Anker

I am looking for a set of cycle wings and brackets that will fit my 1987 1700 Superspeed with 185/60 R 14 rims. Color not important.

Thank you, Roger, I will be doing both, so I'll check that. It does have a deflector bracket in fromt of the right rear wing. Easy to replace. We did the same with radio control model airplanes, for the same reason. Better to break a bolt than rip the plane apart! Anker

Very flexible, since I just purchased the car. Already done: Carburetor and ignition timing tune. Already planned: Replace Weber carburetor mounting with new hardware. Misab plates, ordered from Burton Power. Replace distributor and electronic ignition with custom fron Aldon. Install oil catch can on crankcase breather. New racing rubber for my lighweight 13" rims. Most likely Toyo R888R. Home made rollbar bracket for transporting racing wheels to track. Oil change, lube job, brake fluid flush. Possible: Install more efficient radiator fan. Will most likely purchase a modern fan with a radiator mounted thermostat and mount it on home made brackets. Rebuild head. Valve guides and seals appear to be worn. May wait a year before tackling this. Unknown: The car is going up on jack stands and if easy the fenders will be removed for easy access. I'll then go through the suspension and brakes with a fine tooth comb.

Correct about mine. Its even the right color!

Cops are very tolerant of cool cars. At least state troopers. I have been warned to cool it a couple of times without getting more than a gentle adminition. And that in a 2000's Boxster. A caterham is sure to get even better treatment.

I keep mine in the cubby under the roll bar. If I get stopped I do the "It fell off, sir. I am on my way to have it remounted."

The first second car we had was a Fiat 127. A sweet little drive. Not a sportscar, but huge value for the money.

Thanks Stig, I thought the identity of the Stig was a closely held secret! I have ordered a complete replacement set of mounting hardware with Misab gaskets. Anker

Pretty much identical to mine. Same color scheme, but mine is red, same year and same model (Super Sprint 1700). Do you know where it was assembled?

Cross post from Lutus7.club: I was getting ready to balance the carburetors, removed the air filters and warmed the engine up to operating temperature. Barely touched the carbs and noticed that this immediately caused the engine revs to go up and down. I think I made a mistake believing that this had to be caused by an air leak and took a look at the manifold nuts. As soon as I put a bit of pressure on the carbs I could see that they moved against the manifold and though they were too loose. Tightened the top four a little bit (the engine was hot so I didn't want to put my hands underneath the manifold) and thought I heard and saw some improvement. Ran the car up to a service station to have it inspected (the Massachusetts equivalent of the MOT) and thought it ran a bit better. Only after this did I decide that I better check here and the various books and e-books I have and then realized that there is a thick, flexible gasket that provides vibration isolation. See the picture below. I did a search on this site and found a thread from 2001 on the same topic and saw two different instruction posts. One specified, as far as I remember, 8 ft lbs, the other said something like 1 1/2 turn of the bolt after everything just touches. Of course I can't find this post any more. I checked the assembly guide and the Weale book and didn't find anything there. I should know better Any help and/or pointers will be appreciated. Thanks/Anker

Keep an eye on Bring a Trailer. They come up regularly. One identical to mine sold to 24K not too long ago. Good luck. Just went through that myself - the spousal approval! :-)

Similar situation here. In PCA I will be in non-Porsche, R rated tires battling anything that fits that description. In NE-SVT classification is by experience, so there I will be better off. Anyway, I just wantr to have as much fun as my limited funds can buy, and this fits the bill. I am a SCCA member and will do them too when they run locally. We have the Moore airfield in Ayer, MAssachusetts. One of the best venues in the US. We lay out over a mile long courses on the taxiways and runways. Only drawback is that the pavement is cracking, so we have to run the cone course around the worst spots. Advantage is that there are no objects to run into of you spin out.

It will be ready. Could be autocrossed as it is, but I want to make sure everything is in perfect shape, so a lot of maintenance and acouple of small repairs ahead. I plan to build a tire carrier to be mounted on the roll bar. The 12" rims with 45 aspect tires bring the car too low to drive in the street. Do you autocross? If so, where and with what club? I autocross with PCA, NE-SVT and Track Club USA.

It will be ready. Could be autocrossed as it is, but I want to make sure everything is in perfect shape, so a lot of maintenance and acouple of small repairs ahead. I plan to build a tire carrier to be mounted on the roll bar. The 12" rims with 45 aspect tires bring the car too low to drive in the street. Do you autocross?

Pictures:

I have a bad keyboard. It can't spell, transposes letters and omits others! Grammar is also bad!

Thanks, good to know. Is this generally the case? I seem to remember that spitting through the carbs isn't good for them.

