TurboWood

So, where are you guys getting the VIN installed? Why is a new VIN needed when Caterham issues a VIN number? Daniel

Thanks, that's the exact link I used to find the vehicle wiring diagram. What I can't find is the engine harness wiring diagram. There is a cosworth diagram, but it only shows the size of connectors and layout of the harness. It doesn't give you the details of wire color or route.

I just noticed you were from Alaska...wow! I hadn't expected to hear of a 7 there. Cool I was able to figure out the light. All the gauges have a red-white wire that is linked to the light switch. I did just discover that one of them is connected to a 12V source via a 680ohm resister, but I don't understand why. 1) Oil Pressure? 2) Engine speed 3) Power through 680ohm resister (Brown-Yellow: NY) 4) ?? Unassigned wires: White-brown Black-blue White-black Daniel

Thanks for the feedback, I was definitely too vague. That probably tells you how lost I am/was. I did some digging into the wiring diagram. This is for a CSR. - Oil Temp: All wiring from sensor to gauge is on vehicle wiring harness (good to go) - Speedometer: Same as oil temp - Fuel level: Same as oil temp - Oil Pressure: Oddly the signal wire is coming from the Tachometer plug?? - Water Temp: From engine harness - Tachometer: Four wires go to engine harness I believe the water temperature is straight forward. I just need to find a way to get the signal from the engine to the engine plug on the vehicle harness side. I'm confused about the oil pressure gauge though. Why would it get the signal from the tachometer? Is one of the four wires feeding the tach originating from the oil pressure sensor? Does anyone know the specifics of the four wires coming from the engine harness to the tachometer? 1) Oil pressure? 2) Engine speed 3) ?? 4) ?? Daniel

Hi Gents, I'm looking for some relatively basic wiring information on the caterham. I'm trying to get the details of where the gauges get their signal. I assume the sensors provide a signal to the ECU which then outputs a calibrated signal to each gauge. Is that right?? If that's correct, does anyone know what the signal to each gauge looks like? Is it a simple 0-5V signal? Thanks! Daniel

Yes, anything we buy from the UK while in the US is VAT free. Daniel

It's always nice to be on the winning team. I wish they would give more information about why it was better than the atom. I guess the message here is 330hp is gooood in a 7 . Daniel

In case anyone is interested I discovered Sevenspeed sells the works bell unit setup for the Caterham (http://www.sevenspeed.co.uk/products/rapfix-racing). From searching around the internet I found one post claiming this hub moves the wheel away from the dash about 1cm. I'm a newb, but that sounds manageable. Daniel

Maybe this is a newb question, but why go to all the effort to make the rear fenders easy to breakaway instead of just removing them? Is it just looks or is there a functional reason to keep them on? Daniel

Is this the same: http://csr.informe.com/forum/ Daniel

Has anyone installed a Works Bell quick release? How difficult would it be? http://www.meteormotorsport.com/caterham/hardware/hardware/works-bell-rapfix-quick-release/131-327 or http://www.tunersgroup.com/Online_Store/Works_Bell_Rapfix_II_Steering_Wheel_Quick_Release.html Daniel

It looked to me like the porsche got a little squirly at the exit of the corner.

maurice, This is really good information. I assume you have a 1.75:1 second gear? 1.75 x 4.1 = 7.175 2.482 (SPC 1st) x 3.38 = 8.389 From this it tells me starting in 1st with the SPC transmission shouldn't be an issue (I'll try to park on hills nose down). Per my calculations I'll still be able to achieve 1g acceleration in 2nd gear which may be difficult for the tires to cope with. I think it will scoot just fine . Daniel

It's probably worth mentioning I'll have a 3.38 final drive ratio. I do know of at least one guy that used a BGH transmission and 3.14 final drive. This would be almost exactly the same in first gear as a 3.38 and SPC. That makes me think it's manageable. It just seems there are fewer people that used the SPC transmission. It's good to hear you liked it. Daniel

Hi Guys, I'm trying to narrow in on a transmission. From what I can tell the 5-spd is my best bet with any of the 2L engines (plenty of torque). I've read quite a bit about the BGH transmission, but haven't heard much about the SPC 5-spd. Do any of you have any experience? The gearing on the SPC unit should allow me to just touch 60mph in first if I can spin the engine to 7500rpm. All else being equal that would probably be enough to sway me. Thanks, Daniel reference: http://www.spcomponents.co.uk/index.html http://bghgeartech.co.uk/html/5_speed.html

That wasn't even a race

I too miss the V12's, but I'm not sure back to basic is the proper title. The new V6's are going to have awesomely complex energy recovery systems integrated with the turbocharger. The rule changes that include a fuel restricter will also make things interesting. No more 900hp, but I imagine they will stick be quick .

