Kitcat

Looking (very) good Bruce! That is my favorite se7en color. It will look great with the yellow nose cone. I will be interested in your build experience. It seems that the most reliable se7ens are home-built versions, where cost and time are no object. I am thinking of Mighty Mike and YellowSS for example. Dumb question: what does the "S" signify in the 310S model?

Lawyers are paid worriers. So we try to anticipate what might go wrong, not just what is most likely to go wrong. So I might substitute: "all reasonable offers will be considered." Or some such, to show that the seller retains discretion to decline low-ball offers.

Ahh, the joys of se7en ownership:)! Reminds me of my first track day in '07 in my X-flow Cat. A coolant line sprang a leak and shot a steady stream of liquid perfectly aimed at my distributor cap, with the resulting, miss, lack of power, etc. Easily remedied, as yours will be. I have to give srf86 a shout-out for the 33K miles on this se7en. We see so many with 700 miles, 1100 miles etc., after 5-10 years of ownership. Nice to see this was used and enjoyed. And as anyone who follows my occasional posts knows, I love se7ens with mileage:it's empirical evidence that they are fully sorted. No small thing! Also, the lawyer in me has to say, the "or best offer" approach is a bit risky. What if it's $1.00? Maybe say "OBO over $20K", or some other reasonable reserve etc? Or list it on BAT where it will bring $29K:)!

Maybe Croc will chime in, he's the pricing expert. The wild card is build quality. Who assembled it, and are they trustworthy? Related is the mileage. Low mileage cars are suspect in my opinion as this suggests the car was non-operational a lot of the time, hence the eventual sale. More miles often means it has been fully fettled and can actually be driven home. That is a very high spec Caterham and in in my semi-informed opinion is a $45-$55K car, assuming it is healthy and doesn't need another $20-30K of work.

Brightonuk: Have you figured out a solution to the possible oil starvation issues that sent you on your recent engine rebuild adventure? I saw your pix of huge, sticky Hoosiers and imagined high G-forces.

Sounds like a perfect match (and excellent price!) for someone ordering a roller Caterham or Birkin. The dry sump and Mazda 6 sp are perfect matches for Caterhams. Does the 11.3:1 compression ratio require race fuel or can it run on 93 octane?

I love that the seller of the "steam roller" V-8 special explains the sale by saying: "downsizing parents." The less we know about that the better:).

Thx Steve, we missed you at the se7ens fest at NJMP this summer!

Again, wonderful write up! And somehow I previously missed that your Stkr has clams, which I consider one of the signature features of the original se7en. The pix are great, the color is great, the trip was great and kudos to Mighty Mike for building the perfect Stalker (OK, it ties with Shane's).

I like to say that the only thing I haven't had to fix/replace on my Caterham is the battery. Of course I am kidding-sort of.... So today's question: IF I have to take my engine out again, obviously the transmission will some along for the ride. My Caterham 6 sp has been exemplary (tho not as wonderful as the battery), except that it pops of first if I accelerate in first and then lift off the gas. No big deal for a track day junkie, but it is a loose end that has bothered me. If i decided to auto-X more, which is where I discovered the issue, it would be a problem. So today's question: is this something an above average mechanic can fix, or is there someplace that folks with Caterham 6 speeds are sending their transmissions for refurbishment (on this side of the pond)?

"Somewhere west of Laramie". (The opening line of a car advert that changed advertising for ever). Looks like it is still relevant:)! Great car, great write up. So many people buy these and park them, great so see you taking it on the road. I look forward to hearing about more adventures, including total track domination???

Welcome back Al! Aren't you our president for life:)? Hard to believe you have a girl in grad school, your kids were munchkins back when I met them at Tail of the Dragon in '07. Weren't they into fencing then? Ted Wentz is THE MAN when it comes to restoring, rebuilding these engines, he is a BDG guru. Gotta love the wobblies. Don't want to brag, but I have a 21 gallon tank (Fuel Cell) in my car. Only set me back $5K to refurbish:). And I think that was just parts....

With only 700 miles in 5 years, it doesn't look to have been on the road much. Nice car, decent BIN price, assuming it was well constructed. Hillbank didn't have the best reputation.

