Kitcat

Kent 1.6L =260 lbs. Per the "engine weight" thread from a while back.

Dual axles tow straighter, not as much wiggle waggle. I had a bearing go bad on one side of my 16' dual axle and still limped home thx to intact 2nd axle. Nice when you are in the middle of nowhere @11:00pm Sunday, 200 miles from home and nothing is open anywhere. The extra length (13' vs.12')will facilitate tie down. Enclosed is nice (secure, dry, more storage), but kills gas mileage-it's like driving up a steep hill the whole way. I always try to have an extra set ot tires at track days. It is cheap insurance. When you consider cost of time off work, gas to event, motel, food, entry fee, etc, all to get to the track and discover that one tire wont hold air, it can be painful. Not to mention missing out on the fun of the track day. I have had tires get ''corded', get punctured and, as Croc faithfully and accurately recalls, punctured and wheel bent in an early lap "off". So I try to have a complete set, or at least one rear/front spare. And rain tires wld be nice too.

Thx CB, that is now the the plan.

Whist being dynoed yesterday my Birkin's alternator died. We tried putting in a stock Ford Focus alternator but it was way too big. Any ideas on what alternator Birkin uses on its Duratecs? (Call to Texas Motor Works has not been answered). Response on Yahoo Birkin forum was-take it to a Autozone and see what fits. Agreed, but was wondering if anyone knew in advance so I cld call to see if they had one in stock.

Getting car back today. Tech said ultimate hp and torque are abt the same (165 hp/150 lbs torque) but I added 8 hp and 10 lbs torque in places "below the curve". AFR's are now very safe all thru the rpm range. Also improved a cold-running driveabilty problem. Car should be very driveable and performance very robust-it was already a rocket ship!

Thx for the interest Rikker. It is listed. Here in the for sale section. Right where you commented. Feel free to buy it.

Car is back at the dyno shop today getting a nice safe "street tune''. The AFR's were a little less than ideal on the above-mentioned dyno day. Then, once I get back from vacation in mid April, I will get serious about selling this car again. There have been inquiries off and on over the winter but nothing serious yet. I plan to drop the price a coupla thosand and make it more tempting. Will put on E-Bay also. Someone is going to get a pretty amazing car at an excellent price (IMHO:)). Some have asked about the top. All I can say is it has one in a box, ditto doors. Since I never put it on, I have no idea how it fits, if all snaps are in place etc. The "build photo diary" shows it with the top up but I cant swear its really ready to be driven that way. Like all things se7ish, I suspect some fettling will be needed. One prospective buyer from Calif was very surprised to learn that sale of the car would not include my Ohio plates so he cld drive it in Calif. Thus buyers be forwarned, title, licensing, and insurance issues are for you to resolve, I just supply the (amazing) car.

Very nice! What engine is that? Maybe a random orbital polisher with various levels of polish would restore the faded aluminum polish? I have one from Griot's garage and the results have been almost miraculous on old, dead paint (all my alu is painted so no experience there).

She definitely ''added Lightness".

Tom: I think VII is available:).

