CarlB

I have used this: Amazon.com: Thermo-Tec 13575 Adhesive Backed Aluminized Heat Barrier, 12" x 24" : Automotive - I wouldn't say it is great. It does some good. I am aware of some gold reflective insulation that is used on high end race cars, but do not have any experience with it. I saw your car and love the cam cover on your new engine.

Thank you - I didn't have it. I especially like that it is in excel so I can customize it.

Wow - Great Video! - Good car and great driver. Thank you for the video, and it does convince me to not get too excited. I have an older car and I do not believe it had the best maintenance. I think I may have implied that I was overly concerned about the A frames breaking without notice. I wasn't. I wanted to understand the failures and I hadn't looked at the load paths on the part. Between your pictures and Croc"s pictures I am very comfortable with what needs to be done. At least what I am going to do. I have never driven at Sebring, but I have been there. Old World War II runways are still bumpy after they have been paved. Great catches in the video. 1.6 /1.7 Gs will certainly put a bending moment on the tube. The maintenance is simple. Inspect the A frame for visible damage and any bending and you should be fine. I have to say I do not understand why they built the car that way. They could have put a ball joint at the attachment to the DeDion tube, I think. I have to think about why they did it the way they did. The watts links on the rear are interesting as well. I assume they went to all that trouble for roll steer, but I haven't measured it.

I want to get tags on my car, and I have to have wipers and a windshield to get tags. My car is mainly used for autocross and track events, and I have a short carbon wind deflector. My other fun car is a R-56 MINI. It has toggle switches separated by U shaped loops that I think look good. Caterham used the same look on one of their models and I wanted to duplicate it. The wiper motor only pulls a few amps. Mine is fused at 10 amps but 5 would be enough. The Lucas switch has a black long handle and doesn't match my other witches. It is also wide and would not fit how I want to mount all the switches. Look at the connections and witch connections ate connected in the different switch positions. When the switch is in the off position there are still connections to the wiper motor. Here is a wiring diagram that works if you do not have the Lusas switch. Correct wiring.docx

I am not re-installing my washer, but I am hooking up the two speed wipers. I wanted a toggle switch, and it is hard to find an off-on-on switch. Most switches are on-off-on. This switch isn't in their regular catalog, but they have itCorrect wiring.docxCorrect wiring.docx: Cole Hersee 55093-BX. Attached is some wiring information for you. The Lucas switch that is used in MGs and other British cars is not strait forward. I am also including some general information and pictures of parts you will need and might not know about. The wiper motor is held in by a strap. The motor needs to be isolated from the car. The black pad is the stock part. The little round thing that is cut on an angle goes on the wiper arm shaft. Each wiper has two. They hold the wiper arm at the correct angle to the windshield. One goes on top and one on the bottom. Wiper Systems.pdf

My interest was in understanding maintenance requirements both the intervals and the procedures. I have a race car background and want to insure reliability. These cars are about halfway between a race car and a production car, and the maintenance is about halfway as well. The more track time the more maintenance.

Croc thank you - I will also replace it if it is bent or has been dented.

Thank you - I have a bunch of stuff coming from Bruce and was surprised when he told me he wasn't aware of the issue. Bruce is very helpful and knows the cars. Despite paying to ship parts back and forth across the country I like to get stuff from him. He guided me towards the stronger front hubs, axles and bearings, and I need to check the rear wheel bearings and upgrade those if I have the old ones. I am going to have all the suspension apart to replace the bushings with Power flex bushings. I hadn't considered how the A frame / lateral link worked, but it is under a twisting moment. I do not understand why they would do that. I am either going to replace it or at least have it magnafluxed. A friend of mine regularly runs against a guy who races a Caterham. I am going to speak to him as well. I am not putting urethane bushings in the A frame. The more compliant rubber will reduce the bending moment on the tube. Getting my car back from body work next week. Hope your car is fixed or close.

I am wondering if anyone on this forum besides Croc has experienced this failure. Has anyone replaced the part because they identified a problem?

