Alaskossie

This fantastic commercial probably made the USA7s rounds months or years ago, while I was asleep -- but just in case it didn't, here it is again. It must have been a real thrill to drive these historic Formula 1 cars at speed, on the public roads in large cities on several continents. I'll bet the logistics of arranging the venues and the timing of the photo shoots was a nightmare... They drove the cars fast enough to leave the ground at one point, so they weren't just posing... Turn the sound way up, and enjoy: http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=1_kwxzU4wL4&vq=medium Alaskossie

Eric, I finished my four-year project assembling my 2007 Series 3 Caterham Seven in Greeley, CO just this last July. Too bad you didn't make your affliction known before now -- we would have had you over for the shakedown runs. (I drove the car 6150 miles to Alaska in August). By all means, act now, and don't put Seven ownership off any longer. I first desired a Lotus Seven in September of 1962, and it took me until late 2006 to do something about it besides drool and dream. Thankfully, I didn't lose most of my critical driving faculties through old age in the meantime, but there are no guarantees in life. And be sure to schedule a test drive/demonstration with Skip in Erie, CO. But you should be forewarned: Skip's car is quite a bit faster than the average Seven. Don't let that fact terrorize your outlook! Tom 2007 Caterham Seven Executive Superlight (ESL)

Skip, I've owned two of the later generation of VW Scirrocos; I thought they were good daily drivers, but traded the last one for my '86 Porsche 944 Turbo, which I did not treat as a daily driver, so I had to then get a replacement daily driver (a '86 Jeep Scrambler, which gradually became a rust bucket...). But I still have the '86 944T, with just 50k miles on the clock. Debating now whether to modify it (Lindsey Racing 400+ hp??), or to trade it in on a new 911 of some variety. The trade-in value is unfortunately less than $9k, so it won't go far with that option. I really hope you find your master list of cars owned (or match up your memories with your photos). I would like to see as complete a list as you can come up with, embellished with the stories...

scannon, Are you certain you're not a closet auto dealer? You're in the lead, so far.... I'm 68 and I haven't owned 10 percent of the number of cars that you've owned, and zero percent of the motorcycles -- and I'm way too old to begin now!

Anybody know how to reach Mike Rohaley? I've sent e-mails and pm's to him, but with no success so far..

John, A great story, and a convert to the cause before he is old enough to hold a license. That fine bit of Seven outreach happened on the day I was getting my own Seven's rear axle bearings replaced at Dietchworks in Santa Rosa, and you and Ed went on ahead...sorry I missed it!

I went with the 15-inch Caterham spoked wheels on my Superlight. Even though it has a dry sump,I was concerned about ground clearance in places where the roads might be questionable. On my trip from Colorado to Alaska via California last August, I'm sure that I passed over some stuff (especially the 100 miles of badly rutted and convoluted asphalt in northern Yukon Territory) that might have snagged a lower car. The other reason for the 15-inchers was that I wanted to use the wider rear wheel and tire combination off the CSR, at the rear of my car. I'm running 195/45 R15 Avon CR500 tires on Caterham's 6.5X15 rims at the front, and 225/40 R15 Avon CR500 tires on Caterham CSR's 9-inch rims at the rear, with 5 mm spacers on the hubs. The spacers aren't really needed, but they give a bit of added clearance from the rear control arms. Fortunately, my rear hub studs were long enough for this combination, without having to install longer studs. And i do like the look of the fatter rear rubber, too. Caterham apparently advises that the CSR rear wheel/tire combination will not work on a Series 3, but I beg to differ....

No, I did not use an octane booster, though I probably should have carried some. i didn't think i would be able to carry enough, and I was already carrying lots of spare fluids -- 5 extra gallons of gas in a custom can, and 4 quarts of oil. I meant to explain --the large brown box that looks like it's attached to my Seven in the photo, and the one on the other side of the gas pumps, are bear-proof trash receptacles -- the only kind to have in his part of the world.

