John B

We're moving into a new house so it's a good time to clear out some of the stuff I'm not using that's just taking up space. First up: a mixed assortment of Caterham wheels. 2 New 13x7 Minilight wheels with deep recessed rims. Good for rear. 2 Used 13x6? Minilight with never used Toyo Proxes R888R tires Date code 0318 (March 2018) 3 Used CSR 15x7 rims All are in very good condition. Take the whole bunch, or what you need. $100 each? Negotiable. Local pick up or buyer pays shipping Or I can bring to NJMP for the 7's event. John Burke Atlantic Highlands, NJ jburke79x@gmail.com c 732 618 0766

I'm really looking forward to our 7's event and my Cat's getting ready. The broken bellhousing has been replaced and a broken coil wire has been diagnosed and re-pinned. A new AFR gauge will give me something to occupy my time on the straights. A new lithium battery, fluid changes, a swap to track mode (slicks and aero screen), and a good "Nut and Bolt" should complete the prep. See you guys soon! John B

I had two BendPak HD9 4-post lifts in my old house and loved them. They're great for storage and also working on cars from underneath. The sliding hydraulic jacks are awesome. You can lift the car and remove wheels. We moved and I'm going to build a Man-cave / barn at the new place and will go with BendPak's again.

Not really a 7, but Holy Crap! https://bringatrailer.com/listing/turbocharged-k24a-powered-tube-frame-street-car/

Croc, Engine #1 was as installed in the car when I bought it and we never messed with it. It was a 220 hp 2.3L Duratec. The prior owner set it up himself on a dyno and only drove it on the street. It holed a piston at NJMP. We never dyno tuned it, but I suspect it was lean. After that failure we sent the engine to our race engine builder, Paul Hasselgren with instructions to build a kick ass motor out of it, "And by the way it doesn't have to stay 2.3L". Paul builds lots of 2.3L Duratec race engines for Swift 016 Formula Atlantic race cars, but they all have to remain 2.3L. I wasn't really clear with him at the time, but I was thinking increased bore, not stroke. He put in a 2.5L Stroker crank from a Ford Ranger which are cast, not forged. I wasn't too pleased either the stroker or cast idea. It made 270 hp. We broke the crank and holed the block at NJMP. Not much was useable from that engine except the barrel throttle. That failure was not due to a lean condition though. On engine #3 I was very specific on what I wanted this time, preferring a bigger bore, shorter stroke, higher revving configuration. It's a 2.5L MZR block and head with bigger valves and a shorter stroke billet crank from a 2.3L. It displaces 2.4L. It's also modified with a belt drive for the cams instead of the chain drive. it made a rather surprising 327 hp on a fairly conservative tune. The reason for the AFR gauge now is purely for driver peace of mind, it's not for a closed loop ecu system. My car doesn't have a cat and didn't even have a lambda sensor previously. The engine is tuned to run on 93 octane, but we've always used the 100 octane unleaded available when at the track and use 93 on the street. Last time at NJMP we broke a chunk out of the bell housing and also had a coil wire break. The coil wire has been re-pinned and a new bellhousing from Bruce at Beachman Racing is being installed at the moment. I'm crossing my fingers and looking forward to the USA7's event in September.

After holing a piston in our first engine, and breaking a crank in our second, I want to take really good care of engine #3. To that end, I've opted for an AFR gauge to monitor the Air/Fuel ratio. I figure a quick peek at the end of the straight while still WOT will help me keep an eye on things and give me an extra layer of comfort. I went with an analog gauge rather than LED's as it fits in better with the old school nature of the panel, and also LED's can be hard to distinguish in bright sunlight. It's an Innovate MXT - AL. I swapped in where the Fuel Gauge was and moved the fuel gage further off to the right. Temp, Pressure, AFR... https://www.innovatemotorsports.com/products/MTXA.php#3855

Shane, Best wishes on your recovery. A mechanical failure is one of the scariest things to me. I had a similar failure while racing when a front A-arm broke under braking in a sports prototype at Mid Ohio. I could no longer steer or brake and was merely along for the ride at that point. It was surprising how little the car slowed down. Fortunately for me there was a well prepared gravel trap to catch me that time. I'm willing to accept the consequences of my own mistakes while driving, but the lingering potential of a mechanical failure can be really creepy.

