JohnCh

http://www.usa7s.org/aspnetforum/upload/1112768559_usa200522.jpg Taken somewhere in Utah on USA2005. -John

Interesting new car out of New Zealand. The engine is a custom built bike-based 2.4L V8 that makes a claimed 390hp @ 12,000 rpm, and the whole car features some beautifully milled components (I’m a sucker for nice machine work). I'm still not sure I care for the aesthetics, but I'm certainly impressed with the quality of his work. -John

I think it is an optical illusion. The links look parallel to the arms in this photo. -John

Randall, great story! Reminds me of a couple of trips we’ve taken with the Westfield. Nothing quite like driving a se7en on a busy freeway in the pouring rain to make you feel alive Matt, good hear you made it back to TX. Looking forward to seeing a thread about your trip home! -John

The boardroom was down when I checked it early this morning. Hopefully it will be back up soon. -John

Have you checked the tension on the water pump belt? I’ve seen a slack belt have enough grip to turn the water pump at idle speeds, but slip when the engine rpm increases to driving speeds. My guess is you had to remove that when you R&R the timing chain, so perhaps it wasn’t properly tensioned, or the tensioner bolt wasn’t sufficiently tightened when everything went back together? -John

Memory foam is nice stuff for seat padding. Although expensive if purchased from automotive suppliers, the price comes down considerably when bought as a mattress pad. Overstock.com carries 1” king sized pads for $40 and 1.5” version for $70. If you want the padding thicker in some area, just glue sheets together with a spray adhesive. -John

Mazda, is there a way to create an ignore list based on geography so I don’t have to read posts like this over the winter? :jester: Thanks, John

$8000 does sound really low. The R300 comes with the 6–speed which is about 2500GBP directly from Caterham. My guess is that the price of the R300 Duratec (which must be pretty basic given the 175hp output) will be similar to the outgoing SVT, which I think was about $11-12k with a 6-speed. I’m sure someone here will chime in with the actual price. As for currency fluctuations, it’s a tricky game. Go back just 4 months to July 18th and the GBP was worth $2, or 33% more than today. If Caterham USA were to adjust the price down from the July numbers to account for the renewed strength of the USD and keep their margins constant, then the poor guy who bought his car 4 months ago would have just taken a massive depreciation hit. His $60,000 car in July would now cost just $45,000 new, which means his car’s resale value took an additional $15k hit. I don’t think he would be very happy. Tying the price of the car directly to the GBP also means that the car price keeps changing while the potential buyer is deciding whether or not to purchase. My bet is that the sales cycle for a se7en is fairly long. Sure some people make the decision quickly, but based on what I have seen on the various forums, people seem to think about the purchase for quite a while before placing an order. Throwing currency fluctuations into the mix increases the complexity of the buy decisions. If the GBP is decreasing, then the buyer may hold off making the purchase because he’s hoping the price will fall further if he waits just a little longer. Long sales cycles are not good for sellers due to externalities that can affect the purchase (customer faces unexpected expenses, has a job change, wife files for divorce because he is spending too much time obsessing about the se7en rather than paying attention her, etc.) If the USD is declining, then the level of the financial commitment is increasing before the customer’s eyes and he may find himself priced out of the market by the time he is mentally ready to pull the trigger. -John

Congratulations Hank! Sounds like you are off to a great start. If you are looking for inspiration, this site lists about 50 Westfield-related sites, many of which have detailed build logs. Very good resource. Kitcat, there is at least one other Magabusa in the States. Dennis Palatov, of dp1 fame, built one several years ago (build blog here). Last I heard it was in the San Diego area, but not sure where it is now. -John

I had some made as well. I heard from a several people who had used oversized wind wings and swore by their effectiveness, so I made several mockups out of cardboard (and later MDF) to experiment with size and shape. I finally settled on the combo that reduced the buffeting the most and then took the template to a local plastics shop that made a pair out of Lexan. They attach to the stock sidescreen mounts on the windscreen pillar using a spare set of sidescreen hinges I had lying around. They work extremely well. Although not as effective as sidescreens, they make the cockpit comfortable at very high speeds, yet they allow enough air movement that the cockpit doesn’t overheat at lower speeds on warm days. There is a little more information and pictures at the bottom of this page. -John

Typical Mazda. Never missing an opportunity to up his post count :jester: -John

Hi John, Nothing wrong with a Crossflow (Kent). I used to have one and although they may not make a ton of power, they still have enough to be entertaining, and no 4-banger sounds better. A Westfield very similar to the one you describe just sold a couple of weeks ago for (I believe) $14k. The ad is here. I can put you in touch with the seller if you like. Ian7 brings up a great point about 45DCOEs and the Kent 244 cam. Are you sure those are the right parts? All the Yarwood cars I've heard about have the Kent 234 and 40DCOEs, which is a very tractable combo. -John

I would go with the shorter 1st gear as well. The 1828rpm drop is still pretty damn short. Another gear calculator to check out is on this page. It enables you to perform an A-B comparison and will also calculate optimal shift points if you enter torque data from a dyno sheet. My Motogadget tach/speedo also has a gear display that is calculated from road and engine speed. It works great with a normal gearbox, but with a sequential it would be nice to have a sensor on the gearbox. Without it I imagine it could be a little confusing when approaching a stop light with the clutch disengaged. “Did I just down shift 4 times to first, or 3 times to 2nd?” -John

That's why I have one on the Westfield I'd rather annoy the brain dead, cell phone talking, latte sipping SUV driver -- and we have a lot of those where I live -- than have him run over me because he didn't notice that funny looking little car ahead had stopped. -John

I have a similar device from Cadent Technologies and agree that it is very effective. Previously when someone was following me really closely to get a better look at the car, I would have to tap the brakes 3 or 4 times before they clued in and backed off. Now I rarely have to tap the brakes more than once. It certainly seems to get people's attention. -John

That cockpit looks downright luxurious! My tintop isn't that nice -John

I agree. I haven’t seen the S1 in person, but I have gone over a Superformance Cobra pretty closely. The workmanship and attention to detail on that car were very impressive. Tom, any pictures of the interior? -John

True, but Mazda gearboxes are a little bulky, so depending on the car, the 6-speed may not fit without chassis modifications. The 1st gear in that gearbox is also really short. At 3.815 it is even shorter than a stock Type-9 1st gear (3.65) which, speaking from personal experience, is absolutely useless with a Duratec. They do shift great though. -John

I’m curious about the 170hp spec Duratec. It isn’t shown on the UK site. I wonder if that is a US-only engine, or if the website announcement revealed a little more information that CC UK intended? -John

I follow your art just fine. Great idea! I'd love some of the Delrin bushings if you have enough left over for a pair of SPAs. I'll send you a PM. Thanks, John

Sorry to hijack the thread, but I'm interested in learning more about this mod. How did you do this? Thanks, John

I carry this with a few extra CO2 cartridges. Saves over 30lb. from the rear of the car and supposedly work pretty well. I haven't had to use it yet, but hopefully it is enough to get me to a gas station. -John

Do a search on WSCC for Mickmade. His parts are highly regarded and reasonably priced. Mick, I didn't realize you are selling to the States now. I need to chat with you about a dash for my Westfield -John

Winter is also known as Upgrade Season. If you can’t drive your car, then you can at least throw away piles of money in an attempt to make it better. -John