JohnCh

Next time I'm at Beachman Racing, I'll try to remember to check the date codes on the tires and the FIA harnesses. They might be knocking up against their expiration dates before the car is ready for its first track day (And yes, I know I'm gonna pay for this...)

Life got in the way, leaving the car untouched since October. I finally got around to replacing the fuel pump with the positive displacement type, which seems to work better; It didn't start cutting out when cornering with about the same fuel level as the old pump. However, more testing with less fuel is required before I declare it resolved. On the test drive, the oil pressure reading issue I mentioned earlier went into overdrive. Rather than reading normally with instantaneous flashes to wildly incorrect readings ranging from 0 to over 100 psi, it suddenly went to 0 psi, with a few flashes to the 70-80 psi range. Not confidence inspiring. Although the issue could be with the wiring into the AiM, given all the other dash functions are reading correctly and that sensor has a reputation for premature failure, my money was on the sensor. The new one went in this weekend, and so far, things are working correctly. Hopefully they stay that way. I didn't have time for a long test drive but did manage to get a picture when reaching the turnaround point. It was a cool, but very sunny day in the Seattle area. Next up is going through various fasteners to make sure everything is still tight, then driving it hard for a while before tackling a few open items, including nonfunctioning heated seats, installing the short-cut button for the AiM's trip odometer, and recalibrating the fuel level sensor.

Mike Pierce sold Pierce Manifolds a few years ago but is still restoring Webers through his new business: https://www.webercarburetorrestoration.com/. I've never used him for a rebuild but have bought various parts from him over the years. Probably not cheap but he knows his stuff.

The software default is that a vote is immutable. Although it appears I can change that setting, I have no idea if it is retroactive or only for new polls going forward. It's also not clear if everyone who visited before, but refrained from voting because options available at that time didn't appeal to them, will realize there are new options. That will skew the data and may unintentionally leave people out. I have temporarily changed the setting for the duration of this poll, but I do not want to leave it that way once this poll closed. If the change is not retroactive, you will need to redo this with a final option list.

Do you mean it would only allow you to select one option, or that you were unable to go back after submitting your vote and add an additional item?

I don't have data on the stainless mesh screens, but when I had my old Westfield with a 1700cc crossflow on the dyno, we did a run with the ITG air filter removed and lost 1.5hp. I didn't expect that. I wouldn't read that as ITG filters make power, but rather they do a good job of not losing power. Given the limited under bonnet space, the Webers were fitted with a short JC50 (or JC40?) filter and the Stubby bolt-on radiused air horns from Pegasus.

Glad to hear you have it sorted. If cold start and initially drivability on the 620 are anything like the factory 420 I've driven, that's money well spent. Please report back and let us know how it works. Thanks, John

Always happy to help

Do you mean the 4 photos on the last post of the previous page or something else? If it's not those photos, please send me a PM and I'll help you troubleshoot.

Redline sells the Throttle assembly with TPS. Might be worth contacting them to see if they can get the TPS separately or know who sells it. https://redlinecomponents.co.uk/product/throttle-body-tps-620r/

Have you checked with Josh at Rocky Mountain or Bruce at Beachman Racing? They both stock parts and one may have this on a shelf.

To me, this is the key. Understand what you have to work with, and identify those constraints before spending time on solutions that may or may not apply. Pictures of your bonnet scoop and the carb to frame area like many showed above may also help.

I found the CSR Engine Build Manual in the downloads section very helpful when building both of my Duratecs: A couple of threads that might also be worth reading to prepare you for some potential challenges are my 2.0L rebuild here, and this thread underway on BlatChat. I outsourced the short block assembly, whereas the BlatChat thread also covers that part of the process. -John

Thanks @Colorado7er, I've updated the title for @SeattleTR to reflect that status.

Now that we're a few days past the outage, I’m relocating this discussion to the appropriate forum. Additionally, the second server migration I mentioned earlier is no longer necessary. While coordinating with the support team to schedule it for later this month, they discovered the engineering team had proactively performed the migration when the site was offline last Thursday. It was one of those "as long as we're in there" moments we've each experienced while maintaining our cars. If you’ve noticed improved site speed since the outage ended, it’s not just your imagination.

If we ever get to a stage where we need to raise a specific amount to keep the site going, I will consider that. For now, I was just pointing out that the current paid memberships are important and to thank those who contribute. If you don't feel you get $20/year of value from the site, then you shouldn't become a paid member. If you do, then please consider it. BTW the $20 fee is unchanged from 2006 despite a cumulative inflation rate of 53% over that period. I'm not suggesting raising it, just pointing out the value.

