Pokey

Hey, that sounds like a lot of fun. Assuming I can navigate a conflict with my wife's birthday I'd be very interested!

Last year I bought a Buick for my daily driver. I'll pause now so you can get the sniggering out of the way. What can I say, I'm a sucker for sheetmetal. I wanted AWD, love wagons and was on a company budget that would have normally had me in a Subaru. Then there she was, a pearl white TourX with 300+ HP. I set aside the MotorTrend comment about the lazy transmission - surely it must have been a misprint - and bought my first (last?) Buick. A few months later I got rear ended by a drunk and quickly found out that TourX parts are hard to come by, and that a Trifecta tune was not enough to wake up the transmission. I still like the car, but do need to be mindful to force a downshift if I need to accelerate quickly for any reason.

Good luck with the go-live John, hope it goes smoothly. And thank you!

None of my motorcycle helmets are approved for auto use, although I do have one that is E3 (ECE) that I think may be okay for some club events if memory serves. I'm shopping for a helmet with the latest Snell and FIA certifications (SA2020/FIA8859-2015). https://www.merlinmotorsport.co.uk/pages/understanding-helmet-standards-homologations-295

Thanks John. I plan on calling them this week as their website seems terribly out of date. They list only SA2015 helmets, and some are listed as "coming soon." And they don't seem to carry Stilo, although Joe's Racing appears to.

Thanks for all of the input. To answer the questions, I have an aeroscreen for track use and plan on using a Hans restraint. I have an oval head, and over the years have gravitated toward Arai's motorcycle helmets. Arai doesn't seem to be as mainstream in the auto-racing world so I'm eyeballing Stilo as it seems to have a reputation for fitting oval shaped heads. I've started wearing eyeglasses recently so that is going to add a new dimension as I shop for fit. Shopping for a helmet is second only to shopping for shoes as my all-time least favorite past time. An oval head rules out most helmets, and pizza-slice shaped feet make shoes even harder to find.

I've got a lifetime of experience with motorcycle helmets, but have never purchased a helmet for use with a car so could use some wisdom: 1. All carbon fiber versus a composite? I don't skimp when it comes to helmets, but I also don't like giving my money away. Is getting hit in the head with road debris something that happens in a Caterham? 2. Duckbill? Do I really need to be concerned about helmet lift? 3. Ventilation ports. My head gets hot so I typically need plenty of ventilation, but here in the Pacific Northwest we occasionally get rain so I'm mindful that exhaust ports are designed not to allow water to just drip in on my noggin. I can't imagine I'll be on the track in any significant amount of moisture so am thinking that I needn't be concerned about having a wet head. Am I deluding myself - should anyone with an open top car have exhaust ports covered? Should the ventilation ports be adjustable given airflow in a Caterham is plentiful? Love to hear what has worked and not worked for you!

Yah, that was a fun watch.

Good to know if not a little disturbing...

I've thought the rule of thumb was 10 years max, with the emphasis on max as tire quality and use are factors. I recently replaced a set on a truck that aged out and recall at the time trying to find out what tire manufacturers said on the topic. If memory serves most avoid an explicit age limit but 10 years is mentioned when it does come up. I was okay with leaving 10 year old tires on a truck used for local errands, but a six year limit seems more reasonable in general.

For what it is worth, I think you did the right thing and took the right amount of stuff. You reminded me that over-planning can get in the way of a good adventure and that is something I really don't want to forget. I was smiling as I shared your adventure with my wife. Speaking of adventure, highly recommend the documentary on Amazon about Horatio Jackson's experience: https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B08CW35KY7/ref=atv_hm_hom_1_c_ET3Pyw_brws_5_4

Beautiful Seven! Hopefully it will stay local.

That is impressive. I'm helping my son wrap his project car and know enough now to know it isn't easy... kind of nightmarish dealing with big pieces and complex curves. No idea how they got that nose cone in one piece.

Thanks Bruce, that would explain it

By now you probably have this figured out, but another thought came to mind. The BMS might also protect against temperature and not just input voltage. As a test of this or over or under voltage conditions, you could reinstall your old battery (or any lead-acid battery) connected to the alternator alongside your new battery so the alternator has somewhere to dump the charge if it is the BMS. The answer may not be to replace your battery, but to install something to protect the alternator should the battery be disconnected while the engine is running (by the BMS).

Is the velcro really fabric backed? That seems less industrial than I would have expected. But if vinyl then you might try an adhesive specifically for vinyl given how poorly things adhere to it. 3M 80 comes to mind, but I don't know how it holds up to temperature.

Weather has not been great for driving, but I did get out for a bit yesterday for a good coating of wet pine needles and leaves. The (lack of) plate was an inconvenience but I still managed 500 miles on just trip permits.

I particularly like the take-out VIN inspection!

As mentioned, I reached out to the Washington State Patrol about a front plate exemption, sending an email with the details and a picture of the front where the plate would, in theory, mount. They responded that because no Caterham had yet received a waiver they would contact the manufacturer. Caterham confirmed that they didn't have a mounting bracket and that there wasn't a way to mount the plate otherwise (I now forgive Caterham for the missing bits in my kit) so I've received the waiver. Like John it came in letter form that needs to be kept with the car.

Interesting phenomenon, like you I would have expected the same 14.2V with the engine running. I wonder if the alternator warning light is due to the BMS protecting the the battery and the alternator's current spiking briefly as a result. Any chance your alternator is larger than your battery can accommodate?

Loving that green!

I had never heard of an exemption for a front plate until Lucky Dawg and you mentioned it. Turns out all you have to do is email equipment@wsp.wa.gov with a picture of the front of your car and the details (make, model, etc.) and the State Patrol will review and, if they agree that there isn't a place to mount the plate, issue an exemption. I sent the email a few minutes ago and will post once I hear back, so I guess this build thread isn't quite done yet. And I'll put it here because I had a heck of a time finding out what others did to mount their rear plate - I used four 1" long strips of 3M dual lock. The plate won't be coming off without some serious prying and I like the idea of not drilling into the skin. And because I had the leftover, I went around the plate with the edge trim I used for the cutouts for the front suspension to give it a finished look.

Exciting! Please don't hesitate to reach out if I can help at all.

I put the plate on today, and I have to say it was an odd feeling realizing I could just jump in it and go. I'll get over it

I neglected to add a BIG THANK YOU to everyone who has offered advice and answered my questions as I went through the build process. Not only was this helpful, but being able to share my success (and un-success) made the process even more enjoyable. This is a great community! (Even though I suspect we are all a little odd.)