Bruce K

Croc - good to see your Seven market postings are back. You are the Donald Trump of the Seven community - we've all been waiting for you to return and restore order to a confused marketplace, to help buyers get the most product for their money, and to read more of the savage honesty dipped in wit that has been a Croc trademark for years.

No, @Rodnok- it does not - that "Morgan" is completely askew. The vehicle is rear engined and not front, air cooled and not water, low powered and not sporty, a less capable suspension than even the classic Morgan sliding pillar fronts and semi-elliptical rear leaves, cheap fiberglass and not steel, and mismatched details instead of the carefully curated and often handcrafted front grill, mirrors, handles, lifts and more on an authentic Morgan. You want to know why "only a few were ever built"? Guess! For ridiculous money, too, so somebody on a tight budget and willing to compromise nearly everything still can't afford it. In my book, a ride for the "kind-of-scenty" who have never ridden in or driven an authentic Morgan!

A standard metric rollbar for a standard S3 (not SV) chassis 2010 Caterham. Essentially new - pulled off the car after nearly zero miles and replaced with a the FIA version. Will be shipped in the original large box (see pictures). No other hardware or parts included - rollbar only. $150 plus shipping. For reference, shipping from my home to San Diego is $182, to Dallas is $131, to Miami is $155, to Louisville is $101, and to New York city is $108. I have a Paypal account. You can also use a credit card, but processing fee will apply. Bruce 810-938-1010 or bruceakopitz@gmail.com.

I've noticed quite a few BAT re-listings in recently. Wonder if this is a trend. Could it be agents for other car sales sites seeking to damage BAT's credibility? Seems like there would be some expense involved.

@VovchandrGood grief - persuasion is not the same as coercion. Persuasion is the alternative to coercion. Since the founding of the Republic, we have fought many wars to preserve that alternative, among other freedoms. And though I am upset over the economic harm caused to the Republic by these shortages, I cannot characterize myself as mad. "Madness" is accusing "most" modern women of rushing to cosmetology as a skilled trade, as though they cannot master anything more complex. I, alternately, do not endorse enforcement of any required occupations, as my closing points in the previous post indicated. Once again, "persuasion" is not "coercion", and is the tool we must use to draw young people to trades and universities to cooperation. I don't know if persuasion through advertising and other means will work, but if we don't try, failure is guaranteed. Vovchandr, I am sorry to report that you either missed or ignored most of my points, including the ironies. That doesn't make my contentions any less accurate, and in formal debate, major points missed in the initial speeches cannot be taken up in the rebuttals. Therefore, I need say nothing more, except that you are likely a nice guy in person, and I am through with our little tete-a-tete.

@Vovchandr - do you realize that your job descriptions are also generalizations? There are many trade jobs available that never result in 7 days full active duty or overseas deployments. I've known plenty of cops - even detectives - who also took planned vacations and were rarely hauled out of bed by emergencies. I have no idea why you continue to employ negative stereotypes regarding trades for women UNLESS you believe women should not have the right to choose. And WOW - your statement that most women undertake the field of cosmetology as a trade is utterly fantastic. Cosmetologists are only 1% of the entire skilled trade force, so how do "most" women become one? Do you also believe that most men living on hillsides in Tennessee are moonshiners? And that most black men have long johnsons and low IQ's (though the former could possibly be true)? How about most people who like country music and earn less than $30,000 per year are rednecks? How about well-placed suburban guys who would prefer to decide what fields women can work in and not - what should we call them? As I recall, I initiated the scarcity discussion with fact-based comments about a local skilled trade scarcity. Multiple other members jumped in with their own facts and supportive anecdotes, indicating that the problem is more national than local. I checked the internet for reliable information regarding the national scope of the problem, and ultimately agreed with the consensus. I also agree with you, Vovchandr, that if we try to attract women into trades, the campaign will likely yield more men, as well - and that's a good thing, to prevent scarcity and keep goods and services more affordable. There is currently a bubble in our labor supply chain, and unless we deflate it, cars could become unaffordable because of repair costs, and housing unaffordable because of framing, electric, roofing, plumbing and other costs, and on and on. I will close with these thee points: 1) Every women (and man) should be free to choose any legal career of their preference in this, the Land of the Free. 2) For the benefit of the nation, as well as their personal benefit, we should encourage more folks to choose skilled trades. And 3) universities should either graduate fewer students or more qualified skilled tradespeople.