@IamScotticus and @Vovchandr, thanks for the support. It is important we at least maintain our current paid membership levels to cover our costs. Like everything else, they have increased over the past few years. Invision's bi-annual software renewals are up, and we had to upgrade to a more expensive hosting plan last month due to our storage requirements. The benefit of the latter is we will soon move to a more robust server which will increase system performance. Although I'm fine volunteering my time to perform the work, I'd prefer not to also come out of pocket to keep the forum going. Afterall, I have a garage full of dependents to maintain.

Posting this in the General forum to ensure it is seen. Our account at the UK hoster appears to have fallen through the cracks for an important notification given a change made to our hosting plan. Long story short, rather than receive sufficient notice that our account was part of a bulk migration to new servers with associated downtime, I received notification just 45 minutes before the migration started and the site went down. That notification offered no details on what time the outage would start or end. To complicate matters, that server move required another undocumented change to a database configuration file that wasn't identified by their support until a few minutes ago when they come back online for the day. Unfortunately, there will be a second server move with downtime in the near future, but this time it will be scheduled, and I will be able to give everyone at least a few days' notice. -John

Thanks @Silber, I've updated the title for @rrdusek to reflect that status and avoid confusion for others.

You'll get differing opinions on how to support the car during the build. If you are building it in a location that can't remain blocked for months on end, or doesn't provide enough working room around the car to easily perform all the jobs, including adequate space up front for the cherry picker, then mobile stands will create fewer moments of frustration. If those things aren't issues, then you have to ask yourself if you will ever move it if you have the option? Stands/sawhorses vs. jackstands is another one I initially debated. A desire for wheeled support basically eliminates jackstands from consideration. If you don't need that -- I didn't -- then it comes down to a few considerations: Height, stability, and access. For me, I didn't want the car so high that it forced me to stretch my arms unnecessarily when laying on my back under the car, nor did I want something that could potentially get in the way for some jobs. Given my jackstands provide sufficient working height, have always felt very stable when doing major jobs on the Westfield, and have the option of using either one or two up front thanks to the cruciform jacking location, I opted to stick with what I know. During my build, there was never a time I wished I had gone with a different setup. That doesn't mean they are right for you or for others, but things to consider. -John

I bought this one from Amazon. Only $18 with free Prime shipping: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B081PJSSKY

Congrats on the incoming kit. My advice for prep: Start reading through the build threads on this forum and the blogs provided by @CBuff. I found the second one in his list particularly valuable during my build. There is enough variance in manufacturing tolerances that some activities which are hard to perform for some, are easy for others. Getting a broad perspective up front will better prepare you for some of the head banging frustration you will likely encounter later. Make sure you have plenty of light. It looks like you are set from above, but good lighting under the car is helpful. I am also partial to wearing a head lamp. Supplement the Caterham supplied build manual with the older version in the Downloads section. When Caterham changed from the written build manual to the Ikea version, some important details were lost. Some of these are highlighted in the various build blogs. The only special tool I can recall buying was the socket @slowdude mentions above. In my case, the nuts were tapered, and although 41mm at the bottom, the very tops were 42mm and therefore required the larger socket. Always have your phone with you to take pictures along the way. It's really helpful to refresh your memory of what certain aspects looked like weeks earlier in the build. Start a build thread here. You'll receive a lot of help along the way, and it creates something to refer back to when troubleshooting things in the future. No need to rely on your memory. Plan where you will place the crates (I have measurements if you need them) and clear sufficient space so they can comfortably coexist with the chassis during the initial parts of your build. Bonus points if you have a laptop and large monitor in the garage. This is really helpful when looking at the build manuals, blog photos, and various youtube videos people have published. If you don't drink, you should start practicing now. I guarantee you will need a drink at several points throughout the build process (see the end of bullet one)

To me, this is the key. It's about feel and preferences. Given Farah's perspective differs from most reviews -- including from other "extremely seasoned and experienced" journalists -- I suspect this is something to which he is either more sensitive or dislikes more than others. I have driven cars with specific characteristics that spoiled the car for me but speaking with others who have driven the same car, they either didn't notice those things, or they did and for them they were non-issues. That's why it's always desirable to drive a car yourself to see how it maps to your preferences. Now if you are concerned with lap times, where quantifiable data matters, that's a different story. Another possible factor in this instance is setup. Farrah is not a light guy. If the car was set up for a much lighter driver, it would be riding much closer to its rear bump stops with him in the car, thereby impacting available suspension travel (and rake) and exacerbating the points made above about the de Dion.