CarlB

They make antifreeze that meets all the specific color specifications, and is compatible with everything. I would use that. It is difficult to get all the coolant out of the bottom of the block

The belts you want need bolt in lap belts. The isn't room for clip in lap belts. Racequip makes them and they are available in black. Schroth makes them as well. I am not sure about other brands.

I have been looking at head and neck restraints and finally concluded the Simpson Hybrid is what I think I want. There is a company local to me that sells a number of brands and I plan to go try the different ones. The Simpson is interesting to me because it seems to offer a little more side protection, although I do not have empirical data.

I recently saw some tires on Jack Webb Motorsports web site. These tires are not available in the US, but they look interesting. I do not know much about them except I can say Kumho is a brand of track day tire a lot of people use. I have updated my spreadsheet to include them. Maybe some of our UK friends can comment. Tires.xlsx

It depends on the size of the opening for the fan. You also need to think about the where the air gets out of the car.

What a great adventure and you have a really nice car. It is probably what I should have done, but I am enjoying my adventure as well. I enjoyed meet you and despite my problems had a great time. Thank you for the shirt and I will have it clean and back to you in September.

There is generally a small improvement in power with the injectors moved high in the manifold. Having the injectors up in the manifold gives the fuel time to vaporize.

The Hooser Dot 205/60-13 tire is very slightly wider than the 215/50-13 Avon. The Hooser is 8.0 and the Avon is 7.87 wide. The front is about 3/4 of an inch wider. The tires from brand to brand are not consistently the same width. Hooser does not specify the wheel size use to check the width and a wider wheel generally makes the tire tread flatter and put more rubber in the ground. Yes, I intend to use 8 inch rear wheels. I suspect I will need to put a little less rake because the front might have more grip than the Avons. It is going to be a while before I try them. I have half worn Avons and a new set of Hooser slicks to use first.

Here is a chart you all might find useful. I think I am going to try the Hooser DOT tires in 185/60/13 and 205/60/13. The front tire is about 1 inch taller, and the rear is about 3/4 of an inch taller. Tires.xlsx

The thermostat Raceline uses is close to universal Ford or Chevy. I do not have a part number. Some imported cars use a smaller diameter, but you should be able to go to an auto parts store and get what you need. The important thing is knowing the opening point of the thermostat. I use a 195-degree opening stat. most thermostats have the opening temperature stamped into them.

If no one has a Zetec E bellhousing supplied on Caterham's, I am going to fix mine. The transmission alignment is off.

Thank you for the reply. I have seen several venders in the UK have them available, but the US Caterham part is different. At least I believe it might have been a US only part. Raceline told me that. Here is my problem. My engine has a wide oil sump, and the standard car bellhousings mount the starter down low. I would have to change my oil pan. The Bellhousing I am looking for mounts the starter up under the intake manifold. In addition to changing the oil pan I would have to change the starter motor, clutch and flywheel. My car uses Focus parts, and the available bellhousings use Pinto parts.

Most Fords have a light on the dash to warn you if the alternator isn't working. It also is used to excite the alternator and some people say it makes the voltage more stable. The wires on the plug generally are power from the battery. Power to the ignition switch and the return after the light. The light is wired with power in on both wires and goes out when power is fed in both directions. A one wire alternator connects the light connection to the power connection internally or at the plug and the ignition switch power comes from someplace else. You need to verify how your car is wired and make sure you wire the alternator appropriately. Sorry I couldn't make this easier, but start with a Focus wiring diagram and see what is different on the Caterham.

Does anyone have a spare Zetec to T-9 bell housing or know someone that might have one. I need one for my car.

Croc When you are in the UK please ask about the suspension set up for the Toyos. I believe you said one time, they run the Toyos with the same tire front and back. Do they run the 225/45/13 on all four corners?

Maybe a three-cylinder Toyota that makes over 300 HP

You are correct. There is a Concours, and it counts in the scoring.