Thx Croc: I used your link just now to reserve a room at the track: $258 for the 2 nites. Worth it for the convenience but ya get a lot more motel for that at H. Inn Express, etc. The track map does not do Lightning justice. The elevation changes add so much that does not appear in the two dimensional representation. Turns one and five are blind uphill turns to the right (you go up and turn right without being able to see where the track goes) Start slowly and memorize where track will be when you ''land" on the other side. Add speed incrementally. Easy to gain lots of time here (especially on 5 as it leads to a straight) as confidence/knowledge rise. The easy-does-it approach throws away a lot of time but, nonetheless, stay in your comfort zone. The 2-3-4 turn sequence is the easiest to get wrong but once ya got it (if you do) yer much faster than almost everyone there except other se7ens. Those twisties really, really reward our nimble little cars (see ya Mr 'Vette). I like going into turn 2 a bit slow and way up on the outside curb then drive as "straight" as possible thru 3-4 using maximun amounts of curb (cars go faster in a straight line:)). This leaves you well positioned way left into turn 5's blind right uphill turn. My goal is to drop the hammer as soon as possible here leading into the ensuing turn 5 downhill which is gentle right bend (called turn 6) into the next straight. If you start accelerating as soon as you crest the top of 5 (or ideally a bit before )then you are accelerating down hill and all the way to the next turns braking zone (see you Mr GTR). If you hit the apex at ther top of 5 just so, your acceleration will cause your car to drift to the left (Arrggh, I'm slding off the track!!!!!) and it will just catch at the outside left of the track, just before you slide into oblivion and you can just keep 'er floored. I consider any part of the track where I can run flat out to be a straight. So turn 6, in our cars, is a ''straight" If you are lifting here, you are losing time. Turn 7. Who knows? It's a sharp left hander that I have never, even one time, felt that I got right. it's a very shallow ''down hill". In my car my entry speed is 2nd fastest on the track so poised, firm, but not drastic braking helps. I try to have all my brakling done here before turning the into the sharp left. Then I try to accelerate thru the apex and thru the uphill hump that is turn 8 without lifting. If you follow the classic line and get left over the hump you can get light and spin (Done it). So, following the advice of an istructor, I stay more to the right here as the hump is less drastic, then move over to the left to set up for the huge, bowl shaped right hand tunn 9. Turn 9. What fun, many different ideas abt how to do it right. Most seem to agree that it's best to start slightly to the right of the center as you enter 9 at the high side of this right handed bowl. Then acccelerate down, down, down to the apex at the far right at the very bottom of the bowl. Lift if you have to to scrub off a bit of speed to let the car drop down to the apex (if you brake, that works too but costs a ton of time). Force your eyes to look down to the turn 9 apex as you initiate your turn into 9 (dont just know where you want to enter nine, know where you want to go once you are in turn nine by looking down at the distant apex to the right at the bottom of ther bowl in advance). As mentioned, if you have to sacrifice a little speed to get way down to the apex do so (your car's momentum will want to keep you high in the bowl and far from the apex way down below). If you hit that apex just right (rare for me), you can run flat out all the way to the braking zone to turn 1. And if you have your wheel turned just right as you hit the apex, you can keep the wheel pointed exactly like that all the rest of the way thru the back 1/2 of turn 9 and up to the top of the bowl again and onto the front straight, where you can finally straighten your wheel, clear your head, and start drifting back left to set up for the blind right hand turn 1. I typically hit 115-120 mph at the end of this straight. The big boys (Croc/Blubarex) can hit 125-130 mph, and motocycle guys say they hit 180 mph there!. And repeat:).

Amazing!

What abt a Stalker or an Ultralight? They have much more room than a Caterham S3 and cost the same or less. Hard to believe there are no Caterhams in the Atlant area tho.

OK, I just signed up w/TrackDaze. Kinda a PITA, some sites are user-friendly, others, like this one not so much. And much hassle w/paypal. Oh well, I am registered at least. BTW, # 7 and 77 are taken as is # 1(For wh/I humbly settled). Why is # imp? Because if it is rejected and you add a new one, there are certain boxes that must be re-checked. Round and around we go.... I signed up for the Intermediate group. I will rent one of the track side "suites" and stay right there. For folks who havent been there, the 'suites' are very basic, not close to H Inn quality, but have the advantage of being there (hard to oversleep). Typically gas and race gas is available onsite as well. There is tons of pull-thru trailer parking space and typically we get a coupla garages to park our se7ens in over nite. Tom, will the track clubhouse be open for dinners?

Congrats! And an adventure it is. How are you getting it to NJ/When?

YellowSS: Has a decision been made to run with TrackDaze? If so I will sign up now.

