Road Ready

Long story short, I hit a really big pothole at sufficient speed to break a wheel. I'm on my way to replacing the wheel with the help of Josh at Rocky Mountain Caterham. It seems like a good idea to get the alignment checked. Do I need a special shop/special equipment for that or would a regular alignment shop be able to do it? I'm in western NC

What's the best number to call for parts at Caterham in England?

I'm in Western NC and would love to run with some other Seveners on the BRP sometime. Right now it's closed mostly due to nasty ice stalagmites in the tunnels and some other issues. Think about springtime!

I don't think he had ever seen a 7" Ford diff. He did admire the car, even though he was about 200 lbs too heavy to get in it.

Burt was unable to get the right parts for the pinion gear in my diff. He had to send some stuff back to Burton in England. It's the Ford Sierra diff, built by Quaife. Burt had a very low opinion of the way it was set up. I might end up buying a new diff., having Burt take it apart to be sure it's properly assembled and then install in my car.

Having a car that's road-legal and having it legalized are two different things. When we were working to get my car titled for the first time it had to be inspected, at our place. We worked carefully to be sure that all the lights and horn were working properly. Then the inspector arrived. We noticed that he was wearing a side-arm. It turned out to be a rather different kind of inspection than we were anticipating. An engine block serial number being impossible to see orsee using a mirror or even obtain a clay imprint, we ended up having to post a substantial indemnity bond as one of the hoops we had to leap through. Now were titled as a 1957 Lotus Seven Replica. It works fine for me!

Rocky Mountain Caterham was very helpful. Josh has a hearing impairment that makes e-mail a better option for him. They have a lot of diff parts in stock. I talked to Ross, Josh's father. There's also Burton Power in the UK. Amazingly, Burt, my diff guy, was able to order all that was needed from his usual supplier. He uses an old transmission casing for his mailbox!

Who is best to call re Pinion Bearing parts and such? I'm in NC but anywhere would be good. The car is on the rack right now so you can call me at 828 779-9028 in the interest of haste.... Thanks! JR

My car is in the shop of a guy who's supposed to be nth local diff genius. He may be asking me for the phone number of a parts source for pinion bearing and related parts. Nobody picked up at Rockey Mountain Caterham. Who next best? John

It whines under load at speed greater than about 30 mph. I have a video that has a good example of the sound.

I've got a Quaife limited-slip diff on my '07 Caterham and worry about the amount of noise that's coming from it. Do any of you guys have that diff and could tell me what living with yours is like? JR

Thanks for all the help. I've got it right now. ( I had the headlights on but didn't notice because it was such a bright day.)

My Seven had a terminally dead battery. So I got a fresh one and suddenly remembered that I should have marked which wires go where. The way I've got it hooked now I only get a solenoid click but the starter doesn't rotate and the dash lights don't turn off. Anybody want to send a photo of their correct battery hookup?

Now that the weather is perfect in WNC, the Blue Ridge Parkway is shut down but for short sections. The oak leaves are as big as squirrel ears but there's COVID-19 about. The BRP is not a challenging road by far but it would be difficult to find a more beautiful run this time of year.

Starting well and running strong, My ZTECK -engined '07 still runs really rich at idle. Not that I plan to idle much but what could be doing that? The intake manifold is geometrically variable on these engines but I don't know if that could be playing a part or not or even how to test intelligently.