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I needed new tires when I bought my Caterham and, without doing any real research, selected a set of Michelin Pilots. Big mistake. On Blatchat they are referred to as "Pileups" due to their lack of traction. Think it's the weight thing again. A tire designed for good all weather performance on a 3,500 (on up) lb. car may not do so well with only 1,200 (or so) lbs. on it. Steve

Are you in Ontario? A quick Google search found a brochure for the Drive Clean program that indicates that Kit Cars and "Historic" vehicles are exempt. Possible to get it registered as a Kit Car? I think you'd get the tail pipe test, which apparently doesn't test the NOx level. Before I registered my Cross Flow Caterham under a program that doesn't require emissions tests, I took it to have one just to see. I passed the CO (allowed 5.00%, had 1.93%), but failed on the HC (allowed 500 PPM, had 1527 PPM). I think the only thing you'll be able to lean out is the idle - everything else would require a change in jets.

This article might be relevant to the conversation. Apologies for the image quality. Steve

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

Mike - Thought about it, but decided it's a bit early. I am doing the MVP weekend April 10-11. 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