James A

Thank you Simon!

I am helping a friend rebuild his 1.6 L sigma engine and we are not sure who carries parts for it, in particular; valves, valve stem seals, springs, and keepers. Anyone have experience with a US based supplier of these and even a good UK source? Jim

If the engine control unit is open loop and the car was tuned for a lower altitude it would run too rich. The recommendation for RC Injectors is a great one, my order of issues would be: 1. Is control program open or closed loop relative to O2 and where and how was it last tuned and does it only need a retune? 2. Since it is running rich it would seem to be getting enough fuel, but the fuel may not be properly atomized by the injectors. 3. Sensor that times injection pulses ( on the Ford ECU that is the cam position sensor) 4. Sensor that fires the spark plugs (on the Ford ECU that is the crank position sensor) 5. Plug wires and or coil.

You are doing things the right way, nice job!

I think this is what you might need: http://www.caterhamparts.co.uk/category.php?id_category=410

George, the run-offs this year is at a track where the last time the run-offs were held there a Caterham 7 won E Production, that is the car my son and I race now. As to the Caterham and stress on it, most failures we have had has been in the rear of the car. Frame members breaking and dragging the fuel cell on the track, De Dion camber ears breaking, the welded end of the De Dion tube failing on the welds (we have seen 3 cases of this now in three different Caterhams check these welds!). We did have a front stub axel fail and changed to the uprated ones from Caterham with no further problems. Other than all of that trauma, the T9 Gearbox is a weak link, primarily the syncros and shift forks. The diff seems very stout, we have had a front seal leak and an LSD fail after many many seasons, a well built engine will last 3 season before it is tired.

Joe, I am in Houston also and have both a street/autocross 7 and race one in SCCA E Production. We have done extensive repair and chassis strengthening to the race car. I would be happy to come by some time a take a look at your chassis. You will have several options to repair or replace sections of the chassis, it depends on the damage. There are a couple of good local shops that can do this work. It sounds like you may have have a case of replacing the rear frame in total. Just PM me if you would like to talk. Jim

My original inquiry was one along the lines of what exactly a 230hp Zetec engine build is composed of? I am guessing, individual throttle bodies, I know some higher lift and duration cams (but which ones?), significant head porting, maybe 11:1 compression, bigger valves. I was just very curious how you get 230hp from a Zetec.

Can you tell us a little more about the engine and the build details that yield 230 hp from a 2.0 Zetec? Thank you!

If you track or autocross your car with sticky tires on you should consider upgrading the front axel form the stock Spitfire, I have seen two break! One at high speed on a track and the front wheel went flying!

If you are running the old style Caterham De Dion ears, the ones that have the hole through them where it goes over the De Dion tube, I highly recommend you do a visual inspection. The photo below is an old style ear that I found while prepping my car for an autocross. This is the second failure like this where the ear cracked through, the first failure was on our road race car and the ear broke off causing quite an issue in the race. We have had no issues with the newer ears, these have a solid web that is machined in place of the hole.

I see people fabricate a triangle of metal as wide as the wing and bolt it to the lower frame rail in front of the wing and cone is deflected away form the wing, at least in theory.

Shannon, for anyone to offer a suggestion we will need to know what kind of rear end is in the car, what axle seal you are referring to, and the make and vintage of the car. For instance, on a Caterham built in 2001 there is a side seal in the Ford differential, and two grease seals in the hub bearing carrier.

Although I don't know if these fit the SVT head we do use them in the standard head on the race car and have had no failures: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/cro-84169

These guys will custom make a harness set for you for about $150, and when the belts expire they re-web with a new date for $60: https://www.ultrashieldrace.com We have used them for two race cars, they are very responsive and terrific quality.

Oh yeah, I forgot the idle air control valve. I failed to plug it in one time and it was very had starting, so check that it is functioning if you are using the stock manifold and ECU.

Get a hold of a fuel system pressure test set, not expensive to buy, and test system pressure, the fuel regulator should be maintaining between 27 and 34 PSI with the vacuum hose connected to the regulator. With the vacuum hose disconnected you should see 36-42 PSI. Other things that cause a hard start: dirty MAF, vacuum leak. Have you ever changed your fuel filter? (although a problem here tends to result in full throttle stumble.

Had to switch cars from trailer to garage yesterday:

Is this an SV chassis?

I think Bruce has the answer, pressure plate bolts should have Loctite and the bolts should be torqued to specification. I know the ACT clutch kits have the following instructions (I am paraphrasing): Use high temperature thread locking compound, use new pressure plate bolts metric grade 10.9 or SAE grade 8 bolts, torqued to: 10mm - 50 ft-lbs or 3/8 x 24 to 48 Ft-lbs. We have never had a failure of the pressure plate on the race car or autocross car following these instructions. We have used ACT clutches and Fidanza flywheels.

Very nice! I don't know what the "sage" was talking about 7s are terrific in the rain, the very direct connection to the road gives us a feel for what the stores are doing. The photo is terrific.

Oh, the winners interview from the SCCA site:

the points standings after 3 weekends: http://crbscca.com/staffAdmin/points/pointsReports/conferenceReport.php?conferenceID=4

George, Let us know how you do and post some pictures!

It's been a good year of racing, as I mentioned before we are unfortunate to be in the division with Matt Reynolds who is the National Champion in EP. At the NOLA Majors we were 2nd and 2nd to Matt but on the early laps on cold tires Andrew passed him only to get passed on the straights by a car with far higher HP. At Hallett a track we thought we could win at as the straights are short, we were again 2nd and 2nd, but did pass Matt both days in the early laps and on Sunday Matt spun and we thought we could stay ahead but he is just far too fast given all the SCCA allows on Mazdas and disallows on Caterhams. Our last Majors race at TWS everyone went to grid in the dry and on slicks and it started raining on the formation lap, what great luck, we were able to get ahead of Matt and stay there for the race! Sunday we had some issues and were 4th. With a break during the summer we are going to do an engine and gearbox refresh. We have petitioned the SCCA once again to ask for some hp so we can compete, but given the money Mazda puts in to the SCCA they are likely to protect their sugar daddy and tell us to pound sand. As you know the biggest issue we have are Mazdas that can do 150-160 on the straights and the Caterhams that can do 120...