Caterham 170 experience

TL;DR : Sub-optimal job from the factory With the car up on the lift at House of Speed the other day, it was apparent that the seats rails nuts and washers had seen better days. They were rusty more than scratched from contact with the road, but I couldn't leave them like that. While stainless steel replacement would look like the obvious choice, titanium is even a better option. CAUTION : Do not replace critical load bearing steel hardware with stainless steel or titanium and always stick the the prescribed alloy grade.  I reckon it's OK for the seats. Worst case they would become loose on the floor pan (or break) and you would still be attached to the car anyway... All we need are 4 (of each)  M8x20mm bolts, M8 nylstop nuts and M8x30mm plain washers per seat. Before placing my order, I had gotten the passenger seat out of the car for inspection, as I wanted to make sure I wouldn't need grinding down the titanium bolts flush with the nuts after fitting. Assuming they w...

TL;DR  : If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is After the slight over-heating issues at the track day, I did eliminate the idea that it could come from the faulty oxygen sensor. Those were (are) totally independent problems. With the oxygen sensor replaced once again, I came to understand and suspect that my car does not like cold weather. So I took the opportunity of a nice Spring weather to do various tests early in the morning or late in the evening with a cold weather (~5°C), and compare what happens in the afternoon when it's over 15°C. On the first cold night, I got the coolant up to 110°C when briefly pushing hard. And got no issue in the next afternon. On the next morning, we went back to the Fagnes  with a mask covering the front grille. That somewhat improved things but the solution was not perfect either. It confirmed that the thermostat is "shocked" close as soon as it opens. The rest of the drive it must have remained closed as the cabin heate...