If you have read this magazine, you probably know about their $2000.00 challenge. Once a year they have a competition for cars that have to be built for two thousand dollars or less. The competition consists of an autocross and a drag race. From the beginning, I have good friends who have built cars, but I never went. I do however read the magazine and I particularly like one writer that goes by JG. He is a national champion autocrosser and I think a national champion in time trials as well. He does a lot of track testing and is very good analyzing data. He also writes a monthly column. Over a year ago he wrote a column I disagreed with, and I emailed him about it. He had just tested a factory-built race car and said that individuals were not going to build their own cars anymore. The factory cars ware so good with all the electronics. My argument was the magazines two-thousand-dollar challenge was proof he was wrong. My second point was, I had a car without any driver aids that would prove him wrong. We went back and forth, and I forgot about it. Then one of my friends, who always encouraged me to go, told me that I could bring my Caterham, and they started letting people bring anything and run. They also added a track day. The track day got me, and I went this year. I went and had a great time. All of the above gets you to what I wanted to write. I let JG do an autocross run in my car. He came back all smiles, and the first thing he said was this car does what it is supposed to do. He also drove it on track with full instrumentation and compared it to the MX-5 factory race car. There will be a video and an article in the magazine. His articles show all the squiggly data acquisition lines, and he gives a good analyze of what it means. I do not know when the video or article will come out, but I am confident it will be glowing. He believes the factory MX-5 and Caterhams are the best track day cars he has driven.

I would rebuild them, and the calipers.

There are two different HRBs that are very similar. The difference is in the length. I have a LUK LSC-273 that is for a V-6 Ford Contour. My car has a Zetec with a T-9. Here is part of an old thread. Go to the thread because there are pictures. When I was trying to figure out what the parts were for my car, I was able to get in contact with someone at LUK and he identified my parts and gave me the part numbers. That worked for me. It was later that I saw this post.

I need to read before pushing send. The brake pad company is Portifield

Thank you - That is what I have been thinking about. I have had good luck with Pittsfield giving me good advice.

Thank you - I hadn't considered that, and while I might not remember exactly what I was doing, you are probably correct. I have seen your track videos, and you clearly know what you are doing. What pads do you use? My proportioning valve is located on the side of the pedal box cover. See the picture below. I did not want it in the drivers compartment because I didn't want to be tempted to play with it. The temptation to add more rear brake to get the car to turn into the corner might lead to a big mistake. I was looking around at options for parking brakes and found a mechanical valve sold by Speedway Motors. I do not think I would rely on it without putting the car in gear, but it was simple. To set the brake you step on the brake pedal and push the valve closed. To release you step on the brake pedal harder than you did to set the brake. I have a warning for you that the flexible hose that runs to the De Dion tube does not have a regular M10 1.0 thread fitting. You do not have to replace what is on the car. I put the brake valve where the normal emergency brake handle goes, and you can't put a new hard brake line in without removing all the rear suspension. I used a stainless braided line and got a new manifold for the split to the two calipers.

Today I got an email from NOVA Motorsports that the parent company purchased a Portugues tire manufacturer called Camac. Camac is a small specialty tire manufacturer, much like Avon. They make a lot of tires for classic cars. Coker Tire sells their stuff. They either do or have made Rally tires. They said in the email that they were working to get important Avon employees, so we will have to see what happens.

I just installed and did a track day with the Caterham AP rear brake kit. I have the AP front brakes. I have a manual proportioning valve installed and I had it set to the maximum setting to reduce the rear line pressure. I do not consider myself a good driver and would like the opinion of someone who uses the AP rear brakes. I thought I still had more rear brake than I wanted. I was getting some very minor rear lock up on turn in. A good driver drove the car and did not complain or mention it. I am not sure if it is my driving or brake pads. The fronts are Performance friction 01 compound and the rears are Pagid RS14. I was not happy with the performance friction pads before. I generally like a pad with a lot of initial bite, and I have no comparison on the Pagid pad. What are other people using for pads?