Alaskossie

If you can fit into a non-SV Caterham, that is the best incentive in the world to diet, exercise, and stay that size!

MoPho, What does your friend have to do to get nearly 500hp out of an Exige??? Or was that a misprint??

Par, Interesting -- Ben Wofford is now listed as being a part of "Caterham USA." I had understood that Cody Story was with Caterham USA, and Ben was with Rocky Mountain Sportscars, a Caterham USA dealer (although located right next door to Caterham USA in Denver, sharing the same building.....). I wonder what grade of fuel the R500 is tested with in UK (with 263 claimed hp from a 2.0 Duratec), and what this engine will produce in the USA, where the Cosworth 2.3 Duratec produces 250 hp (as opposed to the UK's 260 claimed hp for this same engine in the CSR)? We should have some interesting reading from American car mags in a few months...the British magazines have been flogging the R500 with joyful abandon, and the new Performance Car magazine promised to print the result in this month's issue (September?) of its attempt to duplicate CC's claim of 2.88 seconds for 0-60 mph. But the promised test didn't appear. Alaskossie

Martin, Presently there is one Caterham SV in Anchorage, and one Caterham Classic in North Pole, outside Fairbanks. (My '07 Caterham Classic is actually not in Alaska yet, as I am building it in Colorado). I saw one Caterham here about 10-12 years ago, owned by someone in the Air Force (he has long since transferred), and I have seen one competition-prepped Lotus 7 at an auto-x a few years ago (don't know if it is still up here). That's it for Alaska. No Westfields or SIS's up here, as far as I know. A couple of weeks ago I spoke with Graham Beckett, an ex-pat Brit who lives up here part-time. Graham built Alaska's first Lotus (and first 7) in his living room in Anchorage over the winter of 1962. He had to remove the picture window in the living room to get the completed car out of the house! (He said that his wife was spending that winter with relatives in the Lower 48, which explains a lot of things.....). Graham also said he and a friend drove his Seven down to the Kenai River for some trophy king-salmon fishing -- forgetting until too late that when you catch two 60-pound kings, where do you put them in a Seven?? Graham has promised me some photos of those days. Wonder where his '62 Series 2 is now....... Alaskossie

It takes me a long time to actually do anything...I read the Road & Track road test of the Lotus Seven America in July 1961 (lead-in tag line: "What is it, Daddy? It's a kit car, son."). I collected everything on or about Lotus and Caterham Sevens for 45 years (even visiting the Caterham workshop in Caterham-on-the-Hill, Surrey, in 1985)..... But the clincher was riding shotgun with Bob Simon in his Caterham VX Evo, and finally driving a Seven SV through Rocky Mountain National Park, in the Colorado Rockies when we spent three days with the Brits' "How the West was Driven 2005" tour. Being a part of that gaggle of 55 or so Sevens, with all of the enthusiasm and variety, made me realize that I'd been burning daylight all these years. So the Caterham Seven/Duratec 2.3 was ordered and delivered, and it's taking me a while to get it all together. I just look on it a prolonging the best parts of my midlife crisis, long into post-midlife. Alaskossie

sparecr, I dunno..... In 1964, I was the passenger in a 1961 Porsche coupe that hit a maple tree in Vermont head-on at 55 mph. Both driver and passenger had lap belts. There were injuries (me, broken upper jaw; driver, broken wrist and broken hip), but we survived. I attribute much of our survival to the lap belts -- but I credit some part of our survival to the Porsche's spare tire in the front luggage compartment, which remained inflated after the crash (even as the front-mounted fuel tank cracked and spilled gasoline into the footwells...... So, I will carry a spare on the back of my Seven as God and Colin intended ... -- and the Seven looks more balanced that way, anyway.

If you have to ask how much, you can't (or shouldn't) afford them....... How do I know? I bought a pair from Fluke. I just got them back from clear-coating at the body shop. Cost of clear-coating? $200 (It took 8 or more coats, with sanding in between, before the pinholes disappeared). So buying a pair and putting them to use is not for the faint of heart, but a necessity for the carbon-fiber fetishist.

Sorry -- here's a good link for the map of the Pikes Peak Hill Climb: http://www.ppihc.com/ppihcftp/ppihc2008.pdf The Pikes Peak road is gradually being paved. When I saw the race in 1988, it was all dirt.

