K Series 1.8 sump gasket

[Jeff210R]

Does anyone know if there the standard gasket (sold by Europarts for £16.49 inc P & P) will fit, as Caterham want £52.94 + £4.80 P & P!?

In the pictures on the respective sites the shape and bolt holes appear identical but the Caterham one seems to have some surplus gasket where there are no bolt holes?

Thanks

Jeff

[SM25T]

And on that 'shelf' we drill drain holes to let the oil through !

[oilyhands]

I have gaskets made with the drain holes already there on the shelf, these are £42 plus delivery, there may be other suppliers too. The shelf is a rudimentary baffle that helps against surge.

Oily

[Jeff210R]

So does the shelf serve any useful purpose since there's already a baffle in place in the form of the foam sump baffle?!

[SM25T]

Most of us have removed the dreaded foam, as it has been known to break up in to small pieces.

[oilyhands]

The foam doesn’t perform any useful function that I can discern, it is covered completely by the ally baffle plate so it’s effectiveness as a baffle is doubtful. I have seen a large number of cases where the foam has hardened and broken up blocking the oil pickup.

Oily

[Jeff210R]

So the bottom line is it's probably best to remove the foam baffle but stick with the Caterham gasket with the "shelf" which acts a baffle?!

[revilla]

That's pretty much the standard thing to do. Get rid of the foam but keep the aluminium baffle and either buy a Caterham gasket and add the extra drain holes, or buy one of the excellent gaskets from Dave / Oilyhands which comes ready modified, so saves you some time and effort and a few quid. You don't want to fit a standard K gasket, the K was always intended he a transverse installation and especially when fitted with a Caterham shallow sump, oil surge under heavy cornering is enough of a problem without letting the oil slop up the sides.

[nickh7]

The difference is marked in oil pressure terms between the standard and the correct 7 version.  I fitted Dave Gemzoe’s latest version and it’s very good . I wouldn’t go near the off the shelf item I d always go with a 7 experts version such as DVAs or Gemzoe Motorsport 

[John Alston]

My 1.8 Supersport has no gasket at last, just a nicely applied film of 'Wellseal' on the joint.  Never leaked since I've had it and no problems with oil surge either.

[Jeff210R]

Many different opinions then!  I shall be interested to see whether I have a foam baffle when I pull it all apart.  Since the only record of replacement seems to be in 2004 some 15k miles ago I suspect it will either be in a right state, not there or completely liquidised!  I'm not an engineer but I don't see why a few baffles could not have been incorporated in the modified sump to prevent surge?

[Jeff210R]

Have just noticed a record in the service history which says the sump baffle was removed in 2008 at 18k miles but makes no mention of its replacement.  So we shall see.

[Jeff210R]

Assuming I have a standard Caterham gasket fitted with the baffle extension I might just drill it and refit.  What are the recommended size and position of holes anyone?

[revilla]

The two extra holes drilled adjacent to the bolt hole at the top.

[revilla]

About the same diameter as the bolt holes, which will be about 8mm I think.

[revilla]

I think Dave's latest custom gaskets have three holes rather than 2, an extra one between the two in line with the bolt hole and inset a bit.

[oilyhands]

The idea behind the hole locations is to concentrate the drainage as near to the pickup as possible to minimise any tendency towards oil starvation.

Oily

[nickh7]

Jeff are you in Halifax? If yes I’d pop down to Dave At Gemzoe Motorsport in Wakefield and get a new one. 

As for no gasket and just sealant I had that on the engine I bought. Oil pick up pipe full of sealant. 

 

If Dave Andrews k series guru recommends  as sump gasket I’d fit one . 

[Baggiebird]

I thought I would add something to this topic having dropped the sump on my K Series Supersport yesterday.  It is 1600 cc rather than 1800cc as it happens.

I purchased the car just under 1 month ago and it has done just over 13 000 miles, even though it is 23 years old.  Everything in the provenance adds up in terms of documents/MOTs it is still on the original tyres as the date codes on them are right for 1996.

Anyway the car is in very nice condition but although it had a good history the status of the foam 'baffle' was not known and that concerned me.  I had a new sump Carterham sump gasket ready, and some new foam and I also read the very helpful guide to replacement on here.

Until yesterday I hadn't quite decided whether I was going to put new foam in, or just a modified gasket.  After removing the sump I could see some small particles of what looked like from the foam in the oil that was left after draining.  The foam had not 'broken up' though, though it was pretty black and lacking in elasticity.  Everything otherwise looked good, the oil pickup and strainer were clear, though I washed in clean paraffin to make sure.

I decided that I would not fit new foam and am going with Dave Andrew's, and other's advice.  I drilled 3 new holes in the shelf of the new sump gasket, to avoid tearing the metal I used sharp drill bits with a 4mm pilot hole followed by 8mm to enlarge.  Obviously I also thoroughly cleaned out the sump and aluminium baffle plate.  I have added a few photographs in case these are of interest .  It is slightly counter intuitive for me to deviate from the Caterham design but I think worth a try.  I also, at the moment don't have plans to use the car on a track if I did I would probably be thinking about an Apollo tank?

[SM25T]

Hope you replace the tyres before you drive it !!

[Baggiebird]

Indeed.  Funnily enough 23 year old tyres are legal on a car (MoT tester's manual) but not on certain classes of commercial vehicle.  I have to say I was surprised.