11Budlite

I don't know where the starter came from in my old Birkin, but this is a photo of the setup I had. The engine was from a '96 Contour and the gearbox was a T9 with the stock Birkin bellhousing operated with the slave cylinder mounted on the top of the gearbox cover. I'd be surprised if the bellhousing was the same between the Birkin and the Caterham because I believe the Birkin used the short input shaft, and the Caterham used the long input shaft on the gearbox. I know when I ordered the close ratio gearkit from BGH I had to tell him which input shaft I had. I guess yours could be different though. Is there a P/N on your starter?

I always wondered why you would need a quicker than standard rack. As a non-autocrosser that makes perfect sense.

That's to hook up to a manifold vacuum line/fitting to automatically adjust fuel pressure by throttle opening (manifold vacuum). In general terms, high vacuum @ idle = lower FP, low vacuum = higher FP. Not typically used on our setups. I put a cap on mine just to keep any potential debris out.

It looks like the same FPR I ran in my fuel injected Birkin. I think mine was an Aeromotive.

IIRC the Birkin recommended offset was different than the typical Miata-based wheels that most people used when they upgraded from the stock wheels. The stock wheels on my old Birkin were quite a bit heavier than the RPF1's that I replaced them with. I remember several Birkins that used the same Kosei wheels that you have on your car. If you have the 38mm version of the Kosei it could be that they added the 1/4" spacers to get the offset closer to the Birkin stock recommendation. I think stock was around 30mm but it's been a long time since I played with Birkin wheels so I could be mistaken.

Looks good Charlie, but I think your concern of rubbing on track will come true. When I went to 13" wing stays I had very little clearance between the tire and the stay and knew that on track they would rub. I had the fenders off and was able to make two bends to get enough clearance where it doesn't rub. The first bend was in the area circled in yellow to get enough clearance on the angled section of the stay to the tire. I think I ended up with about a 1/4" of clearance. I was able to bend that relatively easy by hand using an aluminum drift stuck in the end of the wing stay. The second bend was made in the area circled in red to get the top surface of the stay parallel to the tire tread. I had to put a block of wood between the tire and the angled portion of the wing stay to maintain the clearance. I used the same aluminum drift stuck in the end of the wing stay and bent the top section back down to get that surface parallel to the tire tread. At first I thought I was going to have to heat up the stay to make the bends, but it ended being not too bad of a job just doing it by hand. It did take a fair amount of time to bend all (4) wing stay sections though. My wings are held on with cable ties and those bighead fasteners so that made it a lot easier to remove the wings and bend the stays. You could probably do it with the fenders still attached but I'm sure it would be a lot more difficult. Hope all this makes sense. Hoosiers will definitely be a little wider than the R888R's and will reduce the clearance even more so keep that in mind.

I have that same connector on my 310S and it wasn't used on my car. I just cable-tied it to an adjacent harness. Not sure what model it was used on and what it was used for. Yes, the MAP sensor port is left open to atmosphere.

I've done it before using compressed air and it was pretty simple. You have to have the cylinder you're working on at TDC on the compression stroke and use shop air to keep the valves seated. I use the adapter from my compression tester to pressurize the cylinder. Then it's just a matter of using a valve spring compressor to remove the collets/retainers/valve springs to gain access to the valve stem seal. Others have used a suitably sized rope inserted thru the spark plug hole to hold the valves in place instead of shop air. Just do one cylinder at a time making sure that the cylinder is at TDC on the compression stroke with both valves completely closed. It's been a while since I've done this job so I might be forgetting something.

I too don't have a membership but would like to be part of a group buy if that happens. I'll send you a message.

It should be an Airtex E8248 fuel pump if it's like the one I had in my Birkin. I replaced mine with a Walbro pump because I went to all AN6 fittings in the fuel system. I still have mine for sale if you're interested.

If you find out you can't use a 4-pt harness, there should be bosses right in front of the main rollbar supports that are threaded 7/16 UNF for the upper seat belt mount of a 3-pt harness. I can't tell from your photo but is there a plug in there?

You can see photos of a heater assy with attaching parts at this thread:

There should be (4) nyloc nuts plus (2) upper screws in the engine compartment holding the heater core assy to the firewall. What you're seeing are (2) bracket assy's with (2) rivnuts/studs per assy that supports the interior ductwork and sandwiches the whole heater assy to the firewall. Pg 31 of the assy guide has a good exploded diagram of the assy.

No, if you look in the title they're 4x95.25 pcd (or 4x3.75).

I think the biggest decisions you have to make depend on the intended use of the car and how big you are. That will determine whether you get an S3 or SV, and if you get the S pack or R pack. I'm 5'9" and 160# and fit fine in an S3. If you get an S3 I would go ahead and get the lowered floors regardless, unless you're on the short side and really don't need them. Not sure how important lowered floors are in an SV. If you plan on doing track days I would get a 420R (or a 620R if you want crazy) and get the 13" wheel option and the track day rollbar as a minimum. Then you can check out upgraded brakes and suspension depending on your budget. If you plan on just driving it on the street an S pack car does just fine, and to me the stock seats are very comfortable and work well enough on track too. When I ordered my 2019 310S I was looking for the best all around driver to use on the street with maybe an occasional track day. As it turns out, I did one track day in my son's TurboMiata before my Caterham was complete, and I was hooked. Over the last couple years I've progressively added mods to make it more track-focused. Track day rollbar, aeroscreen, 13" wheels/Toyo R888R's, side-impact bar, lightweight flywheel, wide track suspension, Tillet seat, and upgraded springs/dampers. If I had known how much I would enjoy track days, I would have ordered a 420R from the beginning with maybe a couple options and been done with it. As far as Customs in 2019 I don't remember anything being a PITA. Josh at Rocky Mountain Caterham made the whole process pretty easy. Not sure if the process has changed in 2026. Registration will vary depending on the state. I previously registered my 2001 Birkin in CT and it was a bit of pain but doable. I haven't registered my Caterham yet but hope to in the future.

