Catch Can

The Catch Can supplied by Caterham in the kit is basically a plastic washer bottle with a hole cut in to receive an oil pipe from the top of the Dry Sump reservoir. By now, mine was badly stained and starting to crack around the pipe (because it was a tight fit and I had removed the pipe a couple of times).

I'm not racing Tigger and so (with apologies to Colin Chapman) weight is less of a consideration. I therefore decided to replace the plastic Catch Can with a more durable aluminium one.

These are usually supplied with "In" and "Out" connectors, a baffle inside and an air filter. For my purposes, I only needed an "In" connector and would vent the Catch Can to the atmosphere via the filter. I haven't seen any evidence of oil mist or spray coming from the vent pipe of the standard arrangement, so I don't believe there will be an issue with it venting into the engine bay.

The new Catch Can came supplied with a bracket that could be permanently fixed to the chassis. The bracket holds the Catch Can with a couple of cap head allen bolts. The issue was how to mount the new Catch Can such that these bolts could be accessed (so that the Can could be periodically removed for cleaning), the Air Filter would be clear of any other engine components and the oil pipe from the Dry Sump Tank could be connected to the "In" port. Additionally, the new Catch Can has a small screw-in dipstick in the lid - a fantastic feature allowing a quick inspection of the level in the Can without disassembling it.

I settled on riveting the new bracket to the existing bracket the was fixed directly to the chassis top rail. It was riveted at an exact height that would allow the Air Filter to mounted directly to the "Out" connector and sit under the upper radiator hose. The oil pipe was required to go through a couple of turns to get to the "In" connector, but it didn't kink.

Initial Installation - AirFilter under Radiator Hose

Having reassessed this setup, I wasn't entirely happy with the arrangement. The Air Filter was a snug fit under the radiator hose and perhaps both components could be damaged with a bit engine vibration.

The new Catch Can was equipped with a large Allen bolt in the roof of the Can and I found that, once the bolt was removed, I could fix the Air Filter directly to the Can, and use the bolt to plug the "Out" connector. This gave a much more satisfactory arrangement.

Final Arrangement