Black Hole

The area around the MA NY state line was fantastic. I had never driven in that area and Paul took a great route. Highly recommended for anyone in the area

It was a great drive, but amazingly the trees are green. Normally CT and MA would have a lot of fall color by October 7th. The Toymaker is named after the owners other business, restoring Triumph bikes. On Sundays the place is bursting with bikers, but they did allow my Caterham in. Serious corned beef hash:

Here is a photo of the cart participants from Friday afternoon. Obviously taken before the event as they are all still cool and smiling http://www.usa7s.net/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=12946&stc=1

Thanks for the kind offer, now that I know what the correct bolt is it will be very easy to get some.

Good luck on your repair! Since I will be autocrossing my car your experience has convinced me to go the nylon bolt route. Do you know the size of the bolts that secure the wings. Thanks

I also want to thank everyone for making this a great weekend. Especially to Tom and Mike for the effort they put into creating a fantastic event. This morning I made the return 250 mile trip home in my Caterham and with light traffic and reasonable temps it was a very nice morning drive. I really want to thank everyone for their encouragement, support and consideration in getting me out of the novice and into the 7s group for Sunday. Special thanks to Dave for kindly offering to be my guide during my first 7s session on Sunday morning which allowed me to follow his line and keep my eyes open for the screaming red cars zipping past me. This was my first track day and the on track and off track experiences were all fantastic.

I might as well extend this thread. I did my first AutoX in the 7 this weekend (I have done about 8-10 in my Cayman). Of course I had a lot of fun, though it was frustrating because they had computer issues and the morning was really slow. My experience was I loved the transitions but I certainly had lots of understeer and some oversteer. Likely it was just my driving and I need to learn and understand the car. But a couple of questions My car is a 2009 SV with CR500 195/45-15. The car is "new", I got it with 900 total miles and I have added another 900. So the tires are not worn but they are pretty old. They look OK (i.e. no dry rot or other deterioration) but could they be beyond life? I ran the manual recommended 18 psi. Checked after a run and I believe i was at 21.5 psi. I did not play with the pressure but concentrated more on my driving, what is recommended hot psi for these tires on a 7? And to my surprise I was not the only Caterham. A brand new 620R showed up!

Some potential stops close to where I live in Hartford that are mostly in the Berkshires in Western Ma - Saratoga Auto Museum just north of Schenectady. Saratoga is famous for horse racing and the spa waters. Check if they have an interesting show - Stockbridge Ma - famous of Alice's Restaurant and Norman Rockwell - There is a Rockwell museum, but I have never been. Classic New England town - Hancock Shaker Village in Pittsfield, MA - very cool - Tanglewood in Lenox, MA - home of the Boston Symphony in the summer - I don't think you will hear any bluegrass!!! (outdoor concerts with a covered "shed") - Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, MA - close to me and never been! Drive by it on the highway all the time. - Lime Rock Park - in the NW corner of CT. Beautiful area, beautiful track, celebrating 60 years in 2017. Home of John Fitch and Sam Posey

Lego owners handbook -190 pages Caterham owners handbook - 46 pages :rofl: And to be fair, the Caterham Assembly Guide is about 220 pages

Thanks, I do not think I have any temperature spikes (at least it does not register on the gauge) but I will look at the coolant cap and likely just replace because it is so cheap.

God idea on the paper towel wrap. I will try that once driving season starts up. I thought about just buying a new cap as that is cheap but checking it may be smarter. Thank you

That looks like a good solution for the AutoX or track

Correct, the cap is the pressure cap. Your comment about coolant coming out of the vent hole of the pressure cap is what I am thinking may be happening. I would expect many people to see this issue on the Caterham if that is the case. Here is a picture that show the upper hose from the tank to the back of the cylinder head to route coolant if the expansion tank is full. http://www.usa7s.net/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=12041&stc=1 Some pictures of the cap. Standard Ford cap. I did not find where the air vents from The only location I can determine is it vents from between the concentric rings outside the threaded area. The cap is ratcheting when you put it on so the outer to do this and top is separate from the area with the threads. And is the venting bringing the coolant with the pressurized air and then condensing in the compartment? Certainly the higher the level in the expansion tank the more likely it is to do this http://www.usa7s.net/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=12042&stc=1 http://www.usa7s.net/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=12043&stc=1

I have never seen this, so thanks for the tip.

Yes, I have penciled in NJMP for this summer. Hopefully that pesky work thing won't get in the way but I hope to travel much less next year. I may need to elevate the front to get a better bleed but I still need to understand why there is some coolant outside its designated location within the engine.

Yes I do have a heater on the scuttle and thought about air being in the system. I *think* the expansion bottle is higher but there certainly may be air in the system. Good idea on the Tee fitting and filling from there. In the Caterham build manual they advise adding coolant into the upper heater hose at the location it connects to the heater valve to minimize the amount of bleeding required. I don't know what George did at Mid-Atlantic when he built the car and that is why I suspected air in the system the first time I added coolant.

Thanks. I'll take a look but the pump is low on the engine and I am seeing droplets of coolant on the valve cover and the overflow reservoir. I think it would be unlikely to get in front of and high above the water pump? Unfortunately I don't live in warm CA, but in CT with 8" of snow on the ground I don't think I will get a driving test soon

Thanks. Yes, that is one possibility that would explain the fluctuations but I am still finding the droplets in the engine bay. The droplets may just be small amounts and not actually causing the requirement to add fluid.