Last thought first: Women recovering from childbirth, and getting their newborn set up with proper care, face largely the same challenges across all fields of service. Childbirth poses the same challenges whether plumber, lawyer, electrician, accountant or cop - no significant differences. Next thought - you perhaps missed @slowdude's observation about 9 to 10% of his trade classes being currently female. My point is: Let's advertise and celebrate the advantages which 10% currently recognize, and attract 20 or 25%. Of course, we should be advertising just as adamantly to the men, but women should not be overlooked, for the benefits to both them and to society. Final thought - you should look up the meaning of "generalization". I can see you are trying to suppress yours in these latter posts, but they still sneak into your conclusions. Abandon them, because generalizations (particularly "presumed deficits") prevent us from examining new and improved solutions for problems. Reread my slave owner example. For how many years were there no black NFL quarterbacks or coaches? Isn't the league better now because of Patrick Mahomes and Tony Dungee? In this case, there was no open discrimination - only a generalized, and erroneous, conclusion regarding inferiority.

Imagine, during this time of labor scarcity, where we would be without that 8 to 10%? And we should market this professions to increase that number significantly.

People who endure in any trade have acquired the discipline of life-long improvement. My 60 year old mechanic friends may not know how to post in Facebook for the greatest number of hits, but they can take cellphone images of broken parts and transmit them around the world in seconds. They can perform an internet search to determine the correct wiring of a body control module in low-production cars in minutes. They are slower than fast-metabolism 20-somethings, but are the highest paid because their work turns out right more often. Because the pace of change is slower in many skilled trades than, for example, in the design of electronic systems, the skilled trade females I know have been better able to rejoin their trades after giving birth. Giving birth is a unique and essential female ability, which we should encourage in every way. The fact that females can re-enter many skilled trades easier than certain other occupations should be promoted as a real advantage. Vovchandr, I think you confuse prejudices with generalizations, when you should seek to rid yourself of both.

@Vovchandr- I have read about slave owners who believed in "generics", and postulated that blacks have brains incompatible with sophisticated thinking based on phrenology, or the structure of their skulls. Were they correct, because their thinking was "common" in their milieu? Or were they simply pasting a veneer of pseudo-science over their prejudice? And the reason anecdotal experience cannot be extended to prove broad contentions is that our "personal experiences" are too slim and focused. Anecdotal evidence should only be used to reinforce positions provable with broad-based data. Lastly, women can also choose to NOT become honeydippers, prison guards, cops or soldiers. As a point of fact, most will not choose these professions. But the choice must remain theirs, or we relegate all women to a modern plantation.

@Vovchandr- I omitted two important words, which changed the meaning of the sentence. I have added some verbiage to my post, and the sentence now reads: "Young women need to appreciate the lifelong value of a young man's certification in electrical or plumbing . . . " I was trying to say that young women need to consider young tradesmen equal, and in many cases superior, to college graduates as mates. I have edited my post and apologize for the error. However, I believe your position regarding skilled tradeswomen is mysogynistic and wrong-headed. I have personally met female appliance repair, plumbing, welding and electrical tradespeople. This is a free country, so why can't females choose the trade of their preference? I agree that many trades favor the additional muscle and frame of males, and that most females will prefer other employment. But, as a society, we should attempt to attract as many females to trades as possible, because of the great, unfilled and expanding need. As far as similar wrong-headed thinking from other males, we need to convince them regarding the virtues of female freedom, arguments in which we have prevailed regarding other issues such as female suffrage, professional females including lawyers, doctors and accountants, females in the military and so on. Regarding female soldiers, most females will not have the ultimate lifting and carrying capacity, and perhaps the ultimate reflexes, but if you have ever met a female DI or an experienced female cop (a paramilitary), you would not fear her presence in your foxhole or cop car. Remember that there are many subsets of labor within each trade, including military, and females with the appropriate motivation can find their posting. Look at the UFC, for God's sake. At this stage of my life, I am sorry to report that I would not want to fight Amanda Nunes, and even if I survived the experience, I bet I I would bear multiple scars and injuries. Regarding aging tradespeople, I know several mechanics 60 year old and older. Their roles have changed, and they do not pull out as many heavy motors and trannies as before, or work as much overtime, but their skill and experience makes them invaluable to their cohorts, and the older mechanics I know are at the top of their pay scales. Like many other professions outside of skilled trades, if you have long-term debilities like arthritis or organ disease, you may not be able to produce. But health is not an issue confined to hands-on workers. As you noted in your conclusion, your choices are your own, and it should be that way for every American in the Land of the Free.

