SK400

Our Hero, cheerleader and already driver!

Packed and ready to go on my road adventure…. Leaving tomorrow at 5 am.

i can’t believe there are 57 pages of motorsport regulations. Someone actually took the time to write this down. Impressed.

Thanks Croc I’m not too far away from the recommend setting but with two differences: neutral front caster vs max negative as you suggested and rather stiffer rear arb. What front toe do you run? Also, I assume you have the standard spring front and rear? I bought the Garyline setup kit. Hope to get it before departure so we can have a bit of fun tuning the car.

As in thinking about it, I also redid my LSD with sintered plates etc, new preload. The effect of the refreshed LSD could be to have more understeer at mid corner especially in lower speed turns. Considering a bit more rake or caster on front. But let me know your thoughts.

Need a bit of advice in advance on handling. I had dialed in my car pretty well in the past, but since i've installed the -2.5 degrees rear camber ears, i find it to push a bit much at entry and middle of corner grip. (understeer). what i read online and from various caterham racing blogs is to go softer setting on the rear ARB to allow more rear roll and transfer weight and hence grip to the front. This is counter intuitive from normal car setup so asking for your thoughts. Is going softer on the rear ARB the right thing to do to correct understeer? I also expect to be hitting rev limiter in 6th gear with 25% of the straight left but that will have to wait for next season to correct as i need to change my FD ratio.

Alright. Just registered as well. Saturday and Sunday. Let the weather Gods maximize our weekend days. Wish me luck as I’m gearing towards a 12h car + trailer ride from Ann Arbor, MI. Mike / Tom - Will we be able to drop my trailer on property Friday night? Will attempt and target 6:30 pm arrival for club dinner on Friday. (Let’s see… and will keep you posted as I make progress or not). Talk and see you all very soon!

Making my way slowly registering. hope the weather holds. remind me, do they sell 100 octane at the track and is it ethanol free? thanks

I’m love the reverse psychology but your Jedi tricks will only partly work on me, Master Croc. But agree, I’m running out of excuses… My car should be quasi ready. I’m waiting for the rear brake LED kit from the UK and that’s about it. Seatbelts are new, helmet, hand device etc. Have 4 yr old tires so okay for NJMP (but not best handling) and some slicks I still have not used since I blew the transmission 3 years ago. So in principle, should be ready. I did not have the energy to change the differential final drive ratio this summer so I suspect I will hit the rev limiter on the straight by the time I pass the tower or just after…. also I have -2.5 camber in the rear now, great but too much grip vs front and the car understeers a bit more at entry. I need to tune the balance a bit. But who cares.., she is fun and still very quick, and I would love to see you all again. It’s been too long.

All, trying to make it to this event. It’s a commitment and a half driving 12hrs each way from Ann Arbor MI! At this point 50 percent chance of I can clear a few things from my plate. Croc, Tom - question for you: is the speed at the end of the straight slightly faster or slower given the new shortcut modification on thunderbolt?

All This gearbox is sold.

All I have an original Caterham 6 speed gearbox for sale, OBO. To be clear, the gearbox is now NOT working, with its lay shaft seized, and an open dent in the end of the lay aluminum casing, a common know issue for these boxes with original equipment. I believe tracsport in the uk sells the replacement and upgrade layshaft parts to avoid the issue going forward, parts that are used in racing applications. The casing could be welded or another part procured. Outside of this, the gearbox is good. I’m willing to give this gearbox away for just a little more than shipping to someone who might be interested in a project. This box in a new or used format typically go for thousands of dollars and hard to find. Let me know if interested. Thank you

Most probably east coast.

yes. I used the one from Sadev. But the engine is much more powerful and has more torque than I thought , hence I will have to go down eventually in ratio. The car will top at around 135mph at 8000 rpm. Makes for very quick accels though. Combined with flat shift, should be relatively quick out of corners (if I can keep power down). With a 3.64, we are looking at 144 mph at 8000 rpm. Max power is 7700 rpm so assuming end of straight at 7800 rpm, would be looking at a respectable 140 mph. but let’s see. I ll enjoy this very quick Accel car this summer as is. Most of the time I never run out of gear anyway at the need of any straights in North America. Maybe I will this time …:)

Thanks Croc I hope so! The other engine was solid and well built with the exception of the spark plugs issue bother Simon and I had. I now use the brisk catholdless spark plugs to reduce the risk. And now with the Sadev, I hope not to have any transmission issue. Yes, I have the BMW 3.91. In fact, I went through massive trouble changing the diff ratio from 3.64 to 3.91 (trying to find the gears…) to target adequate rpms/ gear based on the Sadev output drive I was give by the mfg er because I thought the 3.64 would be too long. Perhaps next winter I’ll swap it again or upgrade to a ford rear diff. From a ratio standpoint, I have exactly what I had before with my caterham 6 speed. But with just more torque and hp.

Finally completed fuel mapping for my new 2.3l / Sadev configuration. 240 hp / 170 ft-lbs at the wheels. (Approx 275 hp / 195 ft-lbs I assume at the crank). Overall, pretty happy with the package (esslinger block, esslinger stage 5 cams). The torque curve is really flat which is great. Arguably I now have too short of ratios but will try to enjoy the car as is this summer before any other mods. Next, is a true shake down on local tracks. All this hopefully prepping the car for an enjoyable USA7 event at the end of this year….

Parts sold to will be proud driver of an eventual R500 Duratec spec Caterham! Track goers - beware!

Yes we did. Re posting the parts unsold to date. the radiator and oil cooler are the older style with the oil cooler being separate and mounted in front of the water radiator and the fan in the back of the assembly. I may have someone interested in the radiator and oil cooler and keep this forum updated on this specific part availability.

I'm burning the boats behind me.. NO turning back my friend. onwards and up is the only way.

why not! Will try to write something up.

All i just finished an engine swap to a 2.3l and have a few good, very low miles (<1500 miles?), upgrade 2.0l Duratec engine parts looking for a new home / car 1) r500 Kent DEC35 cams (263 hp) 2) a r400 lightened flywheel and the CSR260 / r500 clutch and pressure plate to go with these cams 3) a forged 2.0l duratec / Mazda crankshaft to go with the cams 4) Duratec 2.0l k1 conrods to go with the cams 5) r400 radiator and oil cooler 6) r400 original blue injectors Let me know if anyone is interested. thank you.

Croc : do you know which date related equipment requirements they will look for in Oct 2026? (Seatbelts, helmets etc others). Txs.