TurboWood

I did Califlorio in 2020 which was about 260mi one way (rally went one direction away from home). A buddy and I took two days to complete it. The rally was in November and just happened to be one of the few “bad” weather days in CA. We started with the hood on, but eventually braved some snow with it off. At one point we waited for the Miata and a C4 vette to put their tops on! The only failure so far (knock on wood), was the fuel feed connection at the fuel tank (out of pump). By complete fortune it happened the morning I was headed to my most wrench capable friend who happened to have the right fuel line clamp. 5min later no more dripping fuel. The other close-ish call was the steering shaft connection joint near the firewall coming a little lose. It basically shifted by about 10deg which was obviously concerning. That happened on Califlorio, found the root cause at the stop that night and fixed it. I suppose that means we did a little over 300mi in the first day (rally + drive to hotel). Oh, that reminds me, the battery went flat for that rally too. I had it on a tender and it fired up when we left home, but wouldn’t restart after breakfast with the group. Discovered that if I let the car sit more than 20-30 min then it would not restart. Spent the day getting jumps and then eventually discovered how easy it is to push start (with a friend). Had to do it in the hotel parking lot the next morning. Daniel

Update time! The peanut gallery is getting impatient.

Routing to the air filter or intake manifold are largely the same. OEM’s typically do both (mandatory in forced induction cars where manifold pressure exceeds crankcase pressure). I passed with the air filter routing only and the inspector did check it carefully. I can’t speak to what the inspector will do, but I would think that so long as you aren’t venting the crankcase to atmosphere they would pass you. If you are dry sump remember to run the tank to the filter. Daniel

It sounds like the situation has changed from my experience in 2018-19 when I registered mine. That said, here is my CA experience: - went to DMV with receipts for engine, trans, and kit. I also had my MSO which did not, to my knowledge, have anything related to spcns. With that info I paid registration and they gave me a list of info that I needed to get as well as my sb-100 number - the things I needed to provide were: 1) inspection by police, 2) inspection at certified BAR station (not normal, typically found at community colleges), and brake and light inspection. - put my unfinished car (engine and trans installed, but basically just the long block) on a trailer and took it to the police (with appointment). 30min later they gave me a form. - once the car was running I got a temp permit and drove to the BAR exam (with appointment). That was the moment my SB-100 was really approved as an spcns based on what the car looks like. The gentleman checked for pcv, checked my documents, and placed a sticker on the engine bay side of the fire wall. The shop had pictures of all sorts of interesting cars and he clearly knew what I wanted - went to brake and light inspection (basically a joke, the guy was convinced my brakes worked since I drove it there) - took all those documents back to the dmv and got my plates What I could imagine is that CA started treating Caterham as a manufacturer (which is actually fair since they do sell finished cars). However, that could also just be a consequence of misunderstanding after somebody tried to register with sb-100 with a fully assembled car from caterham. Somebody would need to push the main office (in Santa Barbara I think) to confirm. It’s that office that controls sb-100 numbers and has the power to reject from the start. Daniel

I have a dry sump and made it through the BAR in CA with PCV. The guy at the BAR specifically followed my setup to check that it was there. You can run a dry sump either way. People will run a closed system to creat a negative pressure in the crankcase, but you don’t have to. I just ran my valve cover to the dry sump tank and the tank to the air inlet. I’m interested to learn the differences between a new build and transfer from out of state for SB100. I built new and found the process reasonable. I’m sure other states are easier, but it’s pretty cool that CA of all states gives a path to run a kit car to 60’s emissions. This was a major driver for me to go kit car and sell my Supra. Daniel

Thanks Mike, good feedback as always. My auto cross buddy suggests bfg rival S1.5 which I had down selected before looking at sizes. The issue is the front where only a 205/50 is available. Do you think it would fit? What size Hoosiers are you running? You know CA gets a bad wrap, in my experience cops don’t give nice cars much trouble. The number of bmw/merc/etc. driving around with no plates is crazy. Maybe having tires that throw stones at all the cars behind me would be different though ;). Daniel

My CR500's are starting to get to the wear bars which means I need to have a new set ready. I have a 2013 CSR which according to what I've read have 7" and 9" wheels with 195/45 and 245/40 tires. I understand fronts have moved to 195/50 with the ZZS and according to tirerack there are no 195/45 options so it looks like 50 series is in my future on the front. From what I can find only the Hankook RS-4 is available in both sizes, but I'm wondering how stupid it would be to run Hoosier's on the rear? I have stupid power (300rwhp) and tq (320ft*lbs) which can be managed in 2nd gear today (with passenger), but more go-grip would be welcome. So, what's the right path? Am I silly to walk away from Avons? I just have a hard time believing Avon has some special sauce that mainstream tire manufactures have. BFG even mentions the Rival S1.5 is an upgrade to the Rival S for lighter cars. There are plenty of race miata's out there and if Avon made a magic tire I imagine they would use them. Daniel

Mike, Tracsport is great, they built my transmission. I’m glad to hear the Sierra diff has some strength, and I guess it’s time for me to check some bolts! Good luck on the new build. Daniel

Mike, Thanks for the reply and fuel pump info! Would you mind sharing some more information about the upgrade you made? While I've lived with the stock pump at similar power levels, the time at those flow rates has been limited so an upgrade is likely in my future. Similarly, I'm curious about the differential support. Does your new CSR still use the Sierra diff? This is my biggest concern for going with stickier rubber since my peak TQ is well over 300ft*lbs. If the tires stick in a low gear I should be able to rip it apart (thankfully (?) my tires can't even handle 3rd gear WOT). Daniel