Mike Rohaley, Since you are apparently following this thread, could you contact me by e-mail? I've been unable to raise you by e-mails. Thanks. Alaskossie

I have the same engine in my S3 Seven as Sean has in his; both sourced from Cosworth in Torrance, both 250 hp US-spec 2.3 liter Duratecs. I was worried about driving through northern BC and Yukon Territory last August, with the unavailability of premium (91+ octane) fuel at every fill-up. At first, I tried to stretch things by filling up before I had to, so that I was running on a 50/50 mix of last stop's premium, and whatever as available. I didn't notice any drivability problems. Finally, a couple of times I had to fill up on pure regular gas -- but still no drivability problems: no bucking, running-on, knocking, etc. I was careful not to put my boot in the throttle, just to reduce possible strain on the engine, but I was impressed with the way this fairly high-strung motor handled less-than-recommended fuel. I'm not so sure that a 12:1 or 13:1 compression ratio would have done as well. The attached photo illustrates the problem -- you take what you can get, or you run dry.

Gert, I don't know if scannon has mentioned it yet, but he asked me if I wanted to take on the driving of his truck and trailer on your Tour 2011, in return for the thrill of driving his SV part-time on the Tour. I have agreed, and am presently clearing my schedule. Where we join up with you folks is still up in the air, but we will be going to and from scannon's place in Colorado. Since your Tour 2011 is a bit to far for me to plan on joining up in my own Seven, this looks like the next best option, and it will allow scannon to join in with an extended range for his on-board 02 supply. And scannon's rig might provide a needed chase vehicle for any unexpected mechanical issues befalling other Tour participants. Looking forward to seeing you again!

Tony, What a great profile shot of the "classic" Seven look, with clamshells arching up, and full top hunched down...!! Wish you had been able to keep the car..... but hope you can find another.

On the DSK frame, there is a hoop under the trans tunnel linking the two footwells, that is absent from the Caterham frame. This hoop is in the same general position as the cross-brace in the original Lotus frame.

Angus and Tessa, Welcome to this North American 7s forum. Your remarkable reputation via BlatChat has preceded you -- I believe that you two have put more extended miles and kms on a Seven than virtually anyone around, including courtships, weddings, Alpine excursions, re-builds, etc., etc. As you have probably seen already, you'll find that this forum is a little more broad-minded and inclusive than BlatChat, since it doesn't limit itself to the owners of Lotus and Caterham Sevens, but includes all manner of Lotus Seven Inspired roadsters, such as Rotus, Stalker, Westfield, Superformance,, Ultralite, Birkin, Locost, Donkervoort, and home-builts (have I left out any?). I'm sure that is in part a function of the fact that there are fewer of us in North America who own this type of car, in any of its variants -- there is strength in numbers, if we ignore petty differences.. Also, are not the US and Canada the world's "melting pots," anyway? Whatever, welcome to this forum, and if you do realize your dream of drifting lazily up Pikes Peak (been there myself, but unfortunately not in a Seven), please invite some of us along to share in the joy...

Lqncylad, I'll see if I can put a list together of the various simple mods and tweaks I did with my Seven build. If you are interested in more touring, and a venture down into the States, take a look at Slomov's plans for this summer: http://www.usa7s.com/vb/showthread.php?t=5889 It will start in Wyoming on July 9, and end back there on July 22, but in the meantime will venture up into the Black Hills of South Dakota, which is not too far from your home base. You ought to give it some thought.

Paul, I ordered my aero cap as an option on my Seven, and Caterham supplied it with the kit. However, I later wanted to get extra keys for the cap, so Ben at RMSC put me directly in touch with the filler cap maker in UK. Their website is: http://www.newton-equipment.com/ They have some nice stuff. When you get the cap, be sure to take a pair of pliers and remove the internal spring-loaded filler flap inside the tube, before you install the cap assembly. This may improve the rate of fill, and reduce back-pressure shut-offs. Also, be sure you orient the fixed ring that is bolted through the body panel, so that the deepest of the "scallops" around the internal rim is oriented toward the top; this will allow the filler nozzle just a little more direct route into the filler pipe.

blubarisax, I meant to ask -- what rear axle ratio are you going to run? As you know. the Caterham 6-speed is direct 1:1 in 6th, so the engine will be spinning pretty lively for road cruising.

