Slonie

I hear you. And this is how I end up with $1500 worth of Stack gauges eventually 😆 (I’m pretty sure their digital dash is actually cheaper than buying all those gauges separately) Actually, I’d probably buy their fuel gauge tomorrow if it would actually give an accurate reading for these cars (iirc it’s programmable in some way so it actually might be as good as it gets for Caterham’s weird fuel level sender but I haven’t researched it deeply)

This is really cool to hear that you're still at it! I think I missed this thread back in 2022 so I'm following with great interest now.

Sure thing. The caveat is I only have personal experience with a specific model of water temp gauge and not their oil pressure gauges, but it sold me on the concept (even though their reputation speaks pretty well itself, right?). My experience is that it was way more accurate than the Caterham (Smiths/Carabont) original. Their pro stepper motor gauge would be this one: https://www.autometer.com/oil-press-pro-stepper-motor-52mm-blk-0-100-psi-1-8-nptf-male.html Note that I don't know what the fitting is for our cars so a different sender may be required than the one I linked to. I actually ordered my water temp gauge from the "Pro Control" line which has extra features like peak/alarm. The only special feature I use is that the color of illumination is programmable so you can have it function as a warning light (or drive an external warning light!) based on specified ranges. On my water temp gauge it illuminates green when it's under a certain range, white for normal, and red when it's over 100C. Incidentally, that was the default programming so I didn't have to learn how to actually program it (it's done via those buttons on the face, apparently) https://www.autometer.com/oil-press-pro-control-52mm-blk-0-100-psi-1-8-nptf-male.html The final warning, at least with the pro control (may be less of an issue with the regular ones), is that the LED illumination is incredibly bright and downright distracting at night. You can install a resistor inline with it or buy their dimmer box to fix this, but I haven't done so. Maybe after I spend a grand on the rest of the gauges! Looks like this in-situ. I think the non-Pro-Control models probably have white printing and are readable with the lights off, the Pro Control needs illumination to be seen (but will illuminate while the car is non, regardless of your headlamp switch). Aesthetically, the more basic model does win.

If my stock one ever goes on the fritz I’m going to proceed directly to the Stack website and get a matching (electronic stepper motor) gauge for the water temp gauge I bought after dissatisfaction with the OEM unit. I do like the idea of mechanical gauges in theory, but I figure one less place to potentially leak hot oil is probably good for me. If I was doing mechanical though, I’d look at Racetech who make a cool combined pressure/temperature unit l…

Prisoner for sale in WA: https://www.craigslist.org/view/d/orondo-caterham-super-prisoner-special/1F9GsATNFCqKw1SLBxGKP3

I know it's liable to draw a lot of comments from the purists, but I kinda love that bumper/light bar. Never seen one like it before. As you're a dune buggy owner I'm sure you feel right at home with it?

Congrats on the pickup! it's a good looking car. Like everyone else said, the first point is to replace those tires as ASAP (unless you can prove that they're new enough via date codes) Not to belabor the tire carrier point but mine is painted the body color (chassis from 2001). I wouldn't bother repainting it! Some people (not me) cut it off and plug it or make it removable in the case that they don't want to drive around with a spare. To each their own. Here's a tip— Download as many build manuals as you can, they're invaluable reference (along with both forum searches and build blogs from here and the UK). You can find them scattered around the web or probably all in the Files section of this site. Barring that, DM me with your email address and I'll send you my folder. For the nut and bolt torque check, I found the modern "Ikea" manual to be very helpful as it shows where each fastener is visually — However a word of warning, some torque specs have changed and will be different on your car (I can name the differential carrier bolts as one such example, if there are others I don't know of, it's too late for me anyway). Speaking of torque, check the banjo fittings for your brakes, because one of mine came loose (I had overlooked it during my nut and bolt check). And have fun!

I mean, how often can you find a pair of shoes that matches your car?

I think the post is in this FB group, request access and you should see it: Caterham 7s in the USA and Canada https://facebook.com/groups/739892829751305/

I really need to get around to experimenting with one of those. A few of the local folks have them and say it works great too. And most of them don't have a top.

Played around with SevenSense just now, and it passed my test for the differential carrier bolt specs (the test I failed by following the IKEA manual while working on my older car... The torque spec changed considerably between the two!). I really appreciate that it cites sources, a very important feature in allowing one to trust it. Very handy, thanks!

I like this idea—Honestly I've been thinking about this as I've been afraid to even ask for a shipping quote for a set of Advan A052s from the UK. The 13" size doesn't appear to be sold here. Nova ZZR/ZZS I'm not as worried about since presumably Roger Kraus Racing will have them eventually. I'm not really in a position to facilitate this though, perhaps one of the US Caterham dealers would be open to it?

All good food for thought here. I guess my MO from might be to drive with running lights in the hills UNLESS I'm in a group drive in which case somebody will be following me more closely, know I'm there, and need to see my brake lights. Likewise with around-town driving. For regular drives in the hills there's unlikely to be somebody following me closely so it's okay. Of course, none of this addresses the front half of the car, with dim halogens and turn signals that are incredibly weak if my lights are on (off-topic for this thread but definitely my next electrical investigation) Finally, If I really need maximum "fog" conspicuity I can always turn on my backup lights (two bicycle lights, if only I could wire them up as brake lights!)

This is good to know, thanks! (good feedback for me, and perhaps for @das76 too!) Kind of a tricky question of whether it's better to have running lights at the expense of braking conspicuity or not. I'll need to think about this (and maybe decide when I want to drive with my lights on — perhaps I'll just go back to using the rear fog for that) Although I notice now that it was an option when ordering! Maybe I should have ordered it that way, or else it's time to adapt them. In any case, if you're considering buying, you can get them as brakes-only or brakes+indicators... Excerpt from the top post of this thread:

I have taken to driving around with my rear fog on for conspicuity, and as a result of this I've had multiple people approach me to tell me "one of my brake lights is out". Every time I'd go and check, only to realize they just didn't see my actual taillights at all. Also, when I go for a drive with other car dorks they report the inefficacy of the OEM taillights (fellow 7 drivers don't seem comment, probably because we're used to ineffective lighting!) It took me forever to install my CaterLEDs but I'm reporting here as a happy customer! Installation was easy, the hardest part as usual was wrestling the trunk floor panel in and out of place, and also figuring out which end of the taillight connectors to squeeze to free them. Oh, and figuring out how to zip tie the wires out of the way under the trunk floor (ProTIp: Maybe do this before putting your trunk floor in place). I currently have them fixed in place with velcro cable ties as I am very noncommittal on positioning, but the current plan is to leave them where they are and perhaps supplement in the future with a dedicated high mount stop light on the top of the bar. Honestly, a three- or four-piece set that included that might be an idea to make in the future. Along with the Just Add Lightness LED taillight panels (installed at the same time, insanely huge upgrade), I'm confident my car is 10,000% more visible at night and that my brake lights will actually be seen now. Edit: Note that the cables aren't in place in this pic. I actually have them blue-taped to the sides of the trunk now as I fine-tune it. The included wires are long enough to position the lights freely.