Excellent, @wdb - I concur on all points. The money is perhaps the crucial draw. but we need to undermine the prestige of a 4 year degree in nonsense disciplines. Young women need to appreciate the lifelong value of a young man's certification in electrical or plumbing, as much as or more than a degree in transgender mating practices or entomology with specialization in wingless butterflies. Young women need to consider young tradesmen equal, and in many cases superior, to college graduates as mates. The national associations for all these skilled trades should mount mass advertising campaigns, broadcasting the substantial wages and job security attached to their endeavors. These associations should send emissaries to college fairs to lure students AWAY from the campus and into skilled trade training programs, using immediate high wages and future job stability as bait. If the universities had some sense, they would establish training programs in cooperation with these associations, guaranteeing the immediate ability of their students to house and feed themselves upon graduation. We already have too many lawyers, too many chiropractors, and a surfeit of accountants - why should all these talented people, with the discipline to endure 4 years of hard training, perform their skilled work for less because of supply and demand? Let them eat cake, by earning big money to pick up wrenches or welding torches.

@johnch - Good to see that you have grown up! Leaves more toys for the rest of us infants.

Yes, you are like me - you want to have some driving time yet this season. I totally see your point - it would never be convenient to stop in and check on progress, which is a big advantage. I let the shop in Georgia (I am in Michigan) rebuild my Lola, but I heard from several individuals, plus all internet sources, that these guys have been great for two generations. In fact, the fellow who sold me the car recommended them. And the GA shop knew my car, when for every other mechanic in the world it would be a learning experience. But problems may yet develop, irrespective of all my research, and I am 12 hours distant. Regarding local shops, I am sorry to report that proximity is no guarantee of success. I was once attempting to rebuild a Marcos GT. I took the V6 motor and all my new parts, sourced with great difficulty in the pre-internet days, down to a well-regarded local repair shop. Almost a year later, they returned only a majority of the parts, loose in a single large box, weeks before declaring bankruptcy. I sold it as a project car, and have not included it in my signature because I never got to drive it, except into my shop. Here's some images of the same car, though not my example. Jem Marcos was responsible for a beautiful design. Very nearly the price of an XKE at that time, but much bittier and with a far more pedestrian powerplant. The performance and sultry curves were similar, though:

@slowdude - You said you were looking for Caterham service in NY. Did you try Time Machines? Their website is https://timemachineauto.com/ Time Machine never performed any work for me, but they did provide parts and (I believe) service to my last Caterham before I bought it. That car was the most beautiful Super Seven I have ever personally seen, and actually won an award for me at a concours, the single such automotive attainment in my lifetime. While I was searching to buy a Caterham, I had the proprietor quote a new one, and his price was precisely in line. Nice guy, too. This was a few years back now, and his name eludes me, so can't help you there. Here's a few images of that gorgeous Caterham. I do not believe there are any additional carbon fiber components available than were already mounted on the car. When I first laid eyes on it, I told the owner it was a work of art, he should keep it, drain the fluids and mount it on the living room wall:

