John B

I'm planning to do a little ice racing and I need another set of wheels for my 2003 Caterham SV to make a set of ice wheels. Looking for 15x7, 4x108 bolt pattern, 15mm offset Change of plan: Looking for 13x6 Caterham wheels 4x108...

I'll try not to blow this one up! See you guys at NJMP, or sooner if anyone's up for a local drive. Happy 2018!

'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was Hooning, not even a mouse... ... When all of a sudden, there arose such a clatter... Our second annual traditional Christmas Eve Caterham ride.

Yep, that's us.

I did get a dyno sheet. I’ll scan and post it. The 2.5 MZR is essentially a stroked 2.3 Duratec. Consequently it doesn’t rev as high but makes more torque and hp all the way up the range. We set the rev limit at 7,900. Good eye! That is a CGT hiding back there. I can’t believe you identified it with just that small portion visible.

I just got my SV back with the 273 hp 2.5L MZR installed. I just took it out for a good blast. It makes great power all the way up the rev range and really comes on strong in the top third of the range. Traction is certainly not it's strong point! I'm very pleased with the driveability of the barrel throttle. In some applications they can be tricky off idle but this is very smooth and progressive all the way up. I'm so happy to have it back!

Well, it's been a year since I holed two pistons in the 2.3L Duratech SBD in my SV at Thunderbolt. It's first track day... We pulled the engine and sent it to Hasselgren Engineering in CA that does our Formula Atlantic race engines. The instructions were basically to make it a killer Formula Atlantic engine with a Cosworth 45mm barrel throttle and all the best hardware: Forged crank, Carillo rods, forged pistons, Formula Atlantic cams and valvetrain, but it should run on pump gas. Oh and by the way it doesn't have to remain 2.3 liters!! Well, it's finally done: 2.5L MZR - 273 hp on the dyno. I can't wait!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cd09uFlpCHU&feature=youtu.be

Nice looking Caterham Zetec on BaT. Anyone here know it? http://bringatrailer.com/listing/1995-caterham-super-7/

Nice LS3 Stalker in Texas. Guess we should call it the "Texas Stalker" https://dallas.craigslist.org/ndf/cto/5998993363.html

After hole-ing two pistons at NJMP last summer at a member day before the 7's event. I sent my 2.3L SBD Duratech to Hasselgren Engineering in Berkely, CA, They do our Formula Atlantic engines. Paul does a lot of 2.3 Duratecs for Swift 016's. I told him I want a kick ass engine that runs on 93 octane, and "By the way, it doesn't have to remain a 2.3 liter" His eyes widened and a big smile emerged. He's boring it to 2.5L and using the 2.5L head with larger valves and it will run the Cosworth barrel throttles. It was 235 hp from SBD, Hasselgren thinks 285-300

No solid theories at the moment, although the prior owner did re-map it to get it running to his satisfaction on the street. I don't believe it was ever tracked before, so possibly it was too lean for extended full throttle action on the track, but that's just conjecture at this point.

It was nice meeting you guys at NJMP last weekend. Unfortunately, the engine in my Caterham didn't survive the track day. It was losing power and smoking on track. In the paddock it seemed compression was getting into the bottom end as it was puffing smoke out of the catch can breather. I suspect a piston failure, maybe a ring land collapsed. We called a flatbed to take it to our race shop in PA. The bad news is this means we won't make the 7's event at NJMP. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade, so I'll probably send the engine to one of our Formula Atlantic engine builders. They build lots of 2.3 Duratecs for the later Swift 016 Formula Atlantics. I'll probably ask for a street spec Atlantic Engine with the barrel throttle, porting, crank, and oil pump that runs on 93 octane, maybe 12:1 instead of 14.5:1. It doesn't have to stay at 2.3 liters either, so maybe it can take a bigger bore and bigger valves. We'll see, but regardless it will come back stronger and faster.

Awesome! Six sevens, we could almost have our own run group. I look forward to meeting you guys in person

I'm bringing my Caterham SV to NJMP this Saturday, June 18th for its first track day. The forecast looks great. - Any other 7's going?

I'd do June 13th in New Hope...

Since my harness were way out of date I ordered a new set from Caterham Parts in the UK. They were at my door the very next day! Those guys don't screw around...

Well, a wedding popped up that cancels my racing plans for the weekend of 6/30 - 7/3. The good news is I think I can now make the Sunday track day - I'm in!

I just replaced the malfunctioning Odessey PC925 in my SV with a Voltphreaks Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePo4). I put one in my GT2 a couple years ago and it's performed flawlessly. I have had three Odessey failures in various cars using their recommended chargers, I'm done with those heavy unreliable pieces of crap. CCA, Ah, Weight Odessey PC925: 330 CCA, 28Ah, 26 lbs Voltphreaks VPH900; 550 CCA, 33Ah, 7 lbs https://p10.secure.hostingprod.com/@www.voltphreaks.com/ssl/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=1_5&products_id=80

Wow, that sounds fiesty! I'm a member of NJMP and am definitely looking forward to bringing the Caterham down for some fun this summer. Maybe T-Bolt 5/21 or 22. I think I met you there last summer before I purchased my SV. You and Doug P both had your Cats at Lightning while my son and I were racing at T-Bolt. We popped over looking for Doug and had a brief chat.

Thanks Tom, I just sent Steve an introductory email. 310hp, I like that number!! What compression ratio is that? Race gas I presume? Does it have a forged crank and pistons? Keyed crank? I'm not sure what the internals of mine are, Steve can probably help with that. I think I'll use the car 75% street, 25% track, so will want to stick with 93 octane pump gas.

Hi All, I have an '03 SV with a 235hp 2.3 SBD Duratech with SBD butterfly intakes. The car currently runs great. It's very tractable and powerful, but as usual, too much is not enough... I'm thinking about adding a Cosworth barrel throttle and map. I think this may yield an additional 10hp or so. Has anyone on the board done the conversion? What all is involved? did it work out??

I really enjoyed the video and the story. Beautiful car!

Well... Good news and bad news. The Tech guys in the Pennsylvania Hillclimb Association say that although some early 70's Lotus 7's have run in the Historic and vintage classes, my car is "already prepared beyond street classes" and thus would be classified as EModified, requiring a full cage. I don't really understand what they mean by "prepared beyond street classes", but that's the bad news. The good news is they said it doesn't need fuel cell. I'm not putting a cage on it, so there goes that idea. Maybe I'll do some Ice Racing with it this winter then. It needs to do something semi-sporty.

Thanks for the help guys. Sounds like I opened up a can of worms here on the fuel cell. I'll check Caterham, ATL, & Fuelsafe and see which will be quicker. The hillclimb is in July. I'm pretty sure I saw a couple 7's with only rollbars, not cages, at the last two "Giants Despair" hillclimbs in Scranton, PA. Will check with their tech guy.

Posted outside the bathroom at Road Atlanta (Fixed the pics, they went in sideways previously from my iPhone)