Elise111

Mine turned by hand, but I imagine that a rubber strip with pliers might work too since there are no wrench flats. Pete

Thanks- is that 65mm unloaded?

Just trying to prevent hitting the sump again. I got 'lucky' the first time!

After a bit of searching, I don't see actual ride heigh details on here, Tech Talk or Piston Heads. I see lots of references to 15mm stagger. After taking out my Capri sump (luckily it just dripped instead of completely failing) I've put in a new, thicker sump from Redline that looks like the flat bottom Caterham sump. This is a 1989 S3 with the early style front suspension and deDion rear. I've put 350lb of sandbags in the seats to represent 2 up street driving. Lower A arms measure horizontal, and the car is on level ground. New Spax dampers, and the fronts show about 6mm of shock shaft when loaded. These came with a 3mm thick plastic C washer between the bump stop and the shock body, so I've sent a note to Spax to understand what that is for and if it is really needed. Front springs are 250lb/in and new. Rear springs are 150lb/in and original. I have adjustable perches on the Spax. Ride height was measured by the front engine mount region, and at the leading edge of the rear wings. Unloaded: F 138mm R 150mm Loaded: F128mm R 115mm Sump clearance went from 82mm to 68mm. If the front is in the right spot, then I think I need to raise the rear to be about 143mm loaded. 6mm of shock travel before touching the bump stops seems small though, but I have no sense of what is typical. Thanks for any feedback on ride height! I should add that it is on 14" wheels.

My 1989 S3 has a carpeted tunnel. The armrest is screwed to two aluminum straps that themselves are screwed to the sides of the tunnel under the carpet.

I got mine recently from Ivey Engines and passed them on to the machine shop that was going through the head for hardened inserts. Very nice folks at Ivey.

Thanks all. Mine seems to be 6.5in from gasket flange to the flat of the pan. I just ordered a new sump from Redline last week, they have a welded up version like you show in your picture, but thicker metal.

You might try greyhound for something like seats. Shipping bulky things gets so expensive through traditional carriers.

I have what I think is a Capri sump on my 1600 crossflow in my CAT. The oil drain is the lowest point, and has now scraped to the point of dripping. Before I bite the bullet and buy and ship the Redline sump from the UK, I wanted to check if anyone with a CAT has converted to dry sump and has a good sump they may want to sell. The Caterham style sump is what I'm looking for, seems this doesn't have the low oil drain that mine has. Pete

Looks like a caffeinated group there Ron! We had 200 miles for our rally, the other 400 miles were to get there and back. No heater? Nah, 39deg weather at the start of the rally, so that heater was on full! We had 25 cars in the group, with a significant number of Volvos, from Amazon to 850's. Good British turnout with MGB's, several Triumphs, and modern Mini. Several 911's, 914, 300D(!), E36 M3, some 510's and CTSV wagon. A Model 3 even joined until the battery drained. I'm going to work on raising the AFR with a wideband sensor, and try a vacuum connection to the Lucas distributor. If that fails, may go the 123 ignition route.

Had a great 600 mile rally weekend on the California Central Coast in my new-to-me 1989 Caterham. I few things that some may relate to: 1. 80mph is the sweet spot for rain to go over your head. 2. Gas in King City is $5.19/gallon. Mileage was 17mpg. People in cars behind me were nauseous. DCOE's need more tuning. 3. Freeway driving with doors on, hood off, 60's temps, and earplugs was almost pleasant. 4. I'll need to get a heater bypass valve for summer. 5. The sump is too low, even with 250lb/in springs. Drip, drip, drip. Another Redline order coming! 6. Diff catch tank works- no more 90W spray and the bottle has some 90W in it. 7. Accidentally met esconditoron in Arroyo Grande who was on another rally in his Volvo. Thanks USA7's! 8. This magnetic phone mount works great, holds the phone and clips on the scuttle lip cleanly.

A PC680 should easily slide out the bottom- that’s what I have under my carbs.

Are these for an SV or S3 chassis? Pete

My 2 cents after playing with a wideband on my crossflow- I started with 45F9 and that was running too lean at part throttle low engine speeds. 50F9 was running a bit rich, sometimes below 12:1. I’m running 50F8 now and I think that is helping to split the difference. 65’s sound like they would be too large.

How do you all open the Dzus fasteners on the sides of the car? Seems they are extremely close to the wings. I've been using a screwdriver on the inside of the engine bay, but it seems there must be a better way.

To follow up, the 0.110in wire spring I had was for a Lotus twincam, and much too stout for the crossflow. Plus it was wound the opposite way. Anker gave me some dimensions and I found some music wire / spring steel to make my own from 0.078in stock (bent around a 0.75in dowel to get a 1in coil diameter, and 2in long arms). That should hold me over until my next order from the UK. Thanks Anker!

After some more digging, I think I have narrowed it down to the Kent BCF3. I measured lift at TDC and it was close to the stated 2.49mm lift. I'll sent my valve clearances to 0.016in for intake and exhaust.

1988 or 1989 Caterham build with a crossflow, not sure if it is a sprint or super sprint or the displacement. I've measured the lift at the valves, and added the valve lash. I did this with a proper dial indicator and repeated results across multiple cylinders, so I think my numbers are within 0.1mm or 0.2mm. Intake 10.0mm Exhaust 10.3mm Having the exhaust be higher than the intake isn't something I've seen on the Kent cams, so perhaps the lift is somewhere between these two at 10.1mm, given measurement error. Any idea what cam this may be? Perhaps a Kent 224? I would like to adjust the valves as they are all over the place now, with intakes ranging from 0.28-0.35 and exhausts ranging from 0.20 to 0.43, all measured cold. Thanks!! Pete

I bought a Lotus throttle return spring from Dave Bean. It seems very stout, and when I visually compare it to Anker's picture and others it looks like it might be too big. Its a heavy pedal effort and already squeaking during setup. Mine is 0.110in wire. Does anyone have the wire thickness of their throttle return spring handy?

Thanks again guys. Jon was up for selling his 1985 bracket, so I am one step closer now!!