bball7754

I’ve had a distributor issue with my Crossflow for… well, too long. I won’t bore everyone with the full saga, but I’m at a point where I’m ready to replace my Aldon Ignitor with a Pertronix Ignitor II. According to Pertronix tech support, the curve on the distributor is 5 degrees at 1000 rpm to 25 degrees at 4000 rpm. My Crossflow needs 12-14 at idle, which is more like 1200 rpm. Ignoring whether the actual curve suits the cam/carbs, etc., I thought I’d be ok. I thought that moving the idle advance up by, say, 7-9 degrees to 12-14, would result in the total advance being increased by 7-9. So max would be 7-9 plus 25, or 32-34, which is about right (I think 34 is preferred). Pertronix tech support said, no, if I set the idle to 14 the total advance would be 14 plus the 25 per the original curve spec for a total of 39. Which is too much. Is he right? Thanks. Steve

Set with it just touching the ball on the valve, I believe. I bought a long 12mm bolt and used that to measure. Easier (to me) than trying to get a micrometer in there. Steve

Wallage book on rebuilding and tuning Crossflow's has 22-29 ft. lbs. Steve

Kiwi - It's really for track days. I had to limp home (225 miles) from a track day last summer, and finally decided that I was pushing my luck. My preference is still to drive it - but this opens up some other possibilities. Steve

Carl - Could you send me the AI files? Email is: smont7@gmail.com Thanks.

Mondo - Not really sure about the theory behind the design, other than some aero benefit and easy access to both ends. Jim - Pretty sure they didn't do any wind tunnel work when they were designing the trailer. I didn't feel any lift when I towed it empty back from Michigan. Mike - I thought it towed well, but I'd never towed anything before so don't have any comparisons. Drove through some serious storms coming home (windy and heavy rain), and it seemed to track well. I drove 65-70 most of the way home, and got about 14 mpg with the Volvo. I was hoping for more, but it (the Volvo) actually doesn't get very MPG in general. I considered an open Trailex, but really wanted something covered. My friend with the Lotus Eleven has the same trailer. He bought it as an open trailer when he first purchased his Seven, then had them convert it to covered. After owning it for about 4 years, he said he'd still make the same choice. Only downside is that there is lots of opportunity for leaks. But I'm happy so far. Steve

Picked up my new trailer from Montrose Trailers at the end of April. It's 14', enclosed and all aluminum, except for the deck. Total width, including the fenders, is 94". Interior width is 74". "Standard" width is, I believe, 104". According to the Certificate of Origin, it weighs 1380 lbs, but I think that is likely optimistic. Here are a few pics. Steve

Wendell - Here is a possible source for a new Girling, and/or parts. http://www.bugsandbuggies.com/Neal_Grp.asp?Group1=Cylinders&Group_Name=Master+and+Slave+Cylinders Steve

Dave - Thought I'd pick you up around 6:00 at your hotel. Maybe meet you in the lobby? I'll be driving a white Mini Cooper S. I'm about 5'10, and much of my hair growth has shifted from the top of my head to my face. Mike/Jerry - That should put us at the Tap Room around 6:30. Hope that works for all. Call me at work with questions/issues: 314-726-4551. Or cell: 314-605-6686

Haven't heard from Jerry. Charlie can't make it either week, and Chris F. can only make it next week. Mike - you up for this tomorrow, or should we try next week? I'm game for either - or maybe both. Dave - You're up the hill out there, so you should stay dry.

Dave - Welcome back! Think it will be tough to get things organized for tonight. If we try for tomorrow, Jerry can join us. I was thinking of the Tap Room downtown? Not as far for you, Mike. I'm open to other venue suggestions. Dave - I can run out to Chesterfield and pick you up. If this doesn't come together, we go for plan B - sometime next week. Steve

Dave - Like Jerry, I'm also out of town the weekend of the 14th-15th, so that weekend probably doesn't work for a Seven-esque gathering. Maybe something on the 10th, 11th, 17th or 18th? Think we need to get you out of Chesterfield so you can see other parts of St. Louis. If we leave it somewhat loose and weather dependent, Jerry, Mike (breezy7), and I could bring our Seven's - which is sort of the point, right? Can probably drag along a few ex-Seven owners. One has had 3, and is between Sevens. The other "traded' his SV for a '57 Lotus Eleven. Thoughts? You should have a personal message on your other topic. Steve

