KnifeySpoony

Just took that tour in June

From what I can tell the all rubber metalastic bushes on my car are bonded to inner and outer sleeve.

All bolts on rubber bushings should be tightened with the car at ride height, so the bushings are in an unstressed/neutral position at rest. Not doing so makes the bushings act like a spring when they shouldn't be. Also, conventional wisdom is that having the bushings permanently twisted can lead to degradation/failure. I'm not sure I believe that tbh- it seems like the suspension moving up and down rapidly while driving (ie normal operation) would be more stressful to a bush, then just being static-ly twisted (assuming it's not twisted beyond its intended operational range).

I did stripes over PPF. Figured it would look better.

Conventional theory is any rubber bushings should be in a neutral position - so this means suspension should be loaded, unless you have all solid bushings i guess...

Adding lightness!

Yeah, that's possible, but given how much the bonnet flexes/flaps in the wind, I'd be more likely to suspect that it's moving more than the engine.

Yeah mine rubs on bonnet as well.

Should we just be running without that cover at all? In a ford focus they don't have a cover. Of course they don't have speedholes in their bonnets either.

https://www.caterhamlotus7.club/forum/techtalk/throttle-response-duratec-0

The wires failed right where they enter the connector that plugs into the coil for #4. I'm pretty sure that the aft edge of the plug dust cover (or whatever it's called) was rubbing on the wire there and caused the failure. Interestingly, there is a hole there that was filled with a grommet. The grommet was in contact with the wire there. My belief is that the cam cover rubbing on the wire was a known failure point and Caterham decided to "solve" the problem by drilling the hole, then filling it with a grommet to "punch out" the space there a little bit to clear the wire. However, the solution didn't work well. I decided to just leave the grommet out, which gives the wire ample clearance it seems. Another option is to just ditch the cover entirely. Unless driving in flooding rain (which I never intend to do), I don't see its purpose.

Yeah, makes we wish I spec'd a sadev box from new...

Out of curiosity, was it your #4 coil wire?

These can be had from Caterham Parts cheaply, but shipping costs are ridiculous. Anyone know a source to buy these stateside to save on shipping? I think I read that they are the same part as a Spitfire or something... This one: https://caterhamparts.co.uk/brake-discs/391-brake-disc-front-upto-2015-and-rear-all-de-dion.html Thanks

Ok so did a day at Sonoma last Friday, tested out the DS3000. No issues bedding, I didn't prep the rotors at all and didn't notice anything other than gradual increase in braking power on my first session as I gradually got up to speed. Once bedded, I subjectively I felt that I had more stopping power before front lockup - this was confirmed in data review, with increased peak longitudinal acceleration seen in braking zones compared to the stock pads. Fronts still lockup first, which is good, but there is definitely more braking power now which I actually need to learn to fully utilize. I wasn't consistently getting to threshold and ended up underbraking early a lot - my brain and foot need to re-calibrate. So this means I will put off my plans to do the rear race brake upgrade; no point in doing that if my current setup is better than I am. The only reason would be to extend rear pad/rotor life. I'm sure these D3000 will chew through rotors. But at 35GBP each, it's not a big deal. Speaking of which - does anyone know of a source for rear rotors in the US to avoid shipping from Caterham? I think I'll post a separate thread asking...

I don't have a cat but I have the OEM O2 sensor in the bypass pipe. So I just have a new bung welded on the pipe and the sensor runs right to the wideband gauge? (excuse my ignorance)

What is involved in running a wideband AFR gauge on a duratec with stock ECU? Is it even possible?

Ah yes - there is a small area on the lower/side near the back of the nosecone on each side that could not be covered due to excessive slack in the film. The installer did a small curved cutout in the film that is hardly noticeable. All of the front facing areas are covered.

Here's a pic of the rubber on side panel after a few trackdays. Imagine the stone chips...

I have the full nosecone, side panels and rear wings PPF'd and it's doing great protecting it on track. The side panels and rear wings get absolutely covered in rubber marks but I only see only a few tiny nicks in the PPF on the nose and rear wings from meaner rocks. The PPF also gives some peace of mind when using more aggressive methods to de-rubberize them. If you want keep it looking fresh i think my PPF strategy is the minimum tbh.

IMO front wings are an aesthetic choice, as they don't get that much abuse. I have CF front wings without PPF on them, and they are holding up just fine. If you went painted CF front wings, I would do PPF on them to minimize chips. WRT rear wings - they get HAMMERED, street and track. I have painted fiberglass rear wings, fully PPF'd underneath the standard CF stone guards. After de-rubberizing them (Mothers R3 is great for this), they still look new. With painted rear wings (either glass or CF), without PPF or stone guards, they will get sandblasted in no time. In cars with stone guards but no PPF, the exposed lateral edge of the wing next to the stone guard takes a beating; PPF is your friend here. Rear tires definitely kick up a lot of stones on the underside of the wings - I did 2 thick brushed on coats of truck bedliner during my build and with about 2500mi and 8 trackdays on the car, there are a number of big chips in the bedliner, but no cracks in the fiberglass yet. I think a more "rubbery" product might give superior results, or maybe I should've done more coats. Oh also, I recommend full PPF on the nose cone if you wish for it to keep its paint.

Please document valve installation - I have one I may install, wondering what the best/easiest way is, what fittings I need etc...

Are you buying a new built car, a kit, or a used car? A 7 will require more care and feeding than a typical modern car. If you are the kind to take your car to a dealer/shop for scheduled maintenance, then a 7 may not be the right choice for you. But if you are comfortable performing your own oil changes, etc, then I don't think owning a 7 will be a challenge. Just expect to do more wrenching than you would on a modern car.

Even with 215lb rear springs on my S3 (often considered "too-stiff' for a 7), I see a lot of rear suspension compression in track photos. After recently switching from ZZS to ZZR, I saw a evidence of a little bit of rubbing on the rear wing (very small groove on tire).

Yeah, the issue I had was I drove the car to the track, so the cold pads would abrade all the transfer layer off every time. So I would have to re-bed/transfer each trackday during the first session. And I found that you had to be very careful gradually getting the brakes hot and bedded. If I went too fast too quick, or activated ABS before fully bedded, then I would get an uneven transfer layer and HORRIBLE brake judder the rest of the day that could not be fixed until that uneven transfer layer was fully stripped off the rotor.