Yesterday I did the paperwork and drove the car home. In traffic it runs rough, pops out the exhaust and spits out of the carburetors. I didn't notice that when I test drove it because that was a spirited drive on open roads. From 3ooo RPM it runs just fine, as well as at idle. My theory is that it is a result of having sat so long and possibly old pugs, wrong plug and points gaps, plus a partially gummed up carburetor. I was anxious to get it home because it was a clear, sunny day at 40 degrees F. Starting was also hard. Needed starter spray and lots of choke. No choke cable, so the seller had to manage the choke. I knew that and had ordered a choke cable and received it. After putting it in the garage we went out to dinner and celebrated with dinner at a local restaurant. Got home and watched TV until bed time. When I emptied my pockets the Caterham keys were not there. I know I can't sleep if I have done something like that, so I backtracked as much as I could and didn't locate the keys. Went dejectedly to bed and slept poorly as expected. Next morning I checked outside, and to my delight I found them right outside the garage door. Phew. The only filler cap key was on that chain. I have duplicates for all other keys. First to the hardware store to see if they could make another filler cap key. No blanks for that. Checked the interweb and none there to be found either. Checked another hardware store and they didn't have one, but the lady there pointed me to a third one that apparently has a blank of every key made. She was right, so I now have spares for all keys. At Autozone I picked up a set of spark plugs, a timing light, feeler gauges, Sea Spray and a bottle of Stabil. Even though it was cold when I got home I decided to start the project. First I reinstalled the filler, which I had brought along so I could test keys as they were made. Then I poured the can of Sea Spray in the full gas tank. After that I moved on to installing the choke cable. Not as easy as I expected, but still easy enough. The holes for the wire un the choke connection were too small and has to be drilled larger. I decided to to proceed to running the cable to the dash before testing it. I can reach the loose end of the cable from the driver's seat. Kery turned, wait for the fuel pump to do its thing, full choke and turned the key. Fired right up and kept running as I gradually reduced choke. Real progress. By now it was getting dark, so I wrapped up by letting it warm up and then trying to apply choke with partial throttle. As I expected, the revs went up, a good indication that I am on the right track. If the weather is decent tomorrow I'll install the choke in the dash and take it out for a spin so the Sea Spray can do its job cleaning out the carburetors. If the balancer vacuum gauge has arrived I plan to proceed to balancing the carbs and setting the low range mixture. After that plugs and gaps plus timing. With luck I'll cure the popping and spitting. I also have a compression gauge and will see what that shows. Depending on how well everything turns out I will decide whether it is worth pulling the head and sending it out for refurbishment. This feels good!

Progress! I partially installed the choke cable (not installed in the instrument panel yet. Snowing outside and the garage door open it fired right up with full choke. I let it warm up a bit and could gradually reduce choke. I am pretty sure the mid-range is too lean. After it warmed up, but not to full temperature, so it is not fully verified, I gave it partial throttle and tried applying a bit of choke. The revs increased which indicates too lean. I also added a can of Sea Spray to the tank and will take it for a spin after I have balanced and tuned the carbs, and also fully installed the choke cable. Will see if that clears out the passages and jets. When at Autozone I also picked up a timing light, blade gap gauges and spark plugs. That will allow me to adjust all gaps and ensure that the timing is correct. Aill also allow me to verify that the vacuum advance is working.

Picked up the car today and drove it home. Took quite a while to start it with choke and ether. Really surprised that choke, or just a couple of jabs at the throttle. didn't do the job given the above responses Since it would fire with the starter fluid every time, but not keep running it can't be spark, so it must be a fuel issue. Once we got it running and warmed up it would start up right away. Tem perature at 40 fahrenheit, so wasn't particularly cold. Fuel was old from and has sat in a 1/4 full tank. Filled it up with fresh fuel and will see whether it starts tomorrow. Pops and spits when at low revs (3000 and below) and when throttle is lifted. This could be plugs, wires and timing. I am going to replace plugs, wires, set all gaps, check timing, balance carbs and do a full service and see if that makes it run more smoothly. Car has sat a lot the last 9 years. Anker

How do you do point bys with arm restraints?

Thanks John, I'll give that a try. Interestingly, that's how we start the 1941 Dodge. It has an electric choke, but it doesn't work. Both previous owners used the chokes. Anker

It could also be technique. If you don't know how to throttle steer you should pick up that skill. A lot of novice understeer issues are caused by them overbraking on entering the corner. This increases the slip angle and may also cause a spin because you unload the rear too much. If you don't know what is going on you will become afraid of corners and aggravate the situation. Learning to manage weight shift on cornering is an essential skill. I strongly recommend getting or building a basic racing simulator with a wheel, pedals and shifter and a computer fast enough to handle the simulator software. I use Logitech G29 and iRacing for a novice. I built my own simulator stand with PVC pipe and plywood. With a simulator you get a lot more seat time, you stop being afraid of crashing and can experiment with different driving techniques and cars at minimal expense. Anker

Be aware that more and more organizations, including PCA starting in 2019 require a HANS device if you have a harness other than a three point seat belt. If you show up at a PCA track event without the HANS device you will not be able to drive. This also applies to passengers, not just the driver. Pretty much kills parade laps in race prepared cars.

A strange omission on my "new" Caterham is the absence of a choke cable. It has the 1700 Super Sprint engine and I see no reason why that can't be installed. As it is now it is a two person job to start the car cold. One to manually manipulate the two chokes and another to turn the key. Any suggestion where I can source a cable? TIA/Anker