FE07

Registered, new trailer tires (one of the old ones got a flat sitting in the sun on the driveway), hotel. Brakes bled, oil changed, nut and bolt done. Probably driving up early on Sunday. See you all then! Jim

Bart, Send me a PM. I’ve got a possible solution to your emissions testing problem. Jim

After you replace your sparking coil wire- take some rubber brake or fuel line, slit it down the middle, wrap it around the wire and hold it in place with some small tie wraps. That stainless line is like a file and it’ll protect it where it rubs. Jim

Vlad, I also had issues (more similar to Tom’s than yours) with spitting and overflow of coolant from the overflow tank. While we both started with a Superlight R with a Zetec, yours has been more modified than mine particularly with ITB’s while I still have fuel injection. I still have the stock Ford ECU as well. Mine always had a faint smell of antifreeze when I’d drive it but would only overflow primarily on track. Tried to make sure all the air out etc... new overflow cap and none really seemed to help. Then- started to see residue in the overflow. Black and coated the inside of the tank. Slightly oily but much more consistent with exhaust. Nothing in the oil. No white smoke. Figured it was head gasket and before I warped the head from overheating took it to George Alderman. Did head gasket, put a on a new non VCT head with machine work, new cams, timing gears and seemed to be running fine. For a while. Then on track one day- same thing all over again-spitting and pressurizing of overflow tank. Took it back to George. Neither he nor his son Paul could really figure it out. No exhaust in coolant, nothing really other than the pressurizing of the overflow with revs. They thought maybe had something to do with the way it was plumbed and looked into how Ford had it plumbed in the Contour. They changed around some hoses, and wired the rad fan so it’s always on. Oh- and changed the overflow cap. And told me to run it with minimal rad fluid in the overflow tank (not to normal marked level) Not sure what pressure the cap was. I actually just replaced it with one from a Mini. It’s been fine since but I honestly think it was just the freaking overflow cap and lower fluid level and had nothing to do with how it was plumbed. ?? I give you a lot of credit for trying to figure it out yourself. You’ll certainly learn a lot in the process (if you don’t drive yourself bat_____ first). Can’t really give you more info than that. Crocs post above gives excellent info on diagnosis of possible head gasket leaks and should be helpful. Let me know if you need more info and I’ll see what else I can remember. Jim

You could make them larger but you'd have to drill through the mounting plate that comes with the harnesses. If that size is good enough for Sabelt, it's good enough for me Jim

I use a HANS and had the same concerns in my car. I fabricated the adapter below to change the mounting points for the harnesses. The gold bolts mount the adapter into the existing holes for the harnesses so it's solidly mounted to the car. There are 2 steel plates so that the shoulder straps are mounted between them in double shear. Some spacers between the steel to space them out so the straps have a little wiggle room to rotate. Just be careful that the harnesses don't go onto your shoulders from more than about a 20 degree angle from horizontal from the adapter. If you're tall- the harnesses could compress your spine in an accident. (although they'd still save your neck with the HNR!) I'm 5'7"- works for me. (Sorry the last 2 images are upside down) Jim

You could certainly try to fabricate one yourself however SPA makes one for it: https://www.pegasusautoracing.com/productselection.asp?Product=5171-STEM Jim

Michael- Things are good. Have had the 7 at Summit a couple times. Not a big Shenandoah fan so really just the big track. Bought a vintage FF and having some fun with that but needs some parts (took a corner off at The Glen in the rain) and parts are not exactly plentiful. Looking to retire at some point but not quite there yet. Glad to hear all is well. Keep it off the green stuff! Jim A.

Hey Michael. Nice to hear from you. Still in Bethesda?? Jim A.

Mike, Couldn't agree more with all you said. Nobody ever talks about where all the electricity is going to come for to charge all those batteries. And don't even get me started on autonomous vehicles. The legal and ethical considerations for them are never ending. Don't expect to see them in my lifetime either. Sure as hell hope not. Oh- and what happens with all the batteries. Talk about hazardous waste. Jim

‘17 Golf R. Always been a VW guy. First car a 1980 Scirocco. Couple GTI’s and a Touareg. 290 HP and 6 sp. Hatchbacks are practical. And ingress/egress a little easier than the 7 and Elise!! Jim

If you like arai- stick with them. My last 2 helmets have been Arai GP5S (now changed to the 6S) Lightweight and with good aero. Have never really seen the need for aero add ons in the Caterham even with an aeroscreen. I'm 5'7" so if you're considerably taller- you might get some more buffeting, otherwise the aeroscreen does a good job of pushing the air up over head. Jim

