Kitcat

It seems Caterham sells 2 types of belts and the FIA belts, with their expiration date tags, are required by many track organizers. The belts you reference may not have expiration dates on them. If not, you risk flunking inspection. Typically the bigger the organization, like Porsche Club, the pickier they are. For instance, the folks at NJMP, where we have our annual event, won't let cars on track with expired or no belts tags. Others, like the small clubs I run with in the Midwest, never check belts. To be safe, I'd say use the FIA belts. As you will discover, once assembled, it is a huge PITA to change belts out in a Caterham.

Hi Bruce: What is a ballpark price for a turnkey version of this (you supply the 310 version of the 280 Sigma 1.6 engine, and have your supplier install it and you do all of the other assembly and fettling, with no upgrades or improvements on the above spec)? Thx, Mike M.

Skip: Caterham, Morgan, Ginetta, etc., have been using the MX-5 gearbox for a few years. Apparently it was a combination of the T9 becoming scarce and the MX5 being both available and more reliable than either the T9 or the Caterham 6 sp,which I think is no longer available. I wonder who it was that first thought of using a MX-5 gearbox in a Caterham:)?

Nice to see that Croc isn't the only one having bucket list experiences. What a great write-up!

I like the custom cone-collector/storage unit combo. Original thinking. A whole lotta car for someone.

And on a se7en, that penultimate lap will be years (decades?) after you buy them. For street use or as a rain tire for track work, use them as is. If you want them to be primarily for dry track use, have them shaved (or shave them naturally with many miles of street/track use). Typically, they are shaved so that only the 2 deepest grooves remain. That should be worth 2-5 seconds a lap and 1-2 seconds on an auto-x course. But then they are useless in the rain.

Actually, I mis-spoke, they are Toyo RA1's. They are still available, AFAIK. They last forever and seem to get more grip, not less, with age. The Toyo R888Rs have become more popular than the RA1's, not sure they are better tho.

Wow, +10lbs! So what was your final cold pressure level, 28? Was it all 4 corners? I had R888's which I credit for putting me in the tire wall at Mid-O. I loved the Toyo R1's, I have a set of R888R's for the front but haven't tried them yet. They have a fairly deep tread pattern so shd be good in the rain.

Shane, we bald guys never turn down a chance to add hair:)! But, I think your daughter was actually the one who put it on my head. The apple didn't fall far...., etc. Again, since much drink was involved, including Tom's 150+ proof bourbon, my memory is a little vague....

There was more than one blonde at that se7ens event who'd had too much to drink.

Lots of dubious choices here. No Jeep? No Ford Explorer (which started the SUV revolution that continues), no Dodge mini-van (which started that seismic automobile trend). The Opel GT but no 'Vettes after the C1? The lotus Elise, Morgan Trike, but no recent Mustangs or Hellcats etc., wha??? I think the Toronado was based on the same platform as the Riviera, which did make the top 100, justifiably as it helped start the whole front wheel drive trend in the US for high end cars (for a while).

So true. My old Zetec SVT engine, which made more power than my just-rebuilt SVT, now has a new, high-end oil pump. Since low oil pressure was my motivation for replacing it, I might put it back in to replace the rebuilt one. Decisions, decisions, we shall see. Of course, that still leaves me 100+ hp shy of what others here are looking for.

Thx Jim. I was unable to locate a pre-wired connector and the dealer told me there was none. But, based on your post, I just now googled some more and found a how-to-find-it guide on a Touareg forum. Who knew? The poster said it took him 4 hours to find, it was buried deep behind the dash. At least his dealer knew it existed. My bluetooth system works seamlessly. I mounted part of it on the trailer tongue and have a controller that plugs into my 12v outlet. How does it work tho? I have no idea, magic???

Blue BDA: I think you will need a coupla more feet on the trailer bed. Otherwise it will be hard to strap your car down securely. I use a chris-cross pattern with my straps each of which hooks into D rings a foot away, fore and aft. But maybe there is some tie down trick that would work? BBall's trailer is perfect for Caterhams, but is mega $$$.

Right, the slick brake controller you reference Vlad is built to plug and play. But if your tow vehicle is like mine, there is no place for the controller to plug into, even tho mine came with the optional tow package. When I explored adding one to my Touareg, VW said no, ask the trailer place. The trailer place said they knew nothing about VW wiring and wouldnt touch it. And added that my Touareg, which is rated at 7700 lbs towing, would never be able to pull the 4000 trailer/car combo I had, showing how little they knew.