With 8" of snow now on the ground we can officially state the Seven season has ended in CT. From receipt on Oct 12th until Thanksgiving day (the last time I drove it before heading out on a business trip) I was able to put on 7-800 miles I was able to breeze through my second inspection at CT DMV in literally five minutes. I was able to register the car as a 1967 Lotus 7 replica. I have historic plates and will not have to pay the dreaded CT property tax on cars. High points Car is a blast to drive as expected. The way it transitions is phenomenal and the delta experience from my other cars is extreme. I sold my Elise after seven years and 28,000 miles and purchased a Cayman R. Great car (overall a better car than the Elise) but I missed the Lotus so I decided to take it up a notch and get the 7 and keep the Porsche. The Elise is closer to the Cayman than the 7 is to the Elise. Interestingly the cars represent a nice weight progression. The Elise is 50% heavier than the 7 and the Cayman is 50% heavier than the Elise. Power wise my Elise and 7 are about the same and the Cayman is 2X the HP and 2X the torque. Issues are less than expected for a hand built car. I may have a coolant issue (thread started to get feedback), low oil pressure seems to be cured with a change to 5W-50 oil and I resolved the immobilizer issue. No other problems noted. My wife got a nice long trip in the car on a day in the 40-50 degree range. She liked having a convertible again and seems open to more drives. Heat works better than expected. I have driven the car in the low 30s and I was not uncomfortable at all. I put the roof on for storage for the winter and drove the car to where it is parked. I did not mind the roof (felt kinda cozy) and can now say I can actually get in and out with the roof on Low points Good news is there really are no significant low points. My least favorite part of the car is the seats. My last three cars have all had fantastic seats (M3 with Darth Vader, the Elise fit me well and my Porsche has the GT3 buckets that are fantastic). I got a SV and I am too skinny for the car . In the S3 i am will restrained, in this car not so much. The car came with 3-point belts that I needed to get through CT registration. I will install harnesses and that should significantly help. I think the extra space of the SV is a good trade as I am mostly using it for fun drives and while I fit in an S3, it is certainly tight. 1st gear. Need I say more as the gearing of the 5 speed is certainly not optimized for the 7. Car also does not have a LSD so we will see how that goes when I AutoX. Car has a tricky (race?) clutch. Not so much fun driving in bumper to bumper traffic. Thank you all for the info I have received to get me here.

I am troubleshooting a potential issue with my coolant system of my 2.0L Duratec powered Caterham. Any insights would be helpful. Background - noticed drops of coolant in the engine bay but no significant loss of coolant. Visual inspection of the hoses shows no obvious leaks - the car had 900 miles when I received it, but only about 100 miles since the engine was rebuilt - the car has never over heated, and in fact runs very cool. I got the car October 12th and have only driven in a temperature range of mid-30s up to mid 60's. Typical coolant temps have been cold at 60 deg C, I might have seen 80C but it has never gotten hot. - after the first time i ran the heat I had a significant drop in coolant within the overflow reservoir (a very small amount of coolant at the very bottom). I added 6-8 oz of water up to the max line (car was cool). It is possible (likely) the car had never been run with the heater so perhaps there was air in the system? - while getting on the highway after driving the car about 1 mile from cold I had a very light mist of fluid appear on the windshield (the louvers do a nice job of directing the fluid back on the windshield). - after another longer drive the coolant was well below the min line and I added another 6-8 oz of water (I think to the min line). - after running I have seen the coolant as high as just below the top expansion tank hose that leads to the back of the cylinder head. - had my buddy follow me while driving to confirm we do not see white smoke in the exhaust. Car is put away for the winter so no more driving for troubleshooting as 8" of snow are now sitting outside. So I am not sure I am losing significant amounts of coolant. Is it possible this is just mist released when the pressure cap opens. I don't see any scupper to capture steam/moisture when the expansion tank cap opens. It does not appear there is enough coolant in the engine compartment to explain the amount I have added. Could I still be filling air pockets in the system? Do in need to pressurize the system as I could have a pin hole leak someplace that is not easily visible. Radiator core looks dry and n droplets seen inside the shroud on the back of the radiator. I attached some typical droplets seen. Thanks

As someone who went last year as a non-owner I highly recommend the event if you are thinking of purchasing a seven. You will see more sevens than you have seen in your life and you will see many of the different manufacturers. I was able to talk with numerous owners who were all enthusiastic and able to provide insights into the various Caterham's, Birkin's, Westfield's etc. And as noted I was able to get a fantastic (and for me queasy inducing:ack:) ride with Croc in a very fast seven. Last year I was a spectator but I am now an owner and plan to participate:driving:. Jay

Success, registration complete! I am now the proud owner of a 1967 Lotus Seven Replica per the state of CT. The CT composite vehicle rules state the car can be registered as either the year of assembly or the year of the vehicle that it most closely resembles. Interestingly, now that it is an "old" car they do not issue a title. They allowed me to keep the Delaware title I received when I bought the car.

Thanks, I look forward to a meet up. We will get wemtd along and create a stir. I agree I think the "courtesy inspection" may have been key. Maybe they are getting more lenient on the bumpers. I talked to a person with an Exocet and he had no issues registering his car without bumpers and he built it. I also had the luxury of a DE temp tag so I had no worries about getting back and forth. And I only live 10 miles from Wethersfield.

Thank you, you were a tremendous asset in the process in determining what to buy and finding a 7 that I love. I owe you a beer :cheers: (or some Tim Tams)

You need side screens! And heat! I found the car quite comfortable in the 30s. Last night coming home after dark in the 40s I had to turn the heat down as I was getting to0 hot. Of course my CR500 tires probably have limited traction at those temps.