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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

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

Any issues with the height of the engine, and/or width of the transmission? Skip - I thought the trans. was a tight fit in your SV? Steve

Mike - The starter is fine, and the solenoid is also, for the most part. The lead sticking out of the solenoid, which connects to the ignition switch, is not original. The connection of the lead inside the solenoid is loose. So it will work fine for extended periods of time, and then just stop. I can always start the car, it just takes two people. One turns the ignition to the "start" position, and the other (me) wiggles that wire on the solenoid. Starts immediately. Oh, and I'm trying to get it fixed before the track day at Putnam this Saturday. At this point I'm going to go anyway. I've already had to approach strangers at a gas station and ask them to turn the ignition, so I've got that process all worked out. You still planning on being there? Weather looks good. Steve

I've been wrestling with an issue with the solenoid on my starter. At this point I'd like to just replace it, but I'm having trouble tracking one down. The starter is a Magnetti Marelli. The numbers on the solenoid have worn away and are illegible. Numbers on the starter are "27048A" and Type "M79 (0.9). Date on it is "26-97". Haven't had any luck with searches on both Google and Blatchat. Any info would be helpful. Lucas or Bosch equivalent starters (if there are any), vehicle the starter was originally built for, sources for a solenoid, etc. Thanks. Steve

The Craigslist posting has expired, but from the pictures on the The Motoring Enthusiast site it looks like the car has Avon ACB10 bias-ply tires. Since he didn't know that he had a de Dion, it's unlikely that he knows that you need a different set of ears for non-radial tires. Don't know if that would cause the darty-ness, but don't imagine it's helping the situation either. Steve

Had a recent request for a photo of mine, so I have one handy. Steve

Here is a link to a post on Blatchat that covers reversing the buckle: http://www.blatchat.com/t.asp?id=38653 And here is a link to a site with pictures and step by step directions: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/richard.a.price/Luke_harness_swap3.HTM Did I mention I spend way too much time on 7's sites. Steve

Mike - Unfortunately, just electronic ignition (no points) but no 3d. I think the cam does help. Believe my engine started life as the 135 HP spec, and later had the cam change. Steve

Although my 1700 Xflow with 244 cam has the roller rockers, my reading on Blatchat supports John's view. Roger King (UK Xflow guru) actually seems to have negative views of the roller rockers, and seems to prefer the standard valve train for highly tuned Xflow's. There seem to be many happy UK Xflow owners who have added the 3d ignition. Steve