All Activity

$60k - even though it would I think it would take 80k+ to replicate now. Prices have gone way up.

So.... The WCM is moving on to a new owner..... Hopefully it will be as good a car for him as it was for me, just had to choose between wife or car, and since she does most everything around here for me, she won over the car.

I may need to raise the agreed value... 66 feels low now..

Hi, sorry I don’t get notifications for this. Yes 201 481 2635

I dropped Hagerty and went with JC Taylor. They require your other insurance (for normal cars) to have 50k per person and 100k per accident for medical and uninsured motorists (one tier over minimum coverage in CA) JC Taylor $288 a year in California agreed $35k for Xflow car.

Goddamn, what's your agreed value? Not looking forward to renewal next year if it's going to go up by 40%... Although it does seem like California (happened with my regular insurance a while ago)

No speedo ...the speedo has power and both the speedo and tach do the 'sweep' when the car is turned on. It shows the mileage and is lit. However, no speed indicated when driving and no odo change so suspect the sender. Jacked up, wheel off and properly adjusted to .625 mm from the wheel...the power on and the clear portion of the sender lights up where the wire enters the tube. Spin the hub and it remains lit, does not pulse..... I am assuming it should? Yes? If so then toast.

Got the r400 back today...much quieter ...you still hear the unit but no hi pitched whine...had the adj Bilstein's put back on...still very firm...really not that different than the Nitrones (on their softest setting) but more rebound, not as harsh. The speedo sensor died tho...probably from being removed/replaced...I understand the old models are rather prone to that. (2012 Duratec) so I've ordered one.

Well you guys better get your Shit together. 😆The Bosslady and I are planning on moving down to South - North Carolina in the coming year. When we do move I’ll be well up for meeting up with you guys. Really looking forward to the much longer, warmer driving season. The search is on for were exactly, closer to a beach the better…

Well, the saga did not end with the last post. Two weeks ago I went in for lumbar area back surgery and am happy to report that I am recovering well most days. Unfortunately, I have come to realize that at my advancing age that golf, hard-core race cars, astronomy with large equipment, motorcycles and even camping with a trailer are not the most advantageous activities for my old bones. So, up popped a nice fellow who had shown interest in buying the Stalker XL Classic and it went off with him in his 24" Pace trailer this afternoon. It was a bittersweet parting knowing that it was going to someone who is a former HPDE instructor and is used to high-performance driving. OTOH, it is a bit of a sad day because I have come to realize that some aspects of aging are encroaching on longstanding fun activities and I am having to accommodate the realities. I will continue to enjoy the wonderful people on this site but will be moving on to other adventures. I am excited to see what the future brings? Anaximander aka Bob

@Vovchandr is right. I got my insurance way before my title. All they needed was the VIN and asked me how I wanted the make and model written. My car is titled as an Assembled Vehicle in TX while my Insurance has it as a 2024 Caterham 420R. I'm only about halfway thru my 1st year of insurance. I'll let you guys know when I get my renewal notice what's changed.

I don't even understand how NY title makes any difference on it. It can be insured before ever being registered as anything the underlying covered item on agreed value doesn't change regardless of what you call it. Not saying it didn't happen to you but I just can't wrap my mind around the logic there.

I just renewed my hagerty policy. No change in price from the last two years. In NY it's $1130 (plus $70 for the club membership). For agreed value of $80K - 2023 420R. In new york it's titled and insured as a "custom" as when I originally did it with "Caterham" it was $2400. But all the back up was caterham stuff so I was transparent. They said, if NY titles it as a custom then thats what it is. A very rare occurrence that after jumping thru all the hoops, it saved me a little money

Just got my Hagerty renewal - premium went from $1046 to $1406. May have to shop around.

Wanting to buy or borrow spitfire rear hubs & associated brake parts for experimental fitting.

We're all doing a terrible job representing the southeast. The following is a proposal, all of these are editable -- click to sign in (free for life), make copies to change stuff. Overview: Blowing Rock -> Cherokee -> Asheville https://route7.austindavid.com/route/QlYEaMKAeTmv 1 day to gather, 2 days in the mountains, 1 day home. Day 1: go to Blowing Rock. Resorts are cheap during the week... or at least, they were in the "before times" when I used to travel a lot. Wilmington route for SENC: https://route7.austindavid.com/route/fro05kDTO8i6 Charleston route for me: https://route7.austindavid.com/route/DaxxB9cfN1zG Greenville route for uglyfast et al: https://route7.austindavid.com/route/DgsB6zLJjAh8 Day 2: ... is a lot of BRP still closed? https://www.nps.gov/blri/planyourvisit/roadclosures.htm -- seems to be some significant closure between blowing rock -> asheville. Blowing Rock -> Cherokee: https://route7.austindavid.com/route/9vPhadSdsw_U Day 3: Cherokee -> Asheville: https://route7.austindavid.com/route/MmF50JNmMRLf There's room for Deal's Gap in here. I've never driven it, I hear mixed things. Day 4: Asheville -> home Wilmington for SENC: https://route7.austindavid.com/route/-O6uPcRau8GP Charleston for me: https://route7.austindavid.com/route/rJ-0jxW25_N0 Again, just a proposal. I'm tired of working and tired of looking at my garage.