Interesting thoughts on the Caterham sale. http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2011/04/26/more-on-the-team-lotus-caterham-deal/ Steve

An unofficial confirmation. http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2011/04/22/team-lotus-principals-buy-caterham-confirmed/ Steve

I'm in University City, just across the St. Louis city line, and own a '98 Caterham. Let us know when you're coming back to St. Louis, and we can try and put some sort of gathering together. Steve

Mike - Agree with Dingo's recommendation on the Roger King mod. I did it last year, and I went from spitting out a third of a catch tank worth of oil per session at a track day to maybe a quarter of an inch. And now that I think about it, as I remember you have a PCV canister for your crankcase ventilation, and not sure your valve cover cap had a vent. For what it's worth, the gasket from NAPA was Fel-pro 50091 R-1. Turns out the package actually lists "Ford British 4", both a "1298 cc (Crossflow) 67-78", and a "1599 cc Engine 67-73". Dave Bean part number is "416E 6451 - Valve Cover Gasket, special for Aluminum covers". And the Wallage Crossflow book torque listings state 3-4 ft. lbs. I agree with Dingo - it's probably not able to breathe, and is pushing it out under the valve cover. Steve

Mike - 1) I don't think it's serious. I don't have a leak from the valve cover, but have the same white "stuff" drifting out of my catch tank - which is where my valve cover vents to. 2) Probably. 3) Can check specific size tonight, but don't think it's metric. After all, it's an English engine from the '60's. Doesn't need a torque wrench, and my blatchat research indicates that you don't want it very tight. Too tight, and it leaks oil - seems counter-intuitive, but my experience has been that it's accurate. 4) Believe I got mine at NAPA. They had to order it, so got two. Have them lookup the part for the 1600 Pinto from around 1970. Can also look at my spare tonight and give you the part number. 5) Think I just put some oil on the valve cover side. A little fiddly, but not too bad. Mine tends to stay stuck to the valve cover when I take it (the valve cover) off. Steve

From my reading, changing jets, etc. on Webers is a steep, slippery slope. Float level is important. Did you check/adjust it when you installed the new floats? Carb's also have to be synced. Welcome to the brotherhood of the Xflow. Steve

Mike - Mid-Ohio would be great, but the elder son is graduating from college that weekend, so don't think it's an option. Steve

Mike - Let me know what Putnam track day(s) you're considering, and I'll try to join you. I'm doing the MVP weekend April 16-17, assuming that my distributor makes it back from Aldon in England. It finally showed up after a month, but with an outstanding customs charge of 45 pounds. Aldon should have picked it up yesterday, and they will appeal the charge. After a month, I'd pretty much written it off. Have plan B in motion (new Pertronix), but ordered it from Summit Racing (believe it or not) on 3/11, and they still don't have it to ship to me. May need to come up with Plan C. I'm having visions of having a non-functioning Seven the weekend of the trackday, and being the proud owner of 3 distributors the following weekend. Steve

Tom - The cam you have will dictate what your valve clearance should be. This is an old post from Blatchat: A Sprint with a standard cam is .014" inlet, .021" exhaust. A Sprint with an A2 cam is .020" inlet, .022" exhaust and a Supersprint is .022" inlet, .024" exhaust I have the Kent 244 cam, which is also .022 and .024, set cold. The cam will also determine which plug to use, and each plug has it's own defined gap. Steve

Mike - After the third trackday where someone came in and told me how much they enjoyed following me and watching my inside front wheel come off the pavement, I decided I needed to change the suspension setup. I went up on the diameter of my front anti-roll bar, and added a rear bar. Since then, no one has said I'm cornering on 3 wheels. I think our vintage Caterham have extremely soft springs - maybe 150 lbs in the front? I think 200-225 is the "normal" front spring rates for street/track use. Steve

Back to pictures:

Believe the "standard" setup is to have 10-15mm of rake, with the rear higher. Research on Blatchat indicates that the handling can be somewhat evil without the rake. Steve

Mike - I think one of the advantages of the Avon ACB10 is it's weight - or lack thereof. Pretty sure that with a superlight wheel that the total weight would be under 20 lbs. Maybe someone who has them or used them will be along to confirm or correct. Steve