JohnCh

It doesn't look like that at the moment -John

I also have the Covercraft. The pattern (#54) is available in several different fabrics depending on your needs. Here are a couple of photos of it in place on my Westfield to give an idea of fit. The Westfield is a little bigger than a classic Caterham, but I believe it is a bit smaller than the SV. http://www.usa7s.org/aspnetforum/upload/412984050_carcover-front-800.jpg http://www.usa7s.org/aspnetforum/upload/947730909_carcover-rear-800.jpg -John

I think I was wrong and Steve is right, Dino 196S. The car is left hand drive, and I seem to recall that all the TR59/60s were right hand drive (of course Ferrari of that era was anything but consistent). The dead give-away of course is the number of velocity stacks showing through the hood scoop. Do you recall if it was 6 or 12? -John

That is a Ferrari TR60. Phil Hill won Le Mans in TR60 #9, so assuming that number on the hood isn't just a tribute, that is a very special car! -John

A half hood is also referred to as a bikini top. Jill Judd started making them for Caterhams and has subsequently done them for Westfields. The Flyin Miata guys had one made locally for their car, and I did the same since I have a custom made roll bar that wouldn’t work with Jill’s version. I’ll send you a link to photos of my bootbox. -John

Definitely add a proper roll bar. The standard bar is only good for pushing the car around the garage. Lots of information on WSCC about the various ways to handle the boot box slots, so worth doing a search before pulling out the Dremel. I went a different route with my car and built a new boot box out of aluminum that accommodates the rear stays, yet also increases storage space by 20%. It’s not in keeping with your goal of using only factory parts, but if you are interested drop me a PM and I’ll send you photos. I personally don’t think the aeroscreen will broaden the car’s appeal. Although they reportedly work great, their lack of protection can be a turn off for someone who wants to use the car primarily on the street. It could turn out to just be another reason someone says no, as opposed to a reason they say yes. Weather gear is a tougher one. Side screens are nice to have, but I hate the top and didn’t bother to install it during my rebuild. I think a half hood is a much better option. Keeps you almost as dry and isn’t as claustrophobic. Of course potential buyers might find comfort in knowing that they have the option of using the top even if they never plan to drive the car in the rain. Why this car hasn’t already sold at this price is beyond me. I have only read positive things about it (by Caterham owners no less! ) and I would think that the Miata drivetrain would be seen as a plus here in the States. -John

Looks like they have one of Mazda's old projects http://microcarmuseum.com/tour/images/whattadrag-00.jpg http://microcarmuseum.com/tour/images/whattadrag-03.jpg -John

All the more reason to do it! -John

Guilty of the prompting. Thanks for posting the pics. Definitley some out of the norm mods to beat the heat! One question from the photos: What is the access port for that is located behind the right front wheel? Thanks, John

Sorry JBH, but in this particular situation I can't get past the fact that Terry is a vendor whose business is to sell used Lotus 7s and Caterhams, and who uses this forum to promote that business. I think it is inappropriate for someone in that position to paint a competitive product in a negative light. He didn’t simply write that he thinks Caterhams are worth the price difference and excel in specific areas. Rather he wrote some very negative comments about other brands. -John

I think you will find that no manuals are perfect, so given your objective it is probably safest to go with a manufacturer who has a pretty large customer base that has been-there-done-that. You’ll find a lot of detailed build sites online for Caterham and Westfield, and my guess is the same is true for Birkin, Brunton, and the WCM Ultralite among others. It’s probably worth seeking some of these out ahead of time to see what is actually entailed in taking the car from a box of parts to a street legal toy If you don’t want to build it at all, then I think most of the manufacturers provide rollers, or have a shop that can get it into that state for you. However, I suggest you build it yourself. Welding isn’t a requirement unless you are going with a locost, or deviating from the standard configuration, and the rest of the stuff really isn’t that skill intensive. Typically the most difficult part of these builds is cutting holes in the body (either aluminum or fiberglass) which frankly is a lot scarier than it is hard. BTW good to see another air-cooled driver on the forum -John

