Kitcat

I will be happy to be wrong, but I have a bad feeling abt this. I am afraid that, somewhere along the line, little Caterham will be sacrificed for some greater purpose, or run intro the ground, or that the purity of the product will be watered down. Perhaps the April 2011 new car announcement (diesel engine, etc., was not in jest after all().

I am not sure I will like my car in yellow, even with those nice wheels . Thx, actually they look great , as hoped. BTW; that Cat seems to have a lot more sky between the tire and front fender, than mine does.

Tom: Any improvements noticed w/the Brooklands (top end/acceleration, etc)? Mike M.

Wow! Fun! That little Ariel Atom pulled like a freight train. Used all the track too. Looked like you had him in the corners but on the straights he was gone. And there is a lot of straight on that course. Is that the track we are using for the June NJMP meet-up? If so, I may need to add a supercharger:). BTW, you drive better when you are trying to catch the guy on front of you-better lines, more aggressive throttle, etc. I just bought a Go-Pro. I liked the simplicity of the package. Apparently sound quality sucks, tho, we'll see. Your sound was terrific.

Thx guys! The valve cover is cork and probably original. I will call Dave Bean for a replacement. I never vent any oil/gunk into the catch-can at the end of the breather tube, even after a hard track day. But, if I use thin oil or overfill the oil, the excess is pumped out the vented oil filler cap onto the engine and windshield. Sort of sounds like the breather tube is non- functional. If I use appropriate weight oil (20-50), and don't overfill, I have no issues.

Dick Brink doesn't respond to e-mails. I bought my car from someone else while waiting to hear back from him on an e-mail I sent. Years later I talked to him and he said:"Oh right, that website email address doesn't actually work, I need to get it fixed." Don't know if he ever did. He is a very nice guy and very knowledgeable abt Birkins and Caterhams. If I were in the market for a new se7en, I'd look hard at the Birkin. They sell for $10-15K less than a Caterham, similarly equipped. Also come with IRS, unlike the Cat's.

They are the same size as my Prisoner wheels and the tires are actually narrower than my RA1's. Since my RA1's are now bald, they will be my dry weather tires. Karl's will be my wet weather set. After all the tire discussion here, it will be interesting to do my own mini-comparo. Stay tuned. Mike M.

Assuming they will fit my Caterham, I will purchase. Mike

There is a primo used Caterham SV in the for-sale section of this site for $36K. It's a steal IMHO (Full Disclosure, I am pals w/seller but it's still a steal).

I have long had lots of smoke off my engine once warmed up. Sitting at traffic lights, the white stuff floated up between my cooling vents and looked almost like a radiator hose issue.I have always assumed it was oil/grease burning off, and it was never bad enough to really look into. Yesterday I had some extra time so I got it warmed up and tried to see where it was all coming from. Turns out it is being pumped out of the valve cover (rocker cover) gasket. It stopped the instant I turned off tho motor, even tho it was still hot enough to burn any spilled oil, etc. So, in no particular order, my (dumb) questions are: 1] Is it serious; 2] Is it a simple matter of tightening the fasteners that hold it in place? 3] If # 2 is the solution, any one know what size allen wrench to tighten the valve cover on a crossflow, (5mm is too big, 4mm too small), and what the torque shd be? 4] If I need a new gasket, any one have a recommendation? 5] Any tricks-warm up engine 1st, use stickum on one side of the gasket, both sides, etc? Mike M.

I run RA1 205's all around. Steering is very heavy when parking, at speed it is fine. I have the maximum caster as well wh/also makes the steering heavier.

This is a long shot, but: Is there a chance that it is a mechanical problem caused by g-forces on the the track? In other words, something that looks normal in the pits but, under load, is distorted. Classic example on my and other Cats was worn engine mounts allowing engine to rotate enough on the track to cause the air cleaner to carbs to make contact w/bonnet, cause air leak and screw w/A/F ratio and hence coughing, spluttering etc. I know you don't have carbs but maybe something similar is occurring if engine is moving around?

Jeez, Skip, sorry to hear abt the med conditions! For a non-gearhead, like me, 80 hours on wiring sounds like pure torture. Mike M.

80-C: Great story! A friend bought a used one after we got out of college, in '68, for $5K. Luckily he still has it. I think it is his retirement plan.

Skip: You make it sound so easy:). Didn't you spend around 70 hours just sorting out the wiring? BTW-I agree, yours is one of the nicest se7ens. I love the color, attention to detail and of course, that thing is "all motor."

Worn rubber motor mounts are a known problem area on Caterhams. Replacing them every coupla years is a good practice.

Croc: All the mentioned hoses have been replaced- after they failed:). Only hoses left were the heater hoses, wh/have now failed. And the oil cooler hoses. I will quit tempting fate and replace them now as well. Mike M.

Pretty much the same spec as my '97.

And the men are total wimps, at least this sorry loser is.

My Cat has sprung a heater hose leak that has grounded me. Its one of the two, short, angled hoses the enter the heater box. Since my car is 14 years old, maybe 10 years wld be a safe time to routinely replace these? I have patched it and it's semi-functional but I wont be taking any long trips til replacement hoses are found. Mike M.

Hmmmm...... I think I can think of a certain sports car that has been even more imitated than even the Cobra:).

IF you will be on the Shenandoah Circuit, find an in-car video of a hot lap and watch it every day until you can run the course in your mind without the video. Those of us who did the track as part of LOG 30, and who never had been there before, found its 23 or so turns enormously confusing. It is hard to get the "line" right when you think the course veers right after the blind turn in, only to see it goes the opposite direction. Like driving an auto-X course w/o first walking it a few times. Tom,(Yellow SS7) can I get an "amen!"?

Sounds like a heck of a deal for a terrific car but, as you say, what do I know?

The extent of the damage and lasting effect is really staggering. Even w/the previous photos, I did not appreciate how devastating this was to CChurch.

Slow in/fast out is the preferred method. They tried fast in/not out. Hard to see what happened with the Caterham at the very end-his was the most botched of some epically botched "turns". BTW-the featured track is not NJMP.