump gasket, and just a small (And I mean small) smear of suitable instant gasket type sealant. That'll show you if it works for you or not. Also, keep the oil level up at the max. Engines tend to be a bit different, and although I am 95% sure you'll have success...a new sump gasket is about £30 I think, so no point in chopping the old one unless its definitely fixed it for you. On mine I cut the gasket so it just left a 1/2" or 3/4" wide strip all the way around the mating face. If its already been fitted you can see the mating face indented into the gasket. Willie p.s. I also fitted a Think Auto high pressure switch and wired it into the shift light. There's a grub screw between the switch terminals that adjusts when it comes on, I set mine to flicker at hot idle. Meant I could really commit to corners and not try looking over at the oil pressure gauge, if the light blinked you wouldn't miss it.

What year of Cortina? I was able to get a small box of maybe 20 of the fuses for a few quid in a local Motor Factors. If yours has one of those rotating stands with the wee assorted clear plastic boxes of cheap looking nuts, screws, bullet connectors etc, you'll usually find the fuses with them. I sold my Capri a couple of years ago, so don't think I'd have any left. If you don't get sorted, let me know and I'll have a hunt. Willie

Stephen, Have a read through this thread here. Well, the first post anyway. The photo referred to is this one here. Like you I was getting surge on left handers. I took the engine out and measured the line of where the sump was (red line on that picture). I then measured the dipstick high and low oil levels and drew them on (purple & yellow lines). My theory was that because of the angled install in the Caterham, oil gets trapped above the gasket (Seen on the right hand side in the photo), and for it to get to the pickup, it has to flow up the gasket, drop into the windage tray and then filter down into the sump. I reckoned that it couldn't do this quickly enough during surge. Also, because the small triangular volume of oil below the gasket would flow towards the deeper side of the sump where the capacity is greater (If you know what I mean), it doesn't get up to the pickup in time. I decided to remove the windage plate and sump gasket and try fitting the sump with silicone sealant. I got no more surge. Happy with this, I then refitted the windage plate (It does combat windage) with the sump gasket cut so it had no deep shelf/lips. I ran the car on the road and track with R888s and never got any more trouble...although previously I had been able to with a decent corner. As others have said, the best solution is a dry sump, it'll also de-aerate your oil...which can be a problem on wet-sump Ks. I got seriously shot down on that previous thread by the dry sump brigade, mostly for being young and foolish, which I freely confess to being...that said, I fixed my wet sump problems, and none of them did 😬 Its entirely up to you if you want to try it for yourself. I was happy to try it, as it was worth a shot before either toasting my bearings or buying a dry sump, both of which are costly modifications. Willie

How high do you fill your oil? Do you tend to overfill it? Willie

Ah well, was worth a try... Willie

Simon, I know...I was about to bin this one, but decided to stick it on eBay just to see. Glad I did. While you're here...do you still have the DL1? I really don't need it, but would be tempted if you'd take an insultingly low price for it 😬 Willie

All items ending this evening shortly after 7pm. Some bargains to be had. Steering rack is currently £1.24. Willie

Just my opinion, but I suspect that you're probably around the change-over point, so its pretty much down to your driving style. I like my car to feel nice and neutral in the corners, but for the front to really turn in so I can provoke the tail out and have big slides around corners. I also tend to exit most junctions sideways...but still be able to drive her on without loosing it. I ran with 185 R888s all round and it suited me spot on (De Dion K-Series 150bhp). Moving up to 205s would've made the rear a bit grippier and it didn't suit me. I would suggest if you like to hang the tail out of junctions and so on, that 185s might be easier to live with, and easier on your halfshafts. If you fitted the LSD for grip and speed, not hooliganisim...then I'd say stick with 205s. Just my 2p. Willie

I'm going to report this thread... Not fair. Willie

All on ebay, 99p starting bid and no reserve. Bargains to be had. Caterham K-Series Supersport Inlet Manifold Caterham Rover K-Series Fuel Rail - No Reserve Genuine Caterham 8% Quick Steering Rack - No Reserve Caterham Nosecone / Nose - No Reserve Ford Sierra (Mk2) Door Mirror - No Reserve HP Deskjet 660C Colour Printer - No Reserve HP Deskjet 890C Colour Printer - No Reserve Ending Monday evening around 7pm Willie Edited by - Opposite Lock on 24 Feb 2010 20:22:20

Bummer. But from your compression tests at least it looks like its not too bad. Hopefully its nothing more sinister. Willie

Chris, I'll start off by saying: 8% rack - just over 2 turns lock to lock 22% rack - just under 2 turns lock to lock Willie

😬 Listen to Tim? Didn't think anybody did that... The SV is for a friend. I'd get lost in one of those big yokes Willie

Cagey, Check the rear gasket on the water rail, where it goes into the head behind no.4. My gasket went here and the coolant trickled forwards along the line of the head gasket...giving me all kinds of heart failure. Also check the big pipe/jubilee clip at the front, run your finger under the pipe and check for any leaks. Sometimes they leak at it aswell. If the two water rail connections are dry, then I'd start to worry. Willie

Gentlemen, I have already spoken to Mick at Redline regarding this, so not going behind his back or trying to get any snide remarks at him. He has dealt fairly with me, and I intend to use Redline again. I just wanted to put a post on, so that others looking for wide rear wings are better advised. The wide wings supplied by Redline Components (Not manufactured by them) are intended for racing use. If you intend to buy these and bolt them straight to your car, you will be dissappointed. The fibreglass work is not great, the surface is a bit scratched looking and scruffy at the edges. For race use they are fine. For road use they will not polish up, but require rubbing, filling and painting to get them to a nice standard. That said, they cost £67.50 a-piece, whereas Caterham charge £90 for the standard width. Again, I'm not wishing to slate Redline Components, I just want people to be advised that if you're buying wide rear wings for road use, you'll need to budget for some paintwork aswell. Willie

Simon, Its a while since I fiddled with my LC-1, but at the time, I had a problem with the software. It wouldn't save the settings to the actual unit, although it did read them ok. If I changed the range/output via Logworks, when I closed it and opened it again, it hadn't saved the settings. I fixed it by finding an older version of the software and using that. I still have it, and if you blatmail me I'll send you a copy of it. Might be worth a try. Willie

Bump... Still looking Willie

Simon, Are you using a serial/usb converter? Willie

Stu, That's not fair. Just on the off chance that you have a blank 2x2 twill carbon dash...I'm after one. Don't suppose you have any flat sheets? Willie

Thanks for that, looks like the right part and only £20. Unless postage costs millions it sounds like a deal. Its not fair that things are so cheap in the states...and you guys still work in inches . If it wasn't for the straight roads I'd be mighty tempted to go. Willie

'Evening, I need a TPS for the following fitment here Its actually a 96-04 Ford Mustang fitment, but I'm wondering if anyone knows anything else that will fit that kind of drive? I will buy from the States if necessary, but if I could get one in the UK it would be handier and hopefully cheaper. Any ideas what fits? Willie