Reiver

Took the top off and side screens and replaced the doors. With the doors on and the rear 'window' the cockpit is a much quieter/less turbulent area....very nice change. This at 70/80ish mph... our local cruising speeds

Welcome.... I bought an older model sight unseen.... liked it so much I bought another one...an r400. Fantastic cars for driving as it should be. Josh is a straight shooter btw.... we've dealt professionally over a few things. He set my r400 up for the street. What kind of time frame is it for a new build?

Took the r400 out for a drive as I've been playing with reducing cockpit turbulence...this is for the road but I'm often at the 60/75 mph level due to location. I hate losing ball caps :). I have the larger wind wings but have cut them down topside to properly clear the half hood...the half hood is on all summer due to our heat. the ambient temp when I went out was 100 F. The hood makes a great dif without direct sun. I put a Lexan piece..9"x36" (shaped) across the rear bar.... I find this works well with the hood... not so effective without but no worse either. It needs to be 1/4 in so as not to 'flap' when the hood is off. The other is how well the cooling system works....I was goosing it and running hard uphill at 60 to 80 mph and it barely got beyond 1 o'clock on the temp gauge and settled at the 180ish/12 if driving at a lesser rate. Strangely I found the footwell heat to be hardly noticeable...much less than the '98 HPC. Perhaps because the pipes are on the passenger side? No idea, but didn't notice that at all. I'll have to check with the doors on only and see if that rear window is an assist. Just an FYI. Love this thing.

Oh, I see.... for the road a dry sump isn't required But...big but, it allows for more clearance underneath and that can be critical on a Caterham on the road.... my HPC's wet sump shows the issue in very nice alloy welds. On my r400 the lowest point is the bell housing and that comes with a steel guard plate on it. They used a dry sump on the C8 Corvette to be able to lower the engine in the frame... better weight distro. A wet sump, on a Caterham, also calls for trade offs...hence the baffle in the HPC as they couldn't go deep enough for a proper sump and even with the shallower sump it was often hit/holed. I like the idea of the Duratec pump driven where it is as opposed to an external belt...it makes for a neater engine set up and, hopefully, more robust that a belt driven deal.

Yeah, very hard to tell the source.... good luck...oh, one other thing...lining up the sump, windage tray etc... is a bit finicky so get some shoulderless studs to put into the block as guides on either side. once in place and you have a few bolts in remove them and carry on. That works very well.

Also, I had a slight leak prior to changing the gasket sump... I thought from the front crank seal but it was very slight. When replacing the pan/gasket I coated both sides with Reinzosil lightly but more in the block joinery where it meets the front/rear pieces. After doing so I had no leaks whatsoever.... dry as a bone. Amazon.com: Victor Reinz 70-31414-10 Reinzosil RTV Silicone - 70 ml Tube : Health & Household

Looks right, this is what I bought...the same as that was in place...I'd replace it every time you removed the sump as the gasket part does lose its form....if you reused it you'd have leaks. Given the last time mine was changed, and how good the baffle looked (zero degradation) I'd not change it very often.... another 7 years or so. VAUXHALL OPEL 2.0 C20NE C20XE C20LET TURBO OIL PAN SUMP GASKET ELRING | eBay p.s. even tho you will drain prior to removing the sump a lot of oil will remain so be careful not to take a bath...what you see in the pic is what remained after draining the sump in the traditional manner....

I had to get the baffle from Caterham England.... but you could check around. I also bought the gasket/wind tray combo as opposed to a separate gasket deal. I used an approved sealant on the gasket itself and especially where the block joins the front/rear engine pieces.... you will note the joined areas. The old baffle was 7 years old but was 'as new'...no degradation at all. Still, piece of mind etc.

Where was that pic taken... I think I recognize the Bug....nice headlamps on your 7, looks cool

I am guessing you have a dry sump system then ...I was unaware of that possible problem...man, that does suck. I hope they assisted you thru the issue.

Josh sent me a new style pick up complete gratis..... said the old style are touchy and as they had to remove it when they did the LSD he'd just send me one. On and working just right...with the wheel off and key on you can see the pulsing when you spin the hub.... Everything is just as I want it now...proper street height. firm but not rock like suspension and I do like the new wheels...

Oh, ok, but they put Zetecs in Caterhams too so..... I am a fan of injection myself. Too many years fiddling with carbs...

Thanks...I'll clean up the wheel and experiment with depth and see what happens...the booger does light up, just no pulse.

Thanks.... I'll give that a shot as razor thin as I can get it without touching.... but I do have a new one enroute

I sent Josh my r400 as the Bimmer dif was toast and I just didn't feel like doing the work myself.... I always have but am at the point of let someone else do it if I think they'll do it right. Steve Perks (Tracsport) sent the LSD he built to Josh (40 lb. pre load 3.64 gears) directly whilst I sent the car. I also had the shocks changed back to the original adj. Bilstein's and the height set to fast road, and the toe/camber (when I bought the car both sets of shocks came with).... that is the same set up Josh uses on his 420r. I find the Bilstein's to be as firm on hard corners (round a bouts) as the Nitrons (but they were on their lowest setting...which is firm, can't imagine the high settings/track only). They replaced the accessory Gates belt and I bought 4 new wheels from Beachman Racing (thanks, Bruce, very quick and reasonable shipping). The car came with 4 8x13 wheels with a 185/55 mounted up front.... no bueno... I suspect the seller bunged a wheel and used what was available. Now properly shod. The Tracsport is much quieter and less 'clunky' than the old Bimmer...especially no high pitched whine and strange noises. On the road I'll never really test it at its limits and that's fine. I found Josh to be very helpful/informative and very fair in pricing. Ram Logistics (transport out of Phx, Az.) was also professional and very reasonable and have worked with Josh on numerous occasions. Being close didn't hurt either.