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I would do brass barb fittings. The rule for 7s is everything shakes loose. Or something vibrates and cuts into something. The part may say " for Automotive use". This means it's resistance to heat, fluids and maybe oils, are within typical automotive variables. But 7s are outside of those parameters. I would avoid plastic if possible. Double clamp but don't double the clamping force. Ensure the hoses are tolerant of the coolant used. Test the pressure cap before relying on it. Assume nothing.

Yes I did mean Celsius. Roughly 96-98 Fahrenheit at the track yesterday. Good to have confirmation on this, thanks. I'll run a 5w-40 first, and then a 50 if the pressure still drops too low. Were your Zetecs dry-sump or wet-sump? Man that's kind of a bummer, as I was planning to do a couple of trackdays this year with the local group of Caterhams. Well, only one of the near tracks has long corners, while the others are more like a big autocross with straights. Think it'll be fine for the latter? At any rate, my Miata will continue to be the dedicated trackcar, and the Cat is more of the 4-wheel motorcycle for me. The thermostat is either 90 or 95C, but I don't know for certain. I think the thermostat is working because on the street and for those first 4 sessions it stayed right at 90C, which is near the thermostat temperature. The fan is on a thermoswitch that runs at 90C, and shuts off at 84C. Those may not be the exact numbers but is close. I saw it printed on the switch when I did the radiator but failed to take a photo. But the fan does work, and it starts near the 80C mark on the gauge (which is why I know it reads low), and it was running the whole time at autocross. One thought I had was that there is no baffling between the radiator and the bodywork, so a lot of the air is going around it, and the fan may not be doing much. The new radiator also pushed the fan away compared to the original, which I have to imagine also reduces the efficiency of pulling air through it without baffling. But yes, I'll investigate further, and use the OBD scanner next time to check the real readings too.

Oil is heating from heat soak - 36C ambient is enough for that (you did mean celsius and no fahreheit?). 5W30 is pretty thin - I use it in my cars. You have lubrication but its getting pretty thin. I've always preferred a semi-synth for this reason - it stays slightly heavier under temps. Thats why the pressure looks low - I have had two SVT Zetecs- both did the same. Don't be too alarmed. A slightly heavier weight oil is not a bad idea. Never do any track work without a dry sump on these Zetecs - longer corners are a killer for loading oil in the wrong spots of the engine. Autocross is fine. However, check your thermostat. You should not be overheating, even with those ambient temps. I thought the SVT Zetec used a 95C thermostat? Was fan cutting in and operating? Maybe it was just too ambient hot to get enough airflow? If so then maybe add a manual fan override switch for those autocross days? There is something happening that I would be checking out.

I'm continuing to make slow-but-enjoyable progress on the 310. Some of the more noteworthy things include: Radiator and fan: The 310 Encore uses a 420 radiator with front-mounted fan, with an aluminum deflector plate that gets attached to the base of the radiator. I had to make some modifications to the deflector to make extra clearance for the lower two fan mounting bolts. Engine plumbing: Still not totally done since I decided to upgrade the blue engine-to-modine-to-expansion tank T-piece, and will use a Gates 28635 nylon-reinforced plastic T-piece, following a couple of recommendations received. I appear to be short one hose clamp so bought a replacement from NAPA. The Caterham-supplied clamps have noticeably thicker steel for the clamp band, which maybe yields less stretch over time. Ideally, I'd like to get replace the NAPA clamp with the Caterham version at some point. I'll also go back through the plumbing and wiring to add spacers, zip-ties, adel clamps, etc. where warranted. Headers and collector: This was an easy job, and a treat to add the fun visual aspect to the car. Other issues: The shorter of the two ground cables that Caterham had supplied is too short and won't reach from the battery ground to the mounting point on the top of the passenger footwell. They sent the version used on RHD cars. Rocky Mountain Caterham is sending the correct-length cable. I'm also waiting to get a set of crutch straps (again to be provided by RMC), which I'll install before putting the seats in.

No oil temp gauge at the moment, but I have the parts to install a switch and make the coolant temp gauge read oil temp too. Just haven’t gotten to that yet. I have AMSOIL 5w-30 in it now, since that’s the weight the manual called for. I see Caterham recommends a 5w-50 for their Motorsports engines, even the 485, and that’s why I’m leaning towards trying that. Yes it is odd. It even happens after a spirited drive in the mountains, although not as low as I saw this weekend. Sure seems temp related, but I suppose it could also be the sender or gauge reading low somehow. It wasn’t worth the gamble to me this weekend though

Thanks for that kind offer and suggestion re. the pex version. I'd gotten another recommendation for the Gates 28635 T-piece (from Josh Robbins at Rocky Mountain Caterham), so I've ordered one for around $8.00 from Amazon. It seems like one of those strange ways in which Caterham does things, where they could easily and cheaply upgrade a part but choose not to.

Hmm strange to see oil pressure drop like that -no oil temp gauge right? What oil weight? Seems strange for oil to get hot doing autocross (not very much extended high load/high rpm like on a big track). Granted I have a dry sump, but I would have a hard time ever getting my oil even warm doing autox.