@Croc - I forgot to endorse your observations regarding the sole ability of dealership mechanics to "remove and replace". Check this: On the way home from the grocery store, one of the control units in my Alfa Romeo 4C shut down 3 of 6 tranny gears. I took it to the first dealer. Turns out my trans got low on oil because a gasket case seal had developed a leak. Cost of repair: $12,000, including a full transmission replacement!!! Of course, I exploded. After all nearby displays were re-erected and the staff got up off the floor, they explained that Stellantis does not recommend opening the transmission for any reason, no matter how minor the problem. This was confirmed by several other dealers. Thus, a leaky seal costs $12,000 to repair. A single cracked gear - $12,000. A baulky synchro - $12,000. You get the picture. Nobody has been trained anywhere by corporate to open these units. As these cars age, I expect to hear more frequent complaints regarding this training deficiency from other unfortunate owners. Myself? I started digging. I began with transmission manufacturers like Tremec who build DCT's - who can rebuild them? I continued with various Alfa suppliers, until finally, Alfa9 Supply told me of a single-tech garage, whose head mechanic worked at Tremec during the days, designing the Maserati MC20 tranny and collaborating on the C8 unit. Unbelievably, his single-car garage was located not more than 20 miles from my home! I got the repair, plus a heavy-duty Quaiffe LS diff, competition clutch pack, reinforced 3rd gear, fluid change AND full readjustment of all transmission parameters for ONE-HALF the dealership cost! But I am not the ordinary purchaser, so think about all the less experienced, less resourceful, typical consumers - a $6,000 open wound in their wallets! But this is why I am keeping the car:

@Vovchandr - No to be argumentative, but what is alleged by @speedwagon, @MV8, @slowdude and @Croc involves economic fact, not political opinion. Is it a fact that insufficient numbers of Americans are seeking careers in high-paying, hands-on industries like auto repair, HVAC, plumbing, electrical, skilled carpentry and more? Is it a fact that wage inflation is being driven by this scarcity, and affecting everyone? All available evidence points resoundingly to a response of "Yes!" This includes the anecdotal evidence of individual employers like myself. When I advertise my $25 per hour jobs for carpet cleaning technicians, between 40% and 50% of the respondents have earned college degrees in race relations, government rule compliance, psychology of deviant behavior and so forth. Those degrees are investments, just like I've invested in real estate, service trucks, steam cleaning equipment and so on. However, those jobs are scarce and the degrees are earning no return. I believe our culture needs to reassess the prestige and importance we associate with these degrees. I am a great fan of lifelong education, but not intense, expensive college training that instills false hope and unmarketable skills. As a society, we should surround hands-on careers with similar or greater importance and prestige, so more young people can get to work and support themselves. This may result in the immediate and tragic unemployment of millions of mom and dads currently supporting basement kids, but somehow, I believe this adaptive senior generation will survive the challenge. To@Crocthe economic savant - The excellent shop currently rebuilding my Lola managed to lure back one employee from the earlier mass exodus. He was the best of the group, and has proven essential in maintaining operations through the dire times of labor scarcity. However, the proprietor of the business had to guarantee an annual wage increase of more than $25,000 and full payment of all college costs, as the employee has decided to later seek employment in healthcare. All this money requires no extra work from the employee. And all the other new hires are being paid at similarly elevated rates. As a result of labor scarcity and expense, the shop has had to turn away profitable work, and raise its hourly repair rate by nearly 30%. Guess who pays for this inflation? Check your local mirror for candidates. Is it true a CO repair shop is offering $5,000 per week plus up-front relocation expense for experienced mechanics??? I should have attended the College of Car Repair! To@Crocthe wiseacre - I am not a "squillionaire" - not even a billionaire, even as these become as common as chestnuts in the vicinity of fireplaces. And I narrowly avoided a six-figure wedding, despite my daughter. I made the essential error of telling her she could choose any location desired for her reception, depending on the upbringing we had provided to temper her tastes. Instead, she required only about three nanoseconds to select the area's most voluptuous venue, dooming me to egregious expense. It was only because my wife assumed the duties of wedding planner that I escaped that six-figure total, and possible need to sell a car, oil painting, sculpture, remaining child, or various body parts. God bless the practice of marrying up! And - weirdly - I am still proud that I am giving my daughter this massive sendoff. After my father-in-law paid for our wedding (37 years ago), I made it my purpose to do the same for my daughter. It appears I will succeed, despite the attempts of my sports cars to intervene and abscond with all my money.

