Pokey

The inspector was a nice guy. He called me the day prior to discuss his concerns rather than have me surprised when I arrived. He had been on Caterham's website and was trying to figure out what it was he would be looking at. During our first conversation he asked about a federal sticker, presumably some sort of proof of exemption for the lack of air bags. It seemed to me that he was way out of his comfort zone, and given his location in a more rural part of Washington State I had concluded that he had never dealt with a kit car before. Since the conversation wasn't going anywhere I asked him if it would be okay if I did a bit of research myself to assist him. My thinking was I could substantiate why it should pass and take the burden off of him. He agreed, but the way he agreed made me feel like his mind was already made up. When I called him later that day to discuss further, one of the first things he mentioned is that he called someone in Woodinville to get more information. I interpreted that to mean that he called our local dealer. According to the inspector, he asked pretty much all of the same questions he asked me and came to the same conclusion, he could approve the vehicle for off-road use only. I'd like to say that licensing a kit car in Washington State is straightforward, and one might think so if just reading the guide (https://www.wsp.wa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/kit_vehicle_inspection_guide.pdf), but this sentence muddies it all up: Also, your vehicle must comply with all of the equipment requirements of WAC Title 204 and RCW 46.37 to pass inspection and for a VIN to be assigned. The inspector would need to be familiar with both the WAC and RCW sections referenced, which are fundamentally a description of things every vehicle is required to have: https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=46.37 https://app.leg.wa.gov/wac/default.aspx?cite=204 So this inspector, in order to do his job, would need to be familiar with, for example, the requirements for a windshield: (1) The windshield must be framed and in such a position that it affords continuous horizontal frontal protection to the driver and front seat occupants. The minimum vertical height of the unobstructed windshield glass must be six inches, or as originally equipped by a recognized manufacturer. (2) The vehicle must be provided with a windshield and side windows or openings which allow the driver a minimum outward horizontal vision capability, ninety degrees each side of a vertical plane passing through the fore and aft centerline of the vehicle. This range of vision: (a) May be interrupted by window framing not exceeding four inches in width at each side location. (b) Must have no obstruction forward of the windshield which extends more than two inches upward into the horizontally forward projected vision area of the windshield except windshield wiper components and hood ornaments identical to those originally installed by a recognized manufacturer. For the purposes of this section, the projected vision area of the windshield will be defined as that area above a line from the top of the steering wheel to the top of the front fenders or hood, whichever is higher. I'm not making excuses for the guy, in my way of thinking he has a job and that job includes having an understanding of the regulations he is enforcing, but I can also appreciate that a guy pushing retirement and having never seen a kit car before might have forgotten some of the less interesting bits. In either case, it didn't seem prudent to risk failing inspection and having that follow me to the next time I tried. And I was also mindful to not create a wake of wreckage for others to dodge when their turn comes. So for now I purchased three more "trip permits" that allow anything to be driven on the road in Washington State. Each permit is good for 3 contiguous days and you can have up to three in a 30 day period. And, yes, I do recognize the irony that despite not getting a pass from the inspector I will be blating around this weekend without any airbags. Heck, I may take off the windshield just to fully appreciate the wind and the irony.

Yep, what came with my kit are the Luke version without the Luke/FIA label. The crotch straps I'm adding have the label in the picture on Caterham's parts website, but what I received doesn't (not that it matters since the 4-point lacks the label). Seems the takeaway is to buy the Schroth, not Luke, version if purchasing from Caterham.

Not sure where you plan to source, but if from Caterham I would suggest you make sure what you get has an FIA label as mine do not. For the six point straps I've just received, I'm having to source fasteners (bolts and washers/spacers) as what Caterham provided won't work with my chassis. That and the lack of labels will have me looking elsewhere when I replace what I have.

I don't care which end I have to kiss, I just want a license plate...

I know, right, it seems pretty cut and dry especially about airbags being necessary only if the car came with them originally. Nice guy though, and little point in arguing, so I've cancelled the appointment after talking to him one last time.