Yesterday was the autocross, and the new alignment (and more confidence) did wonders to the handling. The car was happy to oversteer at will, and was heaps of fun! The engine is so fun to rev out. Unfortunately I had a couple of issues in the hot day. The weather was 36C and after 4 runs the engine was on its way to over-heating territory. I shut it off with the gauge indicating 100C, but it reads about 7C low, so it was really about 107C. The most concerning part was the oil pressure dropping near 0.6 or 0.7bar at idle unless I held the throttle open a bit. However, I called it quits once I saw it struggle to build over 2.5bar at 3k RPM. All returned to normal after the engine cooled down again in the afternoon, but only did 3 more runs before oil pressure started to dip at idle again. At any rate, it was an awesome day. Fun time with friends, and feeling great about the car overall. I could do more changes to the alignment but I'm happy enough at this stage. I imagine 13" wheels will change it a little too, so maybe I'll wait until then. I'm going to look into using a heavier weight oil to see if it helps the hot pressures. It seems the stock Focus SVT has an oil cooler, so I wonder if the oil tends to get toasty on these with 5w-30?

Paul Snyder (User: Foxfire S2k) built this car in 2006. As far as I have found, Paul was not active on forums, but he was on the email lists. He kept impeccable records. The car came with binders full of build details. This includes printed emails in plastic sleeves that I have yet to completely parse through. I welcome any contribution from those with past experiences with Paul and this car. Around the same time this car was built, I was aware of the kits and interested. Really, all I lacked was the illusive lottery win. 20 years later, I was still lusting after the S2Ks in the rare instances they are offered for sale. This car was auctioned on bring a trailer by user Stickerdick (Mark). The auction closed during the 2026 Indy 500 and didn’t meet the reserve. The high bidder did not make a deal, and fortunately, I found Mark’s contact info on this site. After we agreed on a price, the car was shipped from FL to TN. The USPS and UPS both proceeded to lose the title. Mark was extremely professional and patient and I finally received the third title. This car has now been registered in IN and FL and currently TN.

Sold.

Hello all I am fortunate to have purchased another bucket-list car. This thread is intended to document its history and adventures. This picture is after I took delivery from Stickerdick.

The 7 and I had our first encounter with one of the vapor capturing pump nozzles the other day. My filler is directly connected to the top of the fuel cell; I do not have the curved pipe that exits the rear of the car. There was no way for me to make the nozzle happy by pushing it into the filler opening. But I was able to pull the vapor capture shroud up with my hand and, presto, gas came out! It was awkward but ultimately successful. Good thing too because the station I stopped at before then was out of gas, and the car was nearly so as well.

Did a 130 mile blat today with @Pokey.

Took the r400 out for a drive as I've been playing with reducing cockpit turbulence...this is for the road but I'm often at the 60/75 mph level due to location. I hate losing ball caps :). I have the larger wind wings but have cut them down topside to properly clear the half hood...the half hood is on all summer due to our heat. the ambient temp when I went out was 100 F. The hood makes a great dif without direct sun. I put a Lexan piece..9"x36" (shaped) across the rear bar.... I find this works well with the hood... not so effective without but no worse either. It needs to be 1/4 in so as not to 'flap' when the hood is off. The other is how well the cooling system works....I was goosing it and running hard uphill at 60 to 80 mph and it barely got beyond 1 o'clock on the temp gauge and settled at the 180ish/12 if driving at a lesser rate. Strangely I found the footwell heat to be hardly noticeable...much less than the '98 HPC. Perhaps because the pipes are on the passenger side? No idea, but didn't notice that at all. I'll have to check with the doors on only and see if that rear window is an assist. Just an FYI. Love this thing.

Hi @jmaz. I have a few of these that I would be willing to send you for free, but the complicated postal system these days is too much to contend with. You don't mention the o.d. of the fittings required, but go to your local big box hardware store and look for 'Pex' fittings. They should be made of brass (sometimes chrome over brass?) and normally come manufactured for 1/2" pex pipe or 3/4" pipe. You may require metric size for your car, and if so, some Italian manufactured pex fitting may be available, but not sure. Here in Canada, although mostly metric, we rely on Imperial fitting sizes along with many other construction items also in Imperial measure. Cheers W.

Nice technique, Pethier, and thank you for describing it. Do you manage to keep the can from leaking at the can/nozzle gasket? Fortunately for these sorts of approaches, Amazon has various nozzle options that bypass the horrid safety valves.

