Oil catch tank

After my engine rebuild I changed the oil system to an open system and needed a catch tank. Until now I've been using a temporary solution which in every way was not very good.

FIA regulations stipulates that engines larger than 2000cc must have 3l catch tank. I'm not competing, but while I'm at it there are no reasons not to conform to regulations.

For some reason catch tanks with 3l capacity are not very common, and those that would fit under the bonnet are even less so. I ended up having one custom made. The price was about the same as buying an existing design from eBay plus vat.

I sent a sketch to Mulberry Fabrications - Mulfab and not much later I had it in my hand. It is very light, only 763g including filter.

The catch tank is fastened using rivnuts. Some day I'll replace the hoses to something more flexible as they're a bit bulky as it is now.

Front damper spherical bearing play

There was a play in the joint between the rocker arm and damper in the front suspension, noticeable when I jack the car up, removed the wheel and lift the suspension at the hub. I decided to change the spherical bearings.

• First step was to remove the dampers. Remove push rod from lower wishbone. Undo damper bolts starting with the lower bolt.
• The misalignment spacers on one of the dampers was tough to remove, but eventually they got out with some help from a blow torch. Warning! Heating bearings could give off hazardous fumes. These fumes can be harmful to the eyes and to the lungs, if inhaled. Source: SKF.
• Remove retainer circlip with a pointy sharp tool.
• Carefully remove bearing using a socket and a hammer.
• Bilstein part number E4-B46-610. Can be obtained from Caterham Parts or directly from Bilstein. You can also find similar bearings at your local bearing shop in different qualities. 
• When I fitted my new bearings I noticed a small play between the new bearing and housing. I used Loctite 648 retaining compound as glue. I don't want any movement there, or the shocks could easily be ruined. I hope the new bearings will outlive the shocks, as they probably is going to be tough to remove in the future. (Heating them might work)
• Reassemble. A good opportunity to replace the bolts and nuts as well. 

Note: I have the "race spec suspension" on my car. The procedure and part numbers may be different on the road spec dampers.

I changed the upper bearings on both sides as I thought that would be enough. Now when the suspension is reassembled I can still feel a small play in one of the lower bearings, sigh...

Replacing front bushings

I've noticed that my front wings move quite a lot when I brake, and that have become worse over time. I also have a brake judder on the front. My suspicion was the rubber bushings on the front suspension.

Working on cars are fun fun fun

Removing the old bushings was a real PITA. The worst thing I've done on the car so far. On the CSR the rearward lower wishbone bushings are located in the chassis in a very tight location. The front bushings are in the removable wishbones and a bit more manageable. But to remove the ones in the chassis takes lots of swearing and bloody knuckles.

I tried to press them out with a threaded rod, nuts and washers with no luck. At the end the only thing that worked was burning out the rubber with a blow torch and then sawing through the outer ring with a Dremel milling tool using an extension cable to be able to reach. The best thing would be to cut through on opposite sides of the bush but the tight location makes that (almost) impossible. Even then it was not easy to get them out but eventually they gave in. Be careful not to cut too deep and damage the chassis.

Bushings can be made up from many different materials with different characteristics.

• Rubber (standard)
• Polyurethane bushings (Powerflex among others)
• Delrin
• Nylon
• Rose joints

Except for completely stiff rose joints, Delrin is what racers seem to prefer because of their stiffness and self lubricating qualities. Unfortunately no complete kits are available in Delrin, and therefore I bought Powerflex bushings out of laziness. The opinions about Powerflex (and other poly-bushings) vary to say the least. If they doesn't work I can reuse the hardware supplied with the bushings and make up my own bushing material in Delrin.

Rubber bushings are not necessary wrong. But as I wrote, removing them is something I rather not do again. Other types of bushings are much easier to replace.

Despite of what Poweflex website says the correct part numbers for the CSR are four PF8-901 bushings and four PF8-902 bushings per car (front suspension only). They are sold in pairs.

The smaller PF8-902 bush comes with a special bolt as they're too small to have room for an inner sleeve, but I used the standard 3/8"x2.5" for the bottom rear bolt as the supplied bolt was too short.

Lets hope this works.