whotoo

I loved my 914 after I put in turbo steering links, front and rear roll bars, BMW 320i front calipers, transmission mounts, good exhaust and good shocks. Then you add power. You still have to deal with a lot of body flex. I sold mine and got a 968, better performance less seat-of-the-pants fun. So I got a 7.

Removing Crossflow 1) You do need to remove the gear shift lever to remove the trans. I don't have carpet on my trans tunnel, and my cover just pulls off. I think some trans covers are screwed into the tunnel. It's a bit of a wrestling match to get the cover off. Loosening the handbrake cable will allow the handbrake lever to go almost vertical and make it easier to get the cover off - although I've gotten mine off just be pulling the lever up as far as possible. Once the cover is off, it's 3 bolts to remove the lever. I haven't had to remove the seats - don't think you would either, but if you have carpet on the trans tunnel, that may change things. 2) I opted to split the engine from the bell housing and pull the engine out by itself. Advantage to that is that trans fluid won't be pouring out of the tail of the trans - which it does as soon as the trans isn't level. You need to get the engine pretty vertical to pull it out this way, and it's tight - but it's doable. Lots of pros and cons of this approach on Blatchat (http://www.blatchat.com/). The search function works well. Just change the time period to "Since from the beginning". 3) May want to cover the front frame members with pipe insulation to protect the powder coating. 4) If you take the engine/trans out together, be sure to disconnect the backup light connection and the speedometer cable. Brake light connection is on the right hand side of the tail. I think there are several styles of connections. Mine is like a 9 volt battery, and just pulls off. I think there is a newer style connection with two poles, but believe it also just pulls off. If you don't remove both, the trans will never come out. 5) There are two ways to disconnect the trans mount from the trans mounting plate on the chassis. You can undo the large bolt that connects the rubber mount to the transmission (there is an access hole in the mounting plate and spacer), or undo the two bolts connecting the mount to the chassis. I opted for the later. If you undo the large bolt, I've read that there is small lip on the rubber mount, and the tail of the trans may need to be lifted a bit to get over it. 6) Have a leveler for the engine hoist. Makes life much easier, and if you remove the engine separately you won't be able to get it out without one. I also found it extremely helpful when I put the engine/trans back in - and they went back in as one unit. 7) I have a bell housing plate between the bell housing and engine. Mine is split, and I know I ended up wrestling to get it removed before I could get the engine separate enough to start to remove. Not an issue if the engine/trans comes out as a unit. 8) Clutch cable or hydraulic? Mine is hydraulic, and I undid the connection to the clutch arm so I could remove the slave cylinder from the bell housing without having to drain and remove the hose. If it's a cable, guess you just have to get it off the clutch arm. 9) Be sure to disconnect the fuel line from the fuel pump - assuming that you're using the mechanical pump on the Crossflow. You also need to remove the alternator. In general, I would takes notes, draw schematics for conntections, label wires, and take pictures.

I have some valve noise from an over rev. Caterham USA told me I can take the cam out in place. Do I have to take off the head to remove the lifters? William

I'm about to take my Kent 1700 out to rework. I didn't put the car together, so I'm looking for a checklist or procedure guide to avoid problems. Additionally I'm having a hard time finding any parts list or exploded view of the crossflow. Is that "Rebuilding and Tuning Ford's Kent Crossflow Engine" worth the money they want for it? William

I found this from England http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/viewthread.php?tid=163254 Opinions seem to be devided

I'm new to my 11 year old 7. Are there any chassis or linkage lube requirements? Also how many miles or years before replacing transmission and differential oil?

Metal or metal shielded fuel lines help. Avoid vertical loops in the fuel line that can accumulate vapors.Low float levels in your carbs can make you sensitive to fluctuations in fuel supply.

I just replaced my departed 1700 Kent carb linkage that nobody could help me repair with a MANGOLETSI low profile single cable kit WEBL4241 from Burton Power in England. It cost $87 + shipping and is a very nice strong unit. It required rerouting the ignition wires and sawing out the bridge piece between cylinders 2 & 3 on the aluminum intake manifold that was easy and can be done in situ. It requires gas line rerouting but the only hard part there is finding the right parts at the right price (also from England). What a nice crisp throttle control and it misses the bonnet by a whopping 3.5 mm.

I had a power glitch a few times and found the terminal, not the wirt loose. I contacted Odysseyand here is their reply : the PC925MJT battery which is a metal jacketed PC925 with Automotive posts. If you have this battery or one with SAE posts and the post(s) is loose then it may just be a matter of using a 5mm allen wrench on the bolt inside the 3/8 internally threaded hole in the center of the SAE automotive post to tighten it back down to make good contact between the base of the SAE adapter and the internally threaded 6mm terminal of the battery. if this is a factory installation it would have been installed using Loctite. If this is factory installed, you may want to back it out, clean it up with an alcohol swab and reinstall using Loctite 277 or 271. If you use Loctite, very little is required, just a drop of Loctite inside the top of the internally threaded 6mm opening of the battery terminal. Loctite between the surface of the battery terminal and the base of the SAE adapter is not good and will interfere with the transfer of energy so care should be taken if Loctite is used.

After 35 years of Porsche driving I took my 2002 Kent powered 7 (new too me)out to the Colorado mountains without the Misses (finally). WOW! It didn't take long to move from 2X's the posted speed with the Porsche to 3X's in the 7. With good roads ,no guard rails, twisting unfamiliar roads and almost no traffic it doesn't get better. I"m not the baddest guy on the block but when you knock off 2 cars and 2 motorcycles in a short up hill passing zone on a 2 lane uphill road that roar of the engine at 6K is exilerating! I wish I'd bough a seven years ago before I retired. William

Thanks, that is what I had been thinking. It looks like I have to buy a new one.

As I was reassembling my DCOE's I found I have two different K&N bases. One has large holes that allow the trumpets to slide into the Weber, the other hllds the trumpets out. On the first, the trumpets clamps let the trumpets rattle while the latter cocks the clamp at a 30 degree angle. Which one is right and does it matter?

Thanks for the leads. I've been surprised by the lack of info from the Caterham dealer here in Denver. I'm anxious to get back on the road in the nice spring weather. William

DCOE 40 linkage went over a cliff in the mountains. Can anyone recommend a source/brand for my 1700 Kent linkage? Also I'm looking for help on the Webers since I've found several problems and wrong parts after digging in. The hardware parts don't jibe. Also what is recommended for 5,500 to 10,000 foot altitude where I drive. It has 32mm choke, F16 emulsion tuber 50F9 idle jets and 115 mains. It sputters and blackens up the plugs quickly. Any thoughts? William