BlueBDA

Cool - thanks

I checked with my hand held volt meter tonight. It correlates with the volt meter in the car, but reads consistently about 1 volt lower. At idle, the VM in the car reads around 11V. When I rev to 3k or so it moves up to around 13V. Hand held meter on the battery reads around 10 at idle and 12 when revving. Battery is a lawn tractor battery, new this year. Turning on the headlights drops the voltage by about 1/2V. Do these numbers seem reasonable, or low? If low, what's my next step?

FYI I looked at my snaps this afternoon, and noticed that they say "DOT" inside them.

Cool - thanks. Do you know if the "DOT" snap fasteners are what we have?

Thanks for the input guys. Will check later in the week.

I need to replace some of the snaps for my tonneau cover, both the male and female side. Can anyone tell me exactly what they are, and where I'd get them?

Just thought I'd share this as it could help someone else at some point. I've had my car for about a year, and I have never gotten full throttle, i.e. stepping on the gas pedal the cable was hanging up so that the carbs wouldn't open fully. I was also worried about the potential for the cable to jam in the open position. My car used to have a crossflow, and the previous owner installed a BDA. The throttle cable ran over the top of the engine, and operated the carb linkage by pushing the cable housing over the anchored cable. So the throttle cable needed to move across the cam cover. Since the BDA cam cover is wider than the cover on a crossflow, creating a longer path for the cable, the cable and cable housing were a bit too short. So the housing rubbed on the cam cover, and wouldn't push the throttle linkage all the way. Reading my invaluable Dave Bean catalog I learned that in a LHD crossflow the cable runs as I described, but in a RHD one the cable comes up from the bottom of the carb, so that the cable actually pulls the linkage, rather than the housing pushing it. That configuration makes a lot more sense to me. So I bought a custom cable and housing from Pegasus Auto Racing, and installed it so that it runs around to the right side of the engine, and comes up from underneath, with the cable now pulling the linkage. Now I finally get full throttle. The result is: 1. My car finally feels as fast as it should (holy-crap fast). Looking forward to getting back out on a track. 2. I learned on my night-time test ride after installation that when my car backfires blue flames come out of the exhaust. Cool.

Driving to work this morning I noticed that my volt meter reads 11 volts. I bought a new battery a few months ago. Is this normal? Should I be concerned, and start investigating further?.

I may be interested in the trailer. Do you know what it weighs?

Not to hijack your thread (ok I guess I am), but can anyone tell me how to determine my spring rates by visual inspection?

I had my GoPro mounted on top of the roll bar, and then someone suggested getting it as low as possible. So I mounted it low on the left side of the roll bar (you'd do right side in your RHD car). Much better sensation of speed in the video, and you can still see my helmet, arms, gauges (somewhat). Also shows one front tire and fender, which is nice.

Great meeting you Seb, and everyone. I worked hard at remembering names. Hope they stick in my brain for next year.

Hi all. Just letting you know that I have changed my user name from jcerier to BlueBDA. Happy 4th everyone.

Thanks so much Croc and yellowss7 for organizing a wonderful weekend. Nice job. My first hopefully of many more to come.

Interestingly enough, I don't believe there was a single Lotus Seven in attendance. But someone correct me if I am wrong.

Car's ready (I think), inspected by a local garage today, picking up my friend's truck, and a different friend's trailer this week. Registered today. Looking forward to meeting everyone. -Jeff

I'm expecting at some point in the future to see a replica of a Beck 550 Spyder.

I was getting ready to order arm restraints yesterday, when I had a thought: How do you do a "point-by" with arm restraints on? Seem like you wouldn't be able to?

Reviving this thread to add that I have discovered what valve that people use in Porsche 911s: https://www.rothsport.com/Products/Engine/Oil-Inlet-Check-Valves/Oil-Inlet-Check-Valves.htm Not cheap at $300, so hopefully that implies reliability.

Can anyone direct me to alignment specs for a 1997 Caterham? Is there a "garage" section to this forum, where reference materials are stored? If so I can't seem to find it.

Can anyone tell me if there is any special coolant required for a Ford/Cosworth BDA/BDR engine? I know that some Ford engines need special coolant, but I don't know if this falls in that category. Thanks in advance.

Certainly pull your plugs to see if they indicate that you've been running rich. Does the Pectel ECU tuning software give you the opportunity to check your AFRs through the rev range?

A bit more info for the record: Don't know why I didn't think of them to begin with, but Dave Bean Engineering has everything for this. They even have custom stainless studs that are machined specifically for this application with slightly larger diameter shafts to better locate and stabilize the carbs. The Dave Bean catalog, and Ken at Dave Bean, were both very helpful.

FYI I tried McMaster, and they didn't have what I need. Seems these items are specific to European carb mounting.

Pierce Manifolds had the studs, and Thackery washers. Thanks so much.