France

Had a great two week blat in France.  The roads as others have said are so enjoyable to drive on.  We will definitely be going back despite all the messing about with the chunnel and finding the right Gite.

On the way to France.  The picture coming home looks about the same so I haven't bothered with it.  The tunnel journey gave me time to take the hood off, pack a few things away and set up the sat-nav. 

Quiet roads all the way from Calais.  The journey back from Quimper was 452 miles. 

 

A slight mishap on the way there was me running out of petrol.  I think the increased speed with 188 miles on the clock saw the engine cut out.

France won the who has the best bridges competition.

A couple of very wet days but the hood and SBFS cover kept the cab perfectly dry.

Happier times in the dry.  My job was the morning croissant run which I did using the Caterham.

New Tyres

UPDATE
After 2000 miles or so having driven in temperatures of 34 degrees and in monsoon conditions I am giving these tyres a massive thumbs up.  The softness of the rubber is noticeable straight away and you feel much more grip when you start to lean on them.  However to also have two massive channels for standing water proved it's worth when I found myself driving through standing water in France for about 2 hours.  I will be buying these again

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I was told long before I took delivery of my Caterham Roadsport that the tyres that came with it (AVON ZV3) were rubbish for the cars.  Apparently they are fine in hot dry conditions but not for cold damp or wet conditions.  Needless to say the warnings were true.  No matter how much you spun them up the tread was as deep as the day I got them.

So I started looking for alternatives which led to a limited selection given I have 14 inch minilites.  In the end I opted for Uniroyal Rain Expert 3's.  Two reasons really, (1) They are listed as being inefficient which I read as being sticky and (2) being rain tyres I am expecting the rubber to be softer at lower temperatures.

I ordered them through Blackcirlces and had them fitted at Bury Road Garage (who I can't recomend highly enough, the balancing and care taken is perfect, ask for Ben).  The tyres were ~£44 each.

I used them for the first time to go to the Harewood Hill Climb and whilst it was dry and warm and I can say I have already noticed that they are a lot lot better than the ZV3's.  I will report back again when it rains and again in the winter.

Uniroyal Rain Expert 3 - 185 / 60 / R14

Harewood Hill 2015

Thanks to LADS for organising another great outing to a fantastic event.  So many amazing cars being put through their paces as they spend 58 to 70 seconds going from the bottom to the top of the hill.

Taith Eryri Tour 2015

Thanks to the Caernarfonshire and Anglessey Motor Club for organising the fantastic 73 mile round trip.  Great to see them raise £1400+ for the Wales Air Ambulance.

A bit of a tight corner which needed more lock and more right foot.

Hardly hogging the apex.

Paul in the TR7 admiring the car in front.

Blatting - Rammy : Rivington : Ribblehead

I try and get out early (6am) most weekends to avoid interrupting the kids social calender's with their football and rugby commitments.  I have found some great photo shoot ops alas the sun has tended to disappear as I arrive at the most photogenic areas.  The car is going great, I am getting used to the tyres (warm / cold / dry / wet).  They are ok, I am sure other tyres are better than the ZV3's but with 14" rims there is very little choice.  Anyway, some pictures.

Moor road near Rivington, Lancs

Moor road near Rivington, Lancs

Moor road near Rivington, Lancs

Low Sleights Road, Ribblehead

Low Sleights Road, Ribblehead

Slightly modified Landy on-route

An Oil Leak !!!

***UPDATE***
Caterham Cars helped me source a replacement orange pipe, o ring and connection (see below).

This is the part I replaced.

I took off the old one and put in the new one (took a bit of faffing due to the lack of space, thank goodness I have an SV).  With the new item fitted and everything back in place I have not had any oil come from that area since and I have covered ~ 2,500 miles.

I did find this website online which shows the part numbers and Ford can get these parts for you.  Here
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I was under the car today and thought there is a bit of oil on the bellhousing to engine and bellhousing to gearbox joints.  Upon closer inspection I found there is a black plastic housing on the side of the engine (under the plastic plenum) and there appears to be oil seaping from it.

