bigdog

Didn't bother with brakes. But if I had, I wouldn't have done electric. I would have used surge brakes. Which is the norm for the EU. The way I look at the (recommended) minimum tongue weight, is to me the same as a state setting the recommended speed limit on a curve in the highway. It is set by taking the worst case scenario (a high profile vehicle) and then making that the default speed limit for everyone. We as drivers of sevenesque cars surely know that when a curve says 25MPH that means it's 50MPH or more for us before it even starts to get dangerous. I firmly believe it is the same for towing recommendations. It's a guideline and as in all things involving politicians (lawyers) they will always over state things. However, One should always try the recommended tongue weights first, Drive and evaluate. If the recommended tongue weight is really bouncing your tow car. Then back off the weight a bit and retry it. When you get to a point that the trailer pulls straight and doesn't beat your car to death from bottoming out. Well! then you have found the happy compromise. I just made a highway trip to the Tri-Cities Washington for some maint. on the Mercedes and had a paint shop give an estimate on a respray of the seven. The trailer was very stable, I barely felt it back there. And with a bit of city stop and go along with a slow down through some of the farm communities. I ended up getting just over 28MPG for the day. On the way to the cities (before the traffic) I was getting nearly 31MPG. The speed limit on US 12 is 60MPH and that is what I was doing.

My trailers tongue is 5Ft. & the deck is 11Ft. This makes it less likely to hit my GLK in sharp maneuvers and makes backing up much easier. As you say it's how the load is setting in relation to the axles, Not how much tongue is in front of the load.

Slomove! A single axle trailer and a Birkin weighs 3K!!! Yikes! That's bloody heavy. An open trailer is of course much less prone to sway than an enclosed one, And even less prone with a twin axle one carrying a car that is only two foot high for most of it's length. When I towed the trailer too the scale house to weigh it and set the tongue weight. I had very, very little sway at highway speeds, And my tongue weight was under 100 Lbs. It is now at 8% of the gross. Remember. Too much tongue weight has it's own set of issues. Like sway, Poor steering, poor braking, suspension damage. I want to be safe. But I'm also mindful of the over zealous nature of the health & safety nuts that throw one giant blanket over everything. One just needs to be aware of the situation and be willing & know how to alter the load based on how their combo of tow & towed vehicle handles. I used to own a trucking company in a former life & always pulled doubles. ALL trailers will have some sway. A key factor is to slow down a bit when towing.

With a trailer this short and having twin axles. The axles are much more centered than usual. Take a look at a featherlite 20-30 ft car trailer. It's axles are way, way back. When I first loaded the seven on this trailer. I took it to a not often open DOT scale house. I had to push the seven forward a bit. The tongue weight was a bit too light as I could easily lift the tongue with one hand and I still had nearly 7-8 inches of deck beyond the cars rear tires and about 12" beyond the front tires. I have now set it to 150 Lbs. The GLK's limit (per Mercedes) is 275-300 Lbs and my rear sag is only 5/8" @ 150 tongue weight. The trailer is rated to 3,000 Lbs & the GLK is rated for 3,500 Lbs. As it sits, My gross weight was right at 1,800 Lbs.

Just had a trailer made for my seven by a Canadian company called Express Custom Mfg on Vancouver Island. It's all Aluminum, twin axles, 11 Ft deck and weighs about 550-600 Lbs. The best thing is with the exchange rate the trailer only cost $2,600 USD.

That cap has two seals. A lower one that seals against the inner (smaller) hole above the thermostat and an upper seal that sits on the top of the thermostat housing (just like on a mason jar) The central brass disc on the lower seal is the vacuum release (grab it with your finger nails and it will pull away) and allows coolant to be sucked back into the system. Basically, If your radiator cap has a lower seal only your outboard tank is just an over flow catch tank. Mine has the same cap and it has both seals and the brass disc as well. And here comes a big BUT. My system has never sucked the coolant back into the system from the tank. I suspect that as the nipple near the cap is very corroded. It is probably letting air and not coolant into the system.