Great suggestion John! We'll add that to the route. I'll include you in the distribution list for the hotel information list I send out later today -- I hope you get the time off. Right now, I have the following folks on the DL. If you are considering attending, but don't see your name below, then send me a PM. johnh slomove hudson pierats soareyes haiku88 psz. (I need your e-mail address) -John

Here is a brief update on planning. Route change It looks like Alderpoint Road is currently in poor condition in several places, so this means that we will need to backtrack on 101 from Legget to Hwy 36. The other alternative is to forego that whole section of the route, but given the scenery and road, I vote to keep it. Another change occurs on day two. The original plan called for us to leave Lake Almanor (we’ll actually stay in Chester) head East on 36, then hop on 44 going North-West before dropping South through Mount Lassen and then heading North West towards 299 and Weaverville. That section of 36 and 44 looks pretty tame, so I am proposing that we leave Chester and go North through Lassen and then taking 299 West. This shortens the day by quite a bit (down to 200 miles), which in turn allows people to take a side trip down Hayfork Pass right before we hit Weaverville. It’s reportedly a fun road and begins just a few miles outside of Weaverville. http://qa7fkg.bay.livefilestore.com/y1pFeiOzlejZF8wRp45PEfQM5lAaaP3Sd8iP9mrRDjy_1i5BP4k9rn5MfQiaF-vc40TQ4GGB4yZ4xQ/route-final.jpg Hotels Because we are planning this tour just a few months in advance, some hotels are not willing to hold a block of rooms for any length of time. Consequently if you are attending, you will need to reserve some of your rooms by 7/1. The group rate discount is inconsequential at most hotels, but we are getting some group perks. E.g. the hotel in Chico has offered to send someone out to the parking lot to check on the cars every hour, and the hotel in Fort Bragg is reserving their rooms with carports for us. If you don’t make your reservation by the specified date, then you are on your own with regard to accommodations. Price points are similar to PNW2007. I will e-mail a spreadsheet with specifics to those who have expressed interest in attending (if I don’t have your e-mail address, then I will send you a PM requesting it.) Gas stations I am mapping out gas stations along the route. I plan to call some of the key stations to confirm they are open for business and carry premium fuel, but it looks like we are in pretty good shape. My goal is minimize our exposure to little hole-in-the-wall stations where there is a higher likelihood of obtaining bad gas, and limit stretches between gas stops to no more than 130 miles. If anyone attending needs more frequent stops, then please let me know. High Points We start and end the tour with the best roads of the tour. Oroville-Quincy Hwy on Day 1 and Hwy 36 on Day 4 are reportedly two of the best roads in Northern California. Good pavement, great twisties, light traffic, and scenic. We should be very tired those evenings Days 2 & 3 also feature some great roads, but also some beautiful scenery. We'll go through Mount Lassen on Day 2 and the Redwood forest on Day 3. It is shaping up to be 4 days of fun! -John

Terry, Given that you own a business that bills itself as "Canada's only used Lotus/Caterham 7 specialist" don't you think it is a little self serving for you to post a comment like that? -John

I don’t mean to be condescending, but I expect any company – new or in business for 30 years – to know their costs BEFORE agreeing to sell their product to someone. The fact that you didn’t and are using this as your reasoning for reneging on a deal, isn’t going to give people confidence in your ability to run a business and be there for them down the road. As for the your statement that half of us would do the same, I sincerely hope not. And if you wonder why I am so vocal on this subject, it's very simple. I care a great deal about this site and the community it has helped create. I want to see the market for se7ens expand in this country and I want to see the vendors who support our hobby prosper. The fact that you have used this site to advertise your product, and then do this to one of its members...

If you are saying that my flow of events is correct, then I think Shiva is showing incredible restraint. I can assure you that if a vendor had agreed to a deal with me, and then changed their mind because they failed to perform adequate due diligence on their investment until AFTER they accepted my money, I would not go away quietly. I may be old fashioned, but I believe a deal is a deal.

Am I reading the flow of events here correctly? Car was publicly offered at $32k, counter offer of $30k was made and accepted. Money was sent by buyer and accepted by seller. Seller then performs due diligence on investment and pulls out of deal. Funds are returned to buyer including a little extra to cover buyer's costs incurred by upholding their end of the deal.

+1. Are you comfortable sharing some details?

