inchoate

A while ago I posted about looking for a replacement for my 7. It's become abundantly clear that there is no replacement for a 7 other than a better 7 so I'm definitely keeping mine for the time being. That said I'm still looking for a slightly less suicidal car for Sunday drives with the missus. I've been through a couple of 987s and they're really great cars but by wife refers to them as "fat cats that are good mousers" and I can't really argue with that. Someone suggested that I look at the Alfa Romeo 4C recently. Honestly it was never on my radar before but after a little research I'm officially intrigued. Anyone here ever drive one? How does it compare to a 7? How does it compare to an Elise or Exige?

"The Magnificent 7" is a lot of fun. Someone should put together a list of the various 7 related books.

Tony Weale's book is great. Chris Rees' "Caterham Sevens: From Conception to CSR" is also a fantastic reference for this sort of stuff.

good lord, you weren't kidding about the aircraft spruce cigarette lighters. if you want to smoke underway in a 7 just put the roof up.

I'm sort of thinking about doing exactly the same thing. I've started tuning using an Innovate Motorsports LM-2 and it's working well for idle mixture but I'd sort of like to do some road tuning as well. A 12v outlet in the cockpit would make that a lot more convenient. What are you thinking about for the outlet? I've yet to find something that I like.

in my experience e10 is ok in older cars/bike as long as it doesn't sit for any length of time. If I know I'm going to use the gas I happily fill up with gas station 93 octane e10. If I even suspect that something is going to sit for more than a week or two I drain the fuel system. I'll put some race gas in the tank if I have some around or if I'm feeling fancy. I've cleaned and rebuilt so many carbs that I'm entirely sick of it. The extra work and expense with the gas is well worth it for me.

I've ordered several items through the Caterham parts website: https://caterhamparts.co.uk/ They've always been great and I've never had any issues whatsoever.

yes, and because it's a mini ratchet you can position it at any angle you like. my fasteners are a little stiff, so the extra leverage is nice to have.

Those push buttons are cool. I ended up making a dzuz tool with a #3 hi-torque bit and a mini hex ratchet. Works much better than a snoopy tool.

sigh... So jealous of people that can get ethanol free pump gas. Absolutely zero availability near me. I now have to run VP Racing gas in my old bikes because I got tired or rebuilding carbs every time I want to go for a ride.

I would suggest doing a lot of research before going down the dry sump path. I spent a lot of money before I figured out that there was no way to fit the oil tank in my car without moving major stuff around. YMMV and dry sumps are super cool but I've come to the conclusion that if it ain't broke, don't fix it. I replaced the Caterham oil cooler that was on my car with a similarly sized Setrab setup. Everything dropped in with no issues. I'm now using the Setrab thermostatically controlled oil cooler sandwich plate, so if the oil gets hot enough it goes through the cooler. Seems like a good solution to me and no problems yet.

My oil pump didn't clear the engine mounts. The BDs are built on Kent blocks, so you may encounter some issues...

if you search there are a couple of threads about this. I did something a few years ago and I'm happy with how it turned out.

Prowire USA has a large selection of automotive and motorsports electrical stuff. Not cheap, but it's the good stuff.

it's a phone camera effect. the height is correct.