Just heard of the passing of George Barber of the Barber Motorsports Park and Museum. What a beautiful facility, track, and grounds. I've had the pleasure of spending time in the museum and would love to do a track day there at some point. If you've never been there, you owe it to yourself to visit and spend some time in the museum. What a collection of Lotus cars they have on display there. Thanks George, may you RIP. https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=957175646635370&set=a.244573874562221

I was 5'10" with a slender build when I had my 2001 Birkin and I fit fine. I did have to use narrow shoes to drive it because the pedal spacing is very close together. I had the pedal assy adjusted to the most rearward of the (3) positions and the seat adjusted all the way back. Being 6'1" you might have to adjust the pedal assy forward to fit, and by doing so I think you lose a little more room for your feet because of the shape of the footwell. It could be different on a newer Birkin, but that's what I recall from my old Birkin. Here's a photo showing the pedal assy and the (3) mounting positions.

Me too.

I no longer have a car with a T9, but you might try reaching out to John at Quantum Mechanics. I know he has a fair amount of experience with the T9 and might be able to help: https://www.quantumechanics.com/

I had an '89 911 Carrera that I ended up selling to pay for my youngest daughter's wedding. Really poor timing on my part, because the market went crazy soon after. There really is something unique about the air-cooled Porsches. Wish I still had it!

Thanks Steve. I've run with some Radicals at the track days I frequent and actually prefer the car based engine in the Lola even though it's heavier. My son has more track experience than me so I let him drive it on track before I do. He's always faster than me in my own cars too! Ironic that my son and his YT partner Quinn just posted a video on the Lola. This is from Canaan which is a very short, relatively slow track. Some of the external shots are with me driving though.

I guess it's time to update this thread with the latest addition to my garage. For the first half of 2025 I had been looking for a more track-focused Duratec-powered Caterham to take over most of the track duties that my 310S had been fulfilling up to this point. That ended up not working out, so when this car showed up on BaT, I decided to give it a shot. https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2007-lola-b07-90/ It's a 2007 Lola B07/90 that the owner had raced in both historic and SCCA P2 competition. He raced it in the 2024 SCCA Runoffs and came in 11th with support and race prep from Wolf Motorsports in Elkhart Lake. He felt it was no longer competitive in SCCA competition so he put it up for auction and purchased an Elan DP02, IIRC. I have always liked the Duratec-powered Caterham SP300R, having a much more modern chassis with better aero than any other Caterham. The Lola would be a very similar chassis with a naturally aspirated Duratec and 5-speed sequential transaxle, instead of the supercharged Duratec and 6-speed paddle-shifted transaxle in the SP300R. Even with the BaT fee, it ended up cheaper than any other Duratec Seven I had hoped to purchase. Some details: Chassis: Aluminum honeycomb monocoque Engine: 2.0L Duratec, Jenvey 45mm ITB, TDC dry sump, appr 210hp ECU: Life Racing Dash: AiM MXG1.2 Transaxle: Hewland FTR 5-speed sequential, LSD, with integral dry sump tank Suspension: Ohlins dampers, Hyperco springs F: 450 R: 1100 Brakes: AP Racing Calipers, Girling M/C's with balance bar Wheels: Jongbloed 3-pc, F: 8x13 R: 10x13, (3) sets Tires: Hoosier slicks, F: 200/540x13 R: 275/570x13 Bodywork: 6-pc fiberglass with Zebulon/HRP CF dual element rear wing Weight: appr #1200 but we haven't had it on the scales yet So far my son and I have done 3 track days with it at NYST, Canaan, and the combined oval/infield at Pocono. Other than a charging issue at NYST, it's gone very well and we've had a blast every time. It's much more physical to drive than my Caterham, the Exocet, or the Miata's we've been driving, but it's been a really fun learning experience both out on track and in the garage. In fact, it's been an inspiration for both of us to get in better shape, and it'll provide a goal for my daughter and son-in-law to reach for when they gain more track experience. And what better reward at the end of a trackday than to get a hug from your 41 year old son thanking you for sharing with him the experience of driving a car like the Lola! Some photos from 2025:

The diff, check out photo 284. You can change the rear end ratio by just swapping out two gears in the back of the housing.

I don't know of any application that would swap in directly, but you might be able to fabricate a setup that would duplicate the dimensions of the Caterham end links. Check out the 'Ball Joint Linkages' section of this link at McMaster-Carr: https://www.mcmaster.com/products/rod-end-connectors/rod-ends-2~/ They also have connecting rods to work with male or female threads: https://www.mcmaster.com/products/rod-end-connectors/connecting-rods-1~/