kayentaskier

Knifey, If you're going to try a pad, you might buy a sheet of SunMate foam. The sheets can be purchased in a variety of thicknesses and densities. SunMate is used in a variety of applications, including seat cushions for wheelchair users and pilot . I used the liquid product to "foam in place" my seat squab, replacing the bottom cushion. In your case you could cut a sheet to sit,recline on during the drive to the track, then take it out when it's not needed. https://sunmatecushions.com/collections/sunmate-orthopedic-cushions/motorcycle-seat-foam

I lived full time on the North Shore of Kauai for several years and part time for another 6-7, I never saw a 7 there. In fact, I sold my S3 when moving there because 1) high humidity is tough on cars and 2) the combination of limited number of (poorly maintained) roads and lots of traffic make it virtually impossible to drive a 7 the way it should be. There was a 7 owner in Kailua Kona on the Big Island,, but he sod the car about 5 years ago. Also Ray Masters described, on this site, his adventures of importing a Caterham to Maui. Ray has since sold the car and moved from Maui.

Have you tried Josh at RMC?

Ordering a windscreen is easy, swapping between windscreen and aero is also easy. However, adding windscreen wiper assembly in your garage ... not so much.

Install battery master switch: https://caterhamparts.co.uk/battery-cut-off-kits/1341-battery-master-switch.html?search_query=electrical+cutoff&results=7

Ditto all of the above comments. I don't want to speak for Josh, so you should privately verify, but I'm pretty sure Josh performed a complete post build inspection on this car when the R&T team finished assembling it. If Josh did that, then you should feel pretty confident it wwas assembled correctly. In regard to getting most of your money back in the future, I agree with others that it's impossible to predict 10 years out. However, I recently sold my 2020 420R SV, with about 7,000 miles on it for effectively what I paid for it. Of course, I did some upgrades during the time, but still I was happy with the sales price. In the time I had the car, I had two failures, one which required towing. The first was related to the accelerator cable, it did not fail like on older 7s, but instead slipped off it's mounting. It took me 20 minutes on the side of the road to get it running. I was in the middle of no where, texted Josh, he responded right away, had me take a couple of pics and he told me how to fix it. During the next service, Josh revised the mounting method, which is probably now included in all the cars he builds. The second failure was was caused by a Caterham employee failing to tighten one of the alternator bolts to the proper spec, the alternator slipped off the block while I was driving. That bolt was not one you would normally check while building the car. My guess is Josh now checks it every time he builds a car. My kit was one of the last ones leaving Dartford before the factory was shutdown due to Covid, so likely employees were somewhat distracted. Other than those two issues the car was very reliable.

I own several of these shirts and just bought a new “add lightness” shirt. It’s funny because when I wear that shirt when I’m on Kaua’i, I get lots of acknowledgment from non car people. They don’t really see the 7 shape, they tune into the “simplify and add lightness” as a lifestyle choice. The first time it happened I was surprised, in the end I decided I really appreciated both interpretations. I’m moving back to Kaua’i soon and bought the new shirt in honor of the dual interpretation

You can buy them from Caterham. They are made for Caterham by Oxted Trimming. Oxted has a direct retail business called Thundersport. I bought the doors through Thundersport. I use the doors almost the time. I live in So UT, where it’s very warm. The Cerakote coating on the exhaust system cools the cockpit enough to make that possible.

Josh Robbins is selling my very well sorted 2020 SV 420R. It's at his shop in Golden after receiving it's Winter service. You can see the ad on his site: https://rockymountaincaterham.com/inventory/ Please direct questions, via email or text, to Josh.

Wayne, I agree with MV8, the first step is to figure out if the problem below, from your build thread, happens if you're sitting in the tub with no seat: " ... I lift my left leg to put my foot on the clutch, my left leg, just above the knee hits the frame tube under the bottom edge of the dash. This restricts me from getting my foot on top of the clutch pedal." If this problem still happens with no seat, them lowering the floor may help.

The current age is interesting but should be weighed against year the car was purchased, some of us are into 3 decades of ownership

Scotticus, It sounds like the main reason to move the battery is the size. Battery technology now permits much smaller batteries and lighter batteries, are you sure you can't solve the problem without moving it. I went from a 16 lb battery to a 15 oz battery; this is less powerful battery than most people would want but there are so many small choices

BAT shows it sold for $27,000 on 10/29/23. What happened?

