Head Swap.........

So like almost every other Caterham owner at this time of year, I've got the upgrade itch....

I bought a VHPD head, which I had lightly ported by Dave Andrews, some Piper 285h cams, valves, springs etc etc.....

The first job was just to put the head together, this is not too difficult, just needs a bit of thinking about, and a Haynes manual (in my case it's a Rover 21x job).

Thanks to all on Blatchat for advice, I love the Internet!!!

Well, enjoy the pictures, If you want copies of the pics, or would like some info on any of them, e-mail me.

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ok, so here are all the bits and bobs, cams, head, valves, springs, valve stem oil seals, valve spring caps, collets and cam followers....Mmmmmmmmm :-)
Here you can see some of the work Dave Andrews did, this is just a light port, but should give me significant gains over the standard head. I'm planning on restricting this to about 190BHP or so, until I can get round to some bottom end work...
Pretty, isn't it??
Suppose I ought to start putting all these bits together......
First job is inserting the valve stem oil seals, this is pretty easy, insert the valve through the valve guide, and gently ease the seal over the valve stem...using a suitable sized socket to bed the seal onto the seat. Gently does it here, otherwise it is all too easy for one of the springs on the seal to ping off and get itself lost ;-)
After all the seals are in place, it's time for some springy fun....
The springs sit over the valve stems, and a valve spring cap sits on top of the spring.....held in place with two collets..sounds simple!!!
but....it can be a little tricky until you figure out that a little grease helps the little buggers stick to the valve stem until you have time to remove the valve spring compressor (the thing on the right)....
and after that it all starts to come together
Oh..and here are those collets.....swimming in grease.....little perishers!
So, now all the springs are done, it's almost time for a beer :-)
Just drop the cam followers on top of the springs (liberally soak them in clean oil beforehand...)
Things are easier if all the components are new, since you don't have to worry about which bit came from where...These are new cam followers, if you look closely, you can see a stripe from a cam, but this is just because they come from a new engine that has been turned over once to ensure everything fitted, before being stripped down to turn into some 250BHP monster or whatever...the followers are no use in that sort of engine as they are hydraulic, so are passed on for sale.

Still to come, installing the cams and the cam carrier, removing the old head, and installing this one....and all the as yet unknown hassles that are bound to arise from that ;-)

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