Austin David

in other similar cars (like a 2015 NC with ~ same motor) the tank stays about half full when cold. I guess I'm asking if it's normal for the tank to be mostly-empty when cold, and those marks on the side are because this is an off-the-shelf part that makes more sense in a Focus or something.

Hi! 2021 Caterham 360, Duratec 2.0. I think it's the same coolant tank as the 420, a pressurized tank up and behind the radiator. My car seems to want to push a little coolant out the top of the tank, past the cap. If I top it up to the min/max level at rest, and bring it to temp, it runs just fine and the level may rise a little, but mostly seems to stay around that max mark. Add a thousand miles and all of a sudden the bottle is mostly empty when cold, and there's residue around the cap. No other leaks on the floor or anywhere I can spot, but clear wetspots on the bottle and below it. The cap remains tight, but there's also residue under it -- clearly a little leak / blow-by. The leak is on the "low" side, RHS. It doesn't take much to top it back up. The motor is running fine, temps are cycling normally, and I have no reason to think it's throwing much more than "a bottle's worth" of coolant. I've repeated this cycle 3 times now, and my only interesting coolant loss is right under that cap, ever time. Is that sort of normal? Do I have a bad-sealing cap?

That is nice!

@UglyFast @jimmylukeii I just went to the Beacon in Spartanburg, SC. It's ... special. And about 3h from two of us, and maybe 1h from uglyfast? Wanna try and pop in one day? Hopefully a sunny day so I don't have to mount my windscreen.

So .... after talking to Mr. KnifeySpooney and admiring his ITB setup, I left the little grommet off my valve cover. Yesterday I decided to put it back because it was on my desk. Today I went to start and ... didn't. Rough start, turned and fired but didn't want to idle. I babied it up into running ROUGH at a normal 1200rpm idle, stinking of fuel, and started diagnosing. First step was removing that grommet. It was fine by the time I had the cover off, but I did confirm that disconnecting any one plug reproduces the issue. I could NOT make it misfire by smushing on the exposed #4 cyl wire, but I assume that was the problem. Just took another little shakedown ride and everything was great.

Looks great! I hope to see it one day. That cage looks like it would require significant contortion to navigate

Page 181 of the 2015 manual details the dry startup procedure. Basically you want to run the starter without letting it fire, until you start getting pressure. Disconnecting the inertial switch on the right firewall by the brake / clutch reservoir, will cut the fuel pump. If you have a wet engine I wouldn't expect it to take long to build pressure. 15.8) Cranking for oil pressure Before running the engine for the first time it is recommended that the following sequence is carried out. This will ensure that the oil system is capable of delivering lubricant throughout the engine.  Apply handbrake and check that the gear lever is in the Neutral position  Disconnect the wires from the inertia switch, located on the bulkhead above the ECU  Operate the ignition switch to crank the engine over until oil pressure registers on the gauge (oil pressure will be low due to the speed of the engine when turned by the starter motor). NOTE It may be necessary to turn the engine over for 30-40 seconds to achieve oil pressure. Once oil pressure has been achieved, switch OFF ignition and reconnect the inertia switch. Press down on the rubber button on top of the inertia switch to ensure that it has been de- activated.

@UglyFastand I met up for a donut this morning in Charleston. He's expecting to have a license plate "any day now" and is sort of on my way up to BRP & Deal's Gap. We gotta get a trip in later this Spring or early Summer! I got a highschooler graduating in May, I think I can sneak a few days away before then, or maybe early June, or later in the summer.

please post said picture of driving NEAR (not "into") a lake or snow bank.

(a) I wanted a dead pedal on my first road trip, but by the end I'd figured out where to put my foot. And my shin-muscle developed enough that it wasn't a big deal. On ~ highways I just rest it flat under the clutch, and have muscle-taught the gymnastics to unfold it. (b) I will offer to print whatever in a lovely flat black, rubber or polycarbonate. Both will hold up to the heat and UV in an open car, but I like the rubber for things that you touch.

I think mine is symmetric, both sides are the same size; both equally snug. My RHS has a channel for the steering column even, though it's all hidden by the dash.

Before I started I'd read in several builds about the point where the owner put in seats and sat in the unfinished chassis. I thought "no way." Then I did it last spring. I did not make the "vroom" noise, but my wife did.

$0.02 I've found it useful to start the car from the outside. And I've only run over my foot twice.

It's been a while since I spent time in an NA, but my NB and NC are great. The Caterham is better, but for several reasons. Weight obviously changes dynamics a lot. It's also got a much lower ratio / shorter lock-to-lock, so a lot less input is required. I did prefer the manual steering in a no-package NA over the power steering in the others.

