Kitcat

Steve: Will do. For now I am just going to add 30 to whatever the gauge says:). Mike

With the mechanical gauge: cold idle 40, warmed up,on acceleration, 60, warm idle 25. And this w/the new oil pump that produces less, not more, pressure than the old unit that came w/the car. So who makes a mechanical bolt in oil-pressure gauge for a Caterham? Mike

I use a full face helmet, R3 HANS unit, 5 point belts, FIA roll-over bar, and arm restraints. When I first bought my cat, I ran it at the track just like it came to me: 3 point belts (shudder) stock roll-over bar, open face helmet. Sure glad I didn't wreck. Check coolant levels, bring an extra quart of oil, lots of water for yourself, collapsible chair, hat, sunscreen, stop watch, camera, air pressure guage. Ditto what Skip said about the bolts. Keep an eye on your gauges on the track, including the gas gauge (duh!). It is hard to remember out there amid all the excitement. Watch your mirrors as you learn the car and come up to speed. No one likes a slow poke holding up progress. Mike

Kinda disappointing that they don't offer a oil pressure gauge that always reads 60 pounds.That wld completely eliminate my current oil pressure issues.

Hence "FourFather" ???? Mike

The latest GRM (Oct 2010) has a nice article about Michael Dougherty's "Wounded Warrior Project" with NASA. Thru it, wounded veterans come to the track, have lunch, watch the racing, meet the drivers and then spend 30' riding in their dream car, piloted by a NASA instructor. Nice photo of Michael, as well as a group of veterans next to the "HyperFest girls". Nice discussion of his passion for racing se7ens as well. A very positive article for a very positive project.

Tom-my mechanical "skills" are limited mostly to checking the dipstick to see if the engine has adequate oil (it does). The new pump was added by my trusty mechanic, who was baffled (no pun intended). So someone else will have to offer thots and theories on my oil pump conundrum. I will have the actual pressure accurately measured next week and we'll go from there. Once all is resolved I will post an update here. Mike

New pump = lower pressures, not higher(:. Next step-get an accurate measurement of actual oil pressure as BBall's theory is looking more plausible.

Agreed value-in my case $22K. My history w/SF has been excellent: #1-A co-driver wrecked my Miata whilst we were auto-x'ing. SF paid everything, even tho I explained how accident occurred. #2-My 1 year old Accord w/12K miles and a few dents was caught in a flood and totaled. SF paid $1K more than the purchase price of the car (I had made a good deal and apparently book value was above what I paid). #3-My son wrecked our dented, beater, high-mileage mini-van. I had ck'd value and it looked like abt $2K tops, SF paid me $5K.

My umbrella policy covers everything, its w/State Farm.

I e-mailed the seller and got a response that said, well, there are SOME real Caterham parts in it, but a lot is home-built (including everything I noted above). Al, you are so right. I have spent a small fortune, making my used Caterham right, post-purchase (fixing stuff that didn't work, upgrading to my spec, etc.). I am still doing it, in fact, tho the money flow has slowed considerably, a mere 3+ years out. In hindsight, it might have been cheaper to buy new or, at least, not as used. Mike

Doesn't seem to be a Caterham, fenders (front/rear) aren't right, hood doesn't fit, etc. Looks a lot like a home built se7en, tho I am no expert.

My rides of neighborhood kids to their schools are "legendary":)! Many happy faces, screen saver photos etc. I have a bunch of very twisty , empty park roads close to where I live, so the path to school detours thru them (Planting the seeds for the next generation of se7em ownership). Also gave a ride to an occasional visitor here who sent a note recently saying he is now building a Birkin he'd just bought from Dick Brink.

Twobone-Really love the look and as long as you are running a full screen it should be enough. But if ultimate protection is your goal, why not a full face helmet? BTW-why Twobone (and not three bone, for instance)? Kitcat (Kit Caterham)

You definitely nailed the experience! The Crossflow has its shortcomings (modest power, lousy gas mileage) but it takes a back seat to no engine when it comes to the glorious sound it produces: it just makes you want to run up and down the RPM range all day long. And it crackles and pops and snarls and you start to feel you are in a no-holds bar race car.

