Atom 1 several questions, tyre choice, brake bias, radiator

[c_a]

@John
well, this plate is not enough for the german TUEV,
the vin needs to be stamped directly in the chassis

kind regards
Christian

[c_a]

Removed the nose and found the last five digits.

[Rocket Man]

looks like the one made for Mr Bond 

[ross]

Just a quick thing you might want to double-check given how early your car is.  If you look at the thread diameter of the ball joints that connect the hubs to the wishbones, are they all the same?

On my mark 1, some ball joints with smaller diameter threads were used and I had one fail (at the rear) while on the road and sent me spinning across the road - I was extremely lucky to not be involved in a major accident.

The car went back to the factory to be fixed and that was the last I saw of it.

Later cars had the same larger diameter threads on all the ball joints if I remember correctly.  I don't know if this was a change for the Honda engined Atom 2 or something that was changed midway through the mark 1 production, but I would personally be very wary of driving any early Atom 1 that still had the ball joints with skinny threads.

I would imagine that it is something you could get updated, but I think it would mean some work to the ends of the wishbones where the ball joint threads screw into.

Sorry if the above info is a bit lacking in detail, this was about 15 years ago so my memory is a little hazy (except for the failure happening which is still quite a vivid memory).

Cheers, Ross.

[c_a]

[smokin]

Galvanic corrosion?

[8407jeff]

I think I'd definitely upgrade to stainless....

[smokin]

[quote="8407jeff"]
I think I'd definitely upgrade to stainless....
[/quote]
http://www.rjes.com/html/material_choice.html

"Coolant System Materials Choice for Aluminium Engines:
....
Stainless steel is a very bad choice - it's galvanic voltage is 0.5V. DO NOT use stainless coolant pipes!"

Having read this and seen that the k-series is cast aluminium, I with draw my previous guess

[c_a]

The tube for the thermostat is made from steel.

I think it was used with pure water for some time.

[smokin]

I wonder if a previous owner tried using a screwdriver to lever off the pipes connecting the rad.

[c_a]

I fitted Hankook Ventus Prime 3 street tyres on the heavy technomagnesio rims. What tire pressure could you recommend?

195/50R15 in the front and 205/45R16 in the rear.

[K20A2]

The recommendation for the Atom 3 with Yokohama AD08 or A048, sizes 195/50/15 and 225/45/16 is 1,1bar (16psi) front and 1,3bar (19psi) rear.
Not sure, whether it is the same for the Atom 1, but it should at least be fine to start with.

[c_a]

Thank you for your help.

Everything works well, I had to remove the thermostat because it opened to late, I had 105degree on the dash going to 110 quickly.

Tomorrow I will change the brake and clutch fluid.

[c_a]

I have some trouble with the brake performance, no good feeling and the front wheels starting to block soon.

Can I mount this kit?
https://www.ebay.de/itm/311834786635

[K20A2]

http://www.atomclub.com/forum/index.php/topic,16225.0.html

This might be helpful.
As your Atom is LHD the 90° adapter would probably also be a good choice.