For me, the best "rally" type action is the Race to the Clouds -- the annual Pikes Peak Hill Climb. On July 4, 1988 I witnessed the most thrilling demonstration of driving skill I've ever seen -- Ari Vatanen and Juha Kankkunen driving two Peugeot 405 T16 Group B "Evolution" cars in the Pikes Peak Hill Climb. The Peugeots had massive front spoilers and gigantic rear wings to try to capture some downforce from the thin air (race start is at 9400 feet altitude; the finish line is at 14,110 feet altitude). The engines were tuned to around 650 hp, for the same purpose. Here is a map of the Pikes Peak course: http://ppihc.com/default.asp?mtype=maps&contid=29 The course is 12.4 miles long, and has 156 turns, no Armco, and frightening, steep drop-offs. I was at the Devil's Playground at 13,000 feet when Ari charged up the hill, through a mid-course snowstorm, and set a new course record. I could hear his car leave the start line far below, and eventually he came into view. From my high vantage point, I could see at least 15 hairpin turns below me. Ari flew around them like a slalom skier, car never pointing straight ahead, power-sliding right up to the road's edge time and time again, and leaving a huge rooster-tail of dust behind. What a drive! Peugeot produced a film called "Climb Dance" which is mostly in-car footage of Ari's drive (absolutely the best in-car film I've ever seen!). To view it, go to: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3368948773832597270 What memories of races past! Alaskossie

Go to Fluke: http://www.fluke-motorsport.co.uk/index.php or Mog Racing; http://www.mog-racing.com/

Solder_guy, I've substituted an aluminium jack that looks like your Mazda jack, but from a Porsche 944. I am presently skeletonizing it. The Porsche jack was built to lift 900 kg (so the label says) with a presumed safety margin, so I figure that adding lightness by removing about 25 percent of its mass will still leave a sufficient margin for lifting one corner of a Caterham. Besides, when it's done it will look cool.... A Triple-A card doesn't help much when you are 300 miles and half a day (or more) from the nearest AAA-authorized tow truck, I'm afraid.

The question of "fastest Seven" does not necessarily equate to "the quickest Seven" -- especially if trying to compare top speed to quickness around a road course, like the 'Ring. Colin Chapman's concept of the Seven was not to compete in anyone's top-speed sweepstakes. Its entire concept was to be fastest overall, through the corners and transitions, late-braking, carrying greater speed through corners, etc. That is why the latest Caterhams beat all but the most specialized, thinly-disguised track-day cars in Evo Magazine's test laps at Bedford Autodrome, for example. Yet, it would be interesting to learn what the "top-speed" Seven-type car is, in a straight line. Also -- what is the fastest-accelerating Seven-type car?

Certainly, there has to be some more sophisticated comparative analysis of IRS designs than this???

CLARIFICATION: Due to the difficulty (impossibility)?) of hooking an attachment to a PM, if you want a scan of the Punch article, send me your e-mail address by PM, and I'll attach the copy to an e-mail back to you.

Back in the June of 1958 (I know, the Paleozoic era..), Road & Track Magazine re-printed an article from the Brit humor (humour?) magazine Punch, by J. B Boothroyd, with wonderful illustrations by the great automotive cartoonist Russell Brockbank. It was quintessential "British humour" and was titled, "How the XK-SS Solves the Traffic Problem." The basic premise was that a very fast car like the Jaguar XK-SS (a period Supercar if there ever was one) simply vacates the road just that much more quickly than most cars, thus leaving lots of available road space for the rest of the traffic. It remains one of the most hilarious driving descriptions I have ever read. It certainly applies to the experience of driving a Seven, and to the public's reaction to that. The lead-in paragraph states, "Speedier cars may be the answer to Britain's overcrowded highways. The faster the car, the sooner it vacates road space for others. With this in mind, Russell Brockbank and J. B. Boothroyd recently took out a Jaguar XK-SS and a flattering amount of short term life insurance...." Forgive me for quoting the entire last paragraph of the piece: "To sum up, the SS isn't everyone's car. Everyone couldn't get in it. It eats up an immense amount of road, converting a 10-mile stretch of straight into something the size of a bus ticket -- and thus detracting from the finer points of the scenery. But for the man who wants to leave as much road as empty as possible for other people, who likes to overtake a convoy of six sand-and-gravel trucks with trailers in a space which the ordinary motorist would regard as a tight squeeze for overtaking an elderly lady pushing a bicycle, who doesn't mind having his passenger's shoes on fire and a wife who sits by the telephone with palpitations as soon as the sound of his exhaust has died away, it may be said to exhibit certain points of advantage." This great little 2-page article deserves to be re-circulated and remembered. For any USA7s-er who wants a scan of this article, please send me your e-mail address by PM, and I'll be happy to oblige.

CJ, Welcome aboard! (I posted this once last night, but it didn't show up on the forum, for some unexplained reason). I also own a Porsche 944 Turbo (1986 variety), a one-owner car with less than 50k on the clock. It's the best and most economical long-distance, high-speed touring car I've ever owned, even 20+ years on. Looks like there are at least three USA7s posters who own this particular water-cooled Porsche product.... I'm facing the timing belt replacement (precautionary, second time) next week, and a water pump replacement while they're in there. That will take a bite out of my 2007 Caterham 7 budget.... Still thinking of turning the Porsche over to Lindsey Racing in Oklahoma, for some serious power upgrades... Alaskossie Anchorage, Alaska

I am mounting two Safecraft 2.5 lb. Halon extinguishers cross-wise in front of the Tillets in my Caterham Seven Classic. They are the only extinguishers I could find that were short enough to fit cross-wise in the Seven. I am fabricating aluminum angled mounts to position the extinguishers in front of the seats. They will move as the seats are adjusted forward and back. The mounts will fasten under the front bolts of the Tillets, where the plastic spaces usually go. The Safecraft mount has a quick-release pin. Tom Meacham Alaskossie

