I B Sevener

I think Rocky Mountain Caterham has him covered. They confirmed to him that they do have parts for Zetec and Sierra diff which is what Road Ready has.

Sander, As a veteran of over 30,000 miles in a 1968 Seven S3 which includes border to border and coast to coast, and thousands of miles in Colorado and Utah with the top NEVER on the car, I concur with much of the above and add these thoughts: 1.) Windscreen and doors make the Seven feel like a motorcycle with a fairing allowing most of the fun with less of the pain. Do wear earplugs as the wind that loops around the doors hits right at your ears and will be irritating at least and uncomfortable most probably. 2.) Use good two lane roads as much as possible to stay off the Interstate Highways. First, it is much prettier, second it is safer and third it is way more fun than hammering down a four lane with trucks and SUV's towering over you blocking the view of everything. 3.) Round up the phone numbers and locations of folks on this board to look out for you and to rendezvous with at beerthirty or dinner. I am in Colorado Springs CO and can be reached at 3oh3 8two9 6oh4one. Call or text me and give me your email and I will give you some of the best roads in the west to use in your meander. 4.) Plan on no more than 400 miles a day and 3-350 is better. A Seven is NOT like a modern car with cruise control and A/C. You will want to stop often and stretch and besides somewhere around 125 miles is a time to refuel as noted above. 5. Take plenty of photos and notes: I have turned my adventures into two books. They aren't the great American novels but have five star reviews on Amazon and I had a ball writing them and remembering the adventures on my annual rereads. 6.) Finally, remember the journey is the goal not the destination. You will reach it too soon I wager ;~)

With all due respect to each of us with an opinion...Our opinion doesn't really matter. The fact that I crossed the country from coast to coast and border to border and took numerous trips of over 1,000 miles at a time in my 1968 S3 Seven with the original short cabin, narrow footbox and no dropped floor (all of which are now modified or available on a new S3) and that I am six feet and 220 pounds is of no consequence to how you will feel in a Seven. Croc has made you a generous and meaningful offer. Take him up on it and choose what works best for you!

The Climax engine was a casualty of the redesign for the Series 2 designation. Instead it was fitted with Ford's 105E engine from the Anglia with twin SU's, giving about 40 BHP. It was supplemented by the Lotus Super Seven S2 in 1961 which initially used the Cosworth modified 1,340cc Ford Classic engine with twin Weber's giving 85 BHP. Later examples were fitted with larger 1,498cc Ford non-crossflow engines and twin Weber's giving about 95 BHP. It was this version that the Sports Car Club of America accepted, and then banned, as it was too good… winning virtually every time it ran even though classed in “C” production with cars whose engines were far bigger. From "The Lotus Book" by William Taylor which is pretty much the authoritative source and from the Rocky Mountain Caterham website Heritage Tab.

Greg, Not knowing your specific issues, I am taking a stab here though I MAY have some insight. It occurs to me that when you first tried to start your car and the pump assembly came apart, you may have had inadequate pressure so all the fuel went to the one cylinder. Then when you secured the pump and cleaned the plug the engine ran for the first time but roughly. We had the same initial rough running experience with our Sigma engine and were told by a Caterham engineer that the engine should be allowed to idle unmolested for at least 15 minutes during which time it will do two things: 1) Get warm enough to kick on the fan to confirm that it in fact does come on appropriately while getting the engine up to full temperature so it can, 2) Learn...which means the ECU self feedback loop finds the correct settings for your density altitude. It worked for us :~)

Greg, We used the trim mostly to give it a more finished look but also because it protects the wing from the shield with a little space for deflection on impact from rocks and stuff. We, at the recommendation of Josh Robbins from Rocky Mountain Caterham, also used small stainless nuts and bolts that had hex drive to fasten the shield instead of rivets. When the inevitable replacement time comes, it will be whole lot easier...plus it looks really cool.

Greg, Looking at the photos of your car, I saw that you have the standard Banner battery. It IS shipped dry and requires two small boxes of battery acid which is available at any NAPA store plus an initial charge on a trickle charger before use. I suspect that there is nothing wrong with the battery other than that. Also, I would recommend Sikkaflex to glue on the wings as it retains some flexibility even after it cures while epoxy is rigid and prone to vibration cracking. Just another opinion. Your build looks great!!