:blush:

Hi Gents, I registered a few months ago, but figured it was time to post here. Before I go too far about myself I must say that I've already noticed a really big difference in maturity/friendliness on this board compared to others I've frequented in the past. It's so relieving to have helpful and nice people to chat with. Hopefully I get to meet some of you. As for me, I'm 31 and have been a car guy from day one. I raced r/c cars and worked at a hobby shop for much of my high school and through college. I spent all four years of college participating in FSAE and went on to be a development engineer in the automotive field where I've been heavily focused on turbochargers. Once in the professional world I met a bunch of car nuts and we started Black Iron Racing which was/is a very low cost race team focused on the 24hrs of LeMons. We've raced a handful of times (and even won a few) over the years. If I could play like that all the time it would be a dream come true. Most of my personal car effort has been spent on a '94 Toyota Supra Turbo. It really has been a fun car to play with, but I could never get the feeling of my buddies turbo Miata out of my head. There was something about not having 1000lbs that made it just fun. The Supra is a great car for doing 140mph, but that makes having fun far too infrequent. I've flirted with the idea of a kit car many times, but the stars seemed to align recently when Caterham released the 40th Anniversary pack. So, I now have a CSR Roadsport kit that should arrive in September. I probably won't get to start working on it until the new year, but I'm preparing as much as possible. The engine and transmission selection is still open....turbo miata, Honda K20, ecotec, duratec, ecoboost....so many options. My brain is programmed for 300hp minimum. We'll see if I meet that. Daniel

Scott, Would it be possible for you to take a few dimensions? From the link provided by xcarguy I capture that the deck height of the 2.0L is 216.92mm. I recall reading that the 2.3L is about 10mm taller than that. If you could just measure from the crank center line to the bottom of your oil pan (are you dry sump?) and from the deck to top of valve covers, that would be great. Thanks and regards, Daniel

Hi Gents, Can anyone confirm the dimensions of the 2L or 2.3L Duratec is the same as the attachment? I found this while searching the web so I don't know if it's truly for this engine or not. Thanks, Daniel

It looks like Sony got it right in Gran Turismo. That car is a total mess in that game. Even when you put racing tires on it it's a total challenge.

I thought CO law only required you to install the front plate if the OEM had a factory mount? For a 7 I think this means you don't need one because there is no factory way to install it. That was at least the excuse my buddy always used with his EVO. I was never bothered in my Supra either. That includes the times I was given tickets for speeding. I'm sort of assuming the cop was being nice though because they were not small tickets already. The only time I've been given a ticket (for a front plate) was when parked in CA. I could fix it and pay a smaller fee or just mail in a bigger fee (still small). I just mailed it in.

I agree, those are some strange looking pistons. It looks like they were trying to minimize the squish volume. Are these originally interference engines? Sharp corners on a piston are quite bad. It will get hot and be an initiation site for knock. What's even worse is the sharp corners are near the OD of the piston. This is exactly where knock will typically start because it's where end gas sits (the last bit of air/fuel to get burned). This gas will be the hottest and most prone to knock. Good luck with the repairs. I would be cautious with using the same piston design. Regards, Daniel

Personally I don't see the benefit. I have a boost gauge, EGT gauge, and AFR gauge in my Supra. The only one I watch is the tach. It's nice to watch on occasion or to push the peak hold button (GReddy electronic gauges for boost/EGT) to see what it peaked at, but I wouldn't look at it as a safety net. A calibrated knock sensor is the way to go for protection. I have an FJO sensor with digital gauge and it's wired into the AEM standalone ecu. It's more of a novelty than it is a real safety. Regards, Daniel