Vans slip on skate shoes work great, as well as Etnies scout model shoes (the Etnies only weigh about 4-5 ounces) and one can walk about in them without looking like a numpty. Both are comfortable and the sole isn't substantially wider than your foot like tennis shoes or Keens. I have both of these shoes in a size 10-10.5. http://etnies.com/shop/scout-10/grey-white-red/view360/ http://www.vans.com/shop/van-doren-slip-on-stars-stripes-checker

lucky dawg, That would be great. I like the Seattle area & would love to meet up & maybe even take in a Mariners game if they are in town. My father 'RIP' lived in Bremerton, So I know the area pretty well (at least the Kitsap side). Express trailers said it will be the 2nd or 3rd week of July for a get well date on the build. I will be going up north in the SUV & pulling an empty trailer back south. I did check into renting a u-haul auto transport to take the 7 along. But that pig of a trailer (2500lbs empty) and my 7 would max out my tow vehicle (Mercedes GLK-250 diesel) and then there was the cost, even though I would pay only $119 to Everett. If I were to haul the U-haul trailer into Canada and drop it on the island, U-haul wanted an extra $400. Yikes!!!! Thanks but no thanks. I was rather unpleasantly surprised that Canada did away with the GST/HST refund for non-residents making big purchases like mine. But thankfully Washington DOL said that they will credit the Canadian GST towards any tax due in Washington. I was quite shocked that the money hungry folks in Olympia would allow that. So that was a nice surprise. :hurray:

That's interesting about the (possible) Brunton suspension update. (Anorak on) Note to those that have business web sites. If you can't be bothered to update them, Then you shouldn't even have a web site. An out of date or erroneous web page simply shows that you have a severe lack of initiative & reflects very poorly on your business. (Anorak off) Hard to beat the $2,900 cost of admission for the Express trailer. Another big factor is that along with the great price, It's an easy drive from Walla Walla to Vancouver Island to effect delivery & it's really a nice place to visit as well. So we would simply make a holiday of it & hopefully get to visit with the ever charming & entertaining Mr. Peck and chat about 7's as well as some of his racing exploits. Win, Win as far as I'm concerned.

Mr. Peck in Canada has no issues loading onto that trailer, The trailer has 10" wheels and 6Ft. ramps. That 7 looks pretty low slung as well I agree that the Brunton trailer is nice and very user friendly. But I want the ability to house my trailer in the garage without blocking my ability to get around it. The big trailer (relative to the 7) in my eyes sort of defeats the very idea of small that is the 7. Then there is the price of the Brunton. $3,500 for the no frills steel (rust prone) single axle, no suspension trailer? Brunton sure is proud of that thing. Way, Way over priced for what one gets. For $3,500 that brunton trailer should be made of aluminum & have dual axles with suspension.

I have had quite a few phone conversations with David in the last couple of months about his trailers and my seven. Found out through David that my 1983 sprint has a newer (mid 90's) Arch motors chassis. I originally asked him about those express trailers (saw his web site on the side of that 7 in the picture) That is when he told me that he had designed them. He actually had one of those trailers for sale. But alas, I couldn't buy it as it does not have the safety sticker Or a vin number to get past the border & Express is loath to give him or me a certificate of compliance. Even though I'm a bit miffed that Express wouldn't help out, I do understand that they are in business to make trailers & not assist in owners selling their old express trailers. But as that trailer is so nice & a killer deal. I'm going to order one as I'd be paying double that price in the US. Even the steel Brunton trailer is nearly $1,000 more with a single solid axle & seems bit long (a 14' deck for a car with a 7.3' wheel base seems a bit much) He is very charming and a pleasure to talk to and full of knowledge. I do plan to stop by and say hi if he is up to it. He has been quite unwell lately & is battling Pancreatic cancer. He seems to have a great attitude about it all.

Going to be ordering a trailer from a trailer manufacturer on Vancouver Island, BC. http://expresscustom.com/nav_group_5.php?gazpart=view&gazimage=4926 It was designed by a Mr David Peck who is the Canadian importer of Caterhams. It is made of marine grade aluminum & weighs only about 500-600 lbs. It should tow very nicely with the twin axles & best of all is the price. $3,590 CAD which is only $2,900 USD. The wife & I will just make a holiday of it & travel there to tow it home ourselves.

A fellow member in our local photo club sent me this link. I'm trying to do some lightening photography and this will help me to see how much lightening is actually in an approaching storm and give me time to set up. Plus it's just plain interesting as well. http://www.lightningmaps.org/realtime?lang=en

Just saw some unlimited Hydroplanes for the first time. There were 4 teams doing tests and driver training on the Columbia river. Pretty cool, And they sure can haul butt. A photo from my day at the river.