Time for another post in this thread. Finally, I heard some good personal car news. I am still self-employed and earning money in my seventies, in exchange for my wife's imprimatur regarding my small collection of three sports cars. Well, I've had work all spring and summer, but except for a few brief weeks with my Alfa 4C, I've had ZERO sports cars available for use - all of last winter's projects have dragged on ad nauseum, and then my Alfa lost its DCT tranny in mid-summer and is now also under repair. I just heard that my Porsche 935 tribute should be ready by next Friday, and a similar finish date is projected for the 4C. The Lola T70 Spyder, which remained in Georgia for a total rebuild, will likely be ready around the end of September, but my daughter is getting married in mid-October, and the wife has forbade any long-distance road trips in proximity of the big date. And I am loathe to have the car transported without examining all the work first, so I have no idea when I will climb behind the wheel of that monster. It might seem like I bit off more than a reasonable mouthful when I outlined the projects, but that is not necessarily the case. Fate applied vice grips to the Atlanta, Georgia labor market for high-performance and racing mechanics, right in the middle of my Lola project. As a consequence, my well-regarded, second-generation shop lost every mechanic to the allure of self-employment. My proprietor warned them of the hazards, and the business they collaborated to form is already shut down and closed. But it has taken several months for my proprietor to rebuild his staff, and my Lola project will have stretched out to a year, compared to the original projection of 6 months. The 935 is under repair locally, and was nearly complete about 6 weeks ago, awaiting only its BBS E26 magnesium wheels from refinishing. That work was rejected, and a shop found to rescue the wheels. Fortunately, they now are now so gorgeous, I am tempted to mount them on the family room wall, so perhaps all's well that ends well. It looks like I will have cars in advance of the fall color tours, but likely no track days until 2024. C'est la vie! (Car pix from happier days. The Lola is actually a sister car of mine. The brake cooling ducts in my car are not blocked by auxiliary lights, as is the case with the car below:)

I tried turning down the tip with a BDA-powered Cat, but blasting the soundwaves down onto the asphalt did not provide significant improvement according the DB meter. Sound is sneaky - it reflects everywhere and often defeats efforts to redirect it. A true R500-quality side-exit muffler, or a muffled rear-exit exhaust, are the best solutions. If @Cueball1's tracks are urban tracks with noise limits, an R500-quality side exhaust will provide an attractive and effective solution (IMO, Sevens look best with side exhausts). I also used a Super-Trapp tip for a while, which has the advantage of easy removability, but the car lost power, and when I removed the tip, it was obnoxious around town.

Quercitin is a terrific natural nutriment remedy for tinnitus. Also helps remediate high blood pressure, fights cancer and many other benefits. About 2 grams per day is an ordinary adult does (1,000 mg morning and night). Here's an article on the subject: https://treblehealth.com/quercetin-and-tinnitus/#:~:text=Quercetin is a vasodilator%2C which,may help support your hearing. I've used plugs and quercitin for years to protect both my hearing and health. I've been around loud cars and power machines for decades, and the last hearing test I took, the audiologist stated I have the hearing of a teenager. Of course, genetics could play a part, and perhaps the teenager he was referencing was an acid-rock head-banger. In any case, quercitin is cheap if you purchase the NOW brand, and there are no negatives - it can only help.

To extend Anaximander's points: I wear the same foam ear protectors to bed every night. Quiet sleep is better sleep, and the I believe eight hours of silence every night helps reverse some of that cumulative ear damage cited by Anaximander. Use that trick of rolling the plugs in one drop of hand or skin lotion before insertion. Treated plugs insert and stay in place without chafing, plus the lotion makes them more efficient at reducing sound.

@mrmustang- a very kind offer. Can't figure out the proportions of your new garage from the image, but it looks up to 2 cars deep and 2.5 to 3 cars wide - room to both park and work. I may be in Georgia in several weeks, to pick up my Lola. If so, we will spend a few days in NC to visit my wife's brother. Maybe the wife will give me a few hours to visit you, if it is not too far off our required path. You could show me your collection and I could show you the Lola. I'll contact you when I know more. Thanks again!