That would be the rational thing to do and is probably what I'll wind up doing, just disappointing as I'm not sure when I'll be able to get another inspection scheduled. The WSP has apparently suffered layoffs as a result of COVID and all stations have been completely booked for as long as I've been looking - Yakima opened up one day a few weeks ago and that was almost immediately filled.

Welp, just got a call from the State Patrol inspector regarding my appointment tomorrow. He did some research and has concluded the car needs a federal sticker and airbags. I politely explained that these cars are licensed for road in Washington State and he concluded that was because we have privatized licensing agencies. I responded that they still needed State Patrol sign off and his response was, in essence, guess I'll see you tomorrow. Not sure it will be worth six hours of driving since he has already made his determination...

Thanks Mike, this is a topic I've been looking into of late primarily because the four-point doesn't fit my petite wife as tight as I would like so I was debating replacing with the three point or adding crutch straps. I know the latter must feel like a silly overkill for road use, but the composite seats are slick and I'm more concerned about her slipping under than other (horrible) alternatives so opted for the six points. I still need to deal with the sloppy fit of the shoulder straps, so if anyone has any great ideas I'm all ears. Perhaps just adding padding to the straps, or maybe putting the passenger seat on the adjustable rails like the driver side so she can move a little forward and take up the slack?

Interesting. I have the four-point harness that came with the kit, and just received the crutch straps to make six points. Unfortunately they are not FIA labeled, but one would hope that the differ from the manufacturer's (Luke) version only by that label. These have the tab for inserting into the cam lock.

I recently reached out to Jack for a different purpose and learned that he doesn't sell to the US because of UK product liability law.

Trivial topic, but on the off chance that someone else finds themselves in a similar situation someday perhaps this will help. I'll start at the end, not all windshield wiper arms provided by Caterham are the same. The wiper arms provided with my kit did not fit tight enough on the knurled knobs such that they would slip and catch, causing misalignment and the arms crashing down on the scuttle. I checked this forum and lotus7.club but could not find any mention of ill-fitting wiper arms so started thinking that I somehow caused the problem. I just installed a pair of Caterham factory wiper arms ordered from Demon Tweaks. They fit snuggly and the wipers work as one would expect. Despite the stamping on the original and replacement arms being identical, the casting is clearly different: The replacement is on the left.

I can't recall ever having a problem with the Shorai brand, but my experience has been in motorcycles only. I'll let others more knowledgable compare and contrast CCA and PCA of lead acid to lithium, but my experience is that lithium doesn't crank as well when temperatures are cold, but rather than go from cranking slowly to dead battery they do the opposite - as you crank the battery warms and things get better not worse. Again, just experience and not theory, but lithium batteries can be had with an ample CCA/PCA that are quite small, the sacrifice being AH. But I wouldn't think we need AH so much in a Caterham because of the lack of accessories. The big differentiators between lead acid and lithium are price, weight and how long they hold a charge without load. And if you are willing to sacrifice AH you can also have a smaller form factor.

My experience is 7' trailers have flat walls (compared to the standard 8.5' auto carrier). I've not seen a 7.5' before, but assuming the same axle I'm guessing you must have small intrusions. Having said that, once in the trailer I've got ample room, it is getting past the cables and then the door entrance that is tight. The extra 3" you have on both sides is perfect.

I'm going to record here for posterity's sake that a SV will fit into a 7x14 cargo trailer. The distance between the cables that attach to the ramp door require the most care when loading and unloading, but with the help of a mirror installed inside the trailer I can keep an eye on the front and rear wings on the passenger side. The approach angle on the ramp door is fine, but without the whale tale the break-over is such that clearance is little to none with the trailer hitched. That is easily remedied with the tongue jack, and the extra height from the newly installed E-Track may wind up being enough to make the difference.

Beautiful and a really nice restoration to racing livery to include Alf's name on the door.

And if wind deflectors won't work then I'm thinking supercharger. Supercharger for safety reasons might fly with the wife long enough to get the order placed.