For those of us without the Kimini book, which brake light are you looking at?

how does it feel while driving? I don't have a target weight. if I wanted to save a few hundred grams I could leave my phone at home. Having done some braining and some research I may try to fill it with silicone, which seems to be a good, inexpensive vibration dampener. I wanted to test it in a Miata last week on a road trip, but the treads are 10x1.25 in the Miata, and 10x1.50 in my Caterham.

so far, this one lucky shot seems to be the better of both options: it damps vibration through the various linkages, and doesn't get hot (or cold). They're also pretty easy to make in this form, so if anyone wanted to try one (and can use M10-1.5 / Miata threads, or tap their own) I'd be happy to make extras.

well, I was modeling my design on what I assume is an original, based on the knob I saw on a '68. Eventually I was thinking of using wood, but I am presently distracted with prototyping to settle on weight and design. I'm 3D printing the prototypes, figured I'd do wood myself the hard way, or outsource it locally. That said -- on a whim I ran a rubber knob. Sort of long story but the outcome is hilarious and amazing. I used rubber mostly because that was in the printer already, and I broke the plastic test part while moving the threaded sleeve. I took it for a spin tonight and it's AWESOME. The plastic one (tested yesterday) feels pretty good, but sounds like a maraca under 45 or with partial throttle (I hadn't potted it, the lead was still loose). I had a good feel for the weighted deadblow, and was moving the sleeve back to an empty model, and I broke the ball. No big deal, but rather than swapping out the material I figured I'd just print off this rubber unit. The rubber material itself is flat black, and is what I am using for the gapfiller / sleeve between the shift boot and the ball. It holds the locknut to keep the ball from rotating. It's about 95A which is sort of hard, about like a tire sidewall. Feels good under skin, but it's not shiny and not really polishable, so I wasn't planning to use it for the actual knob. So here's the surprising part: the model is hollow, with basically a baffle in the center for structure (running transverse left-right, straight up the axis of the stick). I mostly wanted it to survive inserting the threaded sleeve, but ultimately the knob would be full of epoxy and lead so it doesn't need much internal structure. With hard plastic all the little vibrations as transmitted directly; but with this rubber model, the internal structure makes it basically like a tennis ball. I can squeeze it a little, or roll it forward/back a little, but it's PRETTY rigid. Like I didn't notice the compliance until I was trying to figure out why it would shift so much better than the others. So the accidental side effect: it is just a little bit compliant fore/aft, which soaks up smaller NVH when shifting up & down. The effect is subtle, but has more benefit than adding 100g lead. The surface is a little bit grippy, which isn't terrible. It's not as smooth as the polished version but after a few minutes I kinda like it. So now that I don't have to fill it with lead, I'm wondering if I should make a hybrid wood model with a compliant rubber sleeve...

Google seems to think it was a 917. Interesting. I can get down to about 28-30g total, including the sleeve to cover the gap between the ball and the boot. The 917 model seems to come in around 35g with the internal shank to hold it together. Pretty sure I ate about 350-500g of dinner tonight.

again the internet is torn on this -- range is "don't do it" to "it makes no difference", but clearly there's an upper limit. I don't necessarily think the Caterham setup is perfect in every way, but I figure as long as I don't make it heavier than the 200g stock knob (about 7 oz) I won't be creating any new problems.

testing 2 models, shifting 3-4-3 in neutral. unit A, 31.8g vs unit B, 136g. Similar materials and construction; both ~ hollow plastic. Unit B mostly filled with lead shot; it's loose, so this may also provide dampening (like a deadblow hammer) Both work, unit B is "smoother" -- less notchy bouncing in/out of neutral. No meaningful difference in the effort required to shift in/out of 3-4-3. For the reference: a similar sphere made of water would weigh about 56g, so I assume a solid wood knob would be about 50-60g

I've always liked a small sphere, but the stock knob had a pretty deep inset "S" that feels weird. And it's solid metal, so kinda warm in the summer and very cold in winter. I've got a polished plastic sphere with the insert Lotus logo, it looks good and feels good. I'll try packing it with lead to see if there's a useful difference with added mass. I think the range will be about 30-250g without having to get too creative...

for the record: stock shift knob is 196g, my test unit was about 30g.

Yeah, trying to see if I need to pack it with $30 in tungsten powder, or melt down some lead, or beg some steel shot from the local armory. Or something. Having a target weight might help. I'll see if I can get some cheap lead tomorrow...

the question is really "stock weight" or "less than stock weight", but I get your meaning. I'll try a few different weights and see what works.