Thanks. But based on my ability to run over stuff that destroys the trailer fenders I don't think I want carbon ones. Maybe if someone is upgrading from fiberglass to carbon I could help them by buying their old ones...

Thanks John, I have Mintex 1144 pads front and rear as installed on the car when I purchased it. (2008 Roadsport S3 very low mileage). Once I get the master cylinder sorted, I intend to visit the front / rear bias as is the thread topic. Cheers!

I upgraded my old Westfield from the standard Girling 0.7" master cylinder to the AP Racing unit. The mounting lugs differ slightly from the Caterham version to suit Westfield-specific packaging constraints, but otherwise the assemblies are effectively identical—including AP’s practice of individually shimming each unit to account for production tolerances. Both cars use the same rear calipers and feature four‑pot fronts, but the piston layouts differ slightly: the Westfield setup uses four 1.5" pistons, whereas the AP calipers use a staggered configuration with 1.5" and 1.625" pistons. So while the brake systems aren’t identical, they’re very close. The difference between the MCs was immediately noticeable—firmer pedal feel and easier modulation. Zero regrets despite the price and 6 month wait for AP to do a small run. Here are the AP and Girling 0.7" side-by-side: I also played around with brake pads on that car and found feel differed wildly. My assumption is the non-assisted nature tends to exacerbate differences in initial bite. @KnifeySpoony how is the dust with the Pagids? Is it just a little worse than the stock pads or is it excessive?

Too pretty to drive! Have coil covers?

A guy on the Westfield Club site in UK makes carbon ones probably $700-$800 a pair figuring shipping and tariffs

Don't ignore the effect of pad material on brake feel. The stock front pads that Caterham fit to my car are lifeless and wooden with zero bite when cold. I just put in some RS14s up front (to match the RS14 that come with the rear upgrade kit) and the difference is night and day. Not only do they bite wayyyyy harder (even when ice cold), but the pedal feel is much firmer.

It turns out that the fenders on my trailer are Seven cycle fenders. This week while returning from the Central Coast one of them departed. So I'm looking for fiberglass front cycle fenders if anyone has some to sell. Thanks Tom

Still, top down motoring...hope she enjoys it.

Yes, this is a full on smog edition, single carb, all the air pollution controls, 53 BHP model with, as noted, the rubber baby buggy bumpers. Although many late model spitfires have those converted to earlier style chrome bumpers it is thought to be sacrilege to do so to this final model year. Speaking of which, with its build date being June 1980 and the last UK model being built in August of 1980 that makes the wife’s car one of the last North American Spitfires to be assembled. It was bought new in February of 1982 so it is also one of the last Spitfires sold. As to the fuel issue the garage discovered a cracked rubber fuel line and thought it was sucking air. This after the car lost almost half a tank of fuel while it sat waiting to get looked at. Sounded plausible and the car started and ran fine for them after they replaced that hose. The mechanic did adjust the carb and reset the timing as well. However the carb needs a full rebuild so a kit is on order. We picked the car up late Friday and the wife drove it home. When we arrived she jumped out screaming it was on fire. I raised the bonnet to find it was just coolant burning off the exhaust manifold. When she went to restart it so I could look to see where it was leaking, you guessed it, it would not restart. She washed and detailed the car. That took about two hours at which time it fired right up and she drove it into the garage. Go figure, eh! The car sat all weekend as it rained off and on. Yesterday, (Monday) she decided she wanted to drive it over to the nearest gas station to add some carb/injector cleaner and fill the tank up with fresh fuel. It fired up and drove over without incident. I took a can of Quick Start just in case it wouldn’t start. I figured it should fire up with a squirt of that stuff. However, it didn’t start after filling up nor after waiting several hours regardless if I used the Quick Start or not. So, Hagerty roadside assistance came in handy yet again. The car is now back at the shop and the wife doesn’t want to see it until they can prove it will start repeatedly whether within minutes or hours of being shut off. I’ve researched this issue and it seems lots of Spit owners have had this very problem before. However, each seems to have had a different cause and therefore needed a different solution. From carb rebuilds or replacement to filters and switching to electric fuel pumps. Then there are the electrical fixes from bad earths to lose or broken wires to replacing the coil. I’ll keep you informed as to what the problem and cure is/was. Meanwhile, I’m off in a couple of hours in Purple Reign to the Tuesday night cruise meet about a half hours pleasant drive away.