That was a Dodge Power Wagon. I'll take the yellow Ferrari SWB, please.... Alaskossie

Avery, Another attorney here (natural resources/public lands/environmental specialization, in both public and private sectors, with 38 years of nose to the grindstone here in Alaska). I am currently assembling a 2007 Caterham Seven S3 with Duratec 2.3 power from a kit in Colorado, and commuting back and forth to keep the law practice above water. The assembly of my Seven is taking quite a bit longer than I had planned, but I am enjoying it, since it is something I have wanted to do since 1961. (As someone said today, if you are asked why you would consider buying or building a Seven, or finally undertaking some other long-desired dream, your honest answer can simply be two words: "Tim Russert." I saw Steve Taylor's Seven (now yours) and met Steve, when my wife and I visited our older son and his wife and our brand-new granddaughter in Charlottesville, VA last June. (Scott's wife took one look at Steve's Seven, and told her husband, "You are NEVER going to ride in that thing!"). Scott and Sarah have since moved to Richmond; Scott is a UVA law graduate and works with a national law research firm in C-ville, and Sarah is a history professor at VCU, where your son goes to college. Sarah's parents are retired to a golf-oriented subdivision adjacent to Williamsburg, VA called Ford's Colony, which I believe is quite close to where you and your family live. We visited them there for the first time just last April -- a nice, quiet area with lots of rural roads, but I'm sure much too warm for me in the summer. It's a small world -- welcome to Seven ownership! Tom Meacham Anchorage, Alaska

Did anyone read the link to the new Oregon "Atom-type vehicle" law? It is so specific about layout, suspension design, etc. that the legislators could have simply named the Atom itself in the law, instead of describing it in minute detail. I've never seen a motor vehicle law that was so clearly intended to provide an avenue to registration for a single maker (or anyone who wants to build an exact copy). This law does not really seem to help the Atom owner who'd like to use his car as a Seven. In fact, it is a violation of this Oregon law to drive your Atom (or Atom-type vehicle) on any road with a posted speed limit of 55 mph or higher -- even if you are not exceeding the speed limit! Surely an Atom under those circumstances would be no fun at all..... Tom Meacham

Where is part 2 of the 3-way drive test? I couldn't locate it...so I don't know which is quickest. Tom Meacham

Steve, So sorry to hear that you have sold your Seven..... but I understand that you have done that before, right? Then you'll be back, I'm betting. Please encourage Avery to join up with USA7s. Tom Meacham

athens7, I did not source my Cosworth Duratec 2.3 through Caterham USA. I dealt directly with Cosworth in California. So I did not get a "complete kit" through Caterham USA; I just bought a chassis kit, and a 6-speed gearbox. Caterham USA did not offer a complete S3 kit with Duratec when I purchased (in October of 2006). I have an Arch Motors frame, and I will have to make no chassis modifications to fit the Duratec. Depending on where I want to fit the dry sump tank, I may or may not need to modify the passenger footbox (this is a common mod on all S3's with dry sump, with virtually any engine, Duratec, VX, etc.). My understanding is that the Caged "metric" frame production first began with the CSR, and then the rhd versions of the SV and S3. I do not know if Caged versions of lhd SV or S3 frames are in production yet. I would have had to wait quite a while for the Caged version of the lhd S3 frame to be prototyped and tested and put into production. So I chose not to wait (I'm getting too old, as it is!). In addition, I wanted the "tradition" of a Seven frame from its original maker, Arch Motors.

Athens7, I am assembling a 2007 Caterham Series 3 from a kit, and will be installing a 2.3 Duratec from Cosworth USA. My car is already licensed in Alaska. None of the Caterhams (SVs, Series 3s, or CSRs) come into the USA as factory-assembled cars ready to drive, or even as assembled cars without engines. (This has provided some difficulty in the case of home-builders of the CSR, since Caterham has never published a CSR assembly manual, because all CSRs in UK and on the Continent are factory-assembled). Caterhams come to the USA as kits only, because as kits of parts, they do not have to meet DOT and EPA manufactured-car standards, which I think would change the character of the Seven entirely -- crash tests, 5-mph bumpers, side-impact bars, dual brake circuits, etc. I decided to go with a domestic supplier of my engine because I wanted to avoid any hassle of bringing an engine into the country that was not on EPA's and US Customs' list of "recognized" conforming engines. If the engine is assembled in the US, then that initial hurdle of persuading a Customs official at the border is eliminated entirely -- and having already endured a 5-year-long hassle with these folks over my importation of a prototype military truck, I wasn't about to go through that again! This method of importing a Caterham as a box of parts does not entirely answer the complications of getting the assembled car licensed in various states, but it does finesse the problem of getting the car landed in the US in the first place. Alaskossie

Scannon, Can I stop over some time as I'm passing through? Or do I have to finish my Seven first? :) Alaskossie