JohnCh

That makes a seriously loud thunk when it runs aground. Sounds and looks like the 7-series bottomed out too. -John

When it exhibits this behavior is idle also rough? If so, try pulling the plug wires one-by-one to see if you can isolate a cylinder. Another thing to check is that your distributor is tight and the advance isn’t moving around. -John

Andy, are you referring to the little threaded hole at the top center of the windscreen trim? If so, that's the hole for the locating pin used to secure the plastic windscreen fitting glued into the hood. The rear view mirror affixes directly to the windscreen. You should be able to pick up something that works at an auto parts store. Any details on the new car? Thanks, John

I was leaning towards Pagids, but I learned today they don't offer a fitment for my front calipers (Outlaw M16), so they're out. I'll research the Hawk HP+. Any other contenders? Thanks, John

What brake pads do folks like for street driving? I currently have Porterfield R4S pads and although they work okay, I’ve never been very happy with the soft initial bite and I rarely get them hot enough on the street to really grab. Of course I’d also prefer a replacement pad that’s quiet, dust free, makes my teeth whiter, my breath fresher, and makes me more attractive to women, but I’m willing to forgo some of those things if the pad’s cold feel and performance is strong enough. Recommendations? Thanks, John

The radiator of choice for Westfields is the 2-core unit from the early ‘90s VW Golf. It’s very light (3.87lb vs. 16.5lb for the stock radiator from that era) inexpensive even when shipped from the UK, and works shockingly well. I have a 210hp Duratec fitted and the car has been through the desert and in vile stop & go traffic in 100F temps with no issues. I will caveat the latter by stating I have a very powerful Spal 12” fan to keep things cool at idle. There is more info on this radiator in this sticky post on WSCC. -John

My Speed Cats were in dire need of replacement, so based on this thread I decided to give the Merrell Trail Glove a shot. Width is about midway between the Speed Cats and Pilotis, they are washable, and appear very well made. Comfort wise, they seem on par with my Speed Cats which are fitted with gel inserts (big improvement for Speed Cat comfort). But here’s the important thing for Se7en driving: they are insanely light. So light in fact, that I had to put them on the scale. They came in at 7.8oz vs. 15.6oz for the Speed Cats with the gel insert. I took the Westfield into work this morning and I swear I could feel the weight difference when accelerating. The car is now a rocket! :jester: -John

Now where did I put my Big Red Ban Button? :jester: We generally have some pretty cool cars that show up at our event. Last month we had a 250GTO (one of the 3 or 4 notchback style cars), a Koenigsegg, Enzo, Muira, 599GTO, and even a...Westfield . Coolest of the bunch for me though was the Hispano Suiza. Thing was just gorgeous in the flesh. Some good eye candy from the event in this person's gallery. -John

No apologies necessary. It's not like you called it an SV The biggest surprise comparing the cars was the difference in front tire diameter. I'm running 205/60-13 RA-1s vs. Supersportsp's 185/55-13 ZZR. The ZZR's looked positively tiny. No way I could run them on my car and still clear a speedbump. -John

It's a Westfield, not a Birkin -John

We always get a bunch of modern exotics, but not as many cool vintage cars as seen in the VA event. Here are some better pictures of our cars. http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o97/mswale/ERTC%208-7-10/ERTC%204-23-11/IMG_4619.jpg http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o97/mswale/ERTC%208-7-10/ERTC%204-23-11/IMG_4617.jpg More photos from the event by this photographer are on this page (post #23) followed by pics from another talented guy. Best car of the day was a beautiful Hispano Suiza with an 18.5L (no, not a typo) airplane engine. -John

I’ve had a 1700 crossflow powered se7en with about 120hp and a Duratec powered version with about 210hp. For me, more power = more fun, but the crossflow has its advantages. First, it sounds absolutely fantastic. Second, it doesn’t have enough power to get in the way of learning the chassis – kind of like the concept of getting into track driving with a momentum car that doesn’t allow you to compensate for cornering mistakes with a simple push of the throttle down the straights. And third, it sounds absolutely fantastic Don’t get me wrong, I would never go back to 120hp (actually plotting an upgrade to 235hp+ now), but I don’t regret having owned a crossflow and would never hesitate recommending that path to anyone. As for not driving the car daily without a considerable amount of seat time, don't overestimate the length of that adjustment period. When I bought my car, I thought I would only use it on back roads and would avoid traffic and freeways, but after a couple of weeks I found myself using it as a daily driver. Not to say it is my daily driver, but during dry months, I use it that way a couple of times a week. -John

I think your car has logged more miles from the confines of transport trucks than it has on the actual tours -John

Skip’s question got me thinking so I just looked through the participant list I have from USA2005 and came up with the following breakdown for the 61 cars. Not sure the spreadsheet is 100% accurate, but it should be close. It was a good mix of cars, which is the only way to do a tour Caterham – 41 Westfield – 6 Birkin – 6 Ultralite – 3 Lotus – 3 Sylva – 1 Robin Hood – 1 -John

I have it just a bit easier Only 700 miles to Calgary and just 100 miles back from Vancouver Island. Hope this one happens. -John

If the loom is the issue, it shouldn't be that hard to fix. Just use a pin remover tool to remove the wires from the plug at the ECU end and then put them in the correct holes. -John

Best prices I've found on Toyos: http://www.tiresdirect.net/. -John

Anyone know if Evotell is opening this up to all manner of Se7ens, or is this a Caterham-only affair? Thanks, John

I didn't realize you had a Westfield. I had one of Yarwood's engines, and although it didn't make the claimed power, it was a great little engine and there were no issues with the carb jetting as supplied by him. Of course that doesn’t mean someone didn’t mess around with the jetting over the years and screw things up. I would go through the various items people have identified in this thread and see what turns up. BTW Blatchat is a great resource for crossflow tuning info and worth a search to confirm jetting and timing basics. For reference, Yarwood’s 1700 engine used 9.8:1 pistons, Kent 234 cam, and stock valves. -John

When you write “backwash of raw gas in the two rear carb” do you mean spitting back through that one carb? If so, that is usually caused by a weak mixture misfire. As others have suggested, make sure your ignition system is working correctly. If is it, then check the following basics, most of which were also recommended earlier: Check for air leaks around that carb. Any leak will lean out the mixture and cause spitting back. Ensure the carbs, as well as the barrels within the same carb, are properly synced. Check the butterflies on the spindle to confirm there is no slop and the position is the same in both barrels. Look over the various internal bits to ensure no fuel residue that is gumming up the works. Check the float levels. I don’t recall what they should be, but if the front carb is working fine, ensure the rear float level is the same. -John

Not even close on my car. Unfortunately I discovered this after I had the exhaust manifold made, so no option to use an exhaust side alternator mount (oh the joys of being an early adopter). I ended up fabricating a new mount that allows the steering column to pass between the alternator and the block. Karl, the engine looks fantastic. The anticipation must be killing you. -John

I didn't realize you fit the alternator there on a LHD Caterham. On a Westfield, it would block the steering column -- I found that out the hard way -John

I've seen a couple of older Westflields with IRS and crossflows go for ~$17k, so $14k for a non-running, live axle car seems very, very high. -John

Regarding brakes, I checked one of my books and it states the SEi came with discs and the SE with drums. So it's probably a live axle car. -John

rzempel is correct. That's the CVH engine. Decent power potential, but they are affectionately known as boat anchors on WSCC. Given how long the car has been sitting, a lot of the seals could be toast, so you might want to budget for a brake rebuild and perhaps an engine freshening. -John