Good advice. Thanks guys!

I'm planning on installing an Air/Fuel Ratio gauge in my Caterham to keep an eye on AFR while on track. This requires welding a bung into my header after all four collectors merge into one, in other words on the side of the car. How does the wire from the O2 sensor get routed on Caterhams with catalytic converters? Underneath the car??

That's just Fugly!

Update: As Croc and Tom know, I left early Monday as my engine was running rough and I was down about 20mph on the front straight. I left hoping for a bad coil or crank trigger, but feared a ventilated piston. I did a compression test today and got (1-4) 170, 210, 210, 210. That ruled out a holed piston, but left a lingering low compression issue that pointed to valves. I checked the valve lash and all were in spec (0.10"), which ruled out a bent or dropped valve. #1 cylinder was cold, not firing as indicated by a pyrometer on the header. I then checked spark and found no spark in #1, but 2,3 & 4 were good. Swapping coils around revealed it wasn't a bad coil as the #1 coil sparked on the #2 lead & the #2 coil was dead on the #1 lead. Closer inspection revealed a broken wire at the connector to the coil. That was a very good sign! I was still concerned about the low compression and my engine builder Paul Hasselgren suggested that driving with no spark in #1 washed the cylinder dry with unignited fuel and that I should put a little oil in #1 and re-run the compression test. Voila!! It shot well over 210 so I'm a happy camper and am now enjoying a celebratory beer!!

I have basically one like this. Just two posts. I hooked it up in-line in the positive cable from the battery. https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-830057?seid=srese1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw-JyUBhCuARIsANUqQ_KF7PVW8rXCQbRCdpxsbqCreBF8S7YIKw0i57d8rBpln5j5OWeXwWAaAqbfEALw_wcB

Update: Pegasus Racing is sending a set for Saturday delivery. I'm back in!

Crapola!! I just picked my Caterham up out of storage and the safety harnesses are expired. I don't think NJMP gives any slack on harnesses as the State Police come and do occasional inspections. I'll order up a new set, but I'm out for Sunday

I'm thinking about bringing my Caterham to NJMP for a member day either Sunday 5/22 or Monday 5/23 to shake off the cobwebs. Anyone else interested? Simon, Croc, Tom?

I put a master kill in mine for that exact reason. It's been fine ever since. it's under the dash so it's also a pretty good theft deterrent.

Great to hear you finally exercised the demons Simon!

I'm in, my car's all set, and I'm really looking forward to it. I count 9 already. That's a great start!

I'm in

They sure look like they'd create drag and lift, the opposite of what you want on the track. On the street though, who cares. If you like them, by all means get them.

FYI - Evans Waterless Coolant is a great improvement for systems that are cooling challenged. It's boiling point is 375 degrees. It's when the coolant boils over that things get really ugly. https://www.evanscoolant.com/how-it-works/benefits/no-overheating/#:~:text=Evans waterless coolants have a,times%2C enabling consistently effective cooling.

What a fascinating project! It's a pleasure watching vicariously as it progresses and I can't wait to see the finished result.

Furthest drive: About 150 miles. Failures on the road: A bolt holding the alternator fell off, causing the belt to go slack. The car ultimately died as it wasn't charging and ran the battery down. Trailered home. The Heim joint that locates the rear De Dion tube broke causing some odd handling. Limped home very carefully. Replaced all with higher grade fittings from McMaster-Carr. The rubber mount holding the exhaust up by the rear wheel broke causing the muffler to drop and drag on the road. Jury-rigged fix on the road with a piece of wire I found. Replaced and rearranged to be in compression rather than in tension. The turn indicator relay gets loose about every 5 miles. requiring me to push it back in. I need to do something about that. These are mostly vibration related issues I think. It needs a good nut and bolt check periodically. Especially before and after a track day.

Caterham SV is good to go. A fresh set of Hoosier A6's are mounted on my track wheels just waiting. Other projects coming to completion this spring. S1 E-Type FHC - Hot engine rebuild from Bill Terry, TT Engines going in. 357 hp XK140MC OTS - Also a medium/hot Bill Terry rebuild going in at the moment. BB512 - Engine & suspension rebuild just about done. Alfa Giulia Spider Veloce - in for paint & chrome I know, I should just have my own engine shop...