bball7754

I thought the rear fenders looked different. They seem narrower, more Series 1/2 like. They would look good with my clamshells, I think.

Found the KitKat thread: Sounds like Redline is your best option. Steve

I know Mike (KitKat) had a half-shaft issue, so I expect he’ll be around soon to provide info on his experience. As I remember, it was quite a challenge to find parts. Steve

Just booked a VIP Suite, and will register shortly. New helmet arrived yesterday. Oil changed, brakes bled, new front pads. And I’ve squeezed in an econo $10 polish job. 😊 Targeting arrival around 2:00 on Saturday. Have been in touch with TJ to do a quick alignment, although I’ll run even if I can’t get it done. Steve

What did you decide regarding the head gasket? Just curious. That photo that showed the small round opening sort of looked like a plugged channel, particularly thinking back to all the rust removal efforts you went through. Steve

I needed a new helmet regardless, so that’s been ordered. Many racing organizations, including the VSCDA that I run with, are still accepting SA2010 helmets this year. But next year I’ll need a 2015 or 2020.

After a long hibernation, my Caterham is back running. So……I’m now a possible. My belts are fine, but primary issue is a new helmet, which I’m working on. Need an oil change and brake bleed, but those are scheduled for tonight or tomorrow. And I have to accept that it wouldn’t get a fresh polish before the event. Steve

Do you have a Pertronix ignition in the distributor? I had an intermittent issue with the Crossflow in my Mallock which got worse and worse. It finally cut out on track at Road America, and it wouldn’t start. I had a spare ignition, which I installed, and it still wouldn’t start. It had fuel, and electric from the coil to the distributor. I had read that the normal brown color rotors can be a problem. Pulled the rotor, and showed it to an extremely knowledgeable mechanic who prepares vintage race cars. He took a one second look at it and said it was bad, and was shorting out. I found a replacement red rotor at the track, put it in, and it started immediately. No issues since. Steve

I also found that pumping slowly was the key, and agree 1/2 is about the max. However, I still have the occasional overfill, usually right after I’ve polished the aluminum.

I’m pretty sure everyone on this site reads BAT daily, but for those few who don’t or have missed this article: https://bringatrailer.com/2021/07/26/event-coverage-the-huntsville-cyclekart-grand-prix/ The first video is excellent, and gives a great presentation of the types of personalities drawn to CycleKarts. Seems to me they would fit in fairly well with Seven owners. 😊 Stev

As the owner of a Crossflow powered 1998 Caterham, I found this interesting. But I wonder if someone whose “base” is something like a 620R would feel the same way after driving an older, Crossflow Seven. https://www.goodwood.com/grr/road/news/2021/7/new-vs.-old-caterham--which-is-best--thank-frankel-its-friday/ Steve

Believe the caps are supplied to Caterham by Mocal. I lost my cap, and was able to get a replacement from British American Transfer. They have the Mocal literature on their site, which includes all the dimensions. I think Caterham uses the Aero 300. https://irp-cdn.multiscreensite.com/e112be6e/files/uploaded/cap.pdf Steve

Wasn’t clear in my post. What I meant was that when I saw the Dare on BAT, I wondered if Mike would include it. Then came here and saw that he had.

Was wondering if you would include the Dare on BAT.☺️

I agree with John. Believe it’s “unpressurized” because it vents to an open catch tank. I think of a pressurized system as onethat is completely closed, including the overflow/expansion tank. With the open tank, you’re dependent on the cooling of the engine and (I think) resulting decrease in pressure to suck the coolant back into the system. So, it is important that the tube extend to the bottom of tank, otherwise it won’t suck the coolant back in. Not that it always does regardless.🙂

Roman

Oh, and it does look great! Pulling the fenders, etc. is the way to go, in my opinion.

I would be concerned that the sealant would not appreciably prevent the aluminum from dulling, but would/could make a repolish substantially more difficult. But I haven’t researched repolishing sealed aluminum, so could be way off base. Steve

I have to confess that for me this thread has become the equivalent of a daily soap opera episode. Lots of twists and turns in the plot, characters fading away then making a comeback, new villains appearing. ☺️

On my 1998 Cat, it just pulls off. No fasteners, it’s just a pressure fit. One caveat. My Cat has no carpeting on the tunnel walls, so not sure if that would change how the tunnel cover is attached. Steve

Nice!! I’m on BAT all the time, so looking forward to seeing it there.

Mike - great article, but what piqued my curiosity were your comments about driving cross country, and your 50 year old car leaking on Tom’s driveway. Did I miss a post about this trip? 😊 Steve

And polishing one car wasn’t enough, so I bought a second that I could also polish.🙂

Mike - You’re making me blush.🙂 And tbh, I’ve never been totally happy with my polishing. More haze than I’d like. But to answer the original question. First, I don’t think you want to polish it by hand. If nothing else, get a HF random orbit sander, and get a polishing pad for it. The first few times I polished, I used Mother’s with a Porter Cable random orbit polisher. I used pads from Auto Zone, and just used pressure to keep the pad in place. Not ideal, but it worked. After the first few years of that (I do an annual polish, usually for an auto show that runs each year), I started using Nuvite with a Cyclo polisher. Nuvite comes in a range of grades. If you have heavy oxidation or scratches, they recommend you start with a compounding/coarse grade, which you apply with a circular polisher - which essentially means a drill with the right pad attachments. You’ll have scratches after the compounding, but they all come out when you use the finish grade. I still use Mother’s here and there, and I think you can get a very good shine with it. Probably a good place to start, and decide how much effort you want to put into the polishing. I end up removing my fenders and windscreen, exhaust, etc, before I polish. But it’s obviously not necessary to go that far. Oh, and regardless of what you use and how you polish, wear neoprene gloves or your hands will be black. Enjoy! 🙂

I’m no help with fuel cell install, but curious what class you will run in with HSR?