Very impressive! You are making a beast for sure. I would love to see the dyno plot. I’m surprised you needed to upgrade the fuel system. Was this a precaution or a know limit? Daniel

For what it’s worth, my 2013 kit has no connection between the engine and the sensor used for the gauge. I put in a different engine than what Caterham sells, but I used the Caterham water temp gauge/sensor. My fans are controlled by the ecu. Daniel

It’s good to see one of these. Please note that while 40 were made, only 3 were imported to the US. At least that is what I was told by Caterham USA when I ordered mine. I had asked Caterham for some documentation of this, but they declined. Daniel

fun thread :)…. I have about 3k miles on my ‘13 CSR after being on the road in 2018. I need to put more miles on it! Daniel

I may not be the best reference here as I have a turbo 2L and no track time yet, but I find my SPC 5-spd (1:1 4th) to be more than enough. I would even consider a taller rear end (3.38 now). It seems to me that a top gear 1-1 only makes sense if the car is mostly dedicated to the track. I wouldn’t want to lose my overdrive. Daniel

Mike, You are probably right, but my turbo engine is putting about double the torque of the 485 through it. I have a Quaife ATB in it, but the case and the gears have to survive. 80's diffs and modern turbo engines don't give me warm fuzziest. My buddy had a turbo NA (1st Gen) Miata that he kept blowing diffs in despite being a mile high. All I can say is hopefully the safety factor in Ford was bigger than Mazda back then. Daniel

Great, I wonder if they managed to squeeze the BMW diff in it or if they still use the older Ford unit. Blowing that thing up is my biggest concern since upgrades are limited. I may never try slicks just for that reason. Anyway, it's good to see some life coming back. They must have done some development if that article's claim is correct that it is available in the standard/S3 chassis which I don't think was ever true before. I did recently grab a CSR Ford non-limited slip diff from Caterham on heavy discount which suggests they were purging inventory. That gives me a backup, but it would be great if there was a better option. It's probably a big wish to have it fit in the same chassis though. Daniel

Vote from me for CSR. I’m not experienced with the various chassis, but the CSR is very comfortable on the street. I can keep up with any other vehicle on rough road so long as I don’t fear hitting the sump. With the doors on my wife almost fell asleep on a short blat. I’m only 1k miles in, but it hasn’t bitten me yet. Daniel

I had my first factory part failure. The hose clamp on the fuel pump gave up, resulting in a steady drip of fuel from the fuel tank. Fortunately I discovered it as I arrived at my friends house. This friend is a fellow car guy and had everything needed to fix it, including a proper fuel hose clamp. We had it together in 20min and continued on with our short blat. The car can put down most of its power with a passenger. I still get surprised how much the traction changes depending on the passenger. The photo is upside down for some reason. As oriented the culprit was the lower right hose. You can see how much wetness there is which is all fuel. Daniel

Nice looking car! The 620r nose is interesting. Does it require you to install the zues fasteners or make any chassis modifications? Daniel

That is indeed a lot of carbon. Do these engines run closed loop? Daniel

Dyno complete and successful! It runs 16-17pis boost and just touched 301hp to the hubs. I was only able to drive it for a little while afterwards so all I can say is there is a traction problem. It was a cool day in SoCal so maybe a poor benchmark, but I did lose traction in 3rd. The ECM also runs by torque targets which will need some fine tuning to make the car more predictable, but it's nice knowing I can put my foot in it! I also redid the foam the the hood sits on. I was seeing some wear between the hood and chassis. I occasionally also heard some rattle there as well. To solve this I bought a big foam sheet from McMaster that I cut strips out of. The hood is much more secure and no more rattle. Daniel

I had a temporary setback. Thankfully I asked the guy (Sean from Church Automotive) to slowly work up to full throttle because I had no boost control! The plugs on my TiAl WG had come out preventing the WG from opening. We weren't able to figure that out on the dyno, but clearly we had to stop when boost was shooting >25psi. I've addressed that now and took it for a test drive. Everything seems to be working properly (boost relatively stable around 14psi). What we did figure out on the dyno is I should be close to 300ft*lb at 3500 with 18psi. He reconned we could keep that 300 to 5500-6000 before tapering down. 300ft*lb = 300hp @ 5250 so I should be good! This dyno is a hub dyno though so there is some loss between tire and road that isn't captured, but I think I'll live with that . More to come... Daniel

Please cross your fingers, I'm taking the car for Dyno + tuning this Saturday. I have about 750 miles now and it's running great. I drove it last weekend for C&C and some curvy roads nearby. Hopefully I hit my 300rwhp target! I still have the speedo issue, but haven't had the motivation to try anything else. Daniel

What does the gauge read if the sensor wire is grounded or open circuit? Sudden changes like that strike me as electrical. It's hard for me to buy a thermostat issue unless somehow it's letting surges of cold water out (not sure how that would work). Maybe the higher pump speed is driving something? Does it happen if you free rev the engine? One wild thought would be a plugged radiator. Maybe the higher pump speed is able to momentarily force flow through? Daniel

Definitely interesting. Where in the world would these two vehicles ever both be at? Daniel