What Croc & YellowSS said-plus the "long cockpit" Caterham was an option starting in the mid '80's and became standard in the mid '90's. Wheelbase is the same. All Birkins thru today are "short cockpits". While footroom, headroom, shoulder room, etc., are the same as in a long cockpit, in the short cockpit w/seat all the way back, you sit abt 2 1/2" closer to the wheel (less arm room). While that mite not seem like much it is noticible, even for a shrimp like me. I solved it by ditching the Birkin's torture-chamber designed stock seats and going with ultra-thin Caterham seats-that restored abt 2 1/2" of missing arm room. Birkin is just now importing its own version of the larger SV,(SUV?), have not heard any reports of any getting here yet. I don't think you'd fit in a stock Birkin. And, alll Birkin and Caterham S3 owners wear skinny driving shoes, or just socks, even me and my 8 &1/2" shoe size.

Maybe post up another pic of the original Birkin design (wherein, the spare tire bolt was perfectly positioned to pierce the gas tank upon contact:)). Another thread has just gone active again on adding a flashing brake light bar on the roll over hoop. Do you have something like that? Any theories on why those bozos have been rear ending you? You ought to send your design to Birkin/Caterham-it makes a ton of sense. I hate heim joints: clack, clack, clack,....

Sorry, he deliberatly (I hope) mispells his name in his e-mail address, which I didnt notice. Try: doernbergr@aol.com (leave the e out of berger so it's bergr).

ER: Both Track Daze and SCDA have a Novice section, complete w/classroom instruction and in-car instruction. It allows new drivers the opportunity to learn the track at their own pace and not be thrown in w/a bunch of Kamakasi-style drivers brandishing broomsticks at slowpokes (like Croc does:)). As noted above, Lighting is a simple track to learrn (not to master but to at least figure out what direction the next turn points). Since your instructor will ride with you, you need saftey belts and (usually) arm retraints for him/her as well as for you. I did this many times in my Caterham and also let the instructor drive. An additional bonus is experienced se7en participants are usually willing to take passengers and you will learn from that as well. We all started like you, with zero track experience and taking baby steps with an instructor. Key is to check your ego at the gate (I just cant let that Yugo pass me), take your time, and slowly get comfortable with what is, initially, a very foreign atmosphere. Hope you can make it, I guarantee you will leave a better driver, and will have fun to boot.

Per advert at back of this month's SporstCar magaizine (SCCA's official publication). Described as 2011 SCCA GLD Championshiop (Great lakes Division?) winning car. Also described as having a "new Chima (Craig?) built Arch Motors chassis with SVT drivetrain and Penke suspension". Call 216-276-2652 and ask for Bob Doernberger, or e-mail him at doernberger@aol.com. No price mentioned. Unpainted alum w/black nose and sporting race car #7, of course. No affiliation ,etc.

BMW did a similar used car ad with a different sexy lady and the exact same tagline:"You know you are not the first, but do you really care?"

Tonight 300 million Americans will be subject to yet anther government mandate! This time he's confiscating one entire hour from each of us. Apparently it's some kind of liberal, do-good theory to supply more daylight. Hey, if we wanted more daylight we could move, we dont need the govenrmet doing our thinking for us. Of course he claims the govenrment will give the hour back "later". Just like him to kick the can down the road and put the burden on our grandchildren. Where are Ted Cruz and Rand Paul when we really need them? Souldn't they be filibustering or something? Sarah, are you out there??? (apologies to today's NYTimes).

Name calling aside, I think one of the points of the original poster was the tax burden is unevenly distributed. Some with mega-wealth pay a much smaller tax % than working- stiffs like me (my combined state, local, fed, FICA, Medicare marginal rate is 45% of gross). Others, much richer than I, pay 4.5%. Whether the gummit really needs so much $ is a separate issue.

I noticed that the Texas Motor Works site has some detailed photos of the Superchager installed on their "Isotope" green Birkin ($54K, for a v lovely car).