JohnCh

During the 10 years I’ve had my Westfield, people have asked me if it’s a Morgan, an MG, “a real Lotus”, and even a Ferrari -- twice! (must be because it’s red). But this was a first. At today's cars & coffee event someone asked “Is that a real Caterham?” I wasn’t quite sure how to respond… -John

It will be good to have you officially back in the saddle for tours -- although you do excel as a support vehicle driver -John

Stan, does this mean your se7en-less phase is coming to an end? -John

That is pretty amazing. It even found Ferdinand Porsche, Colin Chapman, the Prisoner, and Yosemite Sam. However, it did give up trying to find Pete Aron, the main character in Grand Prix. He's now added to the database -John

He's widely reported to have been 5'8" and based on period photos, he looked pretty thin, so I'm sure the original 7 fit him pretty comfortably. Caterham claims a 55 lb delta, so not huge. It is a lot bigger inside though which some people love, while others claim it detracts from the driving experience. People in the latter camp invariably seem to own S3s, so they are used to the more intimate cabin. -John

Can't go wrong with either Tillets or MOGs. The latter are a little bit more comfortable for me, but that's certainly a YMMV kind of thing. -John

According to the post on BlatChat, the car weighs 20kg more than an S3, so not too big a delta. I'd love to find more picture of this car. The smooth transition from the top of the scuttle to front of the rear wing looks fantastic. -John

Weird, they show up for me. Here is a link to the post. -John

Shamelessly stolen from WSCC. Poor car http://avatars.gentlyhosting.co.uk/18260.jpeg http://avatars.gentlyhosting.co.uk/18259.jpeg http://avatars.gentlyhosting.co.uk/18258.jpeg -John

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