Kitkat, I bought the quilted leather/foam Tillett inserts directly from Oxted Trimming, the company that makes the factory Caterham tops, carpets, etc. I bought a pair of Sparco lumbar pads from Demon Tweeks company in UK (their catalog has lots of seat options and accessories). Each lumbar pad is Velcro'ed to a piece of black seatbelt webbing that loops around and under the Oxted seat pad. This seatbelt webbing has Velcro (hook side) sewn to its outer side under the seat pad, where it sticks to the glued-on Tillett seat fabric covering as if this fabric were loop-side Velcro. All seem to work well for me, for long-distance travel. Attached is a photo. Let me know if you have more questions. I also made a small, flat foam pad insert, covered in nylon, that is Velcro'ed to each headrest, and these are hidden under the SoftBits wind blocker, whose mounts are naugahyde pockets that slip over the Tillett headrests. (My car is a rolling gallery of a "fully SoftBits-optioned" Seven). Scannon knows all about the little tweaks and fetishes that I indulged in when I dreamed about, and then gradually built, my Seven (I'm sure that some of them brought giggles or scorn behind my back....). As I've said before, I freely indulged in "upgrade-itis" before a wheel of the car turned on the road under its own power.... Some of the things would require major disassembly if done later, which was good enough reason for me to embellish the Caterham assembly manual as I went long. If there is any interest, I'll try to put together a list of the things that I did to "personalize" my S3 Seven as I built it up -- if for no other reason, then just so I won't forget them. I can't recall any little mod that didn't work as planned, to the extent that I would now remove it. If USA7s'ers are interested in any of these little mods, I could provide more details.

The biggest differences between the UK Cosworths and the Torrance, California Cosworths are that the California ones incur no stiff import duties or pesky EPA inquiries -- and there is someone stateside to talk to and to correct problems (such as taking the engine back and fixing an internal corrosion problem at no cost to me, except shipping one-way). Scannon and Sean know all about this story, too..... Anybody on this side of the Pond have a Duratec built up by Ammo in UK? He offers a lot of varieties, and past experience.

blubarisax, With that compression ratio, do you intend to just race it -- or also drive it where you can find really good gas? I have the Cosworth 250 hp Duratec 2.3 engine in my car, and I was worried about not being able to obtain premium (91 octane or higher) gas when I drove through British Columbia and Yukon Territory. As I expected, there were several mandatory (every 175 miles or so) stops where the only gas available was regular -- and no choice of stations, either. However, the car ran fine on it -- no problems. I'm sure that performance was down a bit, but not noticeable on a long tour. As for the Caterham 6-speed transmission, conventional wisdom in UK is that it is good for 250 hp (and commensurate torque), but not much more.

What are the specs of your Cosworth crate engine?

I found that long-range seat comfort was no problem in the Seven on my 6150-mile drive. I have the Tillett carbon-kevlar seats, and as long as you are not a press-fit (they're hip-hugging tight), their contours are very good for long distances. I added an Oxted quilted leather-and-foam seat pad, and an adjustable foam lumbar support pillow. The limited fuel range of a Seven means that you will get out to stretch your legs every 150-175 miles, in any event. Also, I found that with the half-hood up, the effort involved in getting in and out when I really didn't need to, meant that I stayed in the seat nearly continuously between fuel stops, with no problem.

Serious touring? I drove my 2007 Caterham S3 on a 6150-mile marathon tour in August of this year, from Denver, Colorado to Anchorage, Alaska, via California, Oregon and Washington, then through British Columbia and on up the Alaska Highway. I was on the road, on the move, almost every day from August 1 through 27. I didn't have a passenger, which is a mixed blessing -- the companionship is a plus, while the crowded feeling in the cockpit might be a minus. The lack of traditional car comforts like a/c and cup-holders was no problem, except in a hot cross-wind on a 105-degree afternoon crossing the Mojave Desert. Next time, I'd do it at night. I built a custom luggage rack, and as it turned out, I had more than enough luggage space for gear, clothes, camping equipment for emergency use (I didn't need it), etc. My objective was to carry enough luggage for the trip, without obstructing rear visibility and without filling the passenger seat or footwell, which is like cheating.... I believe the Seven that was driven from Colorado to Pennsylvania for LOG 30 was Ross Robbins' car -- it is an original Lotus Seven, and Ross doesn't even travel with weather gear when he makes those long trips. That is hard-core!

Most intriguing to me is that he is doing this in a one-car garage pretty much single-handed. While we have lengthy discussions on many issues, ultimately he is doing this all on his own. Pretty cool I think. No Kidding!!

Au contraire, escondideron's friend's car has a transverse rear engine/rear drive -- the Elfin is a true LSIS, with front longitudinal engine/rear drive. I'd like to see the f/r weight distribution of escondideron's friend's car... it's got to be pretty tail-heavy....30/70?