JohnCh

Congratulations! Any idea yet of when you'll be in the driver's seat?

I did a 40 mile solo blat yesterday and 50 mile blat with @Pokey today to my favorite road in the area. Oil pressure readings remained solid, so hopefully the pigtail was the cause. These were my first opportunities to properly drive the car since completion. The alignment and mapping are done, the low fuel pick up issue is sorted, there were no oil pressure sensor issues to ratchet up my paranoia, and the roads were dry. I'm still not pushing to redline or putting my foot to floor and holding it there, but have taken a few journeys to >7000 rpm, and have pushed it to about 80% throttle for momentary spurts in gear. I'm also more comfortable starting to explore the handling. Although, not perfect, I am beginning to warm up to the Caterham. The engine is really, really nice, and the ride and traction on bumpy roads is surprisingly good. Without driving it back-to-back with a stock 420R, I can't yet comment if this is a testament to the CORE dampers or Meteor Motorsports spring rates, but it is much better in this regard than I anticipated. I need to spend time relearning everything I forgot over the Winter about tuning with Easimap. The engine runs great, except for a few minor glitches at very low rpms. Specifically, when pulling away reasonably hard from a stop, there is a slight flat spot. I suspect the map at very low rpm but heavier load sites is either too rich or too lean and I'll need to log it to identify the needed tweak. Also, based on lambda dash readings, it appears a little too rich at low rpm, very light throttle conditions. It's not noticeable from the driver's seat, but I'm probably burning more fuel than necessary when driving at a steady pace. My only picture from today, taken while performing the obligatory stop for coffee. This is, after all, the Pacific Northwest. -John

This is @peregrinemotors car which is also lister here:

Given it's a new car, has Tom at Birkin given you recommendations for a package that works? If not, or if you are looking for options, a good starting point to identify parts you may need or wish to upgrade is the Raceline price sheet. It's pretty comprehensive list of parts required based on spec. https://www.raceline.co.uk/pdf/DURATEC_2000cc_2021.pdf Chris and Peter are very helpful and have quality parts, but they struggle with email. Always call whenever possible. https://www.raceline.co.uk/ Another option is SBD. As with Raceline, calling is always the best bet. https://sbdmotorsport.co.uk/ -John

I thought the oil pressure reading issue was resolved with the new sensor; however, when starting the car today for a quick lunchtime blat, oil pressure was on zero. Again. No amount of blipping the throttle or changing idle speeds made a difference. With the engine still running, I got out, reached under the car, and shook the pigtail immediately behind the plug that attaches to the sensor. Suddenly the oil pressure reading was normal and remained that way for the drive. Although the replacement sensor came with a new pigtail, I opted to keep the original in place, making only one change at a time until the root cause was clearly identified. I'm glad I took that approach. I'll swap in the new pigtail and start monitoring things again this weekend and may also attempt to disassemble the old plug to look for a connection issue.

I've enjoyed your other books and just bought this one despite the fact it features a front wheel drive car on the cover

Echoing the above, recent history has shown Caterham's hold their value well, but there is no way to predict that will remain true in the future, particularly in 10+ years. If, however, the objective is to only own the car for a year or two with minimal cost of ownership over that period, then that seems a reasonable risk. But risk is always present in this type of situation. You need to be comfortable with that. Reliability is good, but like resale value, there is no certainty that will be your experience with this specific car. Pick the most reliable new car brand out there and some owners will still have issues, hence the reason there are still warranty and Lemon Law claims. One good thing about the Caterham, or any se7en, is that for the most part, they are easy to work on and they lack many of the modern convenience and safety features that can go wrong in new cars. i.e. the set of things that can break is much less. Although you didn't ask about Josh, I will say that in my dealings with him over the past few years, he has always impressed me. Very responsive, helpful, and knowledgeable. I would never hesitate to buy from him. Oh, and one last thing. These cars are life changing. They are on an entirely different level of engagement than other cars and can reset your perspective on driving fun. They are worth the risk

If anyone is having issues posting images consistently, please review the first three items in the following help guide then PM me if you are still having trouble. If you feel it's helpful, please start a dedicated thread on this topic in the Issues & Help forum. This completes our thread drift. Now back to the discussion.

@Lotus_Repair interesting car. BTW I rotated your images. Please see this help guide on why it happens and how to fix it in the future. Thanks, John

It might be worth calling RD Enterprises and Dave Bean. They both offer kits for the twincam that utilize smaller, modern alternators. Given the engine blocks are the same, there's a good chance it is bolt on to a crossflow, but they should know. BTW I have the RD kit on my Elan. Works great.

Just found this video that has some good shots of the car, including under bonnet. BTW I've found references of >1000hp, 1300hp, and 1400hp. I'm not sure if that indicates engine evolution, or just guesstimates by various people. Regardless, the actual power level seems to be sufficient. -John

From what I've read elsewhere, the car has 1400hp, which is hard to comprehend in such a light car. There is some onboard footage here. https://fb.watch/dxNt_84qaV/ Once he gets on it, the acceleration is mind blowing.