Vlad, Really hard to compare sounds without having them side-side due to so many variables. Mine sounds different than the instagram post. Mine started as a VCT but then we swapped heads, upped compression and changed cams. Mine is still fuel injected. Lightened flywheel will make it spin up quicker. Sounds OK but could probably sound better. We're probably a little limited with mufflers as well. Jim

I'm in Owings Mills. Happy to let you check out my car for seating. I'm 5'7" 150lbs and mine's an S3. Message me and I'll get back to you. Jim

So I guess Bruce isn't towing it cross country for next weekend?? Wow- ultimate spec Mike. You've sweated the details. Love the color. Jim

I've tried to refrain from comment ( and trust me-since I look at feet all day- I could certainly make some) Suffice it to say that I see worse looking feet daily. Looks like it's a good thing I'm coming . SOMEBODY needs a curbside consult:eek: Jim

You'll be fine with the aeroscreen. With your helmet and long sleeve tee/sweatshirt you won't have any problem on track. Now if you're driving your car down to NJMP- that's another story. I'll have mine on. Jim

Check this one out. Down the front straight. Make sure you haven't just eaten. Realize- he's the guy in back of the car that hit it. That's aint dirt on his windsheild!! Jim

Summit Point is well known for deer. I've seen them on the inside of the track but fortunately never on it. There's a video somewhere of one running across the main straight and jumping over a car that was coming down it. No damage to either one! I was there 2 weekends ago and it looks like the new owners have put up a deer fence around the perimeter so hopefully no more. Plenty of groundhogs. Not pretty when you're going down the chute into turn 5 in a formula car with a groundhog standing on the edge of the track at the apex. Stayed there for 3-4 laps and then gone. Flaggers never saw it. Critters at VIR as well. Had the pleasure of following someone up the beginning of the climbing esses who ran over a groundhog. Fortunately - I was in a closed car. Found the hose when came back into the paddock. This ones right around where the groundhog I was talking about was sitting. Jim

Your car looks nice with the others Mike. Sure like the 250F!! Nice grouping. Jim

I don't have the Schroth belts but have formula car belts in my Caterham. They're easy to use and adjust, are much more comfortable and as Mike said- definitely safer. They prevent submarining beneath your lap belt as well as keeping it pulled down on your pelvis where it needs to be. No metal pieces where you dont want them. When adjusted properly they're also more comfortable. Not sure what seats you have but the subs are routed differently than a normal 5 or 6 point sub. Feel free to reach out if you need help with mounting. Jim

My wife knows my girlfriends are in the garage. Don't EVER add up the money. Just make you sick. I've got a T shirt from Blipshift that applies more to racing but goes: Race-Regret-Repair in a triangle. Unfortunately it's true! Jim

Have had the exact same problem in the past with my Zetec powered SLR. High revs lead to bubbles into the overflow tank (same tank as depicted) and then overflow out with loss of coolant and overheating. Initially thought must be air in system. Bled everything-no air and same problem. Then began to note black slightly oily residue building up in the overflow tank. Given overheating and now what appeared to be exhaust fumes in the overflow, figured blown head gasket. Took the car to George Alderman who replaced head gasket and made some other 'while were in there' changes. Seemed to run fine for a while afterwards. Then back on track and same thing as described with high revs. Back to Aldermans. Both George and Paul seemed stumped as to whats up. They decide to look at how the cooling system was arranged on the Ford Contour/Focus and rearranged what was initially the stock plumbing on my car for a Rube Goldberg rearrangement of the plumbing. Also jumped the temp sensor which controls the radiator fan so it now runs constantly. When I picked it up- wasn't thrilled at what had been done but too late at that point. Car seems to run fine. No overheating or spitting out through the overflow tank however- I haven't tracked the car since the plumbing was changed. Bottom line- before I did ANY of that- I'd get a new overflow cap AND only run the car with enough antifreeze to just begin to show in the bottom of the overflow tank, not halfway up. It will still bubble into the overflow but wont leak or likely overheat. I know you'll want to see how the plumbing was rearranged. Will try to get some pictures. TurboTom lurking on here? Any thoughts? Jim

Greg, Tried to send a picture of mine to you but couldn't manage. Red with black lipstick and solid stripe. So here's a link to the post I bought it on here: http://www.usa7s.net/vb/showthread.php?9592-2000-Caterham-Superlight-R&highlight=2000+superlight If you PM me your email I can send you some more. Jim

Check the size of the holes in the brackets from Schroth to make sure the bolts that hold your current harnesses will slide through. Otherwise you'll have to enlarge them. Jim