There was a photo here somewhere a while back of an undercut deer that landed in the windshield of a se7en, a Caterham, I think. The windshield was buckled and bowed but provided sufficient protection so that the driver, unlike the deer, was uninjured. I think it came up in one of our periodic discussions abt the pros and cons of using a Brooklands screen (this was, of course, a con).

If the mirrors are adjusted right, the HANS isn't an issue on the track. I don't think it wld be a plus on the street for me tho, because I do a lot of scanning for distracted drivers, hidden cops, etc. With a HANS, lateral head movement is almost non-existent. Takes a ton of time to strap in with it too. Again, OK for the track but seems like a lot of work for the street. Helmet on the street is doable (tho hot). I wear ear plugs with the helmet for reduced noise. Many places make it illegal to drive a car w/helmet tho I doubt the cops will care. Never have when they have seen me. They have never complained abt my absent front license plate either.

Thx for the excuse to push on to 2000 Martin:). I am an attorney in a 3 person law office. Since it's a small operation, I am often here, metaphorically bailing water, breaking rocks and other stimulating activity. So I frequent this, and other car sites, as a break from both the tedium,and the excitement, of a bustling law practice. My firm does two types of law: we help veterans obtain disability benefits from the VA AND, we help regular folks get disability benefits from Social Security. Why do people need attorneys to get what's theirs, you ask logically? Because the laws on their behalf are not self-executing. So it helps to have an informed person on their side shepherding things along. And, as you can probably appreciate, the bureaucracy these folks deal with is not exactly user friendly. We all know of all the hassles of getting our cars registered at the BMV. Now imagine what it would be like if their rules filled hundreds of books and tens of thousands of dollars were at stake. The worst of the bunch is the VA. We have had several VA cases take 20 (Yes as in 4x5) years to get resolved, with the VA kicking, screaming, obfuscating, misleading and outright lying along the way. There you have it, and I am already 1 post closer to 2000:)> Mike

1000 posts. I am standing by in anticipation of the upgrade to my club membership, and the attendant emoluments, that automatically come to those of us who have joined this exclusive group (loose women, free horsepower, etc). Mazda are you reading this??? Obviously I have had fun. I find it a refreshing alternative to work, where (like now) I invariably am when I visit this site. Mike (shooting for 2000)

The foam pads are reusable. I get abt a month of use out of each set before I lose them and go on to the next pair. I have a set stuffed in my pocket now that have lasted this entire season. Seventy five might be a lifetime supply:).

With two long high speed sections, one ending in "roller coaster" and the other leading to turn one, the typical se7en is at a disadvantage at VIR. (Altho not when its top speed is 169.5 mph!). I'd love to know what the various se7ens speeds were in the "uphill esses". I scared myself doing 110 mph in my Evo there years ago.(So much so that I sold my Evo and bought a Prius-a brief phase of sanity ending with the purchase of my Caterham). I recently saw a comment by Randy Pobst saying he hits 145 mph thru the up-hill esses in his Porsche race car. I can not imagine it,

I saw the rest of the results and Folis Jones did a 2'19 in his Birkin and Michael Daugherty did a 2:24 in his Caterham. I know of them and their cars. What about Pete Challinor, who did a 2'11" in his '10 Caterham. Any info on Pete or his car? Se7ens were well represented with 4 entries, just behind the most popular make the 'Vette.

For $200K, I have a long list of cars I would chose before this one:).

Tom: Congrats on the new granddaughter! Don't hesitate to post a photo of the her snuggled up in the passenger seat of the Se7en:). Sounds like it's going to be a memorable trip, for many reasons, all of them good. Mike

Thx all. After calling Dave Bean, I learned the replacement pump was $80, not $750, so i ordered it. I will give it a try, if pressure doesn't move, BBall is right. If it does, and I start springing (more) leaks, Dingo is right. The engine does make nice power and if it was a really big problem, it seems unlikely that I wld have logged 27K miles. Still it makes me nervous to see 28 lbs of pressure at 6500 RPM's, after all is nicely warmed up. Mike