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The weather has been cold and wet the last few weeks which has been holding up trying out my new trailer. My Caterham's radiator also decided to spring a leak, as they apparently like to do. Because of that, I have not been able to load up my car on the random decent days. I managed to sort the radiator and figured I'd load up the trailer and see where I could get the tongue weight using a scale I bought. This is important not only to see if I can even get under 15% window for tongue weight but also to see where my payload capacity lands with a loaded trailer. After passengers and fuel, I only have ~970 lbs left for available payload with no trailer, tools, hitch, etc, so I am going to be cutting it close. I put the car on the trailer, near the rear, and lowered it onto the scale. Bam - 250 lbs! I was starting to think the scale they used at the trailer shop was wrong since it ranged from like 700 down to low/mid 600s depending on car position. I was pretty happy because I am aiming for 365-550lbs and with how far back the car was, that should be simple to hit. I pushed the car to the front of the trailer and lowered onto the scale again, not is at 200 lbs. Huh.. turns out MY scale, not the shop's scale, was a dud and wouldn't measure over 200 lbs. I am now waiting on a replacement scale to try this all again and I still don't know exactly how I will load the trailer up or what my available payload will be. Figured I would post some pictures of my almost complete tow setup. Here is the full setup after I bought the trailer. No car loaded. These are all from today... Also discover the bell housing/skid plate gets hung up on the ramp door with me in the car. It just clears when the car is completely unloaded though.

Hello everyone, It’s a pleasure to meet you all and, perhaps, to contribute in some small way. I also hope you’ll receive my message, given the rather late hour at which I’m replying to yours. My name is Patrick, I’m French, and since March 2023 I’ve been the happy owner of an authentic Caterham HPC Evolution ‘Blue Top’. I’m also in contact with Martin PHIPPS, Caterham’s archivist, and here are the details I’m happy to share with you, if you aren’t already aware of them: 1. The total number of Caterham HPCs put forward by Chris REES (337) is likely correct, given that Chris worked closely with Martin to arrive at this figure. The VX/VXi versions were fitted with the same engine, namely the Vauxhall 2-litre 16-valve unit, but only the specifications differ. The HPC versions, which often, though not always (mine, for example, does not have it), featured the letter H in the VIN, had the following options: 16-inch wheels, leather seats, a Moto Lita steering wheel and a heater. These cars were listed as ‘HPC’ specification on both the order form and the invoice, as it is the case with mine. 2. Whilst it is perfectly correct to say that the High Performance Course was indeed compulsory for buyers of the first BDR-engined HPCs (only three buyers residing in Dubai, the USA and Norway respectively were reportedly exempted), this does not appear to be the case for the Vauxhall-engined HPCs, for which the course was 'recommended' but not 'compulsory', except for buyers under the age of 25… of whom, one can imagine, there were not very many! 3. Still according to Martin, out of the 337 HPCs produced, 23 were reportedly ‘Evolution’ versions. These ‘Evo’ versions were apparently not official versions duly listed in the factory catalogue. The specifications of these ‘Evo’ versions, in addition to their three-stage engine tuning (Stage 1: 218 hp, Stage 2: 225 hp, Stage 3: 235 hp), were: improved cooling with a larger radiator, larger front brakes, higher-performance shock absorbers, and, for some of them only, a roller gearbox. 4. Out of these 23 HPC Evolution models, Martin lists: a. 12 Stage 1 versions, b. 2 Stage 2 versions, c. 9 Stage 3 versions. 5. 16 models were produced for the UK, and 9 for the USA; 12 were built at the factory, and 11 were delivered as kits. 6. Mine is therefore one of the 12 Stage 1 versions delivered as a kit to the UK and is hence right-hand drive. It naturally features all the options of the HPC versions + those of the Evo ones, with one distinctive feature that I’ve never seen on any other Caterham before: a twin rear exhaust. It has a complete history dating back to the order form and the original invoice; it likely saw some track action in the UK before enjoying a well-deserved retirement on the small country roads around Lyon, where I now live. I hope you’ve found this information useful, and I look forward to hearing your feedback. Best, Patrick

The latest issue of Avants magazine has a nice article on Caterham that was pulled together with the help of some Seattle-area owners and features some very nice photography. https://www.avants.com/magazine/the-benchmark-for-lightness?

I have to imagine (even with the less expensive mechanic options). Multiply that by the number of cars across multiple countries requires @Croc to keep the work revenue coming in. last I heard that 2021 unplanned stop vehicle is still there. Not to mentioned how many cars (@crocaliasbringatrailer) has that no one knows about. I look forward to continuing to invite myself down to njmp and eventually tour the garage-mahal when all the cars come home to roost. Hopefully I’m not using a walker at that point.

Ah. https://www.autoblog.com/news/trump-plans-25-tariff-on-european-cars-prices-could-surge

As I'm waiting for my kit, I don't actually see a new tariff. The news articles from today say that after a year, the US/UK trade fell by 25%, is that what you're referencing? He did remove a whisky tariff today after dinner with the King during a toast... which is the dumbest way to do trade policy I've ever heard.

They're saying on the UK forum that it was an all-hands-on-deck, last minute build. Maybe they just didn't have time to do the white wheels. They do look FABULOUS though.

Here we go again. 25%

Wow that's actually a great call on white wheels Someone missed this

Good and bad news. Good news is the car is running on the new ecu and means it can be tuned / driven. Bad news is I'm travelling for work starting wednesday, and will be back around memorial day, if that can scratch your itch. happy to help you try the car out.

Omg you are so right, what a huge miss on not matching the wheels!

Makes sense to me.

It's not too late for them to paint the wheels white!

Apparently most of the senior builders/assemblers went to this to maintain all the 22 cars, and mine that is in build isn't progressing as quickly because of it! Drat! Super cool though, maybe they'll get some awesome press out of it.

Just received a Caterham Bulletin that in part says:

I always wondered why you would need a quicker than standard rack. As a non-autocrosser that makes perfect sense.

That's to hook up to a manifold vacuum line/fitting to automatically adjust fuel pressure by throttle opening (manifold vacuum). In general terms, high vacuum @ idle = lower FP, low vacuum = higher FP. Not typically used on our setups. I put a cap on mine just to keep any potential debris out.

We autocrossers are dealing with smaller-radius turns and elements that change direction more-quickly than in road courses. I knew a guy who traded in his "Magnum" Ferrari on a new Nissan Z-car because the Ferrari steering was impossibly-slow for autocross.

You all are correct. There is a hose straight down at the bottom of this device. I did not expect this to be fuel but I see now that it certainly is. From what I learned about connecting the Hayabusa injection on my Caterham, the fuel line comes from the fuel pump at the back of the car to the rear of the fuel rail. From the front of the fuel rail it goes to the fuel-pressure regulator and from there it goes to a return line back to the fuel tank. I noticed there is a small-diameter hose fitting on the fuel-pressure regulator with nothing attached to it. Since I see a similar fitting in in the photo from S1Steve, I expect this is nothing to worry about. Still, I am curious. What is the purpose of this little fitting?

Have you located these mounts? They are more like what I think might work or be more easily modified to fit my application. I am more than willing to make it worth your while to find them.

I can see that these will not work for my car, thank-you for the photos.

Basically the same regulator. Take a better look and you’ll see the second hose outlet at the bottom..

Faster. I never drove the car with the fast rack, but on a road course I can't image needing anything faster than the normal ratio.

For what its worth, with my Birkin having a Duratec and my FPR a different unit, the location is the same as yours: This is an old picture I pulled from my other thread, with an arrow added to point out the FPR.