In that case, treat the following as a form of mild torment. It's something I put together when investigating regearing options. Stock MX5 Quaife 1 Quaife 2 1st 3.136 2.564 2.345 2nd 1.888 1.67 1.544 3rd 1.33 1.277 1.222 4th 1 1 5th 0.814 0.794 0.868

Another option I researched a couple of years ago is a Quaife close ratio gear set. They make two for the Miata, both of which are on the tall side, although if needed that can be offset with a shorter ring & pinion from Turner Motorsports. Unfortunately, real world feedback on the gear set was sparse when I looked into it, and I have yet to hear of anyone running it in a Caterham. You can be the first

I think you can use the advance setting on the 123 if the distributor body is positioned for advance >0 deg; however, as MV8 notes, the norm is to affix the distributor at 0 deg, then input the actual timing curve into the software. As an example, below is the curve for my twincam. Note: advance = 0 deg, and the table starts at 13 deg at 500 rpm. BTW this was done on the dyno to optimize the curve for my specific engine and local fuel. Well worth the money as torque notably increased everywhere.

Keep in mind that although the 420R has been modernized in a few areas (e.g. engine, heated windscreen, stiffer frame, increased cabin space), it is still a design that dates back nearly 70 years. Even in 1957, the Seven wasn't considered a paragon of comfort or NVH control. Freeway and city driving are not its forte, however, those are often necessary evils to reach the good roads. It's something we just need to accept. Fortunately, there are ways to mitigate some discomforts. Freeway journeys? Put on the sidescreens. They significantly reduce the buffeting. Trips in really hot sun, particularly when you will be driving slowly at times with no airflow through the cabin? Get a half hood. It's a giant sunshade, and as a bonus, it also helps with buffeting. Mental fatigue from driving on busy freeways or in cities is real – you are always on the alert for texting, latte swilling SUV drivers. Short of becoming a Zen master, there's not much you can do to minimize it, but you can treat the symptoms with a strong beverage once you arrive at your destination. Bottom line, this is not a normal car. But if it were, it wouldn't be so much fun. Learn to embrace the suck and enjoy the corners.

I had hoped that's where the car was headed. Glad you two were able to strike a deal.

Congratulations, and I hope you decide to stick around! Where is it headed?

When I connected with Bruce last week, he told me they were heads down preparing for an extended track tour scheduled for this week. I didn't ask for specifics so I'm not sure where they headed or when they will be back in town. -John

The only photo I have of him with the car was taken when he was just 9 weeks old. That was nearly 4-1/2 months and over 70 lbs. ago, so just a bit out of date. If I get a recent shot of him with the car, I'll slip it in here.

Next time I'm at Beachman Racing, I'll try to remember to check the date codes on the tires and the FIA harnesses. They might be knocking up against their expiration dates before the car is ready for its first track day (And yes, I know I'm gonna pay for this...)

Life got in the way, leaving the car untouched since October. I finally got around to replacing the fuel pump with the positive displacement type, which seems to work better; It didn't start cutting out when cornering with about the same fuel level as the old pump. However, more testing with less fuel is required before I declare it resolved. On the test drive, the oil pressure reading issue I mentioned earlier went into overdrive. Rather than reading normally with instantaneous flashes to wildly incorrect readings ranging from 0 to over 100 psi, it suddenly went to 0 psi, with a few flashes to the 70-80 psi range. Not confidence inspiring. Although the issue could be with the wiring into the AiM, given all the other dash functions are reading correctly and that sensor has a reputation for premature failure, my money was on the sensor. The new one went in this weekend, and so far, things are working correctly. Hopefully they stay that way. I didn't have time for a long test drive but did manage to get a picture when reaching the turnaround point. It was a cool, but very sunny day in the Seattle area. Next up is going through various fasteners to make sure everything is still tight, then driving it hard for a while before tackling a few open items, including nonfunctioning heated seats, installing the short-cut button for the AiM's trip odometer, and recalibrating the fuel level sensor.

Mike Pierce sold Pierce Manifolds a few years ago but is still restoring Webers through his new business: https://www.webercarburetorrestoration.com/. I've never used him for a rebuild but have bought various parts from him over the years. Probably not cheap but he knows his stuff.

The software default is that a vote is immutable. Although it appears I can change that setting, I have no idea if it is retroactive or only for new polls going forward. It's also not clear if everyone who visited before, but refrained from voting because options available at that time didn't appeal to them, will realize there are new options. That will skew the data and may unintentionally leave people out. I have temporarily changed the setting for the duration of this poll, but I do not want to leave it that way once this poll closed. If the change is not retroactive, you will need to redo this with a final option list.

Do you mean it would only allow you to select one option, or that you were unable to go back after submitting your vote and add an additional item?