Didn't the Monkees record a song about that? Take the last crate from Dartford And I'll meet you at the station You should be there with a forklift To pick up your new katrum, don't be slow Oh, no, no, no Oh, no, no, no 'Cause it carries such a promise For you feeling chuffed again You'll have lots of time together Till the kit is finished and you’ll hit the road Oh, go, go, go Oh, go, go, go And I don't know if you’re ever coming home Take the last turn from Golden Now I must hang up the phone I can't hear you with your noisy car just hooning down the road I'm feeling low Nowhere to go Oh, no, no, no And I don't know if you’re ever coming home

Without knowing what you got in your conversion kit, I should probably withhold comment, but that has never stopped me before. It seems to me that the method the factory recommends for wing installation on new kits might work best here too...glue them on. Using Sikkaflex 721 place a bead along the top of the stay where it touches the fiberglass wing then use tape to the wheel to hold it firmly overnight until it sets. Then put a nice cove bead of the stuff on both sides of both stays. Job done. As for location, the front edge of the wing should be 80mm or 3 1/8 inches ahead of the top stay. This makes a clean and drilling free install that is really stout. Good luck with the new look!

Email Josh.Robbins@rockymountaincaterham.com If he doesn't have them, he can get them for you and even in a specific color if you'd like. He may even have some in inventory as he has lots of early parts.

Call Mike Wilkes at Memphis Motor Werkes. He has worked on everything over the years including old stuff and race cars (including my Lotus Elan when I lost my starter on the Great River Road Adventure - 4,400 miles in the Elan and Seven over two weeks in 2015). He may or may not want to work on it and even if he doesn't he knows every car guy and shop within a hundred miles. He has some guys that will be familiar with Sevens.

Thanks for the welcome to this forum from all who have commented. We are committed to being an active and helpful part of the Sevens community. Vovchandr, Josh is searching for a throttle cable among our spares and will let you know directly if we have one which I think we do. If he cannot find one, I have a solution which I used on my Zetec in my Spyder Plus 2. And thanks to 11Budlite for trusting us with his order of a new 310S. It is a beauty the way he has specified it and will be here at the end of August. Crosses fingers.

Jonny B When I read your post, I was going to respond and say "Apologies on behalf of the Caterham dealers...give me a call and a chance to change your impression. I am glad to hear that Josh was responsive and helpful. I guess I raised him right after all.

It was nice to see the posts on the new Rocky Mountain Caterham operation from others and we thought it was time for the Se7en community to hear it from the horse’s mouth…Drum roll please! Josh and Ross Robbins have joined with Jon Nelson in a new venture called Rocky Mountain Caterham which will pick up right where Jon left off five years ago with Caterham USA. With a strong belief in the Seven mystique and thousands of miles in a Seven, the Robbins’ will bring complementary energy and capital to Jon’s years of experience. Together we are looking forward to reenergizing the Caterham brand in the Rocky Mountain West. The business will be headquartered in Wheatridge, CO a close suburb of Denver, and will be offering two cars for immediate build, an S3 chassis with a Sigma engine and 5 speed, and a CSR with a Duratec and a 5 speed. We will have attractive introductory pricing on new orders too! Rocky Mountain Caterham will have an extensive parts inventory as well so if you are looking for that elusive part, even for a Lotus or other Seven, give us a call or email and you may be surprised that we actually have it. This includes many NOS parts that are no longer available through Caterham itself. Of course, when this stock is gone there won’t be any replenishing, so check with us now if you are on the hunt for something specific. We will have regular resupply of consumables for all Sevens from the stores at Caterham. If you have any questions on cars or parts, email us at info@rockymountaincaterham.com Josh Robbins, who has posted before on this forum, will be the regular contact point for Rocky Mountain Caterham. My forum name I B Sevener represents the nickname I got for my many trips of over 1,000 miles in my S3 Seven, Iron Butt. Now, I am operating in a support role as is Jon who is travelling extensively in his other job yet remains a walking encyclopedia of Caterham and Seven knowledge. Check us out at www.rockymountaincaterham.com. We are excited to be back!