Jimmy, I found the standard tunnel cover, with the raised, rear portion interfered with my right arm when shifting. I worked with Josh to design a completely flat tunnel cover. Josh built the prototype and covered it roughly for testing. Once I was satisfied that this flatter version worked better for me, I took the cover and had it covered, locally, to (nearly) match the paint. Given this is my 3rd Caterham, and the first time I’ve encountered this issue, I’m left with the conclusion that the difference is the lowered floors. I’m 6’3”, so was surprised how much difference the lower floor made. With that said, I also use a foam in place seat more than half the time, so my seating position is even lower than the standard leather seats. There are other projects that Josh and I have worked together with to customize my car (the mirror and the 1.0 pound battery are two other examples). Since I’m a “driver not a fixer”, I count on Josh to execute these changes during his annual service of my car. Jim

Jimmy, Actually I had Josh's mirror extension made by a buddy; I had him make a second one as a gift to Josh. The length was made specifically for what worked best for me. I'm 6'3' and my SV has lowered floors. I look over the X in the roll bar and do not have a blind spot when looking for passenger side front tire

Wow! Looks great

Here's my badge, no idea what happened to the car

It's in the garage someplace, it was either 47 or 49.

I disagree with this portion of Vlad's comments: " ....cars weren't factory assembled so they never got an official numeration plaque. With that said some did get a non numerated plaque". My first Caterham was a Superlight (this was before SLR), it was ordered as a kit from, and assembled by, Jon Nelson, then of Rocky Mountain Sports Cars. The car was a joint project that included RMSC, Caterham and me to try pass CA smog certification using a 147 HP Zetec. This was long before SB100 was passed. In the end we failed to meet the requirements, so I registered the car in a different state. The kit included the Superlight numbered plaque; I never installed it on the dash because I thought it was too heavy. I still have the plaque, although the car was sold to someone in 2005. However, the Caterham Superlight Registry (https://www.thecaterhamregister.net/superlights.htm) does not recognize the car.

I don't track exact mileage, but about 2,000 in 2023. Of those miles, about 1,000 are this round trip between my home in So UT and Park City, UT https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Ivins,+UT/Hurricane,+UT/Mount+Carmel+Junction,+UT/Boulder,+UT/Torrey,+UT/Emery,+UT/Huntington,+UT/Fairview,+UT/Spanish+Fork,+UT/Park+City,+Utah/@38.8711933,-114.9633903,7z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m67!4m66!1m5!1m1!1s0x80ca418c6f0b8e3d:0xe6f3ad35a3eabc9a!2m2!1d-113.6794057!2d37.1685907!1m10!1m1!1s0x80caf134ea400f6d:0x28c42649981dafcc!2m2!1d-113.2899484!2d37.1752607!3m4!1m2!1d-112.9921451!2d37.1969838!3s0x80cac2a3a796435d:0x47e15bca4617de21!1m5!1m1!1s0x80cad242aa6cff8d:0x69969dbadba56a69!2m2!1d-112.679726!2d37.2227249!1m5!1m1!1s0x8735f462f4e7f17f:0xbbccd11f54405543!2m2!1d-111.4242702!2d37.9081314!1m5!1m1!1s0x8749ff8e155131c1:0x7d4e6314e22a6876!2m2!1d-111.4190654!2d38.2988691!1m5!1m1!1s0x874964fe2438a36b:0xab31175f441b08c0!2m2!1d-111.2487809!2d38.9230307!1m5!1m1!1s0x8749532355c9d4cb:0xc0ff3faf97954ce!2m2!1d-110.9646113!2d39.3266354!1m5!1m1!1s0x874c3105292ca94b:0x2cfa3c2a91bdee44!2m2!1d-111.4396325!2d39.626351!1m5!1m1!1s0x874db9d7dc27d89d:0x8b6bd315d9f959d0!2m2!1d-111.654923!2d40.114955!1m5!1m1!1s0x87520f632c6303fd:0xd871c4df25375794!2m2!1d-111.4979729!2d40.6460622!3e0?authuser=0&entry=ttu

Sorry that has happened to you. If you choose to repair, matching the paint may not be easy. My car is the same color; I needed to replace and paint a front wing (glue failed and it blew off) and the rear wing (damaged while loading on a trailer). Caterham refused to sell painted wings, so we needed to match it locally which has taken a few tries. If you're painting, I suggest you reach out To Josh at RMC, he's become somewhat of an expert.

If the issue is only while AutoXing and IF the Birkin seat bottom is separate from the back, you might consider just making a foam in place bottom cushion to be used only during AutoX. My Caterham has the leather seats, I use the standard seat cushion when going for short drives but swap in the foam in place seat cushion for drives over 2-3 hours because the foam in place gives much better thigh support.

So professional in appearance. Well done

Don't forget Guardsman's Pass to Midway, Soldier Hollow to Sundance (via Cascade Springs Rd), Francis to Hanna (via SR 35) and if you gave more time Fairview to Huntington (via SR 31)

Aloha Ray it would be great to see your 7 and your Alfa stay in HI. There are so few 7s in HI and I know you did a lot to import the car and bring this car to a state of reliability. Good luck with the BAT auction and your upcoming move to off island, to your next adventure. Stay well, Jim