John B

Bummer. I was looking forward to getting at least a few laps in on Sunday. Time for a spirited local drive in this beautiful 72 degree weather.

Ughhh....

Sure, I'm happy to take a passenger.

Fresh oil & plugs, plus cleaned the coil, injector and cam sensor connections and my Caterham's raring to go! I even polished the aluminum after Croc berated me about it last year. I'm looking forward to this years event and seeing all my Se7en buddies.

Croc - Any chance that with the postponed date CatKong will be making an appearance?

I'm excited for you Croc. Time to awaken the beast!!

Looking forward to it!

Yes, sorry guys, the 13" rims have been sold.

No, it was the same size as the other gauges. I think 2 3/4"

You're still getting off easy in my book. I've spent over 3X Good call, and I still think you're getting off relatively easy. I have over 3x that in my engine

I have a 2003 SV currently in storage in Farmingdale, NJ. You're welcome to try it on if you're ever up this way. I'm 6'3 225 with size 12 shoes. I fit fine in it, Plenty of leg room. I don't even put the seat back all the way. Headroom is unlimited : ). The hardest part is the shoes. For street I found some Italian driving loafers that work pretty well. For the track I use the smallest race shoes I can squeeze my feet into (9.5's).

My #3 cylinder went cold again. It happened the first time at the track and switching coils in an attempt to diagnose the problem "accidentally" cured it and I was able to finish the weekend. Now, with all new coils, it's happened again. Dead #3 cylinder and a black sooty plug again. So now it's war. if it sparks or squirts it's getting replaced. I decided to replace the 20 year old engine wiring loom as well. We do that after 10 years on our race cars. SBD in the UK was great in helping me determine exactly what I need and getting it to me quickly. There are soo many sensors and connections, but everything fit perfectly. It started right up and runs smoothly on all 4 cylinders now. I think there must have been a short in the harness.

Thanks John, I hadn't realized they had "slipped" so much. I recall the Superlight R500 as a friend has one and I drove it, which is what led me down the whole Caterham wormhole in the first place. Superlight R500 (2008) 263hp/506kg = 520 HP/Tonne - 14 above "500" 620R (now) 310hp/610kg = 508 HP/Tonne - 113 below "620"

Congrats John! I look forward to following the build. Love the color, and good call on the inaugural Guinness FYI - Caterham's naming convention is more complicated than merely 2x HP. It's based on the power to weight ratio, specifically HP/Tonne. A metric Tonne is 1,000 kg or 2,204 lbs. So a 260 hp 420R SV that weighs 1235 lbs would more appropriately be a 464R.

I found the problem with my starter. the weld on the post for the ignition lead broke causing a short. Naturally, it started fine after I trailered it home, but I didn’t trust it any more and dug in. IMG_9269.MOV

Yeah, Bobby Brown is a real character and avid racer. I met him when I bought his Reynard F3000 car mentioned in the article, and we've been friends ever since.

Must have been the Williams F1 guy's

Another great 7’s event is in the books. It was nice seeing old friends and meeting new ones. The weather was perfect for both days. I’d particularly like to thank the willing and able gang of starters that kept me on track both days with push-starts after my starter failed early in the first day.

Actually. the buyer of the 13" wheels realized they wont fit his bolt pattern so they're still for sale too. I mounted a brand new set of Toyo Proxes R888R 205/60R-13 to the rear wheels. I'm bringing the whole lot to NJMP this weekend. Who wants them?

I'm 6'3 220 and fit fine in my SV. Legroom - Not an issue at all as the car is very "long". I almost have to move the seat forward a bit. Headroom - Unlimited Width - Snug with two people my size, but comfortable. Foot Box - The narrow footbox is probably the biggest issue. I wear size 12 shoes and have to wear narrow driving loafers for good footwork. Running shoes won't cut it. For track events I cram my feet into size 9 driving shoes (Formula Atlantic trick). I wish I had a proper dead pedal but there's no room.

Will do Croc, The 13" wheels are sold and I'm bringing them to NJMP for delivery so I'll bring the 15"s along as well. Worst case, we can use them for the "Boobie Prizes"

Wow, that's a can of worms... As best as I can measure, the wheels are 7 3/8" wide (edge to edge) so the centerline is half that, or 3 11/16" or 3.6875" The outside of the inner edge is 4 5/16" or 4.3125" from the machined surface. So the Offset is 4.325" - 3.6875" = 0.625" or 5/8" Positive Offset, or about 16mm Hope this helps...

Thanks Croc, I didn’t realize there were different versions. Further inspection reveals all three are 15x6.5 (not 15x7) and they have a variety of other markings inside that I don’t understand. Here are a few pics of the inside.

Toyo R888R's are 185/60R13

Your post gave me the idea to get off my butt and get rid of some of the wheels I'm not using. A nice set of Minilight 13x6 & 13x7 wheels if you're interested.