Based on feedback here and via e-mail, I propose we stick to the original plan of Route A and partially cover the weekend of 9/6. Available vacation time is tougher for some, so having the tour occur in part on the weekend is preferred. If some people want to take a longer tour, there is no reason they can’t start a little early and plan a route that overnights them in Chico on Tuesday. I know this isn’t optimal for everyone, but I am trying to accommodate disparate requests from folks. If anyone was planning to attend, but won’t now because of this, then please PM me. (Stan - I am in the same boat as you regarding distance & trailer, so I may take Monday off from work to recover) Schedule Leg 1 (Wed 9/3): Chico to Lake Almanor Leg 2 (Thu 9/4): Lake Almanor to Weaverville Leg 3 (Fri 9/5): Weaverville to Fort Bragg Leg 4 (Sat 9/6): Fort Bragg to Red Bluff Please note that the actual route may be tweaked a bit based on road conditions, but I don’t’ expect any major deviations. Once I get a sense of the actual number of attendees, I’ll start contacting hotels to figure out that part and perhaps even get a group rate. If you are okay with the schedule above, and want to attend then please reply to this thread using the format below: Certainty: 50% = If you want to go, but can’t commit yet, then write 50%. If you are planning on attending barring some unforeseen circumstances, then write 90%+. Legs attending: Identify the legs from the schedule above you plan to tour with the group. Hotels needed: Identify the cities on the tour where will you need a hotel room. (locals may not need a hotel room the night before their first leg, or the night of their last leg) Pre-tour: Use the options from the Certainty question to indicate if you are interested in starting the tour a day or two early. Okay, I’ll start: Certainty: 90%+ Legs attending: 1-4 Hotels needed: Chico through Red Bluff Pre-tour: 50% Thanks, John

Welcome aboard Hank! For Westfield-specific build information, make sure you also check out WSCC. Lot's of good information in the archives including links to build sites. Feel free to drop me a PM if you have any questions along the way. I have a Duratec powered Westfield, so BTDT -John

Understood. I'm just trying to get the other people who voted to chime in If the group is actually open to a longer tour, then I certainly don't want to ignore that possibility. My hope is to lock this down soon so we can get the rest of the planning under way. -John

Okay, so that is one preference for a five day tour Mon-Fri and one for a shorter tour that occurs over the weekend. So far seven people have voted for Route A on the weekend of 9/6, so there are some others out there who haven’t weighed in on the point Gert brought up. What do you folks want to do? If we extend to five days and tour from Tue-Sat (or six days and go from Mon-Sat), it would enable people to just join for a couple of days around the weekend, and others to get in another day or two of touring. Do people want to turn this into a longer tour? I’m fine with that, but if that is the preference, then I need to come up with new route options fast. -John

How does everyone else feel about this? Should we turn this into 5 days of touring? Pack on Sat, travel to the starting point on Sun, tour Mon-Fri, drive home Sat, and take Sun to unwind before returning to the daily grind that paid for the tour? My vacation time provides me with some flexibility so I'm fine either way, but an extra day of toruing is always welcome -John

Based on your earlier post, it sounded like you had already come to agreement on terms of the sale. Was that just anticipation on your end, or did they change their mind after the fact?

I was wondering about Bell Springs Rd and still had that on my to investigate list. The good thing is that we can simply double back on 101 until we hit Aldrerwood and avoid it altogether. According to Pashnit, Alderwood is “…two lane the whole way, with a decent surface and gorgeous scenery. There was a very short section or 2 of gravel, maybe 100 yards.” If we don’t want to do that road either, then we can stay on 101 all the way back to Hwy 36, or cross over to Hwy 1 at Branscomb Rd, although I’d rather keep backtracking to a minimum. The other area I need to delve into a bit more is the stretch from Hwy 36 to Hwy 44 just east of I-5. If that proves to have some questionable asphalt, we can accommodate. Does the rest of the route sound okay to everyone? If so, then I’d like to get a head count and start working on accommodations for the weekend after Labor Day. Does running the tour from Thursday to Sunday with travel days on Wednesday and Monday work, or do people prefer to keep their vacation days in the same week and go Wednesday through Saturday? -John