Pokey or Porkey, either works as they both convey how fast I drive.

The wind buffeting doesn't bother me, I actually enjoy it, but could do with a few less projectiles. Maybe wind deflectors would be enough to keep rocks out?

I'm re-thinking the whole "rock" flaps on the front wing after now having a few miles driving under my belt. Without doors and ear protection the amount of noise created by rocks hitting the rear wings is something else. Popcorn popping kind of noise. I also found that I get plenty of that debris in the car with me, under my butt, scratching the composite seat. I am liking the nice little opening Caterham designed into their seats for brushing away debris before sitting though. At least that is what I'm using that hole for.

When I first rolled onto the scale I was like "bummer, this little piggy weighs a lot more than I expected" and then I realized that I was on the scale too...

Fun fact. Here in Washington State you need a certified scale weight to pass inspection. My nearest scale is at Cadman, a purveyor of concrete and rock. I took a few minutes from work and zipped down to get a weight only to line up facing one of these to get on the scale: This tire-cleaning device for semi's was spraying water at about door level when idling and over my head when activated. There must be a loop that activates and it either runs on a timer or the loop sensor isn't calibrated for something as wee as I was so I was able to squirt through as it cycled between wet and soaking. I think the gal manning the scale thought I was loopy they way I shot up there.

Thanks!

Two weeks to go before my appointment with Washington State Patrol for the prerequisite inspection to get licensed. So far I've been able to get 200 miles on the odometer using temporary trip permits - you can purchase up to three trip permits in a 30 day period, each good for three contiguous days. I've got time left on the current trip permit so am going to try to sneak out and get an alignment. Anyone want to offer up setting advice? Currently I'm setup with neutral toe and with caster set to a bit more positive than Caterham's build manual specifies. I have negative camber, no idea how much, maybe -2 degrees or so. So far my impression is the car is planted, stable at road speed, more prone to oversteer than understeer, and it takes a fair bit of effort to turn in. Turn in might be my caster setting, but I'm thinking that I should live with it for a while and instead compensate with toe. I'll be doing mostly street driving, but plan to track and might autocross. My completely naive and somewhat random thoughts are: Ride height 145mm Rake 10mm Toe 1 degree out Camber -2 degrees I'm also going to get flat floored and am seeking opinions on that as well. So far my wife has been with me a fair amount, but when she is with me I purposely tone down my driving to maintain marital bliss. So my thought is to get flat floored with just me in the car. The reasoning behind this is (a) I'm not pushing the suspension (much) when she is with me on the road, and (b) when on track she won't be there and that is when suspension setup will be most pronounced. Does this reasoning seem sound or am I missing something?

Thought it might be helpful to post the dimensions of both the EarthX 'E' size case and the Odyssey PC680 case (information from the respective manufacturers' websites): EarthX 'E' 6.5 L x 3.1 W x 6.6 H PC680 7.15 L x 3.0 W x 6.65 H And the weight: EarthX ETX680 - 3.9 lb Odyssey PC680 - 15.4 lb If I remember correctly, EarthX has at least one other option that would work in this application that weighs less and has a smaller case, but I wanted to stay with a form factor that would allow for using the Odyssey too if needed.

I'm using an inexpensive case EarthX sells, BB-MU, but there are a lot of choices that fit both the EarthX "E" size and the PC680. In many cases you will wind up shimming with foam supplied with the battery. The ETX680 needs about 3/16" on either side, and I believe that for the PC680 the shimming is front to back to account for the tapered shape of the battery. One thing to be mindful about is some cases allow battery removal only from the top, whereas others also allow removal from the front. The other option is to use one of the hold downs like Croc and Ashyers mention. For what it is worth, I personally would not have spent the extra money to save that much weight. I've used lithium batteries in off-road racing motorcycles and for that application the weight savings was important to me, but for me and the Seven the real benefit is (sadly) being able to leave the battery unattended for long periods. I just sold a motorcycle that sat for five years with no tender on the battery and it still cranked.