Alaskossie

For you lucky folks on the East Coast, here is a fine Lotus exhibit set to open at the AACA Museum in Hershey, PA in January: http://www.aacamuseum.org/lotus-art-lightness/#more-7164'

I use Spa carbon-fiber side mirrors, with the bracket made by Seven and Elans that mount to the windscreen frame, using existing holes. See: http://www.sevenselans.com/partsforsale.ht These brackets place the side mirrors high enough to be useful. I tightened up the mirror swivel actions with Bellville springs, in the manner suggested earlier on this forum. I also use a panoramic center windscreen-mounted mirror available from MirrorsforSevens. Together, these cover all bases.

Bruce, My 2007 R500 was offered by Caterham with the option of 13-inch wheels or 15-inch wheels. I got the 6.5X15 wheels for front and rear, but later I test-fit a set of CSR 9X15 wheels and 245/40 R15 tires on the rear. They fit with no clearance problems, but I added a 5mm spacer, just to be sure. So I am running the 245/40 R15 CR500 Avon tires on 9X15 Caterham CSR wheels on the rear, and 195/45 R15 CR500s on Caterham 6.5X15 wheels on the front. I have had no interference with the front wing stays, running the 195/45 R 15 tires on the front.

A bit of news from Caterham UK today, in an attempt to squelch rumours: http://www.lotus7.club/news/caterham-group-statement

MoPho, you could make a career of that......!! :

Wonder what the front/rear weight distribution is?

Space is still available. Contact: caterham@7cars.ca

Dave, Did you also catch the dramatic over-the-frame exhaust system on K2 RUM? Or has that giant zipper just entranced you too much?

On the off-topic about the giant carbon fiber air intake on K2 RUM's car: I'll bet that is for track-day noise abatement, as much as it it is for performance.

The legendary Lotus single-seat race designer (and also designer of the Gurney Eagle) Len Terry has passed away: http://www.classicteamlotus.co.uk/en/news/posts/2014/len-terry-talent-ability/ Some of the cleanest, most graceful, and most purposeful monoposto cars ever raced!

That was "out on the road." Damned auto spell-check!

There is a very nice feature article on Jack Tripp's beautifully-restoreed 1963 Cosworth S2 in Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car Magazine, October, 2014 issue. Perhaps it is fairly unusual to see an S2 restored to this degree of authenticity -- I'd hate to take it lout on the road! Apparently the next issue of HS&CC will describe in detail the restoration of this car. Can't wait!

Sean and all, i was assuming that Cranky was pulling back on his release ring the entire time he was inserting the steering wheel hub onto the splined shaft. I have never tried to get my wheel to lock just by applying pressure on the hub and hoping that everything inside will ramp up enough to allow it to slide on and lock. If the hub is not seating far enough on the shaft, I would have though that the splined shaft is not protrude enough out of the dash, and the hub was hitting the dash? Can't think of anything else that would prevent the hub from sliding on far enough to engage and latch.

On the later Momo q-r wheels, there is definitely a "first position" in which the splines seem to be engaged by the steering wheel (i. e., the steering wheel will steer the wheels), but the wheel is in fact not locked onto the column. I found this out one time, by inadvertently pulling the wheel toward me, and having it come off in my hands (luckily, I was at a standstill). Sometimes, after removing the Momo wheel, I have had the devils' own time trying to get the wide spline on the steering shaft to line up with the wide slot in the wheel hub, so that the wheel can slide completely forward and lock. I didn't do anything like cleaning or lube to fight this problem, but lately it seems to have largely gone away.

Mike, What was your best time and speed at Bandimere?

And a rip-roarin' engine note, to boot!

Skip, It looks like you had great fun. What an intriguing car! If I've never before seen a purely "cosmetic" roll bar, I've seen one now!

Does anyone have any head-to-head skidpad or road-course tests of a 3-wheeler and a performance 4-wheeler (like Seven type)? Seems to me that if a 3-wheeler had superior cornering performance (not sensation, but actual performance). we would see more of them in sporting competition. I consider them expensive toys and not performance machines, and perhaps justifiable only if they qualify under some motorcycle-only legal loopholes. I believe the Morgan trike in UK in the 1930's escaped an automobile tax because it was a "motorcycle." 1700 lb. for 3-wheeler seems about 600 lb. too heavy. Obviously they have subtracted one wheel, but have not "added lightness."

Got to hand it to Louis! It looks like he could change two tires at once while on the move, and without taking off his shoes or risking life and limb -- at least, not as much as the Saudis.... Louis is a testament to the lengths some people will go to make a point -- as irrelevant as that point may seem to others....

Gert, I think the gaskets are there for cushioning, and to make a neat join or transition between dash and gauge (if the gaskets work correctly). Certainly neater that RTV would be, in my hands.

What could possibly go wrong? Now, to find a sufficiently long straight stretch of road..... http://www.chonday.com/Videos/sauditire2

Just happened to think of a minor point, but has anyone else become terminally frustrated with the tiny square cross-section rubber gaskets or large O-rings that Caterham furnishes with their Caerbont round gauges, to go between the dash and the gauge? It is almost impossible to get the O-rings to lie flat without twisting, and being rubber, they crack and perish, and dangle from the dash after about 6 months. What a ridiculous way of mating the gauge to the dash panel.... Has anyone made up their own round neoprene O-rings to substitute for these worthless things? Any other suggestions?

Skip, I hate to mention it, but isn't this the new speedometer that we swapped out of my unbuilt Caterham kit in 2010, to get something working on your car, and then you later got a replacement speedo for me from Ben at Rocky Mountain Sportscars? So, maybe I owe you a new speedo on warranty.....(?)! Just wondering.....

I'm assuming that this s/c installation would require a compression ratio reduction from a stock "tuned" 2L Caterham engine?

We have our first UK registrant for PBB 2015. Perhaps the description of the PBB 2015 in the latest issue of Low Flying has stimulated some action from across the Pond. After discussion, the organizers have concluded that to make this Blat more economical (and even possible) for UK participants (a 40-foot shipping container will hold 6 Sevens), we will hold the North American registrants to 21 in number, and leave up to 6 slots for UK participants. This means that the total number on the Blat could be 27 cars, if a full container comes to Vancouver BC from UK. Logistically, it should be possible (but more difficult) to accommodate 27 cars total. If fewer than 6 cars are shipped from UK, the organizers will decide whether any unfilled “UK slots” should be filled from the NA “first-come, first-served” wait list, assuming the NA quota of 21 has already been filled at that point.