Exciting moments! Your car is indeed a looker. SOUND. Your are on the right track (pardon the pun) in targeting sound reduction. Most urban tracks today are very fussy regarding decibel levels, with the heightened conversation level of 72 in force at some. A friend of mine produced a series of carbon fiber shrouded resonators for Caterhams that very successfully dampened the sound, while looking great. The carbon fiber surround moved, so it converted some of the acoustic energy into harmless motion. You could look at that option. My Superlight was acceptably muffled with a big steel R500 unit, so that Caterham option might also suffice. My friend who built the CF resonators is unfortunately deceased, so his contact info is useless unless your windbreaker conceals a big pair of wings. Also, I have never driven any Seven, or the Lola, without foam earplugs. To prevent chafing, I roll them between my fingers with one drop of hand lotion. This practice extended to adequately muffled examples like the Superlight. SEATS AND SLIDERS. Your seat MUST be firmly anchored. If it comes loose in an accident, it could break apart and stab you, or cause you to bounce around and damage some bones and/or organs. Removing the sliders should lower your center of gravity in the car by as much as 1.5 inches, improve your center of vision in the windshield, and reduce the car weight a couple pounds. Once you know how far you need to sit back, that measurement won't change, so you won't need sliders on your side, and passengers can always sit all the way back. A subsequent owner can reinstall sliders if preferred. Sometimes, to get the full benefit of slider deletion, a different set of seats is required that can properly flush mount to the floor - you'll have to figure that out yourself. I pulled the factory seats out of my Backdraft and replaced them with fixed Cobras for all the aforementioned benefits. When I examined the factory seats, the shells were made of fiberglass, which was already cracking. In an accident, they could have caused serious damage. TRACK RE-EDUCATION. For various reasons, I was not able to attend track days for nearly 10 consecutive years. At my peak, I was running very hot laps around Waterford Hills in the advanced groups. When I returned, at Gingerman Raceway, I had to descend to the novice group. I could go very fast in a straight line, but couldn't read the turns efficiently. Track driving is NOT like riding a bicycle. Fortunately, you can reacquire your skills with a bit of sincere effort, blended with a heap of humility, and within one year I had obtained my novice SCCA competition license. Images of the R500 muffler on my Superlight:

@mrmustang Bill, I guess I am a bit opposite of you. My 935 Porsche tribute has been a two-owner, 38-year project (I still converse regularly with owner number one). I've been developing my 4C for 6 years now, and can't imagine selling it. I get your motivation, however - the world is filled with exciting cars, of which we've both owned shares (yours larger than mine), and it's glorious sampling them. You are in good company regarding 289 FIA Cobras - many consider them the purest Cobra experience. The massive engine in my Backdraft definitely dominated the driving experience. Everything is less traumatic with the 289's: You receive a more balanced sampling of the car's performance envelope, plus many folks prefer the more classical, less tumescent appearance of the slimmer 289. Speaking personally, for many years my company has maintained and operated a fleet of mundane transportation vehicles, so for most of my life I have preferred fun cars that exhibit outrageous appearance and behavior. I've never owned the larger Caterham, but having owned a similarly proportioned WCM S2K, I believe I would prefer the SV, as well. I was looking for an SV when my last Caterham, an incredible Superlight S3, came available. The car was an absolute work of art - it won my only concours award - and I enjoyed it mightily. But the tiny cockpit was engineered for more modestly framed and muscled Englishmen, and was definitely constricting. If I ever re-enter the Seven market, I, like you, will look for the right SV. Nice catching up with you!

Hello again, Bill. Though I have been graced and privileged to own and drive many cars, I admit envy at your history of working on so many. That connects an enthusiast to his vehicles in durable ways not easily reversed. Regarding your challenge to explain why so many Backdrafts are sold so quickly after purchase, I must say that my experiences and information do not support your contention. I kept mine for five years, and moved on only because two extreme, effectively topless roadsters was one too many for me, and I really wanted a new Alfa 4C coupe. I agree with your observation that Backdrafts have a different, IMO more voluptuous profile. The original Backdraft bodies were developed for racing in South Africa. The bodies were hand-bucked using a Cobra only for reference. They were so beautiful, many pleas were received to produce them, which ultimately transpired. The additional size of Backdrafts makes them a bit more practical and easier to drive, and the fuller fenders impart a bit of exoticism. Still, they are unmistakably Cobra replicas, as your examples and my preceding photos confirm. Ultimately, the choice is a matter of personal preference. I agree with you on another point: At this time, the Superformance is slightly preferred to the Backdraft, as used Backdrafts sell for a bit less than similarly-equipped Superformance Cobras. The gap is closing, however, as the following record of BAT sales will establish (the nine most recent Backdraft examples first and Superformance second):