Hypothetically (of course:)), how much $ if you assemble with 200 hp spec engine added? Is it possible to go higher than 200 hp (say a nice 2.5 Duratec)? And what spec/cost is the gearbox: 5 sp T9? Miata 5 sp? Caterham 6 sp, if you supply/install? And speaking of rainy days, and things going wrong: does it include top, side curtains, spare tire, horn, turn signals, windshield, wipers etc., etc.? Gotta say: I love the BRG+ Brooklands lurking in the background!

Thx Sloanie! Croc is the master decoder and, as far as I can tell, no one knows more about Caterhams than he. But I enjoy hanging out at BAT and commenting on occasion: it's one of my retirement hobbies:). I continue to learn more about Caterhams there-like how the "long cockpit" Cat was developed, I literally had it backwards.

A very basic '98 Caterham just sold on BAT for $23250 (+5% commission). It had a 4sp, live rear, drum rear brakes, 100 hp 1600cc X-flow. Not Dedion, not 1700 cc X-flow w/35 more hp, not 5 sp overdrive, etc. Cars of this spec were selling for $16K when I started looking (11 years ago). Everyone wanted the high hp, high spec versions. There were nearly 700 people watching the sale and it had 12K views. That's a lot of attention.And this is an excellent price. IF I ever sell mine, BAT will be the venue.

They just keep coming (Croc, anything you want to say:))?

Thx Croc, I like that they have it in my size....

We have really been under assault! I appreciate how hard the admins are pushing back. Keep it up guys!

Per a thread on a Camaro forum, Chevrolet recommends 15w50 for track use of ZL1 Camaros because the thicker oil doesn't slosh around as easily and the engine will, therefore, be less likely to experience oil starvation in high-G track sections. I hadn't thought of that issue. They recommend changing back to 0w40 for road use after every track event (right:)).

Yes pix (incl of dyno sheet:)). Interesting that a '13 Birkin has a Zetec, I guess the build was started earlier than '13? Birkin switched to Duratecs in '09 or so. Does it run on pump gas with 11.25:1 compression ratio? What is a quick-shifter kit(shorter throws?). All cool stuff.

Wish I could, but the 1300 mile round trip pulling a trailer limits my visits (most years:)) to one trip to NJMP. Look forward to hearing if the wildshield delete adds top speed to your Cat. It made a 5-7 mph difference on the straight at Lightening in my little X-flow powered Cat, years ago, not sure your mighty Duratec will notice its absence? YellowSS is a regular, so I wouldn't be surprised if he made it. Croc seems to be a very busy man these days, tho not so busy that he can't tour the grand tracks of Europe. Maybe Jeff or Simon? They are also members. But their cars may be both getting hp infusions so as to stay closer to your se7en:). Ya never know. Myself, I like having a hp deficit as an excuse for not being super competitive. (It's pretty fast: for a Zetec, etc.)

That is interesting and seems counter to conventional wisdom. Although my highly stressed, 4.0 BMW V8 used 10 quarts of 10w60. Maybe they knew something? The hp differences here are pretty minuscule, tho every pony counts. Perhaps the difference in the test is in the additives put in by the oil mfg, not the weight? Best test wld have been different weights from same mfg. My mechanic swears by Schaeffer oil, which rated 2nd best in the test, next to the Klotz (wh/I have never heard of). I would have loved to have seen Redline oil tested. This seems like a great topic for Grassroots Motorsports Magazine to explore.

As I recall, the last time this came up here the solution was to Google motorcycle mirrors and choose from the hundreds of motorcycle mirror options (complete with arms/stalks:)). At least for side mirrors. Yes, you still have to attach them, but drilling thru the Caterham's aluminum and attaching a washer on either side (or just on the inside inside) seemed to work reasonably well.

No experience selling but I am a near-daily visitor to that site. Typically, they have Caterhams but other se7ens sell there as well. IMHO, the best place to sell a Caterham as they tend to go for $5K-10+K more than my semi-informed opinion suggests they should. Take lots of pictures. Even better, hire a photographer or use a friend who loves photography. That can add many thousands of $'s to the final price. So many great cars are shot with the photographer's image reflected in the photo, which is set in the driveway, in poor light, next to the garbage cans. In other words, the car is presented in the worst possible way to generate $ and interest. Since your car is in unassembled kit form that makes the photos that much more challenging.