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I use Fram PH3614 for my Crossflow. Steve

Michael - I'm interested in your doors. The price you paid is displaying as 9640 - could you clarify? Thx Steve

Both Caterham and Samco UK offer sets for the Xflow, but they only come in Blue, etc. Preferred to have something more in keeping with rest of the appearance of the Xflow (Bling factor = 0) so ordered them in Classic Black from this company: http://www.classicsiliconehoses.com/ Several satisfied customers on Blatchat, and their prices are better than Caterham or Samco. Arrived two weeks after I ordered. They aren't on yet, but they look good.

Just got a set of silicone hoses for my Crossflow. Thoughts on what clamps to use? T-bolt? Anyone have any experience with these constant torque clamps? http://www.breezeclamps.com/ct.htm Steve

Ian - The Caterham supplied oil pressure sender is known for it's unreliability. I'd vote for the sender. I replaced mine on my Xflow, and it almost immediately began the same erratic behavior. Changing to a mechanical gauge has been on my to-do list for a few years now (I don't always move too fast). I basically don't pay much attention to my pressure gauge, on the assumption that it's wrong. Not the smartest thing to do - but some would say the same thing about owning a Seven. Steve

Discovered an interesting issue on my '98 Caterham this past weekend. About 15 of the rivets holding my driver's side floor pan had failed. The rivet heads had separated from the rivet bodies, and the floor pan was sagging by as much as 1/2". Since the seat is only mounted to the floor pan, it was a bit disconcerting, particularly with a track day at Putnam coming up this weekend. A quick search on Blatchat revealed this is a fairly common problem. Easy to fix - just used a 5/32" drill to get rid of the rivet bodies, then re-riveted the pan. But not something I would have thought to check. Steve

Skip - Well, as you've probably figured out I didn't make it in to Denver. May be back out this summer, and if we are I'll try again. Hope all this snow melts for you by Sunday. Steve

Skip - I'm going to be in Breckenridge tomorrow through next Saturday, so I'll just miss it. I've been in touch with Ben and may come into Denver to see both him and Nathan - as well as Al's Series 2 and Alakossie's Superlight. As they say, timing is everything in life. Steve

Hank - What happened to the dry-sump Twin Cam? Steve

Calvin - I used Passport (owned by FedEx) to ship my Caterham from Denver to St. Louis. Was very happy with the service, and felt like the car was in good hands. Not the cheapest, although I think if you join Lotus Ltd. you get a member discount. Steve

Michael - My understanding from your earlier post was that you had purchased a set of full doors, and that you were going to convert them into half doors. If you're going to do the conversion by slicing the doors in two horizontally, I'm interested in the top half of the door - the part that you are cutting off and not using as a half door - if the window and hinge attachments are still intact. In other words, if you can put the top half of the door on the hinges, and the window portion of the door is still there. I'm assuming you will cut them off where they fold in half. Steve

Michael - Since you are going to convert the full doors into half doors, I thought you would have the "left-over" tops of the doors. That's what I'm interested in. Steve

Michael - I'll take the top of the doors off your hands, if you aren't planning on keeping them. Steve St. Louis

Details on your trailer? The only trailers I've found that are that light are Trailex. Haven't seen anything enclosed as light as 950 lbs. We're also looking at the new Outback - but I think it's only rated at 3,000 lbs. Steve

Mike - You're correct, Ferrari 308 and an NSX. We had 2 Esprits, 6-8 Elise/Exige, my Seven, the Westfield 11, 2 MG Midgets, 1 MGB, and at least at the beginning a Ferrari 599. We're an equal opportunity club. Steve

The St. Louis Lotus club (STALLS) had it's annual Wine Run yesterday. Weather was great, drive was better. Ended up at the tail of the group, and after each stop sign would have to rush to catch up. Pictures posted on the Lotus Talk site here: http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f112/st-louis-area-lotus-lovers-wine-run-79291/ Shot of my Seven is towards the bottom. Steve

Here is some more inspiration. I can say that he always has FTD - by quite a bit. Believe he's traded that in for a Viper. Steve

Robert - I have a friend here in St. Louis who is selling his Caterham SV. It was purchased from and built by RMSCI, and has the high HP Zetec and Caterham 6 speed. Photo of the car is attached. I've left you a PM with his name and email if you're interested in contacting him. Nothing wrong with the car, he's just replaced it with a Lotus Eleven. Steve Added a few photos of the Eleven, since I know there are fans here.

Ian - I've been putting off dealing with the same issue on my Crossflow. I also have the Aldon Ignitor with the Unleaded advance curve, which as you said seems to max out at around 25-25 degrees advance. Other than sending to Aldon to be corrected, I guess a new Pertronix might be an option. It's on my list of winter projects. I'm likely going to go with shipping to Aldon. Sounds like Rob is the man to contact. Steve

I don't have a heater, but believe that there have been issues with heat continuing to come out even with the controls fully closed. A quick search on Blatchat should return info on the issue. It's a pretty rich source of info on Caterhams. http://www.blatchat.com Steve

Skip - Mine arrived today. My wife has family in Denver, so I'm hoping to someday be able to make good on my beer offer. Thanks again. Steve

Mike - Appreciate the info. It's Putnam Park with 100-Speed. Haven't run with them before, but it's another 2 group trackday with the possiblity of the afternoon being just an open session for everyone. Weather looks good - high around 85. Steve

Skip - I'll take one. How do you want to handle the payment? Steve

Any suggestions on how far down you can safely run Toyo RA1's? At this point the only tread I have left are the groves that run around the circumference of the tire. Also, has anyone reversed the direction? The outside shoulder of the left side tires are the most worn areas of the tires, as I've mostly been on tracks that run clock wise. Pictures would obviously help, but woke up this morning wondering if I should change back to my street tires for a trackday tomorrow, and had to get to work before I could take any. Thanks. Steve

Since Ian mentioned that there was info in the Tony Weale book, I thought I'd take a look at my copy. Not to steal his thunder, but per info in the book I think your code breaks down as: CS3 - Caterham series 3 3622 - Chassis number (I think we all figured that one out. ) TC - Big valve twin cam L - Left hand drive 2 - Mark 2 Escort Sport axle It also has a section on the approximate number sequence for each year of production: 1975 From 3570 1976 From 3625 The last section seems to contradict the approx. number sequence. It lists "Major Changes" by chassis number, and includes the entry: 1977 3612 TC R First Mk 2 Escort axle Again, credit goes to Ian. Confess I wasn't aware this info was in the book. Steve