Looking at the plastic housing it says HA VALVE on the side of it.  There is a short pipe going from the underside of the plastic plenum to the HA Valve via an orange right angle tube.  The orange right angle tube can rotate in the Ha Valve.

I am not sure what teh HA Valve does, if it is even a HA Valve and whether it should have any oil anywhere near it.  Hopefully blatchat will work it's usual magic and someone will have had the same problem.

This is the pipe I removed which goes from the plastic plenum to the Ha Valve.

This is looking down at the orange right angle pipe which can rotate.  It sits in the top of the Ha Valve.

This is the view of the Ha Valve from underneath and you can see the oil splatter.  There is also a drop of oil about to spill onto the engine case which would then run down to the bellhousing area.

The bit in the green circle is where the leak is coming from.

Any help greatly appreciate.

All for a piece of Green.

I find it quite sad that Caterham are no longer part of the F1 world.  All the staff who worked so hard building the cars and getting the team organised.  It was even more sad today when I went to the factory to collect the auction item I had won.  (The rear left cover 'with M').  I wasn't sure whether to bid or not but then again the team had already been laid off and money raised should be going to those owed money.

Having won the auction item the next thing was getting it.  The Post and Pack option quoted £105 for an item which cost just £90.  But, from Lancashire to Leafield (via the scenic route) is ~168 miles each way.

I checked the weather, shifted a few work meetings around and today (Monday 27th April) I drove to pick up my peice of green.

An early and cold start at 5.45am.  The heater was on full,  I had a thick jacket and 2 layers and I was still bitterly cold almost all of the way there.

I plugged a diversion into the satnav to get me close to Jodrel Bank.  I have passed it many times on the train to London but never visited.  Needless to say it was closed at 7.30am in the morning.

Another Pic

And another pic. 

This was the road from Leafield back to Chipping Norton.  Didn't think too much of chipping Norten but great roads.

And the piece of green.  £60 in petrol and a great day off work driving the seven.

Tool Tube Installation

Many thanks to Jonathan Kay for organising a tool tube bulk buy.  Two tubes and two red bags for ~£16 is truly a bargain.  After the usual sunday events such as kids rugby and cutting grass, I managed to find an hour to install the two tubes.

I have the sumo version of a caterham and as such there is a little more room for the tool tubes than I guess some other owners may have.  The first one was installed at the end of the drivers footwell, this was put in at a slight angle to allow the top to unscrew easily.  The second one went under the crossbracing above the steering column.  The second one couldn't go above the crossbracing as that is where I strap the jack and wheel brace.

The first tube installed.

The M8 bolts inside the drivers footwell.

Three 19mm P Clips with 25mm M6 Bolts fix the tube to the underside of the crossbracing.

I also put a tie wrap around the tube and the diagonal to stop the tube rocking side to side and banging on the diagonal.

Two P Clips for the top end of the tool tube.

This shows the jack on top of the crossbracing.

I may change this set up and add a piece of metal to the tool tube to stop the plastic from bending.

Rammy to Fleetwood

I am coming up to a year of on the road ownership and with just over 3000 miles on the clock I can safely say I am getting out and about as much as possible.  I decided on a drive through the forest of bowland and up to Fleetwood on Saturday.  The sun was out but it was a little chilly when going at speed.  None the less the drive there and back was great.  Had a slight issue with the fuel guage appearing empty at ~180 miles yet I could only get 26 litres into a 42 litre tank when I went to fill up.

A Snowy Blat

The Met office said fog, fog and more fog.  However by the time I surfaced it was lovely sunshine albeit there was a covering of snow on the hills in Rammy.  So I decided that on such a lovely day I should make the most of it and go for a drive.  On the whole the roads were fine, a few were closed over the tops from Belmont to Rivington but otherwise it was nice and fresh.

Only needed the heater on 1 today.

Stones Bank Road

Belmont Road

Broadhead Road

Christmas Eve Blat

With all the rain we have had it has been impossible to get out in the Caterham.  It's not that I don't want to take the car out in the wet but I just don't want to hit the sort of puddles and streams that are on the roads at the moment.

I went to fill up and then had a very cold hour and a half trekking around Pendle Hill.  I must remember my woolly hat next time as my ears got a bit cold.