All Activity

It rained Saturday morning. I took the Cayman, still on its all-weather tires. Hope runs high for a drier Sunday.

The weird part here is that 1/4-inch for roll radius on the front would have a heck of a lot more significance than on a solid back axle.

Funny coincidence, our little Group of Sevens email list has been discussing some of the problems found by those who imported a car from the UK. One member mentioned that his car was in a pretty sorry state when it arrived, just poorly cared for and not as good as the photos and description had him believe. Furthermore, some issues were not disclosed that should have been. Another member said his car was advertised with 13” wheels but arrived with 15” wheels. Upon delivery he contacted the dealer and demanded the dealer ship the 13” wheels ASAP at the dealer’s expense. There were other issues as well but not discovered until much later so thought that too much time had passed. The worst was the buyer was informed the car did not have a LSD. The buyer paid to have a LSD installed. After owning the car for some months he learned of Mr. Martin Phipps, the Caterham archivist. He asked Martin for and received documentation on his car. It showed his car was ordered and delivered with a LSD. The dealer should have sent the old diff along with the car but he did not. One thing seems clear, many UK dealers are not happy to let the best cars leave the UK. It appears that some use bait and switch tactics. They lure buyers in advertising great cars but then turn them onto the lower quality, high mileage and poorly maintained cars offering reduced prices. Speculation is that they want to move those types of cars out of their inventory. If they sell one to a local and there is a major issue then the dealer has to bite the bullet and fix it. Less likely they would pay when the car is across the Atlantic.

And I won’t take offense to the “flat” green comment on the color choice.

Congrats on the acquisition. I got my 420r June 2024 from Greg. I didn’t have the space (or likely the skills) to build mine. So likely not helpful in the build questions. But I have gotten pretty familiar with the car and can check anything since mine was factory built (so I’m 60% sure it’s correct). I just passed 10k miles since June 2024. Get yours done by Oct and come down to njmp for the annual get together.

Well, on Thursday we drove the two hours back to the mechanic. I in the seven and the wife following along in her Crosstrek to act as my brake lights. The wife would later tell me that about ½ hour into our journey the brake lights came on and stayed on. The bracket had vibrated lose allowing the switch to move out of position. However, I’d had the switch set so the slightest touch on the brake pedal would allow the plunger to come all the way out. That should have made lights to come on but they did not. The mechanic had the car for 2 ½ hours to fix the brake lights, adjust the steering column so the steering wheel was straight again and to try a new temp sender unit. He did fix the brake lights but says he did exactly what I had done at home. I give up as there must have been something else going on. He says he tried every sender unit he had but none had the correct thread. So the temp gauge is still not fixed. I took the car for a drive around his unit and the wheel was now left of center. We left the car with him for another 1 ½ hours. When we got back I took the car for another test drive. This time the wheel was back where it had been right of center. I gave up on this too. I’ll pay the alignment shop 25 minutes away to get it right. I learned that he never did order the extra parts I asked for. So he is going to do that and again will give me a 15% discount. I will still have to pay duty, shipping and exchange. I got a joke of a quote from the body shop that did the first repairs. To fix the cracks and repaint the fender this time they want $5 grand! The mechanic said he wouldn’t pay that and will get one of “his guys” to do it. Well, I said I’d get other quotes first. Yesterday we took the car to the body shop just 10 minutes away to get a quote. It’s next to a Tim Horton’s coffee shop so my brother drove his MGB up from town and met us there to see the damage for himself. He’s done lots of fiberglass work over the decades and knew immediately what the body shop had done wrong in the first fix. Anyway, we’ve got the car and have had a couple of good runs in it. Now just waiting for better weather and the shows to start back up. First one is this coming weekend just ten minutes from home.

I'm in northern Morris county if you want to swing by for a sit while I tinker, let me know.

So many stories so little time. If you haven’t read my stories in the “Member Rides” section I’d suggest you do that first. Start with: Our summer fun has been put on hold because Then read: Hopefully we will have our car back soon I have more stories to add as I'm sure others do too.

Hello! I've been lurking for a while but am in the early stages (second week!) of building a 420R. I've decided to blog the build, for several reasons (i) I've found online build blogs to be a fantastic resource and help (thank you!) and so I wanted to contribute what I can back to the group, (ii) documenting the process for myself and (iii) as a way of connecting with the Caterham community. Never blogged before and having a rocky start self-teaching Wordpress, so apologies for any mistakes and expect the format and structure to bounce around a bit ... but for now, the blog can be found at Caterham Chronicles. There is information on the blog about why I'm building, spec etc. I started with installing the engine and am now progressing through the front suspension. I'm finding it enjoyable, frustrating, challenging, and rich with lessons. I'm really happy with the process - hopefully stay that way throughout! Again ... Hello! Any questions, fire away

Tire pubes. Don't give @Croc any nickname ideas.