My car isn't in my shop now, but it is an imperial S3 (1999). I will be able to get a picture of the motor installed without the scuttle when it gets back. Here is a picture of the top of the motor. Can I answer any questions about it for you? I have had it in and out without removing the scuttle and with the scuttle off. Much easier to do with the scuttle off. The two bolts that clamp the motor are very difficult to get off without removing the scuttle. I have had a very difficult time figuring out the wiring. I did not want the standard Caterham wiring and switch.

If you want a motorsport quality wiring there is a guy close to you. He builds harnesses for indy cars and all types of race cars. I can highly recommend his work. Franz Diebold franz@dieboldautosport.com

I haven't done it on a 7, but I have done it on other cars. It is an easy way to change the camber curve as well. If you change the angle of the upper control arm by using a longer bolt and spacing the rod end up, you get more camber change.

Thank you all for the information. IF I want to replace my rear panel, I am going to have to learn some good metal working skills. One thing I learned from the How it Was Made video is the carbon dash is glued on. I will not have to figure out how to drill it for rivets.

Where can we watch your video? Did you replace any of your body panels? If you replaced any panels, how did you match the rivet holes in the frame. I assume the new panel did not have the holes already drilled. Could you remove and install the rear panel without cutting it? Thank you for your response.

You are not the only one interested in this topic. I do not have any experience but am very interested in learning from someone who has done it. Powder coating suspension parts is not a good idea. If something is cracked you can’t see it.

Looking forward to going to an event with you and seeing how all of this works. I finally figured out how to get my windshield wipers to work without the big Lucas switch. Lots of directions on the web, most were not accurate. Have a great Christmas.

If you have a volt ohm meter check the voltage with the engine running. The voltage should be higher than the voltage with the car off. That will tell you if the alternator is working. There are two types of master cut of switches manual and electric. Race cars have externally mounted cut offs. On Caterhams they are usually mounted at the base of the windshield where it bolts to the cowl. An inexpensive one is a switch that is built to attach to the battery post and the positive lead to the starter. You can also get a relay or solenoid that can be located close to the battery and small wires and a switch can be mounted anywhere.

It appears you are using extended nose plugs. They are great for not fouling in street engines, but that might be your hot spot. You might consider regular plugs. The ceramic and center electrode do not protrude as far and the tip will not get as hot.

Totally agree - Use a magnify glass to look at the ceramic the silver specs are very small.

I didn’t give the second source of auto ignition. If the fuel doesn’t have enough octane the fuel will start to burn normally but as the temperature and pressure rises a second flame front will start. Generally this is a hot spot, but it doesn’t have to be. A Englishman did a lot of work on this. If you look on a BMC engine valve cover you will see a list of patents given to Mr. Westfield

You need the help of a good tuner. It sounds as if you are experiencing autoignition. This is the precursor of detonation. Autoignition is caused by a hot spot in the combustion chamber. You might be able to cure it by adding more fuel, or reducing the ignition timing. If the engine was dyno tuned before you got it, the problem is highly likely the fuel and you need more octane if you want to maintain the same power it had off the dyno. If you have a lambda sensor, leaded fuel will cause the sensor to fail, but it takes time. Most octane boosters are toluene. Toluene is used as a paint thinner and is 125 octane. The sweet smell of burning race gas is toluene. Sparkplugs are hard to read with modern unleaded gas, but look at the porcelain. The side of the porcelain not where the electrode sticks out. You do not want to see any silvery flakes. those flakes are your pistons.

When I got my car Michael told me that my car was the first Zetec. The kit was shipped back to Caterham after the SCCA approved the Zetec for production car racing. Michael even knew the guy who did the modification to install the engine. My car has the notched frame for the stock intake manifold. It didn’t have the brace or frame tube that would be connected between the side of the transmission tunnel and the front right suspension. The front connection is close to the rear upper control arm pickup. My car had the tabs on the frame for the brace. I do not know if other cars had the tabs.

Thank you for the information

I am curious about your fuel cell. Would you please post some pictures?

My car is a 1999 S-3. I can't speak for other years. If you look at the picture of the side of the cage / car you will see the rear attachment is different. This is what I assume is standard on Caterhams of my vintage, and I think I have seen on the metric cars as well. The two forward mounts are crossmembers that have been added. They are attached to the frame underneath the car. The cage tube fits down in a pocket and bolts in from the bottom. All the other connections are are where the normal roll bar mounts.