Week Beginning June 14, 2026 USA7s Classified Ads of Cars for Sale USA7s classified pages - USA7s club members have the benefit of selling their cars by listing them for free on USA7s forum. https://usa7s.net/ips/forum/26-cars-for-sale/ New Ads This Week Locost https://ebay.io/m/NVwkIF Lotus 6 https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/listing/1952-lotus-6-norfolk-ct-2945955 Birkin https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/listing/1972-lotus-seven-san-diego-ca-2946925 Caterham (back again) https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/listing/1957-caterham-jupiter-fl-2947891 Caterham https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/listing/2026-caterham-seven-miami-fl-2947285 Caterham https://seattle.craigslist.org/see/cto/d/prineville-caterham-620r-lotus-super/7935566188.html Locost https://www.facebook.com/share/14czWs8iJDb/ Stalker https://www.facebook.com/share/18fYiBhPsK/ Stalker https://www.facebook.com/share/1D8MAKjs4K/ Locost Project https://www.facebook.com/share/1bBrBkFrLJ/ Locost Project https://www.facebook.com/share/1CwV5xuH16/ Birkin https://www.facebook.com/share/17rfoY4Lva/ Lotus 7 S2 https://www.facebook.com/share/18bXPsmj3U/ Stalker Project https://www.facebook.com/share/1985no6Qk4/ Locost (Lotus 6 Tribute) https://www.facebook.com/share/1Cv2D42CAw/ Caterham https://www.facebook.com/share/1CsY6PBYw7/ Repeat Ads From Prior Weeks Caterham https://ebay.io/m/SclMnr and here https://www.facebook.com/share/1DCXb8prQE/ Caterham (be sure to pick the cheapest ad - $10K price diff) https://ebay.us/m/SMLyMd and here https://ebay.io/m/DjagUh and here https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/listing/1998-caterham-super-seven-fort-lauderdale-fl-2914012 and here https://www.facebook.com/share/1LYkAGNa98/ Caterham https://rockymountaincaterham.com/csrtwenty02/ Caterham https://rockymountaincaterham.com/76907-2/ Lotus 7 S3 https://rockymountaincaterham.com/sb2352/ Caterham https://rockymountaincaterham.com/inventory/ and here https://www.facebook.com/share/1c2CDLM6vR/ Caterham https://www.beachmanracing.com/inventory Lotus 7 S2 https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/listing/1963-lotus-super-seven-cochranville-pa-2891143 Caterham https://www.hemmings.com/listing/1999-caterham-all-models-526915 Caterham https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/dealer/caterham/super-seven/2638345.html Caterham https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/listing/2026-caterham-seven-miami-fl-2916813 and here https://www.facebook.com/share/1FK15NCUoZ/ Diva https://newhaven.craigslist.org/cto/d/new-haven-1962-lotus-super-replica-ls1/7938697395.html Locost https://www.facebook.com/share/17Wk6NAKNu/ Lotus 7 https://www.facebook.com/share/18mFerHjNc/ Locost Project https://www.facebook.com/share/18dsHNDvRi/ Locost Project https://www.facebook.com/share/18uvSrSndF/ Locost https://www.facebook.com/share/1Bf9UQC9Lv/ Stalker https://www.facebook.com/share/1KXgYZVu5A/ Caterham https://www.facebook.com/share/191ntTsuos/ Locost https://www.facebook.com/share/17r9dQnXte/ Westfield Pre-Lit https://www.facebook.com/share/1BCoUPRuf8/ Locost Project https://www.facebook.com/share/1CqzGS45es/ Lotus 7 S2 https://www.facebook.com/share/1BudXmbxqE/ Locost Project https://www.facebook.com/share/194CHMrMSe/ Mitsuoka Zero https://www.facebook.com/share/1Hb7ouqHoF/ Caterham SP300R https://www.facebook.com/share/1AxmvTYBqb/ Canada Locost Project https://www.autotrader.ca/offers/bmw-2002-barn-find-cat_ma13gr2163-9b5e3f67-7e4f-4f56-acac-2df6e6c12e99 Locost Project https://www.facebook.com/share/1HKpFt7Zdx/ Locost https://www.facebook.com/share/1BLL2bMBsi/ Caterham https://www.facebook.com/share/1Cti5jgdNu/

Love them. First, remove the part that locks the valve "off". That was not in the original design and is a damned annoyance. Second, to fill a Seven, affix to the nozzle a hose long-enough to reach into the car's tank. Fish the hose into the tank. Hook the tab on the valve to the filler rim. Tilt the can horizontal and press the can towards the car. Gas will flow into the car, Now and again the assembly will burp air from the tank into can. When the fuel reaches to the end of the hose, air can't enter the hose and gas stops flowing. Ease up the pressure to close the valve. Withdraw the hose slowly to break the air seal to allow the gas in the hose to drain into the car tank. I two-step this by using a big can to repeatedly refill a two-gallon can so I don't have to hold a heavy can at the car.

I took my Birkin to a Practice Autocross today. I got more than 20 runs for maybe 60 dollars (I'd have to look that up, but surely was not $100). Didn't sell the car, though. Tomorrow is a more-conventional autocross.

I may be interested in this for my classic 7. Will PM.

those look so cool. cant wait to see those on the track this year.

Thanks for the offer, Dan. I may be in touch.

That sounds ideal. We used to have a bunch that would rent VIR for a day. Lodging and a good dinner for $200

A few of us did scca and north east motor sports. Both at the meadowlands complex in 2006-2009. Between 4 and 12 Elise’s would come out. On Friday’s NEMS had a morning session where, for ~$120 you could do “training”. And we’d run as many laps as we could in ~3 or so hours. We’d easily get 16-20 runs. No course work. Just driving. we ended up skipping the traditional weekend events because none of us wanted to work the actual course. was a good group of guys.