Right Vlad. I have had every mechanical issue with my trailer short of fire, and was close to that once. Just keep those wheel hubs greased. And upgrade to radial tires immediately, and carry 2, not 1, spare tires, and a trailer wheel ramp for tire changes, and .... BTW, I have a spare brand new, Prodigy RF proportional trailer mounted brake controller system (model 90250) if you need one. I plugged it in once and it works as advertised. It operates via blue tooth so no wire splicing is needed. Mine has worked flawlessly for 7 years. I had to get an adapter plug so it could read the trailer signal-apparently the trailer's LED lights confused it. That adapter cost $15 maybe. My buy-it-now price is $200 including shipping, about $100 off internet price, last time I ckd.

This event prompted my decision to buy an enclosed trailer 8 years ago. The thought of the typical rush-hour take-no-prisoners traffic on I-95 pushed me into it.For the previous 4 years I had driven to all events, far and wide, and always somehow made it home. It makes life easier, tho trailer ownership its not without its own trials and tribulations.

It lives!!! Good work Tom and Croc! Things weren't looking so good for this event continuing last summer.

Got to agree with usa7 (Hey, why didn't I think of that name?). Maybe a Caterham mfg plate can purchased separately from Caterham? For whatever reason, I looked at every single above offering for USA. What an amazing collection of original Lotus 7's and their progeny, including Caterhams of multiple specs and configurations (including one with a 2 year manufacture's warranty, whatever that means), V6 and V8 Stalkers, various Birkins and even a Westfield, not to mention all of the odd-ball, wannabee se7en versions. Some very good prices as well. I find all of the original Lotus 7's very tempting, but very $$$. It is interesting, also, to see how the Caterham prices drop as the cars get newer. I guess we can thank the "hardly" Brexit for the new strength of the $ versus the pound. I wonder why that hasn't been reflected in the price of new Lotuses (Evora GT400) which sadly, continues to be way over-priced?

The fall foliage shots are great! And I think a Caterham looks better with its top up. That raked/sloping forward roof line looks a bit menacing to me and compliments the "hot rod" lines of the car. When I bought my first Cat, 12 years ago, I became fixated on the pics with the top up and had to buy it (resistance is futile...). And I discovered it did a good job of keeping the rain out, tho not so good and keeping the warmth in. Hey you cant have everything!

Sticks and stones....

Hey Croc. My rebuilt engine is an Ford Zetec SVT and Paul has the newer Ford Duratec. A SVT's power typically is about half way between a standard Zetec's 128 hp, 116 torque and the newer Duratec. My original SVT engine made around 162-ish hp, 142-ish torque, per my ever faltering memory. When I had my Duratec powered Birkin it made 165 hp and 148 Torque, as I recall. I'd love to have Paul's hp#'s, tho the dyno "grand prix" can be pretty meaningless. I remember Michael D's Zetec dynod at 220 hp, but I could always stay right with him on the straight at Lightening in my SVT. Tho, I have a 6 sp., and he had a 5 sp., so gearing wasn't identical. The Zetec SVT seems to offer a lot less potential for power than the Duratec which is a better foundation for power increases (It breaths better, spins faster, and I think it is lighter). My rebuilt SVT makes much less than my original SVT (I recently had it base- lined at the nearby chassis dyno shop), BUT, it has yet to be tuned by its builder, 1TurboFocus, aka, TurboTom. He tuned my original SVT with good results. That task on the rebuilt motor is getting closer to the top of my things to do list. I expect (hope?) the result will be similar to the original SVT engine's, but it wont scare Paul.

Very impressive, esp the torque#!

OK Paul, I will bite: what were your ultimate hp and torque #'s, post tune? Or, what were they before you had the tune, and I will do the math myself:)?

Shane: I am telling you that you need to buy the Lotus S1. First, as noted, it only weighs 880 lbs. So you would have added-lighteness bragging rights, in perpetuity. No more derisive porker/storker nicknames for you, and no more having sand kicked in your face at the beach at NJMP's paddock! Instead, you could saunter around the paddock with a superior smirk and look surprised/saddened when Caterham and Birkin owners confessed how tubby their bloated vehicles really were. And, you could add the weight of the S1 to the weight of your Stalker and honestly say that the average weight of your se7ens was the same as the Caterhams, etc, And that, on average, each se7en you owned had 2 more cylinders than the other se7ens. I dont see how you can not buy this S1!