Rather funny how we have been so well trained by the media, politicians and their trained zealots to "Hate" & or "lob a nuke" in the direction of whomever we don't agree with, Rather than actually discuss it. Now personally I tired long ago of the American auto mags, Simply because they always glossed over the "overall" package that is a car and tended to play a "numbers only" game. Biggest number wins. As for TG. Jezza can be obtuse at times. But he speaks his mind & I find myself agreeing with him more than not. I remember the show where they had a Dodge Viper. Jezza slammed it (and rightfully so) Because the American engineers needed 488 CI to make 400HP/460 and the build quality was crap and cost $55,000 (I guess big engine means big price) Even if it's grossly under powered. That's embarrassing as hell. My Mercedes GLK SUV has a 2 liter 4 cylinder diesel makes 204HP/370 Torques. Think about that, Increase my diesel to the size of the Viper engine & were talking about 800HP. That's farther north of even the current SRT Viper's per liter output. That's why the Europeans mostly look at our cars and shake their heads. Jezza has also said that the "normal" Corvette (C6 I think it was) was a great car and had a nice ride as well.

Great video. Although I'm still a little confused about what record the Eagle set or broke.

That was most certainly a verbal rube goldberg. Well done.

I just went through a Burger king for breakfast with my RHD Caterham. The biggest issue one will have is inadvertently walking up to your car only to realize that you are on the passenger side, So you just make like you are checking the tires & as casually as you can walk to the correct side and get in.

You could just sit in it whilst it's up on blocks and have a manic depressive blat.

What is it? - I tell them it's a Caterham. If they inquire further, Caterham are the new owners & makers of the Lotus Super 7. How fast does it go? - Around corners, Very, Very fast. Caterhams are all about the corners. Is it a kit? - No (mine was a turnkey UK 7) I had one 60 something pull up next to me at the local hardware store. He got out walked right up to me and told his wife (in a condescending tone) that it was one of those VW kit cars. I told him he should keep his mouth shut unless he knew what he was talking about. That has been the only time I have been a bit short with anyone about my car. I had a very hot French gal (late 30's or so) on holiday in Walla Walla ask if she could sit in the 7. Why of course, I said. She proceeded to put her left leg in and sat down in the drivers seat with her right leg dangling over the side. Fail! Oh! Did I mention that she was wearing a rather short skirt at the time? Viva La France!! :drool:

I agree with all that has been said. But American's and light weight cars? We can't even leave a motorcycle alone. (can you say Boss Hoss) the engine weighs more than the bike it's in. American's are more concerned with noise and pointing out to the boys how much power they have under the bonnet. Doesn't matter that the 550Kg 7 has now bloated to 750Kg from the 454 big block in it. It's all about the straits & engine noise.

I would do this. Call the guys at redline components in the UK. They are really nice folks and have been the supplier of parts to Caterham for many years. I copied this from the redline site, "As official agents for Caterham Cars we are able to carry out servicing, kit builds and we are in the unique position of being sole supplier of all spares parts for Lotus and early Caterham Sevens Worldwide." That sure sounds like the place to call. They may have an archived build guide or might be able to find one or at least put you in touch with "some people" You will have to take the time diff into account as the UK is 7 hrs ahead of Pacific time. If I remember they are open from 9AM GMT. Best of luck http://www.redlinecomponents.co.uk/

I do believe this fits into the controversy part of the forum. To be honest I'm not sure what she thinks she will accomplish with the BS she is spewing. As a white guy. The only thing I can offer to anyone of another race, Is to treat them as if race didn't exist. Yes our history was rife with racism and it still exists. But not to the degree that it was even 50-60 years ago. If Dr. Ben Carson can get to where he is from where he started. (Dr. Carson came from a very poor single parent family & had problems in his youth). So if he can turn it around, Then every black American can do the same. But this constant barrage of "we need to exact revenge" Then we can talk about an even playing field will not work. If one wants to see what a get revenge society will net you. Just look at the tribal parts of the middle east and Africa. Hows the millennias long idea of an eye for an eye worked out for them. Miss Banks has stated that the US should pay reparations in the amount of 100 trillion dollars to blacks in America. Sounds like she was just making up numbers on that one as I'm sure she has no comprehension of just how much 100 trillion is. I can't recall having heard such a blatantly racist rant like Miss Banks.

The first thing that the DMV in little Podunk Walla Walla Washington asked for when I brought my 7 from Europe was the customs papers showing that the car was exempt from DOT/EPA (it's a 1983 so meets the 25+ year old exception) They didn't even want to see my German reg papers nor the original British V5 document. So even in our small town of 35,000 out in wheat/wine country, The DMV had their game face on.

What good timing this thread is. Just yesterday some friends and me went to Pasco, Washington and took a tour of the Lampson crane company. One of my friends is related to one of Lampson's Mechanical Engineers. Here is a Lampson LTL-3000 that they actually let us climb into. Pretty impressive. It can be yours for a mere $26,000,000