Was supposed to be for a k series, turns out it is a ford / lotus part: (RAC676) Alternator 100 Amp "Right Hand-Unit" - PowerLite Units

One of the things I like to say about 7s is, they are not cars. They have car parts, yes, but if you treat it like a car, you will tear it up in no time.

It did not happen to me, rather the prior owner. He took the car to a regionally well regarded restoration shop to have the engine fitted and some other items done to get the car completed. As I went through the car after I bought it I found workmanship that was far, far below the standards I would have expected from a shop with its reputation. (I've since been told that the business went through a period where quality slipped a significant amount; I've also been told that the situation has since been rectified.) I guess the prior owner would have liked to know that before sending the car there. And before writing those substantial checks. I know of two places locally that might work on my 7, and that I might let work on it. So far though I'm the only to blame for the horror stories.

More info! What engine is this for?

Let's hear the horror stories! Sometimes we get lucky and find a shop and a mechanic who will give your 7 the right treatment. Often times not. They simply don't have the investment in your car that you do. And perhaps to them, your idea of a golden toy is one they have no respect for no matter how they fawn and gush over it when you bring it in. That should be a clue there. Well intended or not, I have heard of many bad experiences of 7s being taken to the wrong man with $hitty results. Oh, how do I screw thee? Let me count the ways! Thread rules: No names! Regardless of how much someone deserves to be called out, please don't mention specific people, business or any detail that can infer to them. We don't want to bring the forum any slander or liable suits.

Its a 1,200 pound car. It's going to jump. Keep your Tyre pressure below 20 psi.

I own an 85, and I know of one other out of that original group over here There was a race shop in Minnesota that built a few of them over the winter, in order to keep the staff busy. I hope to run into him at a race this year, and ask about them. Interestingly, there was a discussion recently on the WSCC forum about front control arms, and it was pointed out that the second model, the SE, was what started all the legal flap. So, maybe ours are pre-pre-lits? LOL

IIRC the Birkin recommended offset was different than the typical Miata-based wheels that most people used when they upgraded from the stock wheels. The stock wheels on my old Birkin were quite a bit heavier than the RPF1's that I replaced them with. I remember several Birkins that used the same Kosei wheels that you have on your car. If you have the 38mm version of the Kosei it could be that they added the 1/4" spacers to get the offset closer to the Birkin stock recommendation. I think stock was around 30mm but it's been a long time since I played with Birkin wheels so I could be mistaken.

I am presently restoring an 1984 westfield aluminium bodied car in the UK. And curious, that they maybe be many more in the USA ?

Well, it's autocross eve. It will be a bit chilly tomorrow. A little warmer on Sunday. For reasons I don't understand, there were 1/4-inch spacers under the back wheels. I took them out. There were no spacers at the front. The hub on these wheels just clears the front caliper. The studs in front would not be long enough for spacers. So it goes. You buy a Birkin that has who knows how many owners, you find stuff.

Yeah mine are sikaflex or similar on so ideally I wouldnt have to remove them. But it might be unavoidable. I also thought about elongating the hole where it’s mounted to the upper an arm thereby pivoting it more towards the car. I feel like I could get enough clearance without wildly making it out of level.

Maybe I'm a crap driver but mine does that when turning or if i hit a bump

It's like they say, no two 7s are alike.

Looks good Charlie, but I think your concern of rubbing on track will come true. When I went to 13" wing stays I had very little clearance between the tire and the stay and knew that on track they would rub. I had the fenders off and was able to make two bends to get enough clearance where it doesn't rub. The first bend was in the area circled in yellow to get enough clearance on the angled section of the stay to the tire. I think I ended up with about a 1/4" of clearance. I was able to bend that relatively easy by hand using an aluminum drift stuck in the end of the wing stay. The second bend was made in the area circled in red to get the top surface of the stay parallel to the tire tread. I had to put a block of wood between the tire and the angled portion of the wing stay to maintain the clearance. I used the same aluminum drift stuck in the end of the wing stay and bent the top section back down to get that surface parallel to the tire tread. At first I thought I was going to have to heat up the stay to make the bends, but it ended being not too bad of a job just doing it by hand. It did take a fair amount of time to bend all (4) wing stay sections though. My wings are held on with cable ties and those bighead fasteners so that made it a lot easier to remove the wings and bend the stays. You could probably do it with the fenders still attached but I'm sure it would be a lot more difficult. Hope all this makes sense. Hoosiers will definitely be a little wider than the R888R's and will reduce the clearance even more so keep that in mind.

It may only be live axle